Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: VK Weerde (±2009-2024) / FC Verbroedering Hofstade (2024)

Terrein aan de Galgenberg, Weerde (formerly VK Weerde / FC Verbroedering Hofstade)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant = Vlaams Brabant

August 2026 / no match visited

Timeline

1936 / In Weerde, a rural village in the Province of Brabant, not far to the south of Mechlin, not one, but two football clubs join the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB), Klauwaarts Weerde and FC Zennestampers Weerde, who are allowed into the membership of the federation with registration numbers 2420 and 2443 respectively. It is unclear where the pitches of these two clubs were situated.
1937 / After a season as beginning clubs, Klauwaarts Weerde and FC Zennestampers weerde are both placed in Brabant’s Regional League 3 (3e Gewestelijke).
1939 / After two years in Regional League 3, Klauwaarts Weerde withdraws from the Belgian FA, ostensibly ceasing all activities and with registration number 2420 being struck from the association’s membership list that same year. Meanwhile, FC Zennestampers are placed in Brabant’s Regional League 2 for the 1939-40 season following a fourth place in Regional League 3A – which might have been a promotion, but which was more probably a temporary arrangement, as only makeshift competitions were organised that season due to the mobilisation of the Belgian armed forces in the summer of 1939, which saw many clubs being deprived of the bulk of their players.
1940 / FC Zennestampers Weerde withdraw from first team football.
1942 / Strikingly, as in 1936, two clubs from Weerde join the Belgian Football Association simultaneously, probably the successors of the two pre-war clubs; a phoenix version of Klauwaarts Weerde (registration number 3739) and FC Weerde (number 3741), with yet again being unclear where the pitches of these clubs were situated. Only Klauwaarts Weerde takes part in Brabant’s Regional League 3 in the 1942-43 season.
1943 / One year after Klauwaarts Weerde, FC Weerde is placed in Brabant’s Regional League 3 as well.
1944 / After only one year in Brabant’s Regional League 3, FC Weerde withdraws from competitive football. Meanwhile, after several years of inactivity, registration number 2443 of FC Zennestampers Weerde is struck from the Belgian FA’s membership list.
1945 / After three seasons in Brabant’s Regional League 3, Klauwaarts Weerde withdraws from competitive football as well.
1947 / Registration number 3739 and 3741 of Klauwaarts Weerde and FC Weerde are struck from the Belgian FA’s membership list on the same day, March 15th, 1947. It is unclear if one or both of the clubs continued their existence in another league association.
1960 / After a gap of more than ten years, a new club from Weerde, which may or may not have been the continuation of a recreational club, joins the Belgian Football Association, FC Weerde, which receives registration number 6354 upon being accepted as a new member club. It is unclear if the club played on the pitch situated at Kerselarenweg from the outset. In the 1960-61, FC Weerde competes in Brabant’s Provincial League 3 for the first time.
1966 / Finishing in third-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3E, FC Weerde descends into Provincial League 4.
1969 / FC Weerde withdraws from first team football temporarily.
1970 / After a one-year break, FC Weerde returns with a first team in Brabant’s Provincial League 4.
1973 / Runner-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 4D, FC Weerde wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
1976 / FC Weerde changes its name to become Voetbalklub (VK) Weerde.
1979 / Clinching the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 3E, VK Weerde accedes to Provincial League 2 for the first and only time in club history.
1980 / In the best season in club history, VK Weerde manages a fifth place in Brabant’s Provincial League 2C – an accomplishment repeated in 1983 and 1984.
1988 / Finishing in second-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 2C, VK Weerde drops back into Provincial League 3 after nine years.
1995 / Finishing in second-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3E, VK Weerde descends into Provincial League 4, a return to the bottom of the league pyramid after 22 years. In the following decade, the club usually sits near the bottom of the P4 league table.
2007 / VK Weerde is joined by 39-year-old Dutch striker Eric Viscaal, who had enjoyed a prolific professional league career (1986-2002) with spells at PSV, KSK Beveren, K Lierse SK, KAA Gent, Grasshopper Club, BV De Graafschap, and KV Mechelen, before bowing out into non-league at Dilbeek Sport; Viscaal also won 5 caps for the Netherlands. After a one year break as a player following his time at Dilbeek, he returned on the pitch at VK Weerde.
2009 / Runaway champions in Brabant’s Provincial League 4F, 14 points ahead of closest followers FC Borght, VK Weerde manages a return to Provincial League 3 after fourteen years. Eric Viscaal crowns himself top scorer of the division – hanging up his boots at the end of the season to become assistant coach at Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen. Moreover, that same year, works get underway on a completely new park for the club at Galgenberg, consisting of two pitches, with the move to the new facility taking place either in the second half of 2009 or the first half of 2010.
2016 / Finishing in second-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3D, VK Weerde drops back into Provincial League 4 after seven years, alongside bottom club KFC Hever.
2023 / Finishing in fourth place in Brabant’s VFV Provincial League 4C, VK Weerde qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out HO Veltem B in R1 (1-1 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out), only to bow out in R2 against FC Dworp (2-2 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out).
2024 / In what, in retrospect, turned out to be the club’s last season, VK Weerde withdrew its first team from Brabant’s VFV Provincial League 4D in March 2024. After the 2023-24 season, the club, which had seen a slowly dwindling membership and pool of volunteers in the preceding years, folds, ceasing all activities. Coincidentally, Terrein aan de Galgenberg is temporarily taken over by neighbour club FC Verbroedering Hofstade during the renovation of their Terrein Ossebeemden between August and October 2024, before being abandoned altogether.
2026 / Municipal authorities of Zemst conclude a tenancy agreement with a private investor, who is given permission to turn the abandoned Terrein aan de Galgenberg into a multifunctional recreational site, with several sports facilities and a park area.