NETHERLANDS: vv RESIA '42

Sportpark Bos & Heide, Wellerlooi (vv RESIA '42)

Netherlands, province: Limburg

3 IX 2023 / vv RESIA '42 - RKSV Meterik 0-5 / District South II, Regional Cup - group stage, group 2-39

Timeline

• 1928 / A first football club is founded in Wellerlooi, WFC (abbreviation for Wellerlooische Football Club). The club’s ground is a piece of farmland rented from a local smallholder, Bertus Arts. Although definite proof is lacking, WFC probably joined the so-called Roomsch-Katholieke Limburgsche Voetbalbond (RKLVB), a league association of clubs from the province of Limburg. 
• 1936 / Due to a lack of players and financial difficulties, WFC folds, ceasing all activities.
• 1942 / After 6 years of inactivity, a recreational football club sees the daylight in Wellerlooi, with a provisional name being thought up, UVO (‘Uit Vreugde Ontstaan’); the founding fathers listed in the club’s annals are Thei Swemers, Albert Camps, Ben Hermans, Toon Hermans, Jan Litjens, and Piet Litjens. Initially settling at ‘De Zandkuil’ (or ‘The Sand Pit’) a particularly poor piece of farmland put at the club’s disposal by Wim Camps, UVO moves to Terrein Van Rhee at Rijksweg later that same year. Still in 1942, the decision is taken to take matters a bit more seriously, with a membership application going out to the official Netherlands’ FA (named NVB in the years of German occupation) under the name RESIA (‘Rooms en Sportief In Alles’, or in English: ‘Roman-Catholic and Sportsmanlike in All Circumstances’), but for reasons which are unclear the club is allowed in only as a branch of Walaria, a club from nearby Well. 
• 1944 / Mere months before the end of German occupation of the southern half of the Netherlands, Walaria’s branch in Wellerlooi moves from Terrein Van Rhee to Terrein Ben Hermans, also situated at Rijksweg. After the liberation of the Netherlands, the club officially joins the Netherlands’ Football Association as an independent entity, thus becoming vv RESIA ’42. 
• 1946 / vv RESIA ’42 clinches the title in Afdeling Limburg Division 1, winning the decisive last match emphatically at the dispense of vv Tienray (7-0). Subsequently also winning a promotion play-off against SV Brughusia (3-2), the club accedes to KNVB Sunday League 4 for the first time. Its pitch at Rijksweg not having the correct dimensions for League 4 football, vv RESIA ’42 moves to a newly laid-out ground at the back of Café Fleuren.
• 1950 / vv RESIA ’42 fields youth academy teams for the first time.
• ± 1956 / Moving away from Café Fleuren, vv RESIA ’42 settles at a newly laid-out pitch at the back of another local pub, Café Jan de Smid. 
• 1958 / Usually finding itself in the lower reaches of Sunday League 4, vv RESIA ’42 has a reasonably good 1957-58 campaign, resulting in a 4th place in District South II’s Sunday League 4G – and as such, it is the most successful season in the first 50 years of club history.
• 1969 / Having competed in League 4 for the past 23 seasons, vv RESIA ’42 now finishes 12th and last in District South II’s Sunday League 4H, thus dropping back into Afdeling Limburg. In spite of this, there is reason to celebrate, given that the club moves to newly laid-out, municipal sports facilities at Venweg, in the woods situated halfway between Wellerlooi and Tuindorp, Gemeentelijk Sportpark Bos & Heide. Inaugurated by Bergen’s mayor, Mr Huyben, on August 28th, 1969, the first match played on the pitch is a friendly encounter against derby rivals vv EWC ’46, ending in a 4-0 win for the guests – playing in Sunday League 3 at that time.
• 1970 / Losing its last match of the season in Afdeling Limburg Division 1 against lowly SV Ysselsteyn, vv RESIA ’42, coached by Frans Knor, has to leave the title – and promotion to League 4 – to derby rivals RKVV HRC ’27. 
• 1974 / Sportpark Bos & Heide is extended, as a second pitch, mainly used for training purposes, is laid out. 
• 1979 / Having suffered relegation in one of the previous years, vv RESIA ’42 now wins the title in Afdeling Limburg Division 2, thus returning to Division 1. Also in that year, the club reaches the semi-final of the regional cup, being defeated by Maastricht side RKVV Willem I (3-2) in a tie played at MVV’s Stadion De Geusselt. 
• 1983 / Having suffered relegation in one of the previous years, vv RESIA ’42 again wins the title in Afdeling Limburg Division 2, thus managing a return to Division 1.
• 1984 / With both club’s youth academies slowly shrinking, vv RESIA ’42 and vv EWC ’46 from nearby Well field a first combined youth team.
• 1988 / Having finished runners-up in Afdeling Limburg Division 1H 2 years previously, vv RESIA ’42 now wins the title in that division under the guidance of coach Frans van Denderen. Thus, after an absence of 19 seasons, the club manages a return to KNVB Sunday League 4. The club holds out at that level for 2 seasons, dropping back into Afdeling Limburg in 1990.
• 1992 / At its 50th anniversary, vv RESIA ’42 hosts professional league side VVV in a gala match at Sportpark Bos & Heide. 
• 1993 / Qualifying for the promotion play-offs in Afdeling Limburg Division 1, vv RESIA ’42, coached by Sjef Siero, finishes top of a group with SV Oostrum and RKDSO, thus managing a return to Sunday League 4. Again, the stay at that level lasts for 2 seasons, with relegation following in 1995.
• 1996 / Finishing in 3rd place in Afdeling Limburg Hoofdklasse D, vv RESIA ’42 qualifies for the newly created Sunday League 5.
• 1997 / Runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 5D, vv RESIA ’42 wins promotion in a subsequent round of play-offs.
• 1998 / In the best season in club history, vv RESIA ’42 – coached by Peter Groenen and with skipper Bas Fleuren – finishes in 3rd place in Sunday League 4H.
• 2000 / Exactly 50 years after RESIA fielded its first youth side, the club merges its entire youth academy with vv EWC ’46.
• 2002 / Suffering its second relegation in a row, vv RESIA ’42 suddenly finds itself in Sunday League 6.
• 2003 / Finishing in joint-first place with SV Swolgense Boys in District South II’s Sunday League 6E, RESIA loses the subsequent tie-break match against the Swolgen side, played at Well’s Sportpark Oude Linde (1-2) – thus missing out on promotion to League 5.
• 2004 / Clinching the title in Sunday League 6F, vv RESIA ’42 wins promotion to League 5.
• 2009 / Having descended into League 6 the previous season, RESIA now wins the title in Sunday League 6E, thus returning to League 5 after just one year.
• 2016 / Finishing 4th in Sunday League 5F, vv RESIA ’42, coached by Wim Rijs, qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Defeating vv Reuver (4-3 aggregate) – with Maik Michiels scoring 3 of RESIA’s 4 goals –, the club returns to League 4 level after a 16-year absence.
• 2018 / RESIA descends back into League 5 following a 14th place in District South II’s Sunday League 4E.
• 2022 / Finishing in 5th place in Sunday League 5D, vv RESIA ’42 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is defeated by vv Nieuw Woensel (8-4 aggregate), thus missing out on a return to League 4.
• 2023 / A provisional merger is concluded between three clubs in the municipality of Bergen, as RKVV Montagnards, RKVV HRC '27, and RKSV Stormvogels '28 form SJO SSA MSH Maasduinen - with vv EWC '46 poised to join the merger in 2024 -, but vv RESIA '42 chooses to continue as an independent club.
• 2024 / Following a last place finish in District South II's Sunday League 5D, vv RESIA '42 withdraws from first team football for the time being, continuing its existence with recreational teams in the reserves' leagues.

Note – The main source for the information given above is a booklet published by vv RESIA ’42 on the occasion of the club’s 75th anniversary in 2017: “Hoe de bal in Wellerlooi is gaan rollen”, written by Ger Fleuren & Christien Steegh.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

BELGIUM: La Caravelle Bruxelles (1979-1983) / AS Etoile Caravelle (1983-1991) / Sporting Dieleghem Jette (1984-1991) / Ritterklub VSV Jette (1989-) / Etoile Dieleghem Jette (1991-2002) / RSD Jette (C) (2002-) / R Union Saint-Gilloise (B) (2023-2024) / FC Amicii Bruxelles Jette (2026-)

Complexe Heymbosch, Brussels = Bruxelles = Brussel Jette (Ritterklub VSV Jette / FC Amicii Bruxelles Jette / B ground of RSD Jette, formerly La Caravelle Bruxelles / AS Etoile Caravelle / Sporting Dieleghem Jette / Etoile Dieleghem Jette / R Union Saint-Gilloise B)

Belgium, Brussels Capital Area

30 VIII 2023 / R Union Saint-Gilloise B - RFC Meux 0-0 / ACFF Amateur Division 2 (= BE level 4)

Timeline

• 1979 / Foundation of La Caravelle Bruxelles, a new football club which joins Belgium's FA, obtaining registration number 8682. Most probably, the foundation of this club coincides with the construction of a new football ground in Jette, Complexe Heymbosch, consisting of three pitches - of which the one closest to the entrance at Avenue Jean Joseph Crocq was only intended for training purposes. Starting its life in Brabant's Provincial League 4, La Caravelle Bruxelles shared its ground, of which the middle pitch (current pitch 2) was used for first team football, with various recreational clubs.
• 1983 / La Caravelle Bruxelles changes its name to become Association Sportive (AS) Etoile Caravelle.
• 1984 / Foundation of a new football club in Jette, Sporting Dieleghem Jette, which acquires membership of Belgium's FA under registration number 8951. Sporting Dieleghem Jette becomes a groundsharer at Complexe Heymbosch with AS Etoile Caravelle. It is unclear which pitch was used by the new club's first team.
• 1986 / AS Etoile Caravelle has its best season up until that moment, finishing in 3rd place in Brabant's Provincial League 4B. The club goes on to equal this achievement 2 years later in P4J.
• 1989 / At Complexe Heymbosch, AS Etoile Caravelle and Sporting Dieleghem Jette are joined by a new groundsharer, Ritterklub VSV (Vlaamse Sportvereniging) Jette. Ritterklub was founded in 1956 as a Flemish recreational club in Brussels which initially joined Koninklijke Belgische Liefhebbersverbond - an association which later merged with Katholiek Voetbalverbond to become simply 'Sportverbond'. In 1974, Ritterklub joined Belgium's FA, receiving registration number 8104 upon being accepted as new members. Having to give up its home ground at Dieleghemdreef for the construction of houses in 1989, Ritterklub VSV Jette is temporarily allowed the use of Complexe Heymbosch, where its first team uses pitch 3 - the pitch farthest away from the entrance at Avenue Jean Joseph Crocq. The club starts its life at the new ground in Brabant's Provincial League 3, having won promotion from P4 in 1989 after having spent its first 15 seasons as a provincial league club in the bottom division.
• 1991 / After 2 seasons in P4, Ritterklub VSV Jette drops back into P4. Following the 1990-91 season, the two other clubs at Complexe Heymbosch, AS Etoile Caravelle and Sporting Dieleghem Jette, conclude a merger, becoming Etoile Dieleghem Jette, which retains Caravelle's registration number 8682. Neither of the clubs ever having played at a higher level than P4, the new merger club starts its life at that level as well.
• 1994 / Winning the title in Brabant's Provincial League 4H, Etoile Dieleghem Jette accedes to P3 for the first time.
• 1996 / Runners-up in P3C, Etoile Dieleghem Jette wins promotion to Provincial League 2 via the play-offs.
• 2000 / Runners-up in P2A, Etoile Dieleghem Jette wins promotion to Brabant's Provincial League 1 via the play-offs.
• 2002 / In its last season as an independent club, Etoile Dieleghem Jette finishes in 2nd place in Provincial League 1, missing out on promotion to the national divisions in the play-offs. Following the 2001-02 season, the club concludes a merger with R SCUP Jette, resulting in the foundation of Royal SCUP Dieleghem (RSD) Jette under SCUP's registration number 474. First team football moves to SCUP's Stade Communal "Complexe Expo", while the side-pitch of Complexe Expo and Complexe Heymbosch are retained for lower team football and training sessions. Offered the opportunity to join the merger - not illogically, given its shared youth teams with Etoile Dieleghem Jette -, Ritterklub VSV Jette prefers to retain its independence, moving its first team football to pitch 2 of Complexe Heymbosch.
• 2006 / Having more than one reason to rejoice, Ritterklub VSV Jette wins promotion to P3 for the second time, yet again by winning the play-offs, while the club celebrates its 50th anniversary in a bash held at Stade Roi Baudouin, Belgium's national stadium, situated just across the municipal border in Laeken.
• 2009 / Finishing bottom in Brabant's P3F, Ritterklub drops back into P4 after 3 seasons.
• 2013 / Winning a regular title for the first time since joining Belgium's FA in 1974, Ritterklub VSV Jette obtains 1st place in P4D, 10 points ahead of closest rivals Sporting Eizeringen B, thus acceding to P3 for the 3rd time in club history.
• 2014 / Finally, after 25 years of waiting for a permanent ground, Ritterklub agrees to stay at Complexe Heymbosch for good. A brand new clubhouse - separate from RSD Jette's canteen - is inaugurated, while pitches 1 and 2 of the ground are equipped with a synthetic surface.
• 2016 / As Brabant's provincial leagues are subdivided into separate French-speaking and Dutch-speaking divisions (ACFF and VFV respectively), Ritterklub VSV Jette is one of the few clubs in Brussels choosing to play its football in VFV. Two of the others are K Sporting FC Haren and Bon Air Sport.
• 2023 / Much to the chagrin of Ritterklub's board, Jette's municipal authorities allow R Union Saint-Gilloise's B team to play its home matches at Complexe Heymbosch. After not having been given permission by Belgium's FA to play at Complexe Corneille Barca, Union B had had to spend the 2022-23 season, its first in the regular divisions, at grounds beyond the borders of Brussels - initially at Domaine Militaire in Nivelles, later at Stade André Cheron terrain 2 in Rebecq-Rognon. 
• 2024 / After one season at Complexe Heymbosch, R Union Saint-Gilloise moves the home matches of its B team to Stade de la Chaussée de Neerstalle in Uccle - with the team being placed in ACFF Amateur Division 1 in spite of finishing in a meagre eleventh place in D2, which comes due to the circumstances that other teams in that division did not meet D1 regulations. In the best season in club history, Ritterklub VSV Jette finishes in fifth place in Brabant VFV's Provincial League 3B; qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club defeats FC Moorsel in R1 (1-0), only to be eliminated by Londerzeel United in R2 (2-1).
• 2026 / Abandoning the location of its first-team matches, Complexe Expo terrain 2, FC Amicii Bruxelles Jette moves all its activities to Complexe Heymbosch.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

BELGIUM: SC Néchin

Stade Communal - Avenue des Sports, Néchin (SC Néchin)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

27 VIII 2023 / SC Néchin - R Soignies Sports 1-2 / Hainaut, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)

Timeline

• 1930 / Foundation of a first football club in Néchin, Union Néchinoise Sportive, which applies for membership of the Belgian Football Association, being accepted under registration number 1674. The club’s ground is situated at Rue des Combattants, on the eastern outskirts of the village.
• 1931 / Union Néchinoise takes part in regular league football for the first time, being placed in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A.
• 1934 / Foundation of a second football club in Néchin, Daring Club Néchinois. Its membership application, however, is turned down by Belgium’s FA, which refuses to admit a second club from Néchin. For that reason, the club changes its name to become Daring Club Bailleulois, taking its name from the neighbouring village of Bailleul. Thereupon, the club is given registration number 2206. Daring Club’s ground is situated at the back of a local restaurant, Brasserie du Châtelet.
• 1935 / Daring Club Bailleulois takes part in regular league football for the first time, being placed in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4A, which consists of just 5 teams – other than Daring, there are Sirault Sports, RC Molenbaix, and RC Pecquois.
• 1936 / In a league season consisting of just 4 (!) matches, all of which are won, DC Bailleulois wins the title in Provincial League 4A, thus winning promotion to P3 – along with all four other clubs, as Hainaut’s P4 is abolished – only to be re-established 34 years later. In P3A, DC Bailleulois meets derby rivals Union Néchinoise Sportive for the first time on a competitive level.
• 1939 / Clinching the title in Provincial League 3A, one point ahead of SC Templeuvois – and completely eclipsing Union Néchin, which spent all of its 8 years in P3 in the bottom half of the table –, DC Bailleulois wins promotion to Provincial League 2. After the 1938-39 season, though, with Belgium’s government mobilising its armed forces following Germany’s invasion of Poland, regular league football is discontinued in Hainaut, not to be taken up again for the duration of World War II and German occupation of Belgium.
• 1941 / With Union Néchinoise Sportive probably having folded some time between 1939 and 1941, Daring Club Bailleulois officially changes its name to become Daring Club Néchin.
• 1945 / Following the end of World War II, the decision is taken to form a new club in Néchin, Olympic Club Néchinois, which officially goes down in the Belgian FA’s books as a merger between Union Néchinoise Sportive and Daring Club Néchin. Upon being accepted as new member club, OC Néchinois acquires registration number 4268. The numbers of the two pre-war clubs are erased from the official lists. OC Néchinois’ ground is the pitch formerly used by Union at Rue des Combattants.
• 1946 / As regular league football is resumed after 7 years of inactivity, OC Néchinois is placed in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A – on the back of DC Bailleulois’ promotion to that level in the last pre-war season, in 1939.
• 1948 / Finishing second-last in P2A, OC Néchinois descends into Provincial League 3 along with bottom club SC Antoing.
• 1949 / Olympic Néchinois wins the title in Provincial League 3A, but in the ensuing round of play-offs against the winners of the 3 others P3 divisions (SC Eugies, JS Saint-Lazare Mons, and UA Manage), only JS Saint-Lazare Mons earns promotion to Provincial League 2.
• 1950 / Finishing in joint-first place in P3A along with US Leers, OC Néchinois wins the ensuing tie-break match, thus managing a return to P2 after 2 years.
• 1957 / By the start of the 1957-58 season, OC Néchinois finds itself in Provincial League 3A; it is unclear in which season the club suffered relegation to that level.
• 1959 / Not having entered a team in Hainaut’s provincial divisions in the 1958-59 season, Olympic Club Néchinois folds, ceasing all activities.
• 1962 / Three years after the demise of OC Néchinois, a new football club is founded in Néchin – Sporting Club (SC) Néchin, which applies for membership of Belgium’s FA, being admitted under registration number 6616. Instead of settling at OC Néchinois’ old ground at Rue des Combattants, SC Néchin finds itself a meadow on the northern outskirts of the village – at modern-day Avenue des Sports – where a pitch is laid out. The club’s first chairman is Jean Arlon.
• 1963 / SC Néchin starts its life as a regular league club with a first team in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A.
• 1970 / Having spent its first 7 seasons in Provincial League 3, SC Néchin descends into the newly created Provincial League 4 due to the club having finished in the bottom half of the P3A table in the 1969-70 season, but the club manages an immediate return to P3 in 1971. In the following 3 decades, SC Néchin alternates spells in P3 (1971-74, 1981-89, 1997-2000) and P4 (1974-81, 1984-97, 2000-02), with titles in P4A in 1981 and 2002.
• 2004 / Winning the title in Provincial League 3A, 6 points ahead of RAS Pays Blanc Antoinien, SC Néchin accedes to Provincial League 2 for the first time in club history.
• 2008 / Having topped the P2A table for most of the season, SC Néchin eventually finished 3rd behind champions RFCE Enghien Sports and runners-up RAS Lessines-Ollignies, which both win promotion to P1. As it turns out, SC Néchin’s board, pressed down by a debt of some 30,000 euros, wanted to avoid a promotion to the highest provincial level, sending away their first team players towards the end of the season and playing its last matches with youth players.
• 2009 / Logically, given the way the 2007-08 season ended, SC Néchin is unable to hold its own in P2A, finishing dead-last and suffering relegation to P3 along with AS Obigies.
• 2010 / Finishing second-last in P3A, SC Néchin descends into P4 along with bottom club RSC Templeuvois B. It is the club’s second relegation in a row.
• 2011 / Winning its last match away at FC Esplechin, SC Néchin clinches the title in Provincial League 4A, finishing 1 point ahead of OC Warcoing B. As such, the club returns to P3 after one year.
• 2012 / Unable to hold its own in P3A for the second time in 3 seasons, SC Néchin descends into the bottom division of Hainaut’s regional divisions along with Bury Foot-Club.
• 2019 / Finishing 3rd in P4A behind RFC Luingnois and AC Estaimbourg B, SC Néchin qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Reaching the final, the club defeats AS Pommerœul-Ville (0-3), thus returning to P3 after 7 seasons.
• 2022 / Coached by Giovanni Huin, SC Néchin finishes in 3rd place in P3A behind RAS Pays Blanc Antoinien B and La Squadra Mouscron. In the ensuing promotion play-offs, the club reaches the final, in which it defeats CS Pays Vert Ostiches-Ath B with the winning goal (2-1) being scored in the last minute. Thus, the club wins promotion to P2.
• 2023 / Still coached by Giovanni Huin, SC Néchin wins the title in P2A, 4 points ahead of RUS Herseautoise and FC Enghiennois, thus winning its second promotion in a row – and finding itself in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1 for the first time in club history.
• 2026 / Finishing in fourth place in Hainaut's Provincial League 1, SC Néchin qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in R1 against R Soignies Sports (3-0). Subsequently, the club plays a lucky loser play-off against R Gosselies Sports, in which it manages a 3-2 win - a match and a result which seemed inconsequential at the time, but which turned out to become hugely important when news transpired of the demise of Amateur Division 3 side La Louvière Centre in July 2026. With this club being knocked out of the Belgian FA altogether, its place is taken by SC Néchin as the best play-off club from Hainaut's Provincial League 1 without a ticket for Amateur Division 3. That same year, a new clubhouse is inaugurated alongside the main pitch of the ground at Avenue des Sports, with the new construction having been erected along the eastern touchline, opposite of its predecessor.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author