BELGIUM: FC Espoir Tarciennois

Terrain du Pavé, Tarcienne (FC Espoir Tarciennois)

Belgium, province: Namur = Namen

9 VIII 2026 / FCE Tarciennois - RFC Somzée 3-3 - Somzée wins penalty shoot-out (2-3) / Namur, Provincial Cup R2

Timeline

• 1915 / A photo has been preserved of a group of football players in Tarcienne, sporting a plate ‘Foot-Ball Club de Tarcienne’. This club – if it was ever officially founded – never joined the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) and it is unlikely that it survived the hardships of the German occupation of Belgium in World War I.
• 1956 / Foundation of a football club in Tarcienne, a village in the Province of Namur, just beyond the southern outskirts of Charleroi; the new club, founded by three local youngsters who had previously played for ROC Charleroi, Arthur Montel, Léon Dupont, and Michel Vandenbosch, takes on the name Espoir Tarciennois, with M. Monroy taking on the role of chairman. 
• 1957 / Espoir Tarciennois joins the Belgian Football Association, acquiring registration number 6004 upon being accepted as a new member club. A pitch is laid out at Rue de Noisetiers, close to the American Military Cemetery; the ground is usually referred to as Terrain du Pavé, but please note that this does not coincide with the pitch where the club settled later on, in the 1980s. For the 1957-58 season, Espoir Tarciennois is placed in Namur’s Provincial League 3.
• 1964 / Espoir Tarciennois manages a runner-up finish in Namur’s Provincial League 3.
• 1965 / Clinching the title in Namur’s Provincial League 3, Espoir Tarciennois wins promotion to Provincial League 2. The skipper of the successful team is Emile Philippe.
• 1969 / Suffering relegation from Namur’s Provincial League 2 after four years, Espoir Tarciennois finds itself in Provincial League 3 again.
• 1970 / The new board of Espoir Tarciennois plans to move the club to a newly laid out pitch, the Terrain des Marais in the village centre, but as the soil proves too marshy, an emergency solution has to be found, with the club settling on a temporary ground, the Terrain du Calvaire, a plot of farmland put at the disposal of the local footballers by a local smallholder, E. Vandenbroeck.
• 1979 / Thanks to the intervention of the municipal authorities of Walcourt, the Terrain des Marais in the village centre is finally brought in order, with Espoir Tarciennois moving to this pitch in the summer of 1979.
• 1981 / On the club’s 25th anniversary, the name Espoir Tarciennois is officially adapted to become Football Club (FC) Espoir Tarciennois, often abbreviated as FCE Tarciennois or FCE Tarcienne.
• ± 1983 / Moving away from the Terrain des Marais, FC Espoir Tarciennois settles on a newly laid-out pitch alongside the N4 highway, with this new ground being referred to as the Terrain du Pavé. 
• 1997 / Runner-up in Namur’s Provincial League 4B, 1 point behind champions JS Morialmé, FC Espoir Tarciennois goes on to win promotion to Provincial League 3 via the play-offs, holding out at that level until at least 2001.
• 2009 / Finishing in second-last place in Namur’s Provincial League 3B, FC Espoir Tarciennois descends into Provincial League 4 along with R Ham FC and bottom club REFC Moustier.
• 2014 / Runner-up in Namur’s Provincial League 4E, 5 points behind champions RCS Florennois, FC Espoir Tarciennois qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is drawn into a group with FC Auvelais B and REFC Evelette-Jallet; suffering an away defeat against the former (3-1) and managing a home win against the latter (4-3), the club finishes in second place – sufficient for promotion to Provincial League 3.
• 2015 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Namur’s Provincial League 3B, FC Espoir Tarciennois drops back into Provincial League 4, along with RFC Somzée B, Etoile Taminoise, and bottom club REFC Moustier.
• 2016 / Champions in Namur’s Provincial League 4F, 2 points ahead of closest rivals Flavion Sport B, FC Espoir Tarciennois manages an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
• 2018 / Runner-up in Namur’s Provincial League 3C, 4 points behind champions ES Petigny-Frasnes, FC Espoir Tarciennois qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club finishes top in its group of three following successive wins over Jeunesse Taviétoise (0-2) and US Beauraing 61 B (1-0). As such, Tarcienne wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
• 2019 / Finishing bottom of the table in Namur’s Provincial League 2B, FC Espoir Tarciennois drops back into Provincial League 3 after one season only, alongside RSFC Bièvre and RUS Assesse.
• 2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due to the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, FC Espoir Tarciennois finds itself top of the table in Namur’s Provincial League 3C after 22 of 30 matches played, 2 points ahead of closest rivals RFC Bioul 81. On that basis, Tarcienne is placed in Provincial League 2 for the new season.
• 2024 / Finishing in fifth place in Namur’s Provincial League 2B – in what may have been the club’s best-ever performance – FCE Tarciennois qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by ES Petigny-Frasnes (2-1).
• 2025 / A new clubhouse is constructed alongside the touchline on the south side of the main pitch at Terrain du Pavé.

Note – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-6 = non-matchday visit, July 2025 / pictures 7-19 = match visit, August 2026.

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

BELGIUM: RCS Verlaine (B) (2016-)

Stade des Six Bonniers terr. 2, Verlaine (B pitch of RCS Verlaine)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

9 VIII 2026 / RCS Verlaine B - RFC Liège U21 1-3 / Pre-season friendly

Timeline

• 1940 / Foundation of a football club in Verlaine, a village in the western half of the Province of Liège; the new club takes on the name Cercle Sportif (CS) Verlaine. Upon joining Belgium's FA in December 1940, CS Verlaine obtains registration number 2871.
• 1941 / CS Verlaine takes part in Liège's local divisions, more specifically in Regional League 3, for the first time. It is unclear when exactly the club settled at its Stade des Six Bonniers, but it must have been quite early on in its history – probably already in the 1940s.
• 2016 / In the spring of 2016, a thorough renovation of the Stade des Six Bonniers is undertaken, involving the construction of a new covered stand alongside the main pitch as well as a reorganisation of the side-pitches. The two first side-pitches, situated at the back of the main pitch, are given up to make way for one synthetic pitch, which is given a quarter’s turn in comparison to the lay-out of the two old pitches; moreover, the hillside on which the two old pitches had been situated, was levelled to allow the new pitch to be perfectly level. Also in 2016, the newly created B team of RCS Verlaine, which played most of the 2015-16 season at the Stade des Fagnes in Engis while the works in Verlaine were going on, eases to the title in Liège’s Provincial League 4E, 17 points ahead of runner-up RC Entente Amay B; as such, the team wins promotion to Provincial League 3, settling on the synthetic side-pitch of the Stade des Six Bonniers in the fall of 2016.
• 2017 / Finishing in third place in Liège’s Provincial League 3A, RCS Verlaine B qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out RFC Wallonia Thisnes in R1 (6-4) and Huccorgne Sports in R2 (2-2 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out), going on to edge past Etoile Verviétoise in the final (2-3). As such, the team wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
• 2025 / Runner-up in Liège’s Provincial League 2A alongside RJS Fizoise, 9 points behind champions FC Ans, RCS Verlaine B qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the team knocks out REH Braives in R1 (2-1), only to suffer defeat in R2 against RFC Wallonia Thisnes (2-1).
• 2026 / Finishing in sixth place in Liège’s Provincial League 2A, RCS Verlaine B qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in R1 against REH Braives (2-1).

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

BELGIUM: EC Erpion (1968-2015) / Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure (2015-2019) / Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure (B) (2019-) / JS Erpion (B) (2022-)

Stade Michel & Anne-Marie Algoet terr. 1, Erpion (B pitch of Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure & JS Erpion, formerly EC Erpion & A pitch of Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

6 VIII 2026 / Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure B - JS Solrézienne 4-2 / Pre-season friendly

Timeline

• 1967 / Foundation of a football club in Erpion, a tiny village in the Province of Hainaut halfway between Beaumont, Froidchapelle, and Walcourt. The new club takes on the name Espoir Club (EC) Erpion, with Alfonse François taking on the role of chairman. Acquiring membership of the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) under registration number 7081 in June 1967, the club settles on a pitch laid out on a plot of farmland alongside Rue de Froidchapelle, to the south of the village. In the 1967-68 season, EC Erpion does not take part with a first team in Hainaut’s regular provincial divisions yet.
• 1968 / Moving away from its pitch at Rue de Froidchapelle, EC Erpion moves to a newly laid-out pitch in the heart of the village, at the back of the farmstead of Michel Algoet and his wife Anne-Marie at Rue du Général Galet – the current Ruelle Catton leading to the ground not yet existing at the time. The ground does not dispose of a clubhouse yet, with the players being allowed to use Algoet’s stables as dressing rooms. In the summer of 1968, one year after its foundation, EC Erpion enters a first team in Hainaut’s bottom division, Provincial League 3, for the first time.
• 1970 / Finishing in twelfth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3E, EC Erpion is placed in the newly created bottom division of Hainaut’s provincial league system, Provincial League 4. 
• 1992 / Having featured in the lower reaches of Hainaut’s Provincial League 4 for the best part of the past two decades, EC Erpion now manages a respectable second place in Provincial League 4G, with an equal number of points as JS Solrézienne, 6 points behind champions – and derby rivals – JS Froidchapelloise.
• 1993 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4G, 1 point ahead of closest rivals Roux Sport, EC Erpion wins promotion to Provincial League 3. Also in 1993, a clubhouse is erected alongside the northern touchline of the pitch at Ruelle Catton.
• 1998 / EC Erpion manages a runner-up finish in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3E, 4 points behind champions R Gosselies Sports. 
• 2000 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3E, 7 points ahead of closest followers US Solrézienne, EC Erpion wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time in club history.
• 2007 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, EC Erpion drops back into Provincial League 3 after seven years, alongside the club in second-last place, RRFC Gozéen.
• 2009 / EC Erpion finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 3 points behind champions R Baileux Sport. 
• 2010 / EC Erpion finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 1 point behind champions RFC Farciennes. Also in or around 2010, a second pitch is added to the set-up at Erpion’s ground at Ruelle Catton. This second pitch is situated to the east of the main pitch.
• 2011 / Finishing in third place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, EC Erpion qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 in a crazy away match against RES Frasnoise (7-6).
• 2012 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 8 points ahead of closest followers Trazegnies Sports, EC Erpion manages a return to Provincial League 2 after five years.
• 2015 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, EC Erpion descends into Provincial League 3 along with bottom club R Baileux Sport. Following the 2014-15 season, in an attempt to broaden its appeal to the wider region, the board of EC Erpion decides to rename the club Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure (sometimes abbreviated as ELLEH) – named after the artificial lakes to the east of the village, a popular tourist destination.
• 2016 / Runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 13 points behind runaway champions RJS Thudinienne, Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eases past ES Mominoise in R1 (5-1), going on to defeat RFC Nalinnois in the final (0-2). As such, the club wins promotion to Provincial League 2. 
• 2018 / Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure finishes in second place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, 9 points behind champions SC Montignies, but misses out on the promotion play-offs. 
• 2019 / Works are completed on a synthetic pitch at Ruelle Catton in Erpion, on a location partly overlapping the old second pitch of the ground – but situated slightly to the south of the original layout. On the occasion of the inauguration of this new 3G and its small covered stand, the ground as a whole is renamed Stade Michel & Anne-Marie Algoet in recognition of the farming couple, who had put part of their farmland at the club’s disposal in 1968. From the 2019-20 season, first team football is moved to this new Terrain 2 – as well as most lower team matches.  
• 2022 / Foundation of a second football club in Erpion, Jeunesse Sportive (JS) Erpion, which acquires membership of Belgium’s FA under registration number 9779. The new entity is created under the wings of Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure to allow more senior players to engage in first team football. JS Erpion’s first team is placed in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4, playing its home matches on the synthetic pitch, Terrain 2.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of three different visits: pictures 1-4 = non-matchday visit, July 2025 / pictures 5-20 = match visit, August 2026 / picture 21 = non-matchday visit, March 2026.

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