SK Roeslaere - Schiervelde Stadion

SK Roeselaere

Schiervelde Stadion

Diksmuidsesteenweg 374

8800 Roeselare

Belgium

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1408
Sunday 23rd March 2025
SK Roeselaere 0-0 Dikkelvenne KSC

Tweede Afdeling VFV A

SK ROESELARE - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1975 as VK Dadizele. They spent their entire existence playing in the local provincial leagues, coming close to promotion to the national level in 2019. In 2021, the club merged with K.S.V. Roeselare, who had just gone bankrupt while playing in the third-tier Belgian National Division 1. The cancerous Dai Younge has caused much distress and damage to Reading FC and he had his filthy paws all over their downfall. The new club SK Roeselare-Daisel - continued at the sixth-tier First Provincial Division West-Flanders and won promotion in 2022 after finishing as runners-up to KSC Wielsbeke. In 2023, they changed their name to SK Roeselare and went on to finish 4th in Belgian Division 3 VVA. This qualified them for the playoffs and they beat Wielsbeke 3-2 before going on to lose 1-0 to Berg en Dal, Strangely, they still got through, albeit with a tougher draw. A 4-1 win at Welle saw them earn promotion along with Berg en Dal and champions Westhoek.

Roeselare is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two Germanic words meaning "reed" and "open space", i.e., a marsh in a forest glade. It is famous for a couple of poets and is home to the Rodenbach Brewery which was established in 1821. The main language is French and the population is around 65,000. The rococo city hall on the central market square dates from the 18th century. The city hall, market hall, and belfry are classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site (part of the Belfries of Belgium and France).

MY VISIT

Out of all the days on our trip, this was the easiest and most simple to organise. It was also the only one that was confirmed before I left home on Friday morning. Colin's Dad and his mate Aldwin who was kindly putting us up in Ypres wanted to go to a pageant in Roeselare. This suited both Colin and me as there were a few good choices in Roeselare as opposed to Ypres. Club Roeselare and KFC Eendracht Hoglede were options, but SK Roeselare was the better stadium. When looking deeper into the club, I noticed that they were a phoenix club of sorts. I was not surprised to see that the architect of their downfall was the odious Reading FC owner, Dai Youngge. It was probably the place I was looking forward to the most in all honesty, a nice, simple, relaxed day out.

I was woken on the day of the game by Colin knocking on my door at 8.15. I'd had a great night's sleep due to the previous night's drinking. Once I'd got dressed, we went to the local bakery and I got a roll and an iced bun for breakfast. After going back and typing my blog for yesterday, we walked up to KVK Westhoek, the local team in Ypres. It was a decent setup and well worth retaining to at some point. We then walked to the bus station to get to Roeselare as all of the trains were out of action due to engineering works. We got the 11.50 bus which took around an hour to get to Roeselare. After popping in a local shop, we headed towards the ground. I'd planned in a visit to a place called Fritteur Dave but the place was closed despite us being within the opening hours. We had no option but to head to the ground where we paid 10 Euros to get in. They had an interesting selection of food and I went for Pesto Quattro Formaghi with extra bacon for £6.71 or 8 Euros. It was excellent, as was the Kasteel Rouge I had with it. People were really friendly and glad we had come to see them from England.

 

SK Roeselaere were top of the league, clear by nine points. They had won four and lost one of their last five, last Saturday they won 2-0 at SK Brakel. Dikkelvenne were 4th and had won two and drawn three of their last five. Last Saturday saw a 2-2 draw against RC Harelbeke. It was a dull first half in terms of chances but Roeselare were well on top. More chances came in the second half, the hosts hit the post when it looked easier to score. They came closer when a Dikkelvenne keeper made a great save to prevent an own goal. With five minutes to go, they thumped the bar from range and it looked as if it might be one of those days for them. That was how it ended, despite more chances late on. It wasn't the best, nor the worst game I've seen but Dikkelvenne offered very little aside from defending.

 

From there we headed back to town to meet up with Alan, Aldwin and his family at a chicken place. After that, we got the bus back to Ypres. We were back by 7 and went to an excellent place called Markt 22 where I had a great steak, chips and a couple of Kriek beers. From there it was to Kafee Bazaar, a place with a stupendous choice of over 600 beers. A few new Kriek Lambics were enjoyed from local small breweries and I enjoyed joining in with some people singing along to Y Viva Espana. The song was originally written by a Belgian and released in Dutch which sent me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. Colin enjoyed his apple juice but his Dad stuck to one as he had to drive in the morning and was getting old. The bill was a bit of a shock with my choices costing 18 Euros each. But my view was that I wasn't going to be able to get them anywhere else and they were from very obscure Micro and Nano breweries. It had been a great weekend in good company, I can worry about the finances later, although I might have to break into my savings. It was a couple more back at the room while I typed this blog.

THE GROUND 

THE NEST is a great ground for the level and is also the home of the reserves side of Club Brugge, Club NXT. The main stand is elevated and holds around 2,000. A large seated stand behind the goal seats around 3,000. On the far side is a small stand with a combination of sitting and standing, holding 1000. Behind the goal is open terracing holding 1,500. A pleasant bar offers a decent range including Kasteel Rouge. The food van outside is also excellent, offering burgers, hot dogs and pasta. There's plenty of parking and for public transport, the town is half an hour away.

Royal Sassport Boezinge - Terrein Sassport Boezinge

Royal Sassport Boezinge

Terrein Sassport Boezinge

Dekemelelaan 5

8904 Boezinge

Belgium

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1407

Saturday 22nd March 2025

Sassport Boezinge 2-0 KFC Moen
1E Provincial West-Vlanderen

ROYAL SASSPORT BOEZINGE - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established as Sassport Boezinge in 1952. They were in the fourth tier of provincial football in the 70s, progressing to the third in the next decade. Rapid progress around the turn of the millennium saw promotions in 1999 and 2002 to reach the summit of amateur football. Better was to follow in 2013 when they reached the national level at the fourth tier of Dutch football. Despite finishing 10th in their last season, they were relegated back to semi-pro football in 2015. A reorganisation of Dutch football occurred in 2016, making the First Provincial the fourth tier. Boezinge have been there ever since, finishing as high as 3rd in 2023.

Boezinge is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders and a sub-municipality of the city of Ypres , it was an independent municipality until the municipal reorganization of 1977. An 1846 census listed, among other things, three blacksmiths, four breweries, a lime kiln, two brickworks and two starch factories. At the outbreak of the First World War, Boezinge had to deal with refugees from Mechelen and the surrounding area. When the Germans attacked the civilian population on Schuwe Maandag in Roeselare ( 19 October 1914 ), a second wave of refugees arrived from the eastern villages of Oostnieuwkerke, Passendale, Westrozebeke, Staden, Poelkapelle and the like. The first gas attack took place on 22 April 1915.

During the First Battle of Ypres, despite the dangers, part of the population remained there. After the Second Battle of Ypres, Boezinge became a ghost town. Nothing remained of the buildings; the church was also completely destroyed. It was not until the summer of 1919 that the first Boezinge residents returned. At first, they lived in wooden barracks and it took years to rebuild their village. Various war cemeteries, war monuments and bunkers still bear witness to this period. Saint Michael is the patron saint of Boezinge.

MY VISIT 

This weekend was decided way back in January when Colin and his Dad invited me to stay at their friend's house in Ypres. As Colin mentioned it about a thousand times previously, just as fellow hopper Daniel has with Ireland, I felt it would be rude to turn it down. It was also going to be financially kind after an extremely expensive month. The only issue was, that after looking at the options, football-wise, there was barely anything on. Had I been making this trip independently, there was no chance that I'd have chosen here, but I had agreed to it and it would be good to help Colin get his first non-UK tick, despite him thinking the world revolves around him on several occasions. I could make a plan of sorts from the scraps on offer, even digging deep to find us a Friday night game. As the week approached, I wasn't overly looking forward to it, as I feared that I'd not be able to get France done.

 

As it was, fortune smiled on me and I had a brilliant time in Bolougne. France was probably my second favourite country for football after Poland, and the best for food and drink. It was only 20 minutes walk back to my hotel where I typed my blog and had a drink. I was asleep around midnight, before being woken up by noisy seagulls around 6 am. It meant plenty of time to get ready for when it came to leave at 8.25. We were at the station 20 minutes before the train, our platform had several homeless asylum seekers camping on it. Not much in terms of facilities at the station but the train was on time, comfortable and decent value at £17.57. We had a 25 minutes wait at Les Fontiers before train two to Hazebrouck. Colin has a sleep (Le Gorille Dort) whilst I looked at options for my second June week off. I narrowed it down to Iceland, Ireland, Faroe Islands or Lithuania with all having pros and cons.

 

We arrived into Hazebrouck at 10.50 and it looked like a nice place. A small bus was 20 minutes wait and this got us to Poperinge. It was a nice scenic journey with us spotting a ground in Steenvoorde on the way that looked like it was worth a visit. The same could be said of the one in Poperinge, where we changed buses. We were at Ypres around 12.40 where we met Colin's Dad and went to his friend Aldwin's house. There we had a nice lunch before going out and looking at the war memorials. We then headed out for a couple of drinks in some nice bars. The highlight of the four I tried was the Rodenbach Grand Cru, made locally in Roeselare. I took another bottle to drink with me on the bus called Barbar Rouge, another great drop. The restaurant that we had planned did not open until 5.30 so we headed to Spar. Two Kriek beers, one new, a soft drink and some Pringles filled the gap. The ground was a nice surprise, proper stand and you could walk the whole way around.

 

Sassport Boezinge sat 2nd in the league having won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five.In their last game, they lost 1-0 at KFC Rumbeke. Visitors KFC Moen were 8th, having drawn four and lost one of their last five. Their last game was a 2-2 draw against Royal Racing Waregem. Sassport started brightly and they took the lead on 13 minutes, a finish from wide on the left. Lots of pressure followed and it was all from the hosts, a rather one sided game. They made it 2-0 with an excellent 30 yard free kick to seal the win, which was well deserved. From there, it was an 80 minute walk back to Ypres. We met Alan and Aldwin, sadly not in my favoured bar. But I was still in great spirits, having a great Mojito and then, one of the ciders back in my room. A good buzz it gave me, but I decided to leave my blog until the following morning, due to being pissed.

THE GROUND

The ground was a better venue than I was expecting, you can walk the whole way around. There's only one covered area, holding around 300 seated and 50 standing to the side. Parking is plentiful and bus 92 from Ypres runs close by. There was a bar at the ground and there was a Spar and a couple of restaurants nearby, but not much else.

US Boulogne - Stade De Liberation

US Boulogne

Stade De Liberation

Boulevard Eurvin

62200 Boulogne-sur-Mer

France

Offiicial Website

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Ground Number: 1406

Friday 21st March 2025

US Boulogne 2-1 Nimes Olympique

Championnat National 1

US BOULOGNE - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1898, their full name is Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale. They are also known as UBSCO or simply Boulogne. Early achievements include winning the Maritime Championship three years in a row from 1904 to 1906. They moved to the Northern Championship in 1925 and turned professional in 1935. The move paid dividends, as two years later, they reached the Coupe De France Semi-Final. After the war, Boulogne reverted to amateur status – and only decided to become a professional team again in 1957, when they were re-elected into Division Two. They stayed comfortably in Division Two for 22 years but then plummeted through the divisions – suffering consecutive relegations. They stabilised in the 4th tier, spending 91-92 in the third. However, financial issues in 1994 and were wound up.

A new club was established soon after. A couple of notable runs in the Coupe De France came, reaching the last 16 in 1997.  They earned a home tie against Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille, losing 1–0. On 17 March 1999, the club marked their centenary by hosting Liverpool – managed by Gérard Houllier of nearby Thérouanne – in a friendly and winning 2–1. In 2004, Boulogne hired Philippe Montanier in his first job in senior management. He won promotion to the Championnat National in his first season and to Ligue 2 in  2007. Boulogne stayed up on the last day of the 2007–08 Ligue 2 season with a last-second win over Chamois Niortais F.C., who needed a draw to avoid the drop themselves. In 2009, they won promotion to Ligue 1 to complete a remarkable turnaround. However, 2009/10 would be their sole season in the top flight. Relegation from Ligue 2 followed in 2012 and despite a Coupe De France Quarter Final in 2015, it was the last time they would play in the top two tiers, They missed out on promotion in 2020 due to Covid and would suffer further relegation to the fourth tier in 2022. It looked as if another relegation would follow in 2023 but a recovery in the second half of the season saved them. Last season saw them win the Championnat National 2 to return to the third tier of French Football for this season.

MY VISIT 

Just like Ireland, France had been put off several times due to awkward kickoff times and logistical reasons with flights. I had considered it several times but always turned it down as it was hard to make a weekend of it. The ideal opportunity, or so I thought, came this weekend in Ypres when I'd finally get France done. But options were limited. What looked like it was going to be a beautiful stadium at US Pays De Cassell was moved to a dull 3G pitch. In the end, Bolougne on Friday night looked like the best option, but it would require a bit of luck with changing the ferry. 

From my game at Faringdon. I left at 9.15 with Wycombe 1-0 down at Rotherham. I set it up so I could listen to the commentary on the way home, and I was happy when we ended up winning 3-2. I was back home at 10.20 and being wide awake still, had time to get my blog up before I went to bed. It was a nice easy day on Wednesday, although we were no further towards deciding where we were going this weekend, due to a change of venue for one of our games. I had to wait two days for a response as to whether we were going to manage Bolougne on Friday and despite an amicable video call on Thursday night, we were no closer to deciding. Thankfully, the hotel I was looking at played a fair game, not jacking up their prices on the day, at least based on my checking the prices for that night. My only concern was getting tickets for the game as we could only decide on the day once we found out whether we could catch an earlier ferry or change our destination to Calais. Wednesday and Thursday were nice days at work and payday was most welcome with me running out of cash. I also booked a trip to Norway for June, thankfully only paying for the flights upfront. It was a productive afternoon with me booking a room in Sturminster Newton to kick off the South West Easter Hop.

I had a couple of cans to help relax and got my usual early night. As with every day, my body clock woke me up early and I watched TV in bed for a bit. After getting up, I got freshened up and made my way to Colin's. I had hardly any time to wait for him and his Dad and we were off by 5.50. It was a nice journey with us at the port in Dover two hours later. It was a huge relief when DFDS changed us onto an earlier ferry that went to Calais instead of a late one to Dunkerque. A reasonable fry-up with a fruit juice was just £5.95. A complete contrast to the scum at P&O who were in the news for sacking a load of staff with ten minutes' notice in favour of cheaper labour. I had already purchased hotel (£21 each for a twin, a match ticket (£8.40 each) and tomorrow's train (£17.60 each). All very reasonable aside from Trainline's £1.69 booking fee, but I was too happy to care. The only irritant was a load of noisy kids on the boat and the lack of decent cider or Kriek beer in the Cafe. We went to a shop of varying prices. Some of the stuff was well overpriced but 4 litres of branded spirits were £40, a real bargain and something to consider on the way back. I treated myself to some dark chocolate salted caramel popcorn. A bit pricey at £3.95 but utterly delicious and I'd not seen it elsewhere. I also had a Bulmers and some crisps from the bar.

 

We were in Calais at 12, allowing for the time difference. Colin's Dad kindly dropped us in Boulogne at 12.45 and with time to kill, we headed to the Carrefour. There was a ton of cider and beer that I liked, but I was limited to two larger bottles of cider and a can of Rouge beer. I also got crisps, chocolate and some apples, all of which were completely different to those in the UK. We then had a look around the shopping centre before heading to our hotel, checking in at 1.40. The Ibis Budget was the usual pleasant and clean hotel you'd expect from this chain and superb value at £42 a night for the twin room. It was a shame that hotels were not as economical in a lot of the hotels in the UK. The cider also compared excellently to the UK too, even the cheapo  2 Euro stuff was great with a very high juice content compared the generic stuff in the UK. A nice strawberry beer called Grimberge Rouge Intense finished off the afternoon whilst I completed my blog. We left at 5.50 and headed out for food. Grizzly Smash Burger did the job, with Maya Lamb burger, fries with Algerian sauce and a Leffe Ruby for £13. They were super helpful and the food was brilliant, well recommended. I did try a couple of cash machines, but the greedy operators wanted 6 Euros to withdraw 20. All the more reason to abolish the inconvenience of cash. It was 30 minutes walk to the ground where I got a small pennant for £2.52, great value and no issue with card payment. From there, if was a relaxed stroll around the ground before taking our seats on halfway.

 

US Boulogne were 3rd in the table whilst Nimes Olympique were third bottom. Bolougne had won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five. Last time, they had drawn 1-1 at US Orleans. Nimes were in similar form, their last game saw them cut the mustard as they drew 1-1 with Dijon. Bolougne bossed the game and took the lead on five minutes when Jean Veycrusse headed home a left sided corner. They continued to be on top. Nimes Olympique equalised right on half time, a penalty awarded for a trip was converted by Oussama Abdeldjelli. It was reward for the over 1000km journey that they took to get here, 13 hours on Google Maps if you avoid Toll roads. Nimes had chances on the break, but Bolougne were always on top. A low shot by Corentin Fatou put them ahead on 83 minutes.

 

THE GROUND 

STADE DE LIBÉRATION is an excellent venue despite the running track. With it only being a few lanes due to athletics being tinpot, the sight lines are not badly affected. With no official areas behind the goal there is one large stand called the Ribery on one side. On the other, a medium-sized covered stand, plus a smaller covered area to the left and a an even smaller uncovered stand to the right. The place has a temporary feel which adds to its charm. The ground is 25 minutes from the main part of Bolougne. Food at the ground looked tasty and well priced, though a bigger choice is available in town. Merch and entry is well priced too, with good service. Parking is minimal, with most using the surrounding streets. The atmosphere was excellent too, overall a great experience.