We were recommended this stadium by one of our fans quite some time ago. Two years and a bit later we finally made it to this wonderful stadium. Get ready to read some more about the stadium in the Vleugtweg in Wezemaal.
In full war period FC Rapide Wezemaal was created. In these fields in Brabant quite some teams were created during and directly after the great war. It only shows football is one of those escape games to unite people. For over fifty years the team would go through all of the regional leagues in the province of Brabant and later on Vlaams-Brabant.
The peculiar thing about Rapide Wezemaal is in fact their ladies team. That was created in 1983 and very quickly they reached the national divisions - even before the original mens team reached the national divisions. By 1991 the ladies even managed to reach first division and they became one of the leading teams in Belgium. In 1994 the men followed the good example of their female colleagues and reached fourth division.
For the men it was already over in 1996 as they relegated back to the regional leagues. As of 2003 KFC Rapide Wezemaal would even go further down the road and relegate to the lower leagues. The ladies on the contrary kept being one of the better teams in Belgium. They became champion several times and won the Belgian cup more than once. That success made them chose to go their own way in 2007 as a separate team; Football Club Ladies Rapide Wezemaal.
One year later though that team already merged with Sint-Truidense VV. The A team of FCL Rapide moved to Sint-Truiden, while the B team stayed in Wezemaal and was brought back under control of KFC Rapide Wezemaal. After some more successes and a downfall to third division Sint-Truidense VV (who was created in 1924 already) ceased to exist in 2015. That brought an end to a very successful era.
The former B team (new A team) though tried to fill in that gap. Shortly after they rejoined KFC Rapide Wezemaal in 2008 they managed to go to the national divisions. National leagues which they relegated from in 2017 though. Two years later they managed to win the top regional league again, earning them a spot in the national divisions again, but instead of promoting the team ceased to exist in 2019. Reason? Lack of interest from female players and the far away games that had to be played. The real end to one of the biggest female success stories in Belgian ladies football.
