Most people will know Ertvelde as the place where the late Eddy Wally had his own discotheque, Paris-Las Vegas. But this small village is more than just that. Located near Zelzate and Evergem, between Ghent and the Dutch border there is also football culture to be found. And more than you would expect.
It all started with the creation of AS Rieme in 1924. We can only find information on KV Ertvelde-Rieme, but we have one source that mentions this was a merger between SK Ertvelde and AS Rieme somewhere along the years. The team has always played in the regional leagues (before and after the merger). In 1971 the above mentioned merger happened. As we couldn't find any details of SK Ertvelde in the Belgian FA archives, we suspect they always played in a local FA. The team has always played in this particular stadium.
In 1990 KV Ertvelde-Rieme underwent a second merger; this time with Sparta Ertvelde. The new team name became Verbroedering Sparta Ertvelde-Rieme (obviously). Same story for Sparta Ertevelde. No details to be found in the Belgian FA archives and thus we believe they also played in a local FA. The new team went into the same direction as before; only regional football. The only notable remark in their history is the big renovation of their Arteveldestadion in 1994. The new millennium didn't bring any change. In the contrary, in 2006 Sparta Ertvelde-Rieme had to cease all activities, but it didn't take long before there was football again in Ertvelde.
In 2006, the same year, Sporting Ertvelde was created by the same people that were active within Verbroedering Sparta Ertvelde-Rieme. Sporting took over the ground and started over in the lowest regional league. Unfortunately the organisation wasn't sustainable and only three years later Sporting folded already. They tried to merge with the neighbouring Evergem Center, but the deal fell through. For two years Ertvelde didn't see any football at all.
But in 2011 a new history started. Ertvelde United was created. They started in the lowest regional leagues as well and took over the Arteveldestadion. And in that short amount of time they managed to go to the second highest regional league. Maybe some time soon we'll see them in the national leagues? That would be a first time for any Ertvelde football team.
Don't be shocked, but some big players from the past have played for one of the Ertvelde teams. To name a few; Aimé Antheunis, former Lokeren player Roland Ingels and former SK Beveren players Freddy Buyl and Rudi Van Goethem.
But Ertvelde once made it to the national news in Belgian football world. When KAA Gent opened up their completely new stadium they wanted to name their stadium Arteveldestadion. Obviously Sporting Ertvelde wasn't too happy with that choice as their stadium was named that way and Artevelde is the medieval way to refer to Ertvelde. It became a big thing, but all in all everything ended well with an agreement between Sporting Ertvelde and KAA Gent.
