When you say Tienen, a lot of people are going to think about the sugar factory located there. Tiense suiker is very well known, even across the Belgian border. But there is more to Tienen than just sugar. Not that far away from the sugar factory a football fan can find the Bergéstadion, occupied by KVK Tienen.
KVK Tienen is in fact a merger between two Tienen teams in 1981, but the matricule number it plays with is from the old Racing Club Tienen.
The very first football team in Tienen was actually Sporting Club Tirlemontois. They started playing in 1912, but only joined the Belgian FA in 1913. After two years and after WWI they would never play again and eventually they would also cease activities. Shortly after CS Tirlemont existed for a very short period, but they never really played any official games and they disappeared as quickly as they came.
KVK Tienens history started in 1921 when Racing Club Tirlemont was founded. They found their way to the highest leagues in a very short period of time. In 1926 already they reached third division (national football) and in 1931 they went up to second division. The absolute peak moment was in 1937 when they won second division and were able to play in first division for the very first but sadly enough also for the last time ever. They relegated one year later and never returned to first division football.
Up to the 50s RRC Tirlemont would stay in second division. In 1956 they would merge with Standaard FC Grimde and in 1957 they relegated back to third division and apart from 1967/1968 (second division), they would stay in third for a long time. Between 1971 and 1975 they played in fourth division before returning to third division. In the meantime (1973) the team name changed into Royal Racing Club Tienen.
In 1981 it was then finally decided to join forces with Voorwaarts Tienen and become KVK Tienen together. The day of this decision was also the day of the very last derby between the two teams ever. Spicy little detail.
Voorwaarts Tienen originally didn't really come from Tienen. It was founded as Vlug en Vrij Wommersom in 1941 (20 years after RC Tienen). In 1945 already a first name change happened after merging with Voorwaerts Hakendover and Vlug en Vrij Tienen - Voorwaarts Wommersom, in 1946 it became Voetbalvereniging Voorwaarts (after merging with Konga Boys Tienen) and in 1947 it then changed to Voorwaarts Tienen and the team moved to Tienen. Just like RC Tienen, this Tienen moved up pretty quickly. In 1949 they first reached the national leagues (third division). The next years would be up and down and depending on a new football structure but after all of this Voorwaarts managed to stay in third division.
In 1957 the very first official derbies were played when RRC Tirlemont relegated from second division. In 1960 however Voorwaarts relegated to fourth division. All throughout the 60s Voorwaarts would go up and down between third and fourth division, but in 1970 the inevitable happened... Relegation to the regional leagues. The 70s would prove to be very hard for the team and it would take until 1979 before Voorwaarts managed to come back. In 1981 Voorwaart Tienen merged with RC Tienen.
The kick off of KVK Tienen wasn't very successful with a relegation to fourth division, but they quickly managed to return to third division. In the early 90s they played two years in fourth division, but the end of the millennium was good for Tienen. After a couple of decades they saw a team in second division again. They would relegate five years later, in 2004.
In 2005 KVK Tienen merged with Eva's Kumtich, a women's football team that played in their first division since the last 30 years. In 2009 they split ways again and DVC Eva's Tienen was created as a completely new team.
Between 2006 and 2012 KVK Tienen was also represent in second division but in 2013 the team had to file for bankruptcy. The team was able to start over with the same matricule number and the next year the team name was changed into KVK Tienen-Hageland. This year though they are struggling against relegation. We really hope KVK Tienen makes it and stays in second amateur division.
Other Tienen teams that are no longer...
During the 20s there was Union Sportive Tienen for three years.
After two years of Sint-Gillis Sportkring Cumptich in the 20s USG Kumtich was founded in 1936. In 2003, after decades of regional football, they merge with FC Tienen (only founded in 1995) and become KUSGFC Tienen. They start co-operations with VC Bost and Oorbeek United and in 2005 they change the name into KVV Oorbeek-Kumtich. In 2008 they didn't see a future anymore and KVK Tienen took over everything belonging to KVV Oorbeek-Kumtich without officially merging.
Between 1941 and 1972 Sporting Club Tienen tried to be a good number three in Tienen, but had to cease activities after always playing in the regional leagues.
The stadium:
The old Bergéstadion was built in 1923 already and was named after Julien Bergé, part of the sugar factory back in the days. Throughout the decades the stadium would be amended and modernised very occasionally. The biggest change happened in 1997 and it meant the demolition of all stands (unfortunately as pictures show these were truly magnificent) and a completely new stadium. This is often being referred to as the new Bergéstadion, although it's already more than 20 years old.
