Recent news hasn't been so positive for the city of Verviers. Mainly due to terrorist involvement but also because of the fact that their main football team had to cease all activities last year. Fortunately for people like us, there still are several nice stadiums to visit. Although all of them will have to be on non-match days.
The Stade Communal de Bielmont was the last stadium where RCS Verviétois played their home games. The team was one of the oldest teams in Belgium, founded at the end of the 19th century, just before Dolhain FC was created. Verviers Foot-Ball Club first saw the daylight in 1896 and quickly became one of the constant teams in the higher divisions. In 1900 already they already managed to reach first division.
Three years later a first merger happened. The team joined forces with Stade Wallon de Verviers and became Club Sportif Verviétois. In 1907 the new team relegated to second division to play there for five years. Between 1912 and 1924 they played first division again. During the 20s the team would go up and down between first and second division and in 1926 they received the Royal title and the nice matricule number 8. Gradually the team went down the divisions. During the 30s between second and third division and during the 40s mainly in third division.
After the great war, RCS Verviétois would gain successes again. During the 50s the team would return to second and later first division. In 1961 the downfall began again. First second division for a number of years and by the end of the 70s the team even had to compete in the regional leagues for two years. All throughout the 80s the team fought to come back to the higher leagues but mainly played in fourth division.
In the 90s a new era started. RCS Verviétois came back to third division for quite some time and in 2000 they merged a second time. This time with R Dison Sport. The new team name became Royale Entente Dison-Verviers, only to change to Royal Excelsior Dison Verviers in 2001 and in 2002 back to Royal Cercle Sportif Verviétois, returning to the "RCS".
In the new millennium the team would mainly play in third division, but in 2014 the final climax came... They achieved a spot to go to second division, but financial problems stood in the way to actually go and play in second division. Shortly after the team filed for bankruptcy, but managed to keep on playing in third division. Unfortunately the dream was over in 2015. They had to cease all activities. Shortly after that Cercle Sportif Jeunesse Verviétoise was founded and played with only youth teams. The plan was to start in 2016 again with a first team, and it seems they just started that season in the lowest regional league. It seems this new team is also now playing in one of the former stadiums of RCS Verviétois, the Stade Panorama. This is also the stadium where RCS had their greatest successes. It was only in 1999 they moved to the Stade Communal de Bielmont.
The Stade Communal de Bielmont is a very interesting stadium, with a mixture of styles and influences. There's a nice part with terracing, directly next to a very modern building which is less attractive. On the other side there is a rather large grandstand, built in the 90s we assume and definitely not bad to look at (or stand in). The real RCS Verviétois history however lies in the Stade Panorama.
