Take a really old football team somewhere in Wallonia, and add to that a beautiful history and very nice results. Combine that with a more than lovely ground which has become a lost ground recently and you'll get groundhopper cult top notch. All of that can be found in Huy.
Let's go back - way back - back into time to 1896. Yes - 125 years ago. That's when Huy Football Club was founded by a couple of school boys in the village. A year later they joined the Belgian FA. The official football competition had already started, after their debut in 1895. Sadly enough the team didn't survive for a long time as they ceased all activities before 1902 (there are assumptions this happened in 1900 already).
Flash forward to 1908. That year two new clubs were created. Athletic Club Huy was the first of the two, but they only joined the FA end of 1911 or early 1912. The same year Huy Football Club joined the party, a re-start of the earlier Huy FC. They did join the FA immediately and started playing the regional leagues. In 1909 a third club, called Huy Union Sportive, saw the light of day, but they disappeared very quickly.
Again two years later Cercle Sportif Hutois (some say it's a revival of the old Huy Union Sportive) was created as well. Many teams in one village, so it wouldn't take long before the first mergers happened. And that already happened in 1912. The new Huy FC and AC Huy joined forces with a new name; Huy Football Club Association Athletique. Quite a mouthful. But five years later that changed once again. This time they merged with CS Hutois and the new name became Union Hutoise Football Club.
The first couple of years after that second merger the club would mud around in the regional leagues, but that would change soon. After having received matricule number 76 in 1926 (anything below 100 is just so horny), the team promoted to the national leagues for the very first time. Third division at that time. Relegation followed one year later, but in 1930 they would return. This time they promoted after having received the royal title and their national story took off for good.
They would stay there up until 1968. Until 1952 it was even a combination between second and third division. Afterwards fourth division is where they spent most of their football days. Between 1968 and 1973 it was regional football again, but after that the club returned for a longer period. Up until 1995 it was predominantly fourth division with some short spells in third. In 1995 another merger happened though.
The neighbouring Huy Sports, founded in 1947, was absorbed. They never managed to reach the national divisions and after the merger nothing remained of the club. R Union Hutoise FC became Royal Football Club Huy. You can consider this a return to the old name. But the results wouldn't change. Every once in a while the team relegated to the regional leagues, but very often they played fourth division (with a very occasional third division left and right). In the meantime they are already six years in the third amateur league - the fifth level in Belgium.
Since they started in 1908, up to now RFC Huy moved stadiums every once in a while. After having played in their first stadium for 15 years, they moved for a first time to a pitch they called "du beau Site". That's where they would play the longest. But in 1977 (after 54 years) RFC Huy abandoned their Stade du Beau Site to inaugurate the brand new Stade Communal Avenue de la Croix-Rouge. For 43 years straight this would be their new home. Until 2020 that is, as that's the year the club moved for a last time. This time their new home became right next to the nuclear power plant of Tihange. Demolition works have already started in the Avenue de la Croix-Rouge...
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