RCC Etterbeek (Belgium)

Royal Racing Club Etterbeek (RRCE) is an amateur football club from the Belgian capital of Brussels who were originally formed as Cercle des Sports d'Etterbeek in 1916 and became a member of the Belgian FA following some fine friendly results.

At the beginning of the 1920s, the Cercle played on a piece of land in the Rinsdelle district, while another club was founded on Rue Beckers. Both clubs lost their land to development, so they decided to merge and become L'Union Sportive d'Etterbeek.

‘Les Bleus et Blancs’ moved to a new ground by the railway line and Etterbeek Barracks on Rue de la Cavalerie. Players and the referee had to change in the courtyard of the cafe located at the corner of the Avenue des Casernes and the Avenue Général Bernheim, and walk to the field in a group.

L'Union Sportive d'Etterbeek moved to a permanent new ground on Rue Baron Dhanis in 1936. The club had mixed fortunes in the lower provincial divisions before reaching Brabant’s top provincial league in 1952-53 after adding ‘Royal’ to their title.

During the following few years, Etterbeek continued at the highest regional level in a team including a young and talented star player, Raymond Dellache, before the Union experienced the most serious difficulties of its existence in 1960.

Etterbeek Olympic Club joined forces as the club changed their title to Royal Racing Club d'Etterbeek, which helped matters off the pitch. However, the team suffered two relegations, which sent them down to the third provincial level.

In 1968, former player Dellache took over as President to give the club a fresh start. In 1974, the RRCE Won the Etterbeek Trophy for Sports Merit, which rewarded all the performances of young people.

In 1997, Mr Vincent De Wolf, the bourgmestre of Etterbeek, replaced the "sandbox" known to with a synthetic pitch, before deciding to revive the club in 2003 by reorganising the stadium’s infrastructure.

The Stade Guy Thys was built with a new grandstand, new changing rooms and a new clubhouse. De Wolf’s stint as the local mayor continued to assist RRCE as a new artificial pitch was laid at their home stadium.

In 2008-09, the team found themselves playing in the 3 Provinciale C, where they ended as runners-up in the league; a performance that was repeated in 2011-12. The club was promoted and received a place in 2 Provinciale A by the 2014-15 campaign.

After a league reorganisation, RRCE played the 2016-17 season in the A group of ACFF/BXL, where they finished in a mid-table position before a runners-up berth was secured in 2017-18 to clinch promotion. Etterbeek finished third in the 2018-19 Brabant 1 Provinciale ACFF/BXL season.

Once things returned to normal following the worldwide pandemic, the side finished towards the bottom of the table of the sixth-tier division in consecutive seasons before being relegated in 2022-23, before promotion was secured in 2024-25 back to the sixth-tier. Fabian Bamps was the manager of the side that promised further improvement in the 2025-26 season.

RRC Etterbeek will play in 1 Provinciale Brabant in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Sunday 20th August 2017

It was a beautiful Sunday morning as I left the Hotel Sabina after a light breakfast, in full anticipation of a tremendous day out, including two top-flight matches. However, before the live action, I intended to see three more lower league venues.

A walk to the Botanique Metro station was followed by a ride to Thieffry after a change at Arts. From the station, it was a steady ten-minute stroll along Rue de Pervyse, which took me to the Stade Guy Thys.

The stadium was named after Belgium's most successful football manager and looked very neat and tidy. I got a glimpse of the far side with its grandstand through the fence, but I really wanted a better view than that.

My luck was in, as the gate was unlocked to enter under the stand. Music was playing from the bar upstairs. Fearing a complication in language, I took my photos while staying in the shadow of the building.

The pitch had hard standing all the way around. The stand covered most of the seats, although there were extensions in the open at either side. The bar area had a veranda and drink umbrellas. It looked like somewhere I'd have certainly occupied if attending a game!

Once I'd taken my required snaps, I headed back. A gent leaned over the balcony to enquire what I was doing. The universal hand signal of taking photos with some pidgin French seemed to satisfy him as he went back to his tidying.

I headed down to Boulevard Louis Schmidt to catch a tram from the Arsenal stop to Etterbeek Gare, from where I headed south towards Ixelles for my next venue.