Koninklijke Football Club Diest is a former Belgian association football club from the town of

Diest Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around ...

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

. It played two spells in the

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

: from 1961–62 to 1964–65 and from 1970–71 to 1974–75, finishing 7th in 1964.

History

The club was founded in 1909 as Hooger Op Diest Football Club and registered to the

Belgian Football Association The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, the ...

the same year to receive the

matricule Association football is the most popular sport in Belgium, which has been played since the end of the 19th century. The national association was founded in 1895 with the intention of bringing some order and organization to the sport. The fir ...

n°41, playing in black and white. In 1948 it merged with Standaard Athletiek Diest (matricule n°231) to become F.C. Diest. Seven years later it added

Koninklijk (, Dutch for 'royal') is an honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Louis Bonaparte in 1807, then Kin ...

e (meaning royal) to its name to become K.F.C. Diest. The club first reached the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1957. It won this competition in 1961 and subsequently played at the highest level for the following years. In 1965, it was back at the second level and it won the competition again in 1970. In 1987–88, it played in the third division but returned to the second division due to a merger with F.C. Assent (at that time in second division) to become K. Tesamen Hogerop Diest, known as KTH Diest, now adding red to its colours. The club gradually dropped levels again, to the third division in 1996, fourth division in 2002 and into the

Belgian Provincial Leagues The Belgian Provincial leagues are the lower leagues for Belgian football. Until 2016, these were at levels 5-8 in the Belgian football league system however as part of the reform an extra level was created causing the provincial leagues to drop ...

in 2005. In 2006, with the club in last place at the 5th level and in severe financial difficulties, it went bankrupt and dropped two levels at once down to level seven. At that point the club changed its name back to K.F.C. Diest and reverted to the original colors of black and white. In 2009, the club promoted again, undefeated even, followed by another promotion in 2010 to again reach the highest level of provincial football. In 2016, the club promoted for the first time into the national leagues again, where it is currently residing in the

Belgian Third Amateur Division The Belgian Division 3, commonly referred to as simply Derde Afdeling (in Dutch) or Division 3 (in French) is the fifth-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Division 2. It was created by the Royal B ...

(fifth level).

Notable players

Timmy Simons Timmy Simons (born 11 December 1976) is a Belgian professional association football, football coach and a former defensive midfielder who is the manager of K.V.C. Westerlo, Westerlo. He was known for his tireless work ethic and Penalty kick (a ...

References

Belgian football clubs history

nbsp;– 1st and 2nd division final tables Association football clubs established in 1909 Football clubs in Belgium 1909 establishments in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage K.F.C. Diest Belgian Pro League clubs Diest Sport in Flemish Brabant {{Belgium-footyclub-stub