R.A.A. Louviéroise, sometimes referred to as La Louvière or RAAL, was a former Belgian

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

located in the city of

La Louvière La Louvière (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pie ...

, in the province of Hainaut. It had been playing its latest run in the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

from 2000–01 to 2005–06 included. Two players have been called to the

Belgium national football team The Belgium national football team has represented Belgium in men's international Association football, football since Évence Coppée Trophy, their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in E ...

while at La Louvière:

Guy Dardenne Guy Dardenne (born 19 October 1954 in Beauraing) is a retired Belgian footballer, who played as both a midfielder or forward. During his career he played for R. Standard de Liège, R.A.A. Louviéroise, Sporting Lokeren, R.W.D. Molenbeek a ...

(6 caps when at La Louvière, 11 caps in all) and

Silvio Proto Silvestro "Silvio" Proto (born 23 May 1983) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Proto spent the majority of his career with Anderlecht, for whom he made over 300 appearances, won 13 trophies and served ...

(5 caps when at La Louvière). 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 ...

of the club was the number 93. In June 2009, it merged with RACS Couillet to form Football Couillet La Louvière. This club has since 2017 been named

RAAL La Louvière Royal Association Athlétique Louviéroise La Louvière (known by its abbreviation RAAL La Louvière) is a football in Belgium, Belgian professional football club based in La Louvière, in the province of Hainaut (province), Hainaut. The club f ...

History

The club was founded on 26 January 1913 during a meeting at the ''Place Maugrétout'' in

. It was named A.A. Louviéroise. After one season in a

provincial league Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

, the football stopped due to the

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. The club did not play official matches until

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

as it had no stadium. Between 1921 and

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

Louviéroise played in the provincial leagues. In 1937 the club changed its name to R.A.A. Louviéroise and it reached the

Promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

. The next year a Belgian international player (namely August Hellemans who played in the

1930 World Cup The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, football's international governing body, selected Uruguay as the host na ...

) was transferred at La Louvière. The club had its first spell 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 ...

between

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

it was relegated to the third division and it played at that level for 10 years. Between 1994 and 2000 it played in the second division. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

the club was one of the most frequently mentioned in a gambling scandal that rocked Belgian football. It was alleged in the Belgian press that several players, board members and manager

Gilbert Bodart Gilbert Bodart (born 2 September 1962) is a Belgian football manager and former player. Playing career Bodart was born in Ougrée, Belgium. A goalkeeper, he played a long time with Standard Liège. Bodart also played 12 times with Belgium from 1 ...

had accepted large sums of money from

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

businessman

Zheyun Ye Ye Zheyun () is a Chinese businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A busines ...

, who wanted to influence the results in matches so he could manufacture high profits in gambling. At first the club strongly denied the allegations, but on 21 February 2006 Bodart resigned as manager. His assistant, former La Louvière forward

Frédéric Tilmant Frédéric and Frédérick are the French versions of the common male given name Frederick. They may refer to: In artistry: * Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator * Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor * Frédéric Bazille, Impress ...

replaced him at the helm of the club but could not avoid RAAL finishing in last place in the division. This meant the club would have to play in the second division for the 2006–07 season. However, on 16 May 2006 the club was refused its license to play in the second division. It subsequently appealed the decision but the Appeal Commission of 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 ...

confirmed the judgement of 16 May. The club eventually seized the Evocation Commission which rejected the plaint of La Louvière on 15 June 2006. The day after, chairman Filippo Gaone retired from the club as it would play the third division in 2006–07. In 2009, La Louvière merged with RACS Couillet to form Football Couillet La Louvière, with the matricule number 93 begin retired as the new club continued with the number 94 of RACS Couillet. This club became

in 2017.

Honours

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

: **Winners (1): 2002–03 *

Belgian Supercup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, t ...

: **Runners-up (1): 2003 *

Belgian Second Division final round The Belgian Second Division play-offs were a series of playoff matches to decide promotion to the Belgian Pro League, organised between 1974 and 2015. Following a large reform of the Belgian football league system at the end of the 2015–16 seaso ...

: **Winners (3): 1975, 1977, 2000

European record

References

UEFA page
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Louviere Louvieroise, R.A.A. Louvieroise, R.A.A. 1913 establishments in Belgium 2009 disestablishments in Belgium Defunct football clubs in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage R.A.A. Louvieroise Belgian Pro League clubs