2021 was yet another year full of Covid-19 sh*t. Not so often could we go to football games without any stress. On the other hand, when amateur teams were able to play, they gained more interest than usual. In 2022 we continue that trend with a visit to the village at the coast, De Haan.
Besides having a lot of stunning Belle Epoque style buildings, and the fact that Albert Einstein lived in De Haan for a few months in 1933, the charming village has the beach as its main attraction. But that doesn't mean there ain't any football to be found. As the main village, they weren't the first with a team. In fact, that was Wenduine with two older teams. Vosseslag, Vlissegem and Harendijke never had their own teams. Football in De Haan started in full war time, 1941.
Sportkring De Haan joined the Belgian FA in 1941. But actually, the club played for almost 40 years as Sportkring Den Haan, after a name change in 1942. Only in 1980, it became SK De Haan again. That whole time they also played on Vlissegem soil instead of De Haan. That old stadium, Stadion Serruys, was abandoned in 1983 and sold to local farmers a few years after that. Almost everything is long gone now, although rumour has it you can still find one goal post somewhere.
That year - 1983 - SK De Haan underwent a merger with the neighbouring Voetbalclub Eendracht Klemskere. Eendracht was founded in 1960, but never managed to reach the national leagues. Just like SK De Haan by the way. After having played in the lowest regional league for a number of years, Eendracht decided to join forces with SK. The new name became logically Eendracht De Haan (Koninklijke Eendracht De Haan since 1991). Upon merging, the new team moved to the new facilities in Het Haneveld, where they still play today.
Shortly before the merger, there was another football team in De Haan. Dames Voetbalvereniging De Haan only lived for four years though as they ceased their activities in the same year the men merged. Eendracht De Haan did start up a women's section in 2010 to accommodate the love for the game for the West-Flemish ladies.
If you want to enjoy our articles in Dutch, you can read them here.