Heist & The Kulminator

KSK Heist  1  RFC Seraing  1

Belgium First Class Amateurs

The journey to Heist gave myself and Ben the opportunity for a light snooze, in between cans of Jupiler. Stu managed a brief snooze but being the driver we suggested he did it with one eye open…

Darkness had descended by the time we reached the small town of Heist-op-den-Berg, located around fifty kilometres South East of Antwerp. The ground sat behind the town hall, and with a good sized car park available, we were soon at the ticket office getting sorted for the evening.

Another meeting had been arranged, this time with Roel Grant, a former player of the club who had moved ‘upstairs’ into an official capacity. Shirts and scarves were once again exchanged and photographs taken with the Sheffield FC flag. Some of the local youth took an interest in us and requested a photo with our flag and there’s side by side, suddenly we had been inducted into the Heist Ultras!

Belgian football grounds are a complete contrast to the efforts in Holland. Sadly, the Dutch win no prizes for originality or character, whereas the Belgians specialise in individualism and quirkiness. From a ground porn perspective, they are the Hugh Hefner’s of Western European football!

The ground at Heist is a mixture of structures that in many ways reflect the varying historical fortunes of the club. A large stand with dressing rooms beneath sit on one side of the ground, while to one side of the stand is a small area of covered terracing, with the clubhouse sat behind.

On the other side of the stand is a more modern stand with corporate facilities contained to the rear. This stand was built when the club were in the professional ranks, and to be fair, when Raol took us on a tour, what was surprising was the fact that over eighty people were sat having meals in the restaurant. It appears this facility is a sell out at all games, and while the club may be playing in the amateur ranks now, this is an example of them maintaining a very professional approach to things.

On the opposite side of the ground are two further stands, much smaller, with one seated and one terraced. This is the away section of the ground, and with a decent sized following having come from Seraing, it was in use. Behind both goals is open terracing, but in Heist, they tend to gather on the terraces on the side.

Of course, a couple of snifters were had in the clubhouse, while bratwurst was procured from a conveniently located van at the back of the stand.

Belgian football is more complicated than it needs to be. They have a First Division A, which splits around now and two conferences are formed, titled the play-offs, it has a significant bearing on European places and relegation. Below this tier is First Division B, which consists of just eight teams, and is as confusing as a confused thing. You play each other countless times, it splits, it has play-offs  and you can also get into Europe from it. You can be relegated to the First Amateur Division, of which Heist are a part, but only if the top club can obtain a licence. So, you almost know before the pay-offs start whether you will go down or not.   

Chuck in a bit of Belgian match fixing and you’ve got a right old mess, quite what was wrong with the old method is beyond me, but clearly a few too many Tripels had been consumed when that decision was made.

Currently top of the league are Thes Sport, while visitors RFC Seraing were sat in mid-table. Heist on the other hand were in the relegation zone, but it’s very tight at the bottom.

It turned out to be a tight game watched by a crowd I would estimate at around 400 (including those in the restaurant). Heist took a first half lead but the ‘professionals’ from Seraing fought back and grabbed an equaliser in the second period.

The 1-1 draw didn’t really help either side, and Heist now have an anxious run in to see if they can avoid relegation to the Second Amateur Division.

Afterwards it was back to Antwerp and an interesting experience at the acclaimed Kulminator bar. First of all, you had to ring a bell to be let in, and secondly I learned the hard way not to ask for any lager, they don’t do it! No idea what it was I drank, but I found something to suit my tastes, whereas the other two lads at one point were drinking a 40% proof beer served in a wine glass! I declined any invitations for a taste, politely suggesting that pain stripper had more of an appeal!

We got chatting to some folks, and as last orders were called, we all made our way down to Billie’s Bar, which indeed did serve a rather nice pint of Pilsner. It was while in here that food arrived from the local takeaway, which was a great end to a fantastic day.

It was after 2am when we finally found our way back to the apartment, but we did manage one more drink before bed. A storm was whipping up outside and rain was crashing against the windows, Sunday was going to be a very interesting day indeed!