We leave Denderleeuw behind us, but we stay within the FCV Dender EH history. After having visited the current stadium of the merger and the original stadium of the "FC" in FCV Dender EH, it's now time to check out the "EH".
In the near neighbourhood of Denderleeuw we find the small village Affligem with its subvillage Hekelgem. The "EH" in fact stands for the former team Eendracht Hekelgem. It was a fairly young team, only created in 1963 and an official member of the Belgian FA since 1965. The first few decades they went up and down in the regional leagues. By the end of the 80s the first successful period of the team began. In no time they made their way to the national divisions. In 1991 they managed to reach fourth division for the very first time. After having spent a few years in fourth division a second successful period began. In 1998 they promoted to third division and after only one season they already promoted to second division. Their story kind of reminds us to the story of Germinal Ekeren, who even went to first division and European football in a very short time period.
Eendracht Hekelgem didn't have any financial problems, but after two seasons in second division they joined the story of FC Denderleeuw to form one big team in the Dender region. Eendracht Hekelgem was the first team to merge with FC Denderleeuw. The matricule number and the colours disappeared and the new team started playing on the grounds of the former FC Denderleeuw. FC Denderleeuw EH was born.
After the merger the remaining members of FC Eendracht Hekelgem started up a new project. The new team was named FC Eendracht Affligem (because the name of a just vanished team couldn't be used legally in Belgium for ten years) and started playing on the grounds of the former FC Eendracht Hekelgem. Ten years after the merger (what a coincidence) the team management (after having consulted with the fans) changed their name into the former Eendracht Hekelgem. This new team never made it to the national divisions so far.
It is very remarkable though that a small team like the former Eendracht Hekelgem made it to second division. Especially when you look at their stadium. In nowadays standards this would never be possible anymore. The Bellekouter stadium is a nice sight for the eye though. Just like someone already mentioned on our page before - you can almost literally high five the goalie when you are driving on the highway next to the stadium.
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