The times every village had their own football team are long gone. And this is partly due to the evolution of modern football. The existence of many teams is in great danger. This is also the case in the very small Heindonk, where they flirted with giving up. But in the end a last helping hand saved the day for the team.
Heindonk as a village floated throughout history between anything and everything. The small village mainly consists of farmer fields and nature and it's been leaning on Willebroek, Zemst and Mechelen. Since 1977 it's officially a part of Willebroek, but to this day the quiet life over there still prevails. But they did join the whole world of football domination.
In 1943 a very first team joined the Belgian FA. Football Club Holda Heindonck already disappeared two years later though. Or at least they pulled back as a member of the FA. Because in 1955 we see the same name passing by again. Football Club Holda Heindonk joined the FA and received a new matricule number. One year later the name Holda disappeared and ever since 1974 the orange/blue players are known as Voetbal Klub Heindonk.
The very first games in 1955 weren't at their current home ground yet, but it didn't take long before the area near the Kleine Bergen became their home. The team colours are derived from one of their sponsors back then, brewery Moortgat. They paid the very first bar. Throughout the next decades their football fields would be modernised very regularly. In 1981 the covered standing area came to exist for instance. That year they also managed to win the league in the lowest regional division, allowing them to promote for the first time ever.
A few years later VK Heindonk relegated back to the fourth regional division, a division where they still play to this day. Although they did have another spell in the third regional league after winning the league in 2011. That fourth division is also a division they know in and out and despite all ambition we are sure they feel at home there. Because in 2020 it suddenly became very real for them. The board decided they would stop all activities if no takeover was to be found. For quite some time it looked like this was it for VK Heindonk. But in a last attempt to be saved they found a solution with the neighbours from KFC Katelijne.
Hopefully the team can continue for at least another 50 years and who knows, maybe there will be another promotion sooner or later. But let it be clear teams like VK Heindonk are disappearing more and more. We hope VK Heindonk can be an example of how things can still turn out alright and how the less than 1000 people living in Heindonk can still see their children play at a local team.
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