Our passage in the East Flemish Erpe-Mere is almost over. After the lost ground of Mere FC and the almost lost treasure of KRC Bambrugge (both united in Erpe-Mere United), we also visited another lost ground in the village: the Oudendijk in Burst.
Most likely Burst won't ring a bell with many people. But fact is the village was independent up until 1977. Yet they have always been in de shadow of Erpe and Mere. In 1977, Burst was included (together with seven other villages) into the greater Erpe-Mere. By that time quite some football clubs had already been created. The same happened in Burst.
Football Club Olympic Burst was founded in 1943, yes - in full war time. Just like all other clubs in the neighbourhood they started playing in the regional leagues in East Flanders. And looking back now they would stay there permanently. But FC Olympic Burst would never be alone. KRC Bambrugge was the only Erpe-Mere team that managed to promote to the national divisions, only very recently. There must have been quite some derbies throughout the decades.
Olympic Burst would never go further than the second regional league. Even more so, most of the changes worth mentioning happened outside of the sportive results. In 1984 the team moved to the Oudendijk and in 1993 they received the royal title after their 50th birthday. 1993 would get a different meaning later on: Hannes Van der Bruggen was born in Burst that year. At the age of six he joined KFCO Burst, only to transfer to teams like AA Gent, KV Kortrijk and Cercle Brugge later on.
But then the new millennium came and the merger talks started in Erpe-Mere. Erpe-Mere United eventually happened in 2021. In a second phase Olympic Burst and SK Aaigem would join that merger. But Olympic Burst eventually stepped out. Even more so; by the end of 2021 they decided to stop all activities. Olympic's matricule number was transferred to Olsa Brakel. In May 2022 a ball was kicked for the very last time in their overly charming Oudendijk. In the meantime, a local youth movement took over the stadium. Something that seems to happen more often in the area of the Dender.
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