K.V.V. Thes Sport Tessenderlo

Thes

Full name	Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging Tessenderlo Hulst Engsbergen Schoot Sport Tessenderlo
Founded	14 June 1942;82 years ago (14 June 1942) (as Heidebloem Voetbalvereeniging Hulst)
Ground	Gemeentelijk Sportpark, Tessenderlo
Capacity	3,000
Chairman	Wendy De Wit
Manager	Patrick Witters
League	Belgian National Division 1
2022–23	Belgian National Division 1, 10th of 20
Website	https://www.thes-sport.be/
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging Tessenderlo Hulst Engsbergen Schoot Sport Tessenderlo, more commonly known as Thes Sport or simply Thes, is a Belgian association football club founded in 1942 based in Tessenderlo, Limburg. The club colours are blue and yellow and the team currently plays in the Belgian National Division 1, the third tier of Belgian football. Their home stadium is the 3,000-seat capacity Gemeentelijk Sportpark.

History

The club was founded as Heidebloem Voetbalvereeniging Hulst on 14 June 1942, joining the Royal Belgian Football Association just a few months later. In 1943 the first dressing rooms were built next to the pitch in Hulst, a village encompassed by the municipality of Tessenderlo. In 1970 a new sports centre was built, which was completed in 1973. At that time the club played at the lowest levels of Belgian football, mainly in the third and fourth provincial level in Limburg, at that time corresponding to the seventh and eighth level of Belgian football.

In 1992; the club obtained royal patronage for its fiftieth year of existence, thus becoming Koninklijke Heidebloem Voetbalvereeniging Hulst (Dutch : Royal heatherflower football club Hulst). Two years later it succeeded for the first time to promote to the second provincial level, the sixth level of Belgian football and almost promoted again the following seasons, losing promotion play-offs twice. The club relegated in 1998 and started merger negotiations with two neighbouring clubs within Tessenderlo: VK Penarol Engsbergen from the village Engsbergen and Schoot Sport from the village Schoot. In preparation of the merger, the club became KVV Thes Sport Tessenderlo in 1999, with the acronym Thes standing for Tessenderlo, Hulst, Engsbergen and Schoot. The clubs in the end did not find a mutual agreement and continued to compete separately during the 1999–2000 season. Schoot Sport did not want to cooperate and would eventually cease to exist in 2002. Penarol Engsbergen did cooperate with Thes Sport in the youth leagues, but remained a separate club.

In 2001, the club moved from its accommodations in the commune of Hulst to the Gemeentelijk Sportpark closer to the centre of Tessenderlo. The terrain was available because Looi Sport, which was the original occupant, had gone defunct a few years before that in 1997. Meanwhile, Thes Sport started its rise in the ranks of Belgian football, promoting to the first provincial division in 2003 and even into the national leagues in 2005, before relegating back in 2009.

In 2015, the club again gained access to the Belgian Fourth Division, the lowest level of national football, at which time the merger with VK Penarol Engsbergen did complete and the latter ceased to exist. ^[1] Following a title in the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division, the club promoted for the first time ever to the third level of Belgian football.

Current squad

As of 16 August 2023.Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   BEL Tibo Herbots 3 DF   BEL Marnick Vermijl 4 MF   BEL Tim Jeunen 6 MF   BEL Kenneth Kerckhofs 7 FW   BEL Wout Horemans 8 MF   BEL Tibeau Swinnen 10 MF   BEL Roel Koopman 11 FW   BEL Laurens Vermijl 13 DF   BEL Nick Hulsmans 14 MF   BEL Gilles Truyers

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 DF   BEL Sam Vanaken 17 MF   BEL Beau Schodts 19 FW   BEL Maurits van der Wijn 21 DF   BEL Jelle Goudstijn 25 MF   BEL Lander Van Den Broeck 27 GK   BEL Milo Roekaerts 44 MF   BEL Mats Van Genechten 99 FW   BEL Laurens Symons — GK   BEL Noah Jorissen — FW   BEL Rico Coeckelbergs

References

1. "Fusie tussen Thes Sport en Penarol Engsbergen is een feit". 29 January 2015.

External links

• Official website (in Dutch)