Football Club Verbroedering Geel-Meerhout is a Belgian association football

Football in Belgium

Football, a sport which has been played in Belgium since the end of the 19th century, is that country's most popular sport. The national association was founded in 1895 with the intention of bringing some order and organization to the sport...

 club based in Geel

Geel

Geel is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp which acquired the status of a city in the 1980s.It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns : Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum...

, province of Antwerp.

History

Founded in 1926 as Meerhout Sport, the club received the matricule number 893. In 1966, Meerhout Sport merged with the other club from the city named Hand in Hand, with matricule 2169. The new club took the name F.C. Verbroedering Meerhout. At the end of the season, the club reached the Belgian Promotion

Belgian Promotion

The Belgian Promotion is the lowest nationwide division in Belgian football. Since 1905, Promotion has been the name of the lowest nationwide level but it is the fourth one since 1952. There were already 4 leagues at the time . The champion of the Promotion is declared to be the winner of a...

. They were relegated to the provincial level in 1987. Ten years later, the club was back at the 4th national level, and even managed to reach the third division

Belgian Third Division

The Belgian Third Division is the third highest level in Belgian football. It has two leagues of 18 teams each at the same level. This competition, known as the Belgian Promotion was first played in the 1926-27 season with three leagues, then with four leagues between 1931 and 1952. From 1952...

 in 2006, where they stayed only one season. In 2008 the neighbour club of K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel

K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel

K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel was a Belgian association football club, from the city of Geel in Antwerp .-History:The club was born in 1912 and registered in 1924 to the Belgian Football Association receiving the matricule n° 395. It played for the first time in the second division in 1985–86...

 went into liquidation, so F.C. Verbroedering Meerhout moved to De Leunen

De Leunen

De Leunen is a football stadium in Geel, in the Belgian province of Antwerp. It has a capacity of 10,022, making it the 22nd-largest football stadium in Belgium. It used to be the home ground of K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel until the club went into liquidation in 2008. Subsequently, the neighbouring...

stadium, which was not used anymore, and added the name of the city Geel to their name.