Hoogstraten

The most recent title Hoogstraten won came in 2021-22. They finished top of Tweede afdeling VV B with 70 points, and that took them up to Eerste Nationale. The club has climbed like this before, in steps and often with a setback in between.

The clearest case is 2012. Hoogstraten finished second in Derde Klasse B with 65 points, then lost the promotion play-offs to KSV Oudenaarde. They did not fade the following year. They won Derde Klasse A with 74 points and went up to Tweede Klasse. The same season brought the Pappaertbeker.

The route to that point was slow. Two straight provincial titles, in 1963 and 1964, in Tweede and then Eerste Provinciale Antwerpen, brought the club into the national divisions. Vierde Klasse A in 1986 lifted it to Derde Klasse. It went back down, and Vierde Klasse C in 2008 sent it up again.

The club began informally, on New Year's Eve 1935. It was registered with the Belgian football association on 18 March 1936 as number 2366. Red and white shirts gave it the nickname De Rooikens, the Little Reds.

Hoogstraten has no cup or big derby to point to. Minderhout VV, founded in 1969, is a separate club in the same town. The two run youth projects and tournaments together but stay independent. Home games are at Sportcomplex Seminarie, which holds 5,000.