From Dieghem-Sportif to Diegem-Sport
Between the two world wars Diegem already had a team called Dieghem-Sportif. It disappeared in 1938 but had two successors: Racing Diegem-Lo and Diegem Star in the centre. After talks the two joined forces, and in April 1942 a new team, Diegem-Sport, started in the third provincial division. Rik Dewandeleer, a former Union player, was there from the start; he was later honoured for 35 years as secretary of Diegem-Sport, after 5 years with Racing Diegem-Lo.
Thanks to a strong crop of juniors the club reached the highest provincial division for the first time, but because many Brabant teams were relegated from the national leagues, Diegem had to go back to the second provincial division. In 1959-60 the team became overall champion of Brabant in that division and returned to the highest provincial level. The 1969-70 and 1970-71 seasons were the darkest: several players left and the first team was relegated twice in a row, from the first to the third provincial division.
Into the national leagues
In 1971-72, in the third provincial division, the club brought in coach Etienne Borré. He got the team back on its feet: three titles in six years. In 1975-76 the home ground was unplayable after heavy rain and the matches were played in Zaventem. The following season, 1976-77, Diegem-Sport became champion of the first provincial division and, 35 years after its founding, broke through to the fourth national division. In their second season at national level the green-and-whites finished fifth, with 32 points.
That rise rested on a bold youth policy: between 1965 and 1976 the cadets, schoolboys, juniors, reserves and first team together won a long series of championship titles. In 1980 the club fielded youth teams of every age; the chairman was then Joseph Van Wevenberghe and the secretary Hendrik Dewandeleer.
The veterans
On Sunday 21 May 1967 Robert Camerlinckx, Jean Van Keerberghen, Eugeen Van Esch and Jacques Couder founded a veterans' team in a café. They won their first match, on 14 September 1967 against the Patronaat team, ‘De Onkreukbaren’ (The Untouchables), so convincingly that several opponents then switched sides. From the second season the team was called V.C. Diegem-Sport (Veterans Club), affiliated to the football association under Diegem-Sport's registration number. The veterans played on Saturdays, took part in tournaments at home and abroad, and finished fourth in the Belgian Cup in 1973-74.