How can you vote?
You can vote here or via the free HBVL news app
Vote and have a chance to win 2,500 euros for your football club and an iPhone 15 for yourself
You can vote from 19/03 to 31/03/2024
For 22 years, Het Belang van Limburg has been looking for the best football players from the provincial series. In our HBVL Provincial Footballer of the Year election, the coaches always get the last word. After each match they give all players of the opposing team a score (out of ten) and whoever achieves the highest average at the end of the season (per series) is our laureate.
Since last year we have added an extra election. And what kind! That of the Best Club in Limburg. It is not the judgment of the trainers that is decisive, but we enlist the help of you, our (football-loving) readers. You decide who wins.
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The setup is simple: you can vote for your favorite club via our HBVL news app or website (www.hbvl.be/besteclub) (once per email address). The club that has collected the most votes on March 31 will win no less than 2,500 euros in cash, to spend freely. There may also be a prize for yourself: we will raffle an iPhone 15 among all voters.
Everyone can win. Last season’s final ranking also proved this. Not the big clubs such as THES, Sporting Hasselt or Eendracht Termien, but third provincial teams Stokkem VV, Genk VV and E. Stevoort were on the podium.
The stage of 2023. — © Karel Hemerijckx
In our election we are not looking for the highest ranked, the best football player or the biggest club, but for the most fun team, the coolest team, the coolest club… Where football is still a real party! Where players form one big family, where the mothers with cava rejoice in a good performance from the apples of their eyes, where the soup of the day or the beers at the bar taste just a little better than in another canteen. Which club can get its supporters to vote most often?
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Communal struggle
Only amateur football clubs are eligible for this. Professional clubs KRC Genk, STVV, Lommel and Patro are not in our list, but their women’s teams (which are active at amateur level) are. This brings the number of eligible clubs to 136.
To kick off our unique election, we have placed an original chalk drawing at the accommodation of each participating club with the FC Limburg logo and the text Who is the Best Club in Limburg?.
(read more below the photo)
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In addition to the club of Limburg, we are also curious which club is the most popular per municipality. We like to turn it into a municipal battle. Who scores best in, say, Borgloon? Is that Hoepertingen, Kolmont, Habo or DJ Borgloon? And who can call themselves the club of Borgloon? And who is that in, say, Zutendaal? Wiemismeer or Zutendaal VV? Each municipality will also have a ‘Best Club’.
Stokkem: water taps
For a good understanding: last year’s winner, Stokkem VV, cannot be declared the overall winner this year. But they already know what it feels like to be able to pocket 2,500 euros. “That was the max,” beams Brent Beckers from Stokkem VV. “We also spent the money well. We participated for and through our youth players, so the money also had to go to youth work. We believe healthy exercise is important. That is why we have given all youth players a drinking bottle and installed some water taps in the changing rooms. No more sugary drinks and half-full bottles that were left on the tables after a match. By tapping the water ourselves, we hope to contribute to greater awareness among our youth players.”
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Those youth players played a major role in our election. Beckers: “We asked parents in the various WhatsApp groups of the teams to vote for our club. And we have also launched a call via our Facebook and Instagram page. That paid off.”
© Boumediene Belbachir
Campaigning
All clubs receive a video from us that can help them promote themselves. Clubs/players who campaign on their social media should use the hashtag #FCLimburg. If you or your club are doing something special or fun to recruit votes, please let us know (via [email protected]), who knows, our sports editors may report on it.
You can vote until March 31, and the winning club will be announced in the week of April 8. Admit it, wouldn’t it be chic if your club could receive 2,500 euros in cash and, above all, could call itself the Best Club in Limburg?
(read more below the photo)
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Gala
The Best Club in Limburg will also be honored on Friday, May 24, at our final gala of HBVL Provincial Footballer of the Year at the Versuz in Hasselt. In the past, that gala was only reserved for VIPs and nominated players. Because we want to give everyone the opportunity to be present at the apotheosis of the season, we are taking a different approach this year. Everyone is welcome on May 24. After an official part with a limited audience (all nominees, top scorers, coaches and VIPs) in Area V, adjacent to the Versuz, a real football party will follow in the disco itself. All final laureates will be honored there again, so that they can be loudly cheered on by the fans present. We provide free drinks from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. You can buy tickets here.
The kick-off of our election as the Best Club in Limburg has been given, let’s score. Good luck!
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