The first suggestion to hold a match between the homonymous and adjacent
Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg appears to have originated from a
Belgian sports periodical, "La Vie Sportive". The idea was adopted
by Louis "Lou" Coenegracht, born in Maastricht, who had founded
the Comité Provincial du Limbourg Belge in 1908 when living
in Hasselt and had returned to the town of his birth in 1910, where
he became (before moving to Switzerland in 1911) the president of
the Limburgsche Voetbalbond, founded in 1908. He offered a
prize, the "Coupe Coenegracht", which was contested twice a season,
home and away. No conditions were specified on obtaining permanent
ownership of the trophy, but at the occasion of the 25th meeting,
Coenegracht, meanwhile living in Brussels but a regular attendant
at the matches, decided to award it to Dutch Limburg, which had
won 15 of the 25 matches played until then.
He immediately offered a new trophy, for which, according to the
annual Voetbal Jaarboekje published by the K.N.V.B. in the
late thirties, the condition to obtain permanent ownership was
winning it five times. It is not clear whether this referred to
winning five matches (in which case Dutch Limburg would have won it
after match 33, on 15 May 1938), five successive matches (Belgian
Limburg won five-in-a-row between matches 41 and 45; Dutch Limburg
won seven-in-a-row between matches 55 and 61), five annual series
(difficult to decide due to the interruption caused by World War II)
or five successive annual series (which never happened) but
eventually it was handed at the occasion of match 64, the last
attended by the initiator of the matches himself, to Belgian Limburg,
at the occasion of the golden jubilee of the series, apparently
based on the overall count of the matches held since the first
trophy had been awarded to Dutch Limburg (so matches 26 to 64),
which saw a lead for the Belgians by a single goal.
Matches were played since, annually until 1967, later at irregular
intervals, for a third trophy,
again offered by Louis Coenegracht, but it is not clear under which
conditions permanent ownership was to be obtained. Since the eighties
several matches between youth selections were held under
the "Coenegracht" tag.
The matches between the two Limburgs were often called "semi-interlands" in Dutch, like the regular meetings between Luxembourg and South Netherlands, East Netherlands and West Germany, and North Netherlands and North Germany.
Game Date Venue Result
1 14- 5-1911 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 2-2 Dutch Limburg
2 17- 3-1912 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 2-1 Belgian Limburg
3 27- 5-1912 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 1-2 Dutch Limburg
4 8-12-1912 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 3-0 Belgian Limburg
5 15- 6-1913 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 3-2 Dutch Limburg
6 5-10-1913 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 3-0 Belgian Limburg
7 16-11-1913 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 2-1 Dutch Limburg
8 21- 5-1925 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 3-0 Dutch Limburg
9 8-11-1925 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 3-1 Belgian Limburg
10 1- 8-1926 Treebeek Dutch Limburg 3-2 Belgian Limburg
11 8- 8-1926 Tongeren Belgian Limburg 5-0 Dutch Limburg
12 3- 4-1927 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 5-1 Belgian Limburg
13 15- 5-1927 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 2-3 Dutch Limburg
14 11- 3-1928 Treebeek Dutch Limburg 3-3 Belgian Limburg
15 20- 5-1928 Sint-Truiden Belgian Limburg 2-2 Dutch Limburg
16 1-12-1929 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 1-4 Dutch Limburg
17 27- 4-1930 Venlo Dutch Limburg 4-1 Belgian Limburg
18 17- 5-1931 Bocholt Belgian Limburg 4-3 Dutch Limburg
19 26- 7-1931 Spekholzerheide Dutch Limburg 4-3 Belgian Limburg
20 24- 4-1932 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 2-0 Belgian Limburg
21 8- 5-1932 Borgloon Belgian Limburg 2-4 Dutch Limburg
22 28- 5-1933 Heerlen Dutch Limburg 4-1 Belgian Limburg
23 11- 6-1933 Genk Belgian Limburg 4-3 Dutch Limburg
24 11- 3-1934 Bilsen Belgian Limburg 6-10 Dutch Limburg
25 29- 4-1934 Tegelen Dutch Limburg 5-6 Belgian Limburg
Dutch Limburg 25 15 3 7 77- 56 33
Belgian Limburg 25 7 3 15 56- 77 17
NB: Dutch Limburg won first trophy after 25 matches; a new trophy was put on offer.
in Belgium
Belgian Limburg 13 6 2 5 37- 36 14
Dutch Limburg 13 5 2 6 36- 37 12
in the Netherlands
Dutch Limburg 12 10 1 1 41- 19 21
Belgian Limburg 12 1 1 10 19- 41 3
Game Date Venue Result
26 28- 4-1935 Roermond Dutch Limburg 6-4 Belgian Limburg
27 12- 5-1935 Tongeren Belgian Limburg 1-2 Dutch Limburg
28 30- 3-1936 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 5-4 Dutch Limburg
29 17- 5-1936 Lutterade Dutch Limburg 4-3 Belgian Limburg
30 29- 3-1937 Lanaeken Belgian Limburg 3-4 Dutch Limburg
31 18- 4-1937 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 2-4 Belgian Limburg
32 10- 4-1938 Tongeren Belgian Limburg 4-1 Dutch Limburg
33 15- 5-1938 Brunssum Dutch Limburg 4-1 Belgian Limburg
34 23- 4-1939 Tongeren Belgian Limburg 1-2 Dutch Limburg
35 18- 5-1939 Heer Dutch Limburg 3-2 Belgian Limburg
36 21- 4-1940 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 5-1 Dutch Limburg
- 26- 5-1940 Maastricht Dutch Limburg n/p Belgian Limburg
37 30- 6-1946 Sint-Truiden Belgian Limburg 8-4 Dutch Limburg
- 15- 8-1946 cancelled
38 14- 6-1947 Sittard Dutch Limburg 1-3 Belgian Limburg
39 17- 8-1947 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 7-7 Dutch Limburg
40 24- 8-1947 Kerkrade Dutch Limburg 7-1 Belgian Limburg
41 18- 4-1948 Tongeren Belgian Limburg 4-1 Dutch Limburg
42 30- 5-1948 Roermond Dutch Limburg 2-3 Belgian Limburg
43 24- 4-1949 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 3-7 Belgian Limburg
44 22- 5-1949 Beringen Belgian Limburg 3-2 Dutch Limburg
45 1- 5-1950 Tongeren Belgian Limburg 3-1 Dutch Limburg
46 18- 5-1950 Venlo Dutch Limburg 4-1 Belgian Limburg
47 26- 3-1951 Eisden Belgian Limburg 4-2 Dutch Limburg
48 16- 6-1951 Sittard Dutch Limburg 2-3 Belgian Limburg
49 6- 4-1952 Genk Belgian Limburg 1-0 Dutch Limburg
50 22- 5-1952 Brunssum Dutch Limburg 3-3 Belgian Limburg
51 19- 4-1953 Tongeren Belgian Limburg 2-2 Dutch Limburg
52 27- 6-1953 Spekholzerheide Dutch Limburg 4-3 Belgian Limburg
53 4- 4-1954 Waterschei Belgian Limburg 2-1 Dutch Limburg
54 7- 6-1954 Heerlen Dutch Limburg 1-3 Belgian Limburg
55 3- 7-1955 Geleen Dutch Limburg 4-1 Belgian Limburg
56 20- 9-1955 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 0-3 Dutch Limburg
57 17- 6-1956 Geleen Dutch Limburg 3-1 Belgian Limburg
58 25- 9-1956 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 4-5 Dutch Limburg
59 10- 6-1957 Geleen Dutch Limburg 2-1 Belgian Limburg
60 4-12-1957 Waterschei Belgian Limburg 3-4 Dutch Limburg
61 6- 6-1959 Sittard Dutch Limburg 3-0 Belgian Limburg
62 24- 2-1960 Sint-Truiden Belgian Limburg 1-1 Dutch Limburg
- 11-1960 Geleen cancelled
63 12- 4-1961 Geleen Dutch Limburg 0-1 Belgian Limburg
64 19- 9-1961 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 0-0 Dutch Limburg
NB: match number 64 was the last attended by founder Louis "Lou" Coenegracht;
it also marked the 50-year existence of the event, at which occasion the
second trophy was at stake, won by Belgian Limburg.
Dutch Limburg 64 32 8 24 182-162 72
Belgian Limburg 64 24 8 32 162-182 56
in Belgium
Belgian Limburg 33 16 6 11 98- 83 38
Dutch Limburg 33 11 6 16 83- 98 28
in the Netherlands
Dutch Limburg 31 21 2 8 99- 64 44
Belgian Limburg 31 8 2 21 64- 99 18
matches for second trophy (1935-1961):
Belgian Limburg 39 17 5 17 106-105 39
Dutch Limburg 39 17 5 17 105-106 39
Game Date Venue Result
- 2- 3-1963 Maastricht Dutch Limburg n/p Belgian Limburg
65 19-10-1963 Sittard Dutch Limburg 4-2 Belgian Limburg
66 21- 3-1964 Waterschei Belgian Limburg 4-3 Dutch Limburg
67 15- 5-1965 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 2-4 Belgian Limburg
68 16- 4-1966 Hasselt Belgian Limburg 1-5 Dutch Limburg
69 15- 4-1967 Sittard Dutch Limburg 9-1 Belgian Limburg
NB: the trophy was not contested between 1968 and 1971; since 1972 the
match featured amateur selections.
70 13- 5-1972 Tongeren Belgian Limburg 0-0 Dutch Limburg
71 30- 4-1973 Nieuwenhagen Dutch Limburg 0-3 Belgian Limburg
72? 30- 4-1975 Brunssum Dutch Limburg 1-2 Belgian Limburg
75? 5- 6-1977 Montfort Dutch Limburg 1-2 Belgian Limburg
NB: it is not known whether matches were held in 1974 and 1976, though the
logic (alternating hosts) of the series suggests matches were played
in Belgium in both years; the numbering of the matches was subject to
various inconsistencies since World War II, but the match in 1973 was
reported as the 71st, that in 1975 as the 72nd (probably incorrectly)
and that in 1977 as the 75th.
Dutch Limburg 73 35 9 29 207-181 79
Belgian Limburg 73 29 9 35 181-207 67
in Belgium
Belgian Limburg 36 17 7 12 103- 91 41
Dutch Limburg 36 12 7 17 91-103 31
in the Netherlands
Dutch Limburg 37 23 2 12 116- 78 48
Belgian Limburg 37 12 2 23 78-116 26
NB: at the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the split of the province
Limburg (created in 1815) in 1839, upon the recognition of Belgium's
independence by the Netherlands, a one-off match between professional
representative sides was played with the Coenegracht Trofee at stake;
the selection of the hosts consisted of players from Fortuna Sittard,
MVV, Roda JC and VVV, while that of the visitors included players from
Lommelse SK, Patro Eisden, RC Genk, Sint-Truidense VV and SK Tongeren;
all these clubs played at the first or second national level.
- 24-10-1989 Maastricht Dutch Limburg 3-0 Belgian Limburg
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 29 Sep 2024
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2024
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.