Because last Friday, he celebrated the accession of his team, Dender, to D1, for the 2024-2025 financial year. Five years after playing in D2ACFF at Boscailles, he returned to the elite of Belgian football, which he had already known at just 19 years old, in the company of Kortrijk. “The first part of the season, I played everything, except one match. The first day of 2024, I missed it for a suspension, decided by the “review commission”. Then I got sick and missed another week. Then the team started to win and I had to settle for a few comebacks. It was normal not to change the team even though the results were coming…”
The defender still largely contributed to the success of his team. “We absolutely did not expect to go up at the start of the season. Little by little, we saw that no one was coming loose, everything was very tight. We saw that there was an opportunity to do something and we took our chance.”
All the more surprising since the Flandriens had fought… to remain in the Challenger Pro League, in 2022-2023. “We moved up from Nationale 1 to D1B in 2021-2022 and we know very well that the first season is always very complicated to manage. We had to stabilize the club in the Challenger Pro League, and then consider something else. We finally managed to get this hold during the play-offs.”
At the head of the Flandrian team since February 2023, there is a well-known face in Belgium: Timmy Simons. “He brought a lot of changes to the club. He arrived with his habits and his professionalism. For example, he asked to install a new weight room, because the previous one was not in very good condition, with new machines. He has high-level experience, which facilitates the smooth functioning of the team.”
Dylan Ragolle still has one year of contract at Dender. “The club was waiting to know the verdict of the season, so nothing has been decided for my future. But a priori, I am part of the club and therefore I will play in D1.”
