Caramel (Belgium)

Club horseball is where the sport's international record stops being a French monologue, and Caramel is the clearest example. Belgium has never won a senior European championship, the national side's ceiling in the recorded era was bronze, yet its club side reached three consecutive Champions League podiums.

Caramel took bronze in the competition's first edition at Stockholm in 2007, then silver in 2008 when Chambly of France won a second consecutive title, then silver again in 2009 behind Cardedeu of Spain, then bronze in 2010 at Montpellier. Four podiums in the first four editions, against opposition from the two countries that dominate the national game.

That is the pattern worth noticing across the whole club competition: the nations that lose European finals produce clubs that win, or nearly win, European club titles. Belgium supplied Caramel; Spain supplied Cardedeu, which took the 2009 and 2011 titles; Portugal supplied Sporting CP and Club de Campo to two podiums. France's grip on national-team horseball simply does not transfer down to club level.

The nearly-side

Four podiums in five editions without a title is a particular kind of record. Caramel were there at the start, taking bronze at Stockholm in 2007 behind Chambly and Sporting CP. They went one better in 2008, again at Stockholm, losing the final to Chambly as the French side took a second consecutive title. In 2009 at Lyon they were second again, this time behind Cardedeu of Spain. In 2010 at EquiSud Montpellier they took bronze as Blanzac won at home.

Then in 2011 at Ponte de Lima they are absent from the podium altogether, which is where this record stops. Whether that was a decline or a single bad tournament is not something the data can distinguish, and the competition's sixth edition is beyond what can be verified here.

What the club record says about Belgium

Belgium's national side reached three senior European podiums in the period covered, all bronze: Neeroeteren in 2006 on home ground, Oviedo in 2009 and Montpellier in 2011. It also took bronze in the 2004 women's championship at Saintes and silver in the first women's edition at Abano Terme in 2003.

So a country with no senior title produced a club that spent four years among the best three in Europe. Spain shows the mirror image at junior level, winning three Under-16 titles while losing senior finals. Put together, the two patterns argue that the senior international competition was being decided by something other than the players available, which is the most interesting thing in the whole record and the one thing it cannot prove.

Caramel also appears in the venue record: Belgium hosted the XIII European Senior Championship at Neeroeteren in 2006, the only edition held in the country during the recorded run. For the wider picture see the full palmarès and the championship calendar.