The 2017–18 season of the

Hoofdklasse The Vierde Divisie, formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of ...

was played in four leagues, two Saturday leagues and two Sunday leagues. The champions of each group promote directly to the

2018–19 Derde Divisie The 2018–19 Derde Divisie season was the third in the new Dutch fourth tier. They played before that in the , until the restructuring of the Dutch football league system in the summer of 2016. In May 2019, the referee scored a goal for HSV Hoek ...

. The 2017–18 Hoofdklasse started on Saturday 2 September 2017.

Play-offs

Promotion

In each competition teams play periods of 10 games, three times per season (30 games per season). After each period the best team which has not yet qualified earns a spot in the play-offs for the

Derde Divisie The Derde Divisie (; en, Third Division), formerly known as Topklasse (; en, Top Class), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league ...

as the period champion. 6 teams from the Saturday Hoofdklasse play against 2 teams from the Saturday Derde Divisie for 2 promotion spots. The teams from the Sunday leagues do the same.

Relegation

The teams in place 13 and 14 at the end of the season fight against relegation in the relegation play-offs. They face the period champions of the Eerste Klasse.

Saturday A

Teams

Standings

Saturday B

Teams

Standings

Sunday A

Teams

Standings

Sunday B

Teams

Standings

Promotion/relegation play-offs Derde Divisie and Hoofdklasse

Saturday

The numbers 15 and 16 from the

2017–18 Derde Divisie The 2017–18 Derde Divisie season is the second edition of the new Dutch fourth tier, formerly called Topklasse, since the restructuring of the league system in the summer of 2016. Teams Saturday league Sunday league League tables ...

Saturday and 3 (substitute) period winners of each of the 2017–18 Hoofdklassen Saturday, making 8 teams, decided in a 2-round knockout system of which 2 teams play next season in the

Saturday. The remaining 6 teams play next season in the

2018–19 Hoofdklasse The 2018–19 season of the Hoofdklasse was played in four leagues, two Saturday leagues and two Sunday leagues. The champions of each group promoted directly to the 2019–20 Derde Divisie. The 2018–19 Hoofdklasse started on Saturday 1 Septe ...

Saturday.

Qualified Teams

Results

Extra match

Because

Jong Twente Jong FC Twente (English: Young FC Twente) are the reserve team of FC Twente, a team from Enschede which played in the Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It ...

decided at the end of season to withdraw from the

Saturday and to continue in the league for reserve teams only, an extra spot became available in the

Saturday. Therefore the two teams who lost in the second round of the play-offs were given a second chance. In an extra match, on neutral ground, these teams competed for the spot that became available.

Sunday

The numbers 15 and 16 from the

Sunday and 3 (substitute) period winners of each of the 2017–18 Hoofdklassen Sunday, making 8 teams, decided in a 2-round knockout system which 2 teams play next season in the

Sunday. The remaining 6 teams play next season in the

Sunday.

Qualified Teams

Results

Promotion/relegation play-offs Hoofdklasse and Eerste Klasse

Saturday

The numbers 13 and 14 from each of the 2017–18 Hoofdklasse Saturday leagues (2 times 2 teams) and 3 (substitute) period winners of each of the 2017–18 Eerste Klasse Saturday leagues (5 times 3 teams), making 19 teams, decided in a 3-round single match

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

system of which 3 teams play next season in the

Saturday leagues. The remaining 16 teams play next season in the 2018–19 Eerste Klasse Saturday leagues. Out of the 4 Hoofdklasse teams and the 5 highest ranked period winners (9 teams total), 5 teams were excluded by draw from playing the first round. Home advantage was decided by a draw.

Qualified Teams

Results

Extra matches

Because

decided, at the end of season, to withdraw from the

Saturday and to continue in the league for reserve teams only, an extra spot became available in the

Saturday. This caused a repeated pattern of an extra available spot for all lower Saturday tiers of the pyramid. Therefore the three teams who lost in the third round of the play-offs were given a second chance. In extra matches, each team playing one match at home and one match away, these teams competed for the spot that became available in the 2018-19 Hoofdklasse Saturday.

Sunday

The numbers 13 and 14 from each of the 2017–18 Hoofdklasse Sunday leagues (2 times 2 teams) and 3 (substitute) period winners of each of the 2017–18 Eerste Klasse Sunday leagues (6 times 3 teams), making 22 teams, decided in a 4-round single match

system of which 2 teams play next season in the

Sunday leagues. The remaining 20 teams play next season in the 2018–19 Eerste Klasse Sunday leagues. The 4 Hoofdklasse teams and the 6 highest ranked period winners (10 teams total) were excluded from playing the first round. In the first round the second best and lowest ranked period winners (of each Eerste Klasse separate) meet each other, where the lowest ranked period winner has home advantage. In the second round home advantage was decided by draw.

Qualified Teams

Results

Extra match

Because Jong De Graafschap, relegated from

, decided at the end of season to withdraw from the

for next season and to continue in the league for reserve teams only, an extra spot became available in the

Sunday leagues. Therefore the two teams who lost in the fourth round of the play-offs were given a second chance. In an extra match, on neutral ground, these teams competed for the spot that became available.

References

* https://www.hollandsevelden.nl/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoofdklasse 2017-18 2017-18 Neth 4