The 2019–20 Eerste Divisie, known as Keuken Kampioen Divisie for sponsorship reasons, was the sixty-fourth season of

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

since its establishment in 1955. It began in August 2019 with the first matches of the season and was scheduled to end in May 2020 with the finals of the promotion/relegation play-offs, also involving the 16th-placed team from the 2019–20 Eredivisie. The season was temporarily halted in March 2020, then postponed for several weeks and later abandoned altogether due to the global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and consequent Dutch government decision to disallow all large-scale events until 1 September 2020.

Effects of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic

On 12 March 2020, all football leagues were suspended until 31 March as the Dutch government forbade events due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus reached the Netherlands on 27 February 2020, when its first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Tilburg. It involved a 56-year-old Dutchman ...

. On 15 March this period was extended until 6 April. Due to the decision of the Dutch government to forbid all gatherings and events until 1 June 2020, this period was even further extended. The Dutch government announced on 21 April that all events subject to authorization, would remain forbidden at least until 1 September 2020. As a result, the

KNVB The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...

announced the same day, the intention not to continue all remaining suspended competitions. A final decision would be taken after consultation with the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

and next the consequences would be discussed with the clubs involved. On 24 April 2020 the season was cancelled.

Teams

A total of 20 teams took part in the league.

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese ...

gained promotion to the Eredivisie, and was replaced by

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

, who finished bottom in the 2018–19 Eredivisie. Sparta Rotterdam and

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

won the post-season playoff, and were replaced in the 2019–20 Eerste Divisie by

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

and

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

. At an extraordinary KNVB federation meeting on 7 June 2018, representatives of amateur and professional football reached an agreement to renew the football pyramid as of the 2019–20 season. Part of the Agreement was that no promotion/relegation would take place between the Eerste and

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie ( en, Second Division) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and b ...

this season.

Personnel and kits

Standings

As the competition was cancelled, below is the situation on 9 March 2020, the date the last matches were played.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after completion of each round.

Period tables

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Period 4

Fixtures/results

Results by round

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks(+)

Assists

Attendance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Eerste Divisie Eerste Divisie seasons

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...