The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup. The tournament consists of all teams from the top four tiers of Dutch league football ( Eredivisie, Eerste Divisie,

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 ...

and

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 well as the 24 semi-finalists (or replacements) of the six KNVB District Cups. The finals of the tournament traditionally takes place in De Kuip, and has been held there every season since the 1989 final. The winners of the cup compete against the winners of the Eredivisie for the

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

, which acts as the curtain raiser for the following season.

History

The competition was conceived during a board meeting of the Dutch Football Association, in The Hague, on 19 January 1898. The tournament began the following season, 1898–99. The first final was played on 9 May 1899 between

RAP Amsterdam AVV RAP, in the long form Amsterdamsche Voetbalvereeniging RUN, Amstels, Progress, was a Dutch football club based in Amsterdam, who played in the Netherlands Football League Championship. The club existed from 1887 to 1914 and was the first cup ch ...

and HVV Den Haag, and ended in a 1–0 victory for the former thanks to a goal from

Julius Hisgen The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the c ...

in extra-time. In 1946, the trophy was changed to one made out of silver, which was extremely rare in the immediate aftermath of World War II. That trophy remains in use today. In 2018, a trophy colored in gold was commissioned to commemorate the 100th edition of the tournament.

Name changes

Like many national cup competitions, the name of the tournament has changed with sponsorship. From 1995, the competition went from being the KNVB Beker to being known as the Amstel Cup after the then sponsor

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the riv ...

. On 16 August 2005, the name was changed to the Gatorade Cup after the drinks company

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

. In 2006, the name returned to being the KNVB Beker with Gatorade remaining as the principal sponsor. On 12 January 2018, it was announced that TOTO would be the name sponsor of the KNVB Cup, until the 2021–22 season. The competition was renamed the TOTO KNVB Beker with immediate effect.

European competition

Up until 1998, the winner of the cup entered into the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but with the abandonment of that tournament, the winner now goes into the UEFA Europa League. If the winning team has finished in the top two of the Eredivisie and thus gained entry into the UEFA Champions League, the berth will be redistributed to that season's Eredivisie. In 1998, both KNVB Cup finalists, Ajax and PSV, gained entry in the Champions League, so a third-place play-off was played between the beaten semi-finalists, SC Heerenveen and FC Twente, to determine who would take the Cup Winners' Cup place.

Past finals

Number of titles

Notes

Media coverage

The broadcast rights are included in the KNVB broadcast rights package, which also include the

Netherlands

The KNVB Cup is currently broadcast live by the ESPN channels.

International

References

External links

KNVB.nl - Official website KNVB

RSSSF.com

RSSSF.com

RSSSF.com

- National cup results. * :fr:Coupe des Pays-Bas de football {{National football Cups (UEFA region) Netherlands Football competitions in the Netherlands Recurring sporting events established in 1899 1899 establishments in the Netherlands