Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and
the 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 ...
, which started in January 2008 under the name BENE-LIGA. Between 2010 and 2014,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
teams also participated in the tournament that was then called Benelux League.
History
The idea of setting up a collaboration between the Belgian and Dutch top clubs dates back to the 1980s. However, as in many other sports, it was mainly talked about. However, in 2006 it all became more concrete. A system was devised to better frame the friendly matches from the preparation period, and a knock-out system was set up: quarter-finals in round-trip matches between the top 4 from Belgium and the Netherlands, and the winners would compete in a Final 4. At the end of 2007 it was announced that eight teams from the Netherlands and Belgium would compete against each other. The goal was to start a full Bene Liga competition in 2010 with more teams from the Low Countries.
The first edition of the Bene Liga was played in 2008 as a kind of cup formula. On the Belgian side, the first was kicked off by Initia Hasselt,
Tongeren
Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...
,
Neerpelt
Neerpelt (, literally ''Lower Pelt'') is a town in Pelt and a former municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. In 2018, the municipality had a total population of 17,174. The total area is 42.78 km².
Effective 1 January 201 ...
and
KV Sasja HC
KV Sasja HC Hoboken is a Belgian handball team from Hoboken, Antwerp
Hoboken () is a southern district of the arrondissement and city of Antwerp, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located at the Scheldt river. The name of the distri ...
.
Volendam
Volendam () is a fishing town in the municipality of Edam-Volendam, province of North Holland, Netherlands. As of 1 January 2021, it has a population of 22,715. It is twinned with Coventry, England.
History
Originally, Volendam was the location o ...
,
Aalsmeer
Aalsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (''aal'') and lake (''meer''). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water of ...
, Hellas and Bevo HC from the Netherlands took part. The start of the BENE-Liga was, symbolically, announced in
Baarle-Hertog
(; french: Baerle-Duc, ) is a Flemish municipality of Belgium, much of which consists of a number of small Belgian enclaves fully surrounded by the Netherlands.
Parts of are surrounded by the Dutch province of North Brabant, but it is part of t ...
.
Evert ten Napel
Evert is a Dutch and Swedish short form of the Germanic masculine name "Everhard" (alternative Eberhard).Evert at the , a well-known Dutch sports reporter led the press conference. In the first edition of the BENE-Liga, KV Sasja became champion.
2021–22 season
:''Below is the list of clubs that are members of the 2021–22 BENE-League Handball season.''
Below is the list of winners, finalists and other participants of Final four BENE-League tournaments.