Amsterdamsche Football Club Door Wilskracht Sterk ( en, Amsterdam Football Club Strong Through Willpower), also referred to as AFC DWS, Door Wilskracht Sterk or simply DWS, is a Dutch football club from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, currently competing in the

Tweede Klasse The Tweede Klasse ( en, Second Class) is the seventh tier of football in the Netherlands and the fifth tier of Dutch amateur football. The league is divided into 22 divisions, 10 played on Saturday and 12 on Sunday. Each division consists of 14 te ...

( en, Second Class), the sixth tier of

amateur football Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sports, professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time ...

in 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 ...

History

AFC DWS was founded on 11 October 1907, by the trio of Robert Beijerbacht, Theo Beijerbacht and Jan van Galen under the name of Fortuna which was soon changed to Hercules. The team played in a blue and white striped shirt and white shorts. On 22 March 1909 the name was changed to DWS and the shirt colours became blue and black vertical stripes. In 1954 the club entered professional football, playing its home matches in the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. It merged in 1958 with BVC Amsterdam into DWS/A. That name was dropped again in 1962 and turned back into DWS. DWS became champions of the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

in 1964, the same year they were promoted from the

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 ...

, which is a feat that has never been repeated since from any team after being promoted to the Eredivisie. DWS then reached the quarter finals of the

1964–65 European Cup The 1964–65 European Cup, the 10th season of the football club tournament, was won by Internazionale for the second time in row, in a final match against two-time former champions Benfica, making it three consecutive titles for Italy (Milan ha ...

, in the next season. Their 1964 triumph is the most recent occasion of a club without a predominantly red and white home strip (unlike recent contenders Ajax, AZ, Feyenoord, PSV and Twente) winning the Eredivisie title, a drought of 55 years. In 1972 the club merged with

Blauw-Wit Amsterdam FC Blauw-Wit Amsterdam ( en, Blue-White) was a Dutch football club from Amsterdam. The name referred to the colours of their uniform, blue and white. History Founded on 10 May 1902 as a local club in the Kinkerbuurt area of Amsterdam, from 1928 i ...

and

Volewijckers ASC De Volewijckers is a Dutch football club that plays in the Vierde Klasse. It is a continuation of ASV–DWV and AVV De Volewijckers. History ASV–DWV ASV-DWV or Door Wilskracht Verkregen was founded on 12 May 1912 in present-day Amster ...

to form

FC Amsterdam FC Amsterdam was a Dutch football club which was founded on 20 June 1972, from the merger of the Amsterdam football clubs Blauw Wit and DWS. The club Volewijckers joined the side for the 1973–1974 season, in which season FC Amsterdam finished ...

. DWS continued as an amateur club, which still exists. They celebrated their 100-year Jubilee in 2007.

Professional football results 1954 – 1972

DWS in Europe

: (1) UCP = UEFA Co-efficiency points. Total number of points for UEFA Coefficient: 17.0 : (2) DWS skipped this round, since they were still active in the Europacup I : (3) DWS are eliminated from the tournament since they are still active in the Europacup I

Honours

: 1 ** 1963–64 * KNVB District Cup West I: 1 **1983

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:DWS, AFC Football clubs in the Netherlands Football clubs in Amsterdam Association football clubs established in 1907 Association football clubs established in 1909 1907 establishments in the Netherlands