Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

. They currently compete in 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 ...

, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Originally founded on 16 August 1883 as ''Dordrechtsche Cricket Club'' (DCC) which later became ''Dordrechtse Football Club'' (DFC), it became a professional club in 1954 upon the introduction of professional football to the Netherlands. In 1972, the professional branch separated from the parent club and continued under the name FC Dordrecht, before becoming DS '79 in 1979. On 1 July 1991, the club merged with SV SVV from

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

to become ''SVV/Dordrecht'90'', before becoming ''Dordrecht '90'' the following year. Since 1994, the club has been called ''FC Dordrecht''. A two time

KNVB Cup 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. Ou ...

winner, Dordrecht has spent most of its existence as a second-tier

side, with short stints in the top-tier

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 ...

. Since 1948, Dordrecht has played its home games at the

Riwal Hoogwerkers Stadion The Stadion Krommedijk (known as the Matchoholic Stadion for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose all-seater stadium in Dordrecht, South Holland, Netherlands. It is currently mostly used for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Dordre ...

, which saw a major renovation in 1998–99. The stadium has a capacity of 4,235.

History

Beginnings

Founded on 16 August 1883 as the cricket club ''DCC'', the club branched out and added association football club to their club which changed its name to ''DCFC'' in 1891, before completely abandoning cricket in 1899 and continuing as ''DFC''. It became a professional club in 1954 upon the introduction of professional football to the Netherlands. The next significant events were in 1972, at which time the professional branch of DFC was renamed FC Dordrecht, and in 1974 when the professionals and amateurs severed their ties.

1979–1990: DS '79

In 1979, under the leadership of chairman and investor Nico de Vries, the organisation was professionalised and an attempt was also made to gain more supporters to the fanbase. This included a new name, ''DS '79'' (Drechtsteden'79), referring to the Drechtsteden region. The club colours were also changed, and red-white colour scheme was replaced by a yellow-blue outfit. New players came to the club, including Huub Smeets who signed from the Los Angeles Aztecs,

Wim Berends Wim is a masculine given name or a shortened form of Willem and other names and may refer to: * Wim Anderiesen (1903–1944), Dutch footballer * Wim Aantjes (1923–2015), Dutch politician * Wim Arras (born 1964), Belgian cyclist * Wim Blockman ...

and

Chris Bosse Chris Bosse is a German-born architect, resident in Sydney in Australia. He was a designer of the Beijing National Aquatics Centre, which was built for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Life Chris Bosse was born on 30 September 1971 in Stuttgart to ...

from the

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

reserve team, and

Harry van den Ham Harry Van Den Ham (born 16 August 1954) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Playing career Van den Ham played for UVV Utrecht in his youth and from the age of 11 began playing for USV Elinkwijk. With Elinkwijk, he became ...

and

Joop Oostdam Joop is a Dutch masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Johannes, Joseph, Jacobus, or other names. It may refer to: * Jogchum T. Joop Alberda (born 1952), Dutch volleyball coach, coach of the 1996 Olympic champion Dutch team * Jo ...

from the reserves of

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

. The team became known as the "local heroes, and popularity grew and increasing interest in the games at Stadion Krommedijk. In January 1981, the most famous player in club history,

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

, made three appearances for DS '79. These came at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

against Chelsea (4–2), at home against Ajax (2–1) and in Belgium against

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

(1–7). In 1983, the team won the second-tier

and as a result, DS '79 won promotion to the

. The following season, DS'79 was led by the coaching duo

Hans Dorjee Hans Dorjee (26 July 1941 – 25 July 2002) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. Playing career Dorjee came through the youth system of hometown club DHC to make his senior debut for the club aged only 17.Joop van Daele, and suffered direct relegation to the Eerste Divisie. At the end of the 1986–87 season, DS '79 won promotion again, this time via play-offs. The yellow-blues were then led by Simon Kistemaker, he neither could prevent the club from Dordrecht from relegating again at the end of the season. Former player

Epi Drost Eimert "Epi" Drost (21 September 1945 in Amersfoort – 27 May 1995 in Rotterdam) was an association football player and manager from the Netherlands, best known for his time with FC Twente. Playing career Club He made his senior debut for FC Wag ...

took over the position of head coach at the start of the 1989–90 season, but only managed to lead the team to a 19th and last place in the Eerste Divisie. New investor, Cees den Braven, became chairman in the club and changed the name of the club, its third name: ''Dordrecht '90''. The outfit was also changed to a green jersey with white shorts. These were the colors of De Braven Sealants, the chairman's company.

Margo Gerrits *** People * Margo (actress) (1917–1985), Mexican-American actress and dancer * Margo (magician), American magic performer and actress * Margo (singer), Irish singer * Margo (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name P ...

signed a contract as commercial manager at Dordrecht '90, making her the first female manager in professional football.

1991–2001: Dordrecht '90

The club just missed promotion to the Eredivisie in 1991. It was finally admitted when Dordrecht '90 surprisingly merged with neighbouring

Schiedamse Voetbal Vereniging SV SVV, short for Sportvereniging Schiedamse Voetbal Verenigingen, is a Dutch football club from Schiedam. Founded in 1904, the club won the Dutch national football title in 1949. In 1991, the professional branch of SVV and neighbouring Dordrech ...

(SVV) of

and became ''SVV/Dordrecht '90''. Under the new name, the club immediately returned to the highest level. Under the leadership of Dick Advocaat and Han Berger, the team reached fifteenth place in the league table. That year, the club played its only European matches in the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

, consisting only of a group stage against

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differe ...

from Sweden, AaB from Denmark and

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. FC Saarbrücken (german: 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken e. V.) is a football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. The club began its existence as the football de ...

from Germany. The following year, Han Berger and

Nico van Zoghel Naftiran Intertrade Company limited (NICO) is a Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC buys the vast majority of Iran's gasoline imports. NICO is a key pl ...

only reached last place in the table, meaning that SVV/Dordrecht '90 suffered another relegation. After relegation, the club abandoned the 'SVV' and continued as ''Dordrecht '90''. Van Zoghel remained as head coach and led the club to the Eerste Divisie championship at the end of the 1993–94 season with automatic promotion. Again, the Eredivisie was too big of a mouthful for the Dordrecht team, who again relegated directly. Chairman Cees den Braven resigned from the position and handed over the leadership of the club to former referee Frans Derks. Much success was not achieved in the following years, and the club slowly fell to the lower echelons of the Eerste Divisie. A small revival occurred at the end of the 1998–99 season, as Dordrecht '90 qualified for promotion play-offs through a period championship, despite only reaching a 14th place in the table, but did not find success there.

2002–present: FC Dordrecht

Management changes

Finally in 2002, the club was renamed once again, to the name it bore from 1972 to 1979: FC Dordrecht, which remains the name today. For a number of years, Dordrecht was one of the clubs with the lowest average attendance of all Dutch professional teams.Historical attendances
When at the end of the 2002–03 season, FC Dordrecht ended bottom of the Eerste Divisie, Derks resigned from his position as chairman and

Ad Heijsman Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

took over. Heijsman was previously chairman of DFC, the club from which FC Dordrecht originated. Former player

Marco Boogers Marco Boogers (born 12 January 1967) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a forward. Boogers spent almost all of his career in the Netherlands, apart from an ill-fated spell at English club West Ham United. He later worked a ...

was appointed technical director. After a number of lean years, Dordrecht slowly crept back up from the sporting trough. In 2009 and 2010, head coach

Gert Kruys Gert Kruys (born 8 May 1961 in Utrecht) is a Dutch football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of IJsselmeervogels. Career Kruys played his entire career for FC Utrecht (1978–1988), except for one short spell at RKC Waal ...

led the team to straight promotion play-off appearances. With Marco Boogers as technical director of the club, a new direction was initiated. Partly due to the disappointing financial results, the budget for players decreased to €5.5 thousand. FC Dordrecht then began a partnership with Eredivisie club

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

, who provided players on one-season loan agreements, including

Tom Beugelsdijk Tom Beugelsdijk (; 7 August 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Club career Beugelsdijk was born in The Hague. He formerly played for ADO Den Haag and was loaned out to FC Dordrecht, in the Dutch second division ...

Giovanni Korte Giovanni Korte (born August 1, 1993) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger for De Graafschap in the Eerste Divisie. Career Korte began his career with ADO Den Haag and made his professional debut on 12 May 2013 in a 4–2 d ...

and

Santy Hulst Santy Hulst (born 27 October 1987 in Leiderdorp) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He played for ADO Den Haag, FC Dordrecht, De Graafschap, and SVV Scheveningen Scheveningse Voetbal Vereniging Sch ...

. Boogers also managed to sign talented players from other clubs, including

Joris van Overeem Joris van Overeem (born 1 June 1994) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv. Club career Van Overeem joined Dutch youth side AZ in 2006. AZ Alkmaar On 30 October 2013, he m ...

Marvin Peersman Marvin Peersman (born 10 February 1991) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left-back for Dutch club FC Groningen, Groningen. Club career Peersman began his professional football club career in 2009 at KSK ...

and

Jafar Arias Jafar Aurelio Miguel Arias (born 16 June 1995) is a Curaçaoan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Danish 1st Division club HB Køge. Club career Arias played for FC Groningen before joining Dordrecht in summer 2015. On 29 August ...

Eredivisie 2014–15

On 18 May 2014, Dordrecht won promotion to the Eredivisie for the first time in 19 years, after a 3–1 win over

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

in the second leg of the promotion play-off finals, after the first leg had ended in a 2–2 draw. Shortly afterwards, head coach

announces that he would leave the club to join

's managing staff. In the Eredivisie, Dordrecht won their first match against

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

, but suffered relegation in the last matchday after

Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles () are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in the 2020-21 season. The club's h ...

won the away match against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

. Chairman Ad Heijsman stepped down at the end of March 2015, and supermarket manager Cees van der Poel took over. After relegation of 2015, almost all regular starters had left. An almost completely new team was brought in, including talented players from other Dutch clubs such as Alvin Daniels,

Jeroen Lumu Jeroen Lombe Lumu (born 27 May 1995) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a winger for Greek club Nestos Chrysoupolis. Career Willem II Born in Breda to a DR Congolese father and a dutch mother, Lumu began his football career at Willem II. He m ...

and Jafar Arias, but experience was also gained in the form of

Geert Arend Roorda Geert Arend Roorda (, born 2 March 1988) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Early career Roorda started out by playing for amateur club "vv Noordbergum" but since he was eight y ...

Eerste Divisie since 2015

Back in the

for the 2015–16 season, the club finished in a disappointing 14th place. The following season, a whole new squad was put together after the departure of many players. Halfway through the season, it became clear that it could be an even more disappointing year than the last. Dordrecht was at the bottom of the league and faced the risk of relegation to the third-tier

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 ...

, as this was possible in the 2016–17 season unlike before. Just before the end of the season, there was a matchup between the bottom two clubs in

Achilles '29 Achilles '29 is a football club from Groesbeek, Netherlands, competing in the sixth-tier Eerste Klasse. The club is known for its successes in the Dutch domestic cup, having knocked FC Volendam, Heracles Almelo, RKC Waalwijk, Telstar and MV ...

and Dordrecht, which ended in a 2–2 draw, leaving the latter in 19th place and safe from relegation. Achilles '29 were later deducted points were for their financial problems, so that Dordrecht was finally safe and could continue their professional football operations. A large number of players were signed again ahead of the 2017–18 season, and it soon became apparent that Dordrecht would bounce back from a disappointing previous season. The club did not play well in the first half of the season, but after the winter break, the team accomplished a strong winning streak. This ensured that Dordrecht became ''period champion'' on 12 March 2018 after a 1–0 win over

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 ...

. Thereby, the club qualified for the promotion play-offs for the Eredivisie. In the play-offs. Dordrecht faced

SC Cambuur SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 Ee ...

in the first round. In the home game, they lost 1–4 loss, but in the return, Dordrecht put down a strong performance and ended up winning 1–4 in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

to eventually advance after the penalty shootout.

awaited in the semi-finals of the play-offs. The first game at home was lost 1–2, and in the return match at

Het Kasteel The Sparta Stadion, nicknamed Het Kasteel () is a football stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is the home ground of Sparta Rotterdam. It has a capacity of 11,026. History and layout The stadium is located in the neighbourhood of Spangen, whe ...

, Dordrecht were up 0–2 in the first half; enough to reach the final, but lost their lead in the second half as the match ended 2–2. This ended their promotion run and Dordrecht remained in the second tier. The club introduced a new policy of signing players on longer contracts ahead of the 2018–19 season, which meant that other clubs would have to put down larger transfer fees to convince Dordrecht to sell. However, like the previous season, Dordrecht started the competition poorly and were in last place in mid-November. As a result, head coach

Gérard de Nooijer Gérard de Nooijer (born 4 April 1969) is a Dutch Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. Playing career De Nooijer played as a defender (football), defender for Sparta Rotterdam (1988–1998), ...

was fired. After assistant

Scott Calderwood Scott Calderwood (born 11 March 1978) is an English retired professional footballer and current manager of DOVO. Calderwood is the son of Jimmy Calderwood and has played for a number of Dutch clubs, including Willem II, Heracles Almelo and SV ...

took over as caretaker until the winter break, and subsequently left the club, Cláudio Braga was appointed the new head coach. Dordrecht also entered into partnerships with

and English club Norwich City. In the winter break, the squad received a quality boost with the arrival of Joël Zwarts,

Crysencio Summerville Crysencio Jilbert Sylverio Cirro Summerville (born 30 October 2001) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship club Leeds United. Club career Feyenoord Born in Rotterdam to Afro-Surinamese parents, Summer ...

and Jari Schuurman, among others. The latter even signed a three-year permanent contract with the ''Schapekoppen''. Under the new coach and with a squad strengthened by new loanees, Dordrecht performed better in the second half of the season, among others beating eventual champions

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 Bo ...

. Dordrecht finished the competition in seventeenth place and started the following season with a number of new loanees on the books.

Honours

League

: Winners (2): 1914, 1932 :''Runners-up (2)'': 1913, 1943 *

: Winners (2): 1982–83, 1993–94 :''Play-off promotion (2)'': 1986–87, 2013–14

Results

ImageSize = width:800 height:60 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/2022 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1990 Colors = id:bl1 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3) id:bl2 value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:rs value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6) id:rn value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1) PlotData= bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:18 from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:18 from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:18 from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:18 from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/01/2016 till:01/01/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:19 from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:19 from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:20 from:01/01/2021 till:01/01/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1991 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1993 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1995 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/2014 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2015 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2022 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text:

Domestic results

Below is a table with FC Dordrecht's domestic results since the introduction of professional football in 1956.

Club Officials

Current squad

References

External links

Official website

FC Dordrecht forum

Fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dordrecht Football clubs in the Netherlands Association football clubs established in 1883 1883 establishments in the Netherlands Football clubs in Dordrecht