VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch
football club from
Venlo
Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, about 50 km east of the city of Eindhoven, 65 km north east of the provincial capital Maastricht, a ...
, a city on the border with Germany. They play 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 t ...
, the second tier of
Dutch football
Football is the most popular sport in the Netherlands. Football was introduced to the Netherlands by Pim Mulier in the 19th century when in 1879, at the age of 14, he founded Haarlemsche Football Club. Over the next 30 years, football gained ...
, following relegation from 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 the
2020–21 season. The club plays its home games in the Covebo Stadion –
De Koel
De Koel (), also known as Covebo Stadion – De Koel, is a multi-purpose stadium in Venlo, Limburg, Netherlands. It is currently mostly used for football matches and is the home stadium of VVV-Venlo. The stadium is able to hold 8,000 spectators ...
stadium, which is named after one of the club's sponsors Covebo Uitzendgroep. VVV's home colors are yellow and black.
History
Foundation and first decades (1903–1952)
VVV originated from the
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club ''De Gouden Leeuw'', which was founded by a group of friends in
Venlo
Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, about 50 km east of the city of Eindhoven, 65 km north east of the provincial capital Maastricht, a ...
at the end of the nineteenth century. A few more name changes would occur, and the team was also known as ''Valuas'' for some time. Eventually, it was decided on 7 February 1903 to change the name to Venlose Voetbal Vereniging (VVV), the current name of the club. VVV wrote itself into the history books as one of the oldest clubs in Dutch professional football. In 1909, the clubs ''VITOS'' and ''THOR'' merged and became part of VVV. ''Quick'' followed in 1910.
During the first years of its existence, VVV could not enter the highest league of Dutch football. This was due to the fact that before the
1911–12 season, there was no first-tier ''
Eerste Klasse
The Eerste Klasse ( en, First Class) started as the 1st tier of football in the Netherlands and is now the 6th tier. The league is divided into eleven divisions, six for Saturday clubs and five for Sunday clubs. These divisions correspond to the s ...
'' in the southern Netherlands, but only Eastern and a Western Eerste Klasse. From the
1912–13 season, the South also competed in its own Eerste Klasse. VVV has been part of this since its introduction into Dutch football, with varying degrees of success. After the
1921–22 season, the club suffered relegation to the second-tier ''
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 t ...
''. Afterwards, the team played for some time in the Tweede Klasse, in which they won the championship during several seasons. They, however, failed to reach promotion to the Eerste Klasse again afterwards. After the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the number of Eerste Klasse teams was expanded, which also included VVV. From 1948 to 1952, the club achieved fourth-place finishes in the Eerste Klasse.
Recent years (2006–present)
VVV returned to 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 ...
, the highest league in the Netherlands, by defeating
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 ...
(3–0) in the promotion/relegation play-offs in the 2006–07 season. After one season in the Eredivisie, VVV-Venlo were relegated back to 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 t ...
. After a single season, VVV-Venlo won the
2008–09 Eerste Divisie title and returned to the Eredivisie.
In the 2009–10 season, the team booked its best league result since 1988 after finishing 12th in the Eredivisie. Another remarkable event was the transfer of star player
Keisuke Honda
is a Japanese professional football manager and former player. he is the current general manager & head coach of the Cambodia U-23.
A versatile player, Honda usually played as an attacking midfielder, but could also play as a winger, a f ...
to
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...
. They also signed toddler Baerke van der Meij on a symbolic ten-year contract, after a video featuring him scoring a
hat trick into a toy box became popular. Honda was replaced by
Gonzalo and the club signed Japanese player
Maya Yoshida. The departure of Honda turned out to be a key point in the club's season. In the second half of the season, the team was not able to win matches and barely escaped from relegation.
At the end of the season, key players
Ruben Schaken
Ruben Schaken (; born 3 April 1982) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He has represented the Netherlands national team on seven occasions between 2012 and 2013, scoring two goals in the process.
Career
Ear ...
and
Adil Auassar both signed with
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), 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 bef ...
on a free transfer. Gonzalo returned to his employer
Groningen, while
Sandro Calabro signed with Swiss side
St. Gallen
, neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach
, twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic)
, website = ...
. The club contracted
Ruud Boymans and the Nigerian
Ahmed Musa
Ahmed Musa (born 14 October 1992) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward and left winger for Turkish Süper Lig club Sivasspor and the Nigeria national team.
Musa became the first Nigerian to score more than once in a ...
to strengthen the squad for the 2010–11 season. They avoided relegation, but it was a harsh season in which
Jan van Dijk was fired and former international
Patrick Paauwe
Patrick Paauwe (born 27 December 1975) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Club career
Paauwe played as a defender in the past but for Feyenoord Rotterdam as a defensive midfielder role. Other teams he served ...
terminated his contract after losing the competition from his competitors.
Belgian manager
Glen De Boeck
Glen De Boeck (; born 22 August 1971) is a Belgian football manager and former player who most recently managed Lokeren in the Belgian First Division B. During his career he played as central defender, mostly on the books of Anderlecht.
Clu ...
was signed for the next season, but failed to improve the results. As a result of that, he resigned in December 2011.
Ton Lokhoff was recruited as the new manager and succeeded in avoiding relegation by winning the post-season play-offs. However, in the 2012–13 season, the club was relegated after losing the promotion/relegation play-offs against
Go Ahead Eagles. The club finished fifth in its first
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 t ...
season since its promotion in 2009. But again, the club bounced back and returned to the Eredivisie in 2017, after clinching promotion by defeating RKC Waalwijk.
On 24 October 2020, VVV-Venlo suffered the biggest defeat in Eredivisie history by losing to
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
at home
13–0.
Japanese players
Since
Keisuke Honda
is a Japanese professional football manager and former player. he is the current general manager & head coach of the Cambodia U-23.
A versatile player, Honda usually played as an attacking midfielder, but could also play as a winger, a f ...
transferred from
Nagoya Grampus
(formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota, Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939 ...
in 2008, a slew of Japanese players have played at VVV-Venlo, including
Maya Yoshida,
Robert Cullen and
Yuki Otsu
Yuki, Yūki or Yuuki may refer to:
Places
* Yuki, Hiroshima (Jinseki), a town in Jinseki District, Hiroshima, Japan
* Yuki, Hiroshima (Saeki), a town in Saeki District, Hiroshima, Japan
* Yūki, Ibaraki, a city on Honshu island in Japan
* Yuki ...
.
Sef Vergoossen, a legendary manager of the club, and Japanese agent
Tetsuro Kiyooka
Tetsuro Kiyooka ( ja, 清岡 哲朗, ''Kiyooka Tetsuro'', 30 July 1970) is a Japanese entrepreneur and former FIFA Players' Agent ( Sports agent). Kiyooka is the founder and CEO of SpecTip. He holds Permanent residency in Canada. His ancestors a ...
were a bridge between the Japanese players and the club.
Community support
The official club mascot since 1 July 2004 is a dog named ''"Koelie" ( en, Coolie)''.
The
Jan Klaassens
Jan Klaassens (4 September 1931 – 12 February 1983) was a Dutch football player who played for VVV-Venlo and Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which ...
Museum, set up in 2003 is located in the city center of Venlo and is operated by the Limburgs Museum. Since 2005, VVV has annually presented the Jan Klaassens Award to the greatest talent from its own youth academy.
The
Herman Teeuwen Memorial, named after the club icon who died suddenly in 2003, since 2004 has been organised by the club, usually with well-known foreign clubs participating on an invitational basis.
VVV announced in July 2015 that they would be retiring the number 28 shirt in memory of youth player
Beau Vilters, who had previously worn that number but was killed in a traffic accident on 14 June 2015, at the age of 18.
In April 2011, after a viral video of a local toddler, Baerke van der Meij, grandson of VVV player
Jan van der Meij, showing him scoring a hat trick into his toy box, the club gave the 18-month-old an honorary contract.
Stadium
VVV-Venlo currently play at
De Koel
De Koel (), also known as Covebo Stadion – De Koel, is a multi-purpose stadium in Venlo, Limburg, Netherlands. It is currently mostly used for football matches and is the home stadium of VVV-Venlo. The stadium is able to hold 8,000 spectators ...
in Venlo. The stadium holds 8,000 people and was built in 1972. It is named after its main sponsor, hence its current name, Covebo Stadion De Koel.
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:01/01/2021
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:3
from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:17
from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:17
from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:17
from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:17
from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:6
from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/01/2016 till:01/01/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:13
from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:17
from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1991 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text:
from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1992 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text:
from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text:
from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text:
from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/2007 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "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 t ...
"
from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text:
from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text:
from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2013 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "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 ...
"
from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2017 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "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 t ...
"
from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2021 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "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 ...
"
Players
Current squad
Retired numbers
28 —
Beau Vilters ,
defender (2014–15) — ''posthumous honour''
Notable players
*
Remco Torken
Remco Torken (born 3 January 1972 in the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = B ...
*
Keisuke Honda
is a Japanese professional football manager and former player. he is the current general manager & head coach of the Cambodia U-23.
A versatile player, Honda usually played as an attacking midfielder, but could also play as a winger, a f ...
*
Giorgos Giakoumakis
Giorgos Giakoumakis ( gr, Γιώργος Γιακουμάκης; born 9 December 1994) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC and the Greece national team.
Club career Early ca ...
Domestic results
Below is a table with VVV-Venlo's domestic results since the introduction 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 1956.
Club staff
Coaching history
References
External links
Fanclub – Fanclub D'n Twellefde Man Fanclub – GoodOld VVV Fanclub – East Side Venlo (ESV)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venlo
Football clubs in the Netherlands
Association football clubs established in 1903
1903 establishments in the Netherlands
Football clubs in Limburg (Netherlands)
Sport in Venlo