Football in the Netherlands
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Football is the most popular sport in the Netherlands.
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
was introduced to 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 ...
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 popularity in the Netherlands and the late 1890s and early 1900s saw the foundation of many new clubs, notably Sparta Rotterdam in 1888, which is the oldest professional football club in the country,
AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...
in 1900,
Feyenoord Rotterdam 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 it ...
in 1908, and
PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...
in 1913. The
Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...
(KNVB) was founded on 8 December 1889 and joined
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
in 1904 as one of the founding members alongside the Football Associations of
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 ...
,
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, and
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.
Professional football In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
was introduced in 1954, with the establishment of the Dutch Professional Football Association (''Nederlandse Beroeps Voetbal Bond'', or NBVB). The first professional game was played on 14 August 1954 between Alkmaar '54 and SC Venlo. The KNVB had opposed professional football for a long time, but eventually submitted to pressure and merged with the NBVB in November 1954 to form a new football association and a new (professional) league. Since 1956, the top flight of Dutch football is 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 ...
( en, Premier Division, literally ''Honour Division''). The second level is 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 ...
(First Division). The third level is the
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 ...
(Second Division). Below that are two amateur divisions: the fourth level is the Derde Divisie (Third Division), formerly Topklasse, and the fifth level the Hoofdklasse. The Topklasse was launched in 2010, before that time promotion to or relegation from the Eerste Divisie was not possible. In 2016, the Topklasse was renamed Derde Divisie and the Tweede Divisie was revived. The Netherlands is unique, for its well known men's and women's team are usually dressed in orange. They won the European Championship in 1988, and have competed in many European and World Cups. They finished second in the 1974,1978 and 2010 World Cups and third in the
UEFA Euro 1976 The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 16 and 20 June 1976. Only f ...
and 2014 World Cup tournament. They have reached many finals ( 1974 World Cup,
1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...
,
Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...
,
2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
) and semi-finals (
Euro 1976 The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 16 and 20 June 1976. Only f ...
, 1998 World Cup,
Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...
,
Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...
, 2014 World Cup). The women's team also managed to reach the final in its just second
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...
, where they reached the 2019 Women's World Cup but failed to win. This means the Netherlands is the second country in the world where both men's and women's teams reached the final of respective gender's World Cup yet failed to win both times, the other being Sweden. The women won also the Women's Euro 2017. Only the Netherlands and Germany have won both the men's and the women's European Championship.


Structure of the competition (from the 2016–17 season)


Structure of the competition (until the 2015–16 season)

*Zesde Klasse was abolished in 2015.


Structure of the competition (until the 2009–10 season)

*Zevende Klasse was abolished in 2010.


Competition finals

The following 24 European finals (club and international tournaments) took place at Dutch venues, or are scheduled to take place at them: :''Those which involved a Dutch club are marked with an asterisk (*)'' * 1962 European Cup Final, Olympisch Stadion – (Attendance: 65,000) * 1963 European Cup Winners' Cup Final,
De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...
 – (Attendance: 49,000) * 1968 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, De Kuip – (Attendance: 53,000) * 1972 European Cup Final,* De Kuip – (Attendance: 67,000) * 1973 European Super Cup,* Olympisch Stadion – second leg (Attendance: 25,000) * 1974 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, De Kuip – (Attendance: 4,000) * 1974 UEFA Cup Final,* De Kuip – second leg (Attendance: 59,317) * 1975 UEFA Cup Final,*
Diekman Stadion Diekman Stadion () was a multi-use stadium in Enschede, Netherlands. It was used mostly for football matches. The stadium was able to hold 13,500 people and opened in 1956. The stadium closed in 1998 when the Arke Stadion opened. History Wh ...
 – second leg (Attendance: 21,767) * 1977 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Olympisch Stadion – (Attendance: 66,000) * 1978 UEFA Cup Final,*
Philips Stadion The Philips Stadion () is a football stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands. As the home of PSV Eindhoven (Philips Sport Vereniging), it is therefore also known as PSV Stadion. With a capacity of 36,500, it is the third-largest football stadium in th ...
 – second leg (Attendance: 27,000) * 1981 UEFA Cup Final,* Olympisch Stadion – second leg (Attendance: 28,500) * 1982 European Cup Final, De Kuip – (Attendance: 46,000) * 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, De Kuip – (Attendance: 38,500) * 1987 European Super Cup,*
De Meer Stadium De Meer Stadion () is the former stadium of Dutch record football champions Ajax. It was opened in 1934 as a result of the club's former stadium being too small. Upon completion, it could hold 22,000 spectators, but accommodating up to 29,500 at ...
 – first leg (Attendance: 27,000) * 1988 European Super Cup,* Philips Stadion – second leg (Attendance: 17,100) * 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, De Kuip – (Attendance: 43,500) * 1992 UEFA Cup Final,* Olympisch Stadion – second leg (Attendance: 42,000) * 1995 UEFA Super Cup,* Olympisch Stadion – second leg (Attendance: 23,000) * 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final, De Kuip – (Attendance: 52,000) * 1998 UEFA Champions League Final,
Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...
 – (Attendance: 48,500) *
UEFA Euro 2000 Final The UEFA Euro 2000 Final was the final match of Euro 2000, the eleventh European Football Championship, UEFA's top football competition for national teams. The match was played at De Kuip in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 2 July 2000 and was co ...
, De Kuip – (Attendance: 50,000) * 2002 UEFA Cup Final,* De Kuip – (Attendance: 45,611) * 2006 UEFA Cup Final, Philips Stadion – (Attendance: 33,100) * 2013 UEFA Europa League Final, Amsterdam Arena (Attendance: 46,163)


Women's football

More woman play football than any other sport in the Netherlands.


Futsal

The top division for Futsal in the Netherlands are the Futsal
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 ...
and the
Futsal Eredivisie (women) The Eredivisie is the premier women's futsal league in the Netherlands, organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association. The competition, which is played under UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des assoc ...


See also

*
Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...
*
Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Du ...
* Netherlands women's national football team *
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Women's football in the Netherlands Women's football in the Netherlands has traditionally had a low profile and female players had to play abroad. History Women first started trying playing football in the 1890s but were banned by the KNVB. In 1896 Sparta Rotterdam tried to form a ...
* BeNe League, the top women's league in both Belgium and the Netherlands


References


External links


History of the KNVB


- Dutch football league tables, records & statistics database. {{Football in Europe lt:Nyderlandų futbolo sistema ru:Система футбольных лиг Нидерландов