Koninklijke Haarlemsche Football Club (Royal Haarlem Football Club) is a football club based in Haarlem,

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 ...

. It is the oldest existing club in Dutch football, founded by Pim Mulier in 1879. During the club's early years the team only played rugby but due to financial problems they then switched to association football. The first official football match in the Netherlands was played in 1886 between HFC and Amsterdam Sport. The club currently play in 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), a semi-professional tier re-established for the 2016–17 season, which is the third tier of the Dutch football pyramid and the highest non-pro league.

History

Koninklijke HFC was the first Dutch Rugby club, established on 15 September 1879 by the 14-year-old Pim Mulier, who first encountered the sport in 1870. However HFC switched to association football in 1883. (The ''Delftsche Studenten Rugby Club'' was the first official rugby club on 24 September 1918.) In 1899 they moved from their original ground "De Koekamp" to the "Spanjaardslaan", where they still play their home matches to this day. At that period the Spanjaardslaan (Spaniard's Lane), the east-west road at the southern edge of the oldest public park of the

, was part of the neighbouring town of

Heemstede Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the fourth richest municipality of the Netherlands. History Heemstede formed around the Castle ''Heemstede'' that was built overlooking the ...

, but switched back to be part of Haarlem in 1927. The

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 ...

have played two international matches at the Spanjaardslaan. Both matches were versus

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 ...

, resulting in a 1–2 loss and a 7–0 win. In the past HFC has contributed several players to the Netherlands national football team. Of those players, goalkeeper Gejus van der Meulen obtained the most caps, 54. At present his grandson still plays for HFC. Before the Dutch championship was officially established, HFC won three unofficial national titles: * 1889–1890 * 1892–1893 * 1894–1895 Three times in the club's history they have won the KNVB Cup (1904, 1913 and 1915). In the cup competition of 1903–1904 HFC beat VVV from Amsterdam 25–0, which still remains a record score in the Dutch cup competition. The club was named

Koninklijk or (, Dutch for 'royal') is an honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Louis Bonaparte in 1807, then Ki ...

(Royal) in 1959, 80 years after the club was founded. Since 1923 the first team of HFC plays the opening match of a new year versus a selection of former Dutch international players on 1 January.

Current squad

References

{{Rugby union in the Netherlands Koninklijke HFC Football clubs in the Netherlands Football clubs in Haarlem Sports clubs in Haarlem History of Haarlem Association football clubs established in 1879 1879 establishments in the Netherlands Organisations based in the Netherlands with royal patronage Defunct rugby union teams Defunct sports teams in the Netherlands

History

Current squad

See also

References