The SVB Eerste Divisie is the second highest football championship for clubs run by the
Surinaamse Voetbal Bond. The league currently comprises twelve teams and operates a system of promotion and relegation. Seasons run from November to June, with each team playing 30 games in the regular season. The league was previously known as the Hoofdklasse but was rebranded as the Topklasse for the 2016–17 season, before being renamed the Eerste Divisie starting in the 2017–18 season. In 2024, the SVB introduced a new professional competition, the Suriname Major League, with the Eerste Divisie now serving as the nation's top amateur competition.
The league has a long history, its first completed season was in 192324 when Suriname was still a Dutch colony.
History
At the beginning of the 20th century, the NGVB (Guyaneesche Dutch Football Association) was founded. The rival Suriname Football Association was founded on 1 October 1920. There was animosity between the two unions, but with the opening of the stadium by M. de la Fuente a reconciliation was brought about between the unions. The first club formed by the SVB, which still occupies an important place within the Surinamese top flight, was
Voorwaarts. On 15 January 1921,
Transvaal
Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
was established. Before the SVB was founded, there was already another association with the same name. It was founded in 1914. With the creation of the current SVB came a newfound momentum in the development of Surinamese football.
In 2016 the Hoofdklasse was formed into Topklassse. To develop a professional league in Suriname and to get the Surinamese people to support the league and national selection, the SVB signed a deal with Telecommunications Company of Suriname
Telesur
Telesur (stylized as teleSUR) is a Latin American terrestrial and satellite news television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela, and sponsored by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
First proposed in 2005 and subsidized ...
on 30 September 2016. In this deal, Telesur's daughter company
ATV received the rights to broadcast all Surinamese matches live. ATV will also establish a program that will provide viewers with soccer news to keep them up to date with the SVB and football in Suriname.
Members for 2023
Champions
S.V.B.
K.S.V.B.
S.V.B.
Source for list of champions: RSSSF
Titles by club
Stadiums
The following is a current list of stadiums in the SVB Topklasse;
Top goalscorers
;Most time top scorers:
* 4 times
**
Delano Rigters (1984, 1987, 1988 and 1989)
;Most goals scored by a player in a single season:
* 33 goals
**
Renzo Akrosie (
2018–19)
;Most goals scored by a player in a single game:
* 6 goals
** Taffarel Doekoe (
Leo Victor) 10–3 against
Inter Wanica
N.V. Dash F.C. Inter Wanica, referred to as Inter Wanica, is a association football, football club located in Meerzorg, Suriname.
Since the launch of Professionalism in association football, professional football on February 22, 2024, Inter Wani ...
, (
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
)
Multiple hat-tricks
;Most hat-tricks in a single season:
* 19 hat-tricks (
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
)
;Most hat-tricks by a player in a single season:
* 4 hat-tricks
** Finidi Misiedjan (
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
)
See also
*
List of SVB Hoofdklasse top scorers
This is a list of Surinamese Hoofdklasse top scorers, that enumerates all players that have finished a season as top goalscorers in the top level of the Surinamese football league system from 1914 (the year that the first championship was dispute ...
*
Surinamese Footballer of the Year
References
External links
Hoofdklasseat svb.sr
{{CONCACAF Leagues
1
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
1924 establishments in Suriname
Sports leagues established in 1924