List of Second and Third Division Champions (original) (raw)

A nationwide second class was introduced in the 1890/91 season (also the first season an official first class championship was held) and existed until 1896 (from the 1896/97 season on, four regional districts were formed and the number of second class competitions rose to six; by the end of the amateur era there were twelve).

Only after sixty years, in 1956/57, a unified national league, called "eredivisie", was formed again, two years after professionalism had been introduced in the Netherlands. Originally two levels of professional football existed below the eredivisie, the "eerste divisie" (which literally translates as "first division") and "tweede divisie" (second division). Both were sometimes played in one, sometimes in two groups.

At the end of the 1970/71 season, the second division was abolished after it had been found that too many teams had been allowed to turn professional in the fifties. Over the years, several had voluntarily returned to the amateur leagues, some had been relegated, and on two occasions teams had been promoted as amateur champions to the professional section (Xerxes and Velox). In 1970/71 many of the remaining small clubs, which were deemed incapable of sustaining in professional football, were forced to return to the amateurs and only two divisions (eredivisie and eerste divisie) of professional football remained, both played in one group. Since then, the number of professional teams has varied from 34 to 41, teams occasionally going bust or (from the eighties) being admitted to professional football when meeting certain criteria (R.B.C., R.K.C., Emmen, T.O.P. and V.C. Vlissingen - the last team folding after two unsuccessful seasons).

In 1972/73 a special promotion regulation was introduced: teams that had been the best in an (usually) eight game "period" were allowed to fight for (usually) one promotion place in an end-of-the-season playoff called "nacompetitie".

Below all the group winners of the Eerste and Tweede Divisie since 1956/57 are listed. From 1972/73 onwards, winners of the nacompetitie (obtaining promotion) are listed as well.

Tweede Klasse Champions 1890-1896

1890/91 Victoria (Rotterdam) 1891/92 Go Ahead (Wageningen) 1892/93 Sparta (Rotterdam) 1893/94 Rapiditas (Rotterdam) 1894/95 Victoria (Rotterdam) 1895/96 H.B.S. (Den Haag)

Eerste Divisie Champions

1956/57 A.D.O. 1957/58 Willem 1958/59 Volendam 1959/60 G.V.A.V. 1960/61 Volendam 1961/62 Heracles 1962/63 D.W.S. 1963/64 Sittardia 1964/65 Willem II 1965/66 Sittardia 1966/67 Volendam 1967/68 Holland Sport 1968/69 S.V.V. 1969/70 Volendam
1971/72 Haarlem
1973/74 Excelsior 1974/75 N.E.C. 1975/76 Haarlem 1976/77 Vitesse 1977/78 P.E.C. Zwolle 1978/79 Excelsior 1979/80 F.C. Groningen 1980/81 Haarlem 1981/82 Helmond Sport 1982/83 D.S. '79 1983/84 M.V.V. 1984/85 Heracles 1985/86 F.C. Den Haag 1986/87 Volendam 1987/88 R.K.C. 1988/89 Vitesse 1989/90 S.V.V. 1990/91 De Graafschap 1991/92 Cambuur Leeuwarden 1992/93 V.V.V. 1993/94 Dordrecht '90 1994/95 Fortuna Sittard 1995/96 A.Z. 1996/97 M.V.V. 1997/98 A.Z. 1998/99 F.C. Den Bosch 1999/00 N.A.C. 2000/01 F.C. Den Bosch 2001/02 F.C. Zwolle 2002/03 A.D.O. Den Haag 2003/04 F.C. Den Bosch 2004/05 Heracles Almelo 2005/06 Excelsior 2006/07 De Graafschap 2007/08 F.C. Volendam 2008/09 V.V.V.-Venlo 2009/10 De Graafschap 2010/11 R.K.C. Waalwĳk 2011/12 F.C. Zwolle 2012/13 S.C. 2013/14 Willem II 2014/15 N.E.C. 2015/16 Sparta Rotterdam 2016/17 V.V.V.-Venlo 2017/18 Jong 2018/19 F.C. Twente 2019/20 2020/21 S.C. 2022/23 Heracles Almelo 2023/24 Willem II 2024/25 and Blauw-Wit II and S.H.S. and Sittardia and Alkmaar and Blauw-Wit and Fortuna Vlaardingen [1] />1970/71 F.C. Den Bosch Nacompetitie Winners />1972/73 Roda J.C. De Graafschap Wageningen Eindhoven F.C. V.V.V. Volendam M.V.V. Willem II Wageningen De Graafschap Excelsior F.C. Den Bosch N.A.C. N.E.C. Veendam D.S. '79 M.V.V. N.E.C. Heerenveen V.V.V. B.V.V. Den Bosch [2] Heerenveen and N.A.C. [3] N.E.C. and R.K.C. [3] De Graafschap and Go Ahead Eagles [3] Volendam and N.E.C. [3] R.K.C. and N.E.C. [3] R.K.C. and Cambuur Leeuwarden [3] R.K.C. and Sparta [3] F.C. Groningen and R.B.C. Roosendaal [3] Fortuna Sittard and Sparta [3] R.B.C. Roosendaal and Excelsior [3] F.C. Zwolle and Volendam [3] Vitesse and De Graafschap [3] R.B.C. Roosendaal and Sparta Rotterdam [3] N.A.C. Breda and Willem II [3] Excelsior and V.V.V.-Venlo [3] De Graafschap and A.D.O. Den Haag [3] Roda J.C. and R.K.C. Waalwĳk [3] Willem II and Excelsior [3] Excelsior and V.V.V.-Venlo [3] V.V.V.-Venlo and Willem II [3] Cambuur (Leeuwarden) Roda J.C. and Go Ahead Eagles [3] F.C. Dordrecht and Excelsior [3] Roda J.C. and De Graafschap [3] Willem II and Go Ahead Eagles [3] Roda J.C. and N.A.C. Breda [3] Ajax (Fortuna Sittard) [!] Emmen and De Graafschap R.K.C. Waalwĳk and Sparta Rotterdam season abandoned Cambuur (Leeuwarden) N.E.C.
2021/22 Emmen Excelsior Almere City N.A.C. Breda

[1] Heracles and Fortuna Vlaardingen played a decisive match for promotion, won by Heracles. Fortuna remained in the eerste divisie and are therefore not counted as "Eerste Divisie" Champions in the following list. In the years before, no matches between group winners were played to decide championship or promotion. [2] From 1991/92 on, and until 2005/06, the nacompetitie was played in two groups. In 1991/92, the second group was won by Go Ahead Eagles who lost the promotion playoff against B.V.V. Den Bosch. (They later obtained promotion by beating eredivisie side F.C. Den Haag.) [3] From 1992/93 on, eredivisie sides finishing just above the automatic relegation spot(s) had to fight for their survival in a nacompetitie group. Since 2006/07, the group system was replaced by a knock-out format. Teams given in italics were eredivisie sides who managed to retain their place in the nacompetitie. [!] Jong Ajax won the league but were ineligible for promotion, so Fortuna Sittard were promoted automatically as runners-up.

List of Eerste Divisie Champions (since 1956) (72)

6 F.C. Volendam [includes Volendam]

4 F.C. Den Bosch 4 Heracles Almelo [includes Heracles (Almelo)] 4 Willem II (Tilburg)

3 A.D.O. Den Haag [includes A.D.O. (Den Haag) and F.C. Den Haag] 3 A.Z. (Alkmaar) [includes Alkmaar] 3 S.C. Cambuur (Leeuwarden) [includes Cambuur Leeuwarden] 3 Excelsior (Rotterdam) 3 De Graafschap (Doetinchem) 3 Haarlem 3 Sittardia (Sittard) 3 V.V.V.-Venlo [includes V.V.V. (Venlo)] 3 F.C. Zwolle [includes P.E.C. Zwolle]

2 Blauw-Wit (Amsterdam) 2 F.C. Groningen (includes G.V.A.V. (Groningen)] 2 Holland Sport (Den Haag) [includes S.H.S. (Den Haag)] 2 M.V.V. (Maastricht) 2 N.E.C. (Nĳmegen) 2 R.K.C. Waalwĳk [includes R.K.C. (Waalwĳk)] 2 S.V.V. (Schiedam) 2 Vitesse (Arnhem)

1 Dordrecht '90 [**] 1 D.S. '79 (Dordrecht) 1 D.W.S. (Amsterdam) 1 Emmen 1 Fortuna Sittard 1 Helmond Sport 1 Jong Ajax (Amsterdam) 1 N.A.C. (Breda) 1 Roda J.C. (Kerkrade) 1 Sparta Rotterdam 1 F.C. Twente (Enschede)

[**] Technically Dordrecht '90 should be considered the successor of S.V.V., as they took over their (eredivisie) license when S.V.V. and D.S. '79 merged. However, they play at the former D.S. '79 ground. They are therefore listed as an independent entity.

List of Nacompetitie Winners (78)

7 Excelsior (Rotterdam) [2 times as first level team] 7 De Graafschap (Doetinchem) [1 time as first level team]

6 N.E.C. (Nĳmegen) [2 times as first level team] 6 R.K.C. Waalwĳk [4 times as first level team] [includes R.K.C. (Waalwĳk)]

5 N.A.C. Breda [1 time as first level team] 5 V.V.V.-Venlo [2 times as first level team] [includes (F.C.) V.V.V. (Venlo)] 5 Willem II (Tilburg) [3 times as first level team]

4 Roda J.C. (Kerkrade) [3 times as first level team] 4 Sparta Rotterdam [2 times as first level team]

3 Go Ahead Eagles (Deventer) [1 time as first level team] 3 R.B.C. Roosendaal [1 time as first level team] 3 Volendam [1 time as first level team]

2 F.C. Den Bosch [includes B.V.V. Den Bosch] 2 Heerenveen 2 M.V.V. (Maastricht) 2 Wageningen

1 A.D.O. Den Haag 1 Almere City 1 Cambuur Leeuwarden 1 F.C. Dordrecht 1 D.S. '79 (Dordrecht) 1 Eindhoven 1 Emmen 1 Fortuna Sittard [as first level team] 1 F.C. Groningen 1 Veendam 1 Vitesse (Arnhem) [as first level team] 1 F.C. Zwolle [as first level team]

Tweede Divisie Champions

1956/57 Leeuwarden and R.B.C. 1957/58 Z.F.C. and Heracles 1958/59 't Gooi and Go Ahead 1959/60 E.D.O. and Be Quick 1960/61 Haarlem 1961/62 Velox 1962/63 V.S.V. and Haarlem [] 1963/64 N.E.C. and Alkmaar [] 1964/65 S.C. Cambuur and D.F.C. [] 1965/66 Vitesse and F.C. Den Bosch 1966/67 Haarlem 1967/68 Wageningen 1968/69 De Graafschap 1969/70 Heerenveen 1970/71 De Volewĳckers

[] Haarlem lost the promotion match against V.S.V. and missed out on promotion in an ensuing playoff. They are therefore not listed as a "Tweede Divisie" Champion below. [] Alkmaar lost the promotion match against N.E.C. They later gained promotion in a playoff nevertheless, but are not listed as a "Tweede Divisie" Champion below. [] D.F.C. lost the promotion match against S.C. Cambuur and missed out on promotion. They are not listed as a "Tweede Divisie" Champion below.

In all other seasons featuring two groups, no matches were played for promotion or championship between the two winners.

List of Tweede Divisie Champions (1956-1971) (20)

2 S.C. Cambuur (Leeuwarden) [includes Leeuwarden] 2 Haarlem

1 Be Quick (Groningen) 1 F.C. Den Bosch 1 E.D.O. (Haarlem) 1 Go Ahead (Deventer) 1 't Gooi (Hilversum) 1 De Graafschap (Doetinchem) 1 Heerenveen 1 Heracles (Almelo) 1 N.E.C. (Nĳmegen) 1 R.B.C. (Roosendaal) 1 Velox (Utrecht) 1 Vitesse (Arnhem) 1 De Volewĳckers (Amsterdam) 1 V.S.V. (Velsen) 1 Wageningen 1 Z.F.C. (Zaandam)

Topklasse Champions

2010/11 Ĳsselmeervogels (Spakenburg) and F.C. Oss 2011/12 Achilles'29 (Groesbeek) and Spakenburg 2012/13 Katwĳk and Achilles'29 (Groesbeek) 2013/14 Spakenburg and A.F.C. (Amsterdam) 2014/15 F.C. Lienden and Kozakken Boys (Werkendam) 2015/16 Excelsior Maassluis and F.C. Lienden

Tweede Divisie Champions (since reintroduction 2016)

2016/17 Jong A.Z. (Alkmaar) 2017/18 Katwĳk 2018/19 A.F.C. (Amsterdam) 2019/20 season abandoned 2020/21 season abandoned 2021/22 Katwĳk 2022/23 Katwĳk 2023/24 Spakenburg

About this document

Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for theRec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Author: Karel Stokkermans Last updated: 15 Oct 2024