VV Germania (Holland)

VV Germania is an amateur football club from the town of Groesbeek, which is located a few miles south east of the city of Nijmegen, close to the German border. The club were formed on May 1^st 1936, in the Stekkenberg part of town, playing at a ground called ‘het Vlak’.

Within a year Germania had won the Nijmegen Tweede Klasse winning promotion to the first division. In 1947 the club were crowned as Nijmegen champions and progressed into the eastern department of the national set up. Over the following seventeen years, a couple of championships and promotion were collected, but by 1964 they found themselves in the Vierde (fourth) Klasse as Germania relocated a few hundred metres to Sportpark Noord.

The move was celebrated a year later with a championship win, with Germania going on to lift Districtsbeker Oost (East District Cup) in 1967. A further championship and promotion was celebrated in 1974 to the second Tweede Klasse. Following a win in the final of the play off against AWS in 1976, Germania won promotion to Eerste Klasse.

In 1987 the club collected their second Districtsbeker Oost, after several demotions. It took until 2002 for Germania to regain their first Eerste Klasse position. Two years later the club rose to Zondag (Sunday) Hoofdklasse C, while the Saturday side played at a lower grade.

Despite suffering relegation, Germania regained their position in amateur footballs highest level, the Hoofdklasse position in 2008.

VV Germania will play in Zondag (Sunday) Hoofdklasse C in the 2013-14 season.

My visit

Monday 20^th January 2014

My weekend sojourn was down to its last full day, and I was keen to see as many clubs as possible while heading to Eindhoven for the evening’s match. It was a typical January day, with a grey sky and low temperatures. After a fine breakfast at the Prince B&B in Nijmegen, I wandered around to the bus station to jump onboard the no.5 to take me to the Stekkenberg stop.

 

Having already passed Sportpark Noord I was able to soon locate the ground up the lane behind Nijmeegsebaan. I arrived at the grounds entrance past another pitch to find the small railed gate locked, so I hopped over.

The venue was much like many others at Hoofdklasse level. Three sides had a small bit of hard standing, with banked grass behind backed by high advertising hoardings and a scoreboard. The final side had some open terracing either side of a fine raised seated stand. The club offices and clubhouse were just behind outside the ground. It was very neat and tidy and everything required without entering the ridiculous regulations imposed on clubs of a similar standard by the English FA.

I saw a gap in the hedge in the corner and tried to get over the fence at that side to no avail. Cars were arriving and I felt a bit embarrassed at being inside. I walked all the way round to find a gate open by the stand and spoke to some friendly club officials. I followed one out as he walked down the bank and to the advertising board on the main road to change the fixture information for the following week’s game.

I continued heading downhill and then along for over a mile to my next port of call: Achilles ’29.

VV Alverna (Holland)

Voetbalvereniging Alverna, or VV Alverna, as they are more commonly known are an amateur football club from Alverna, which adjoins the town of Wijchen, five miles west of Nijmegen in the west of The Netherlands.

The club was established in 1950 following previous clubs AVE , Helios and Alvernia representing the town. A merger after World War Two led to the creation of Alverna Wijchen Combination (AWC), but this new club did not last long.

Through the initiative of Theo Rutten, the new club was created on May 14^th 1950. The club climbed to Vierde (fourth) Klasse by 1967, but found itself back in the Zesde (sixth) Klasse within a few years. Fred Rutten left the club as a junior in 1977 going on to play for PSV before ending up as head coach. The 1999-00 season saw promotion up to Vijfde Klasse under coach Tonnie Wels.

Rick Peters helped the side back to Vierde Klasse in 2000-01, going up once again in 2003-04 as champions. However, the ride didn’t last for long as Alverna were relegated after just one season.

Coach Leo Otten led the side to promotion in 2007-08 as the youth section at the club, among a total membership of over four hundred, continued to provide players for the ten senior sides. In 2012-13 the Eerste Divisie title was won to take Alverna up to the Hoofdklasse.

 

VV Alverna will play in the Zondag (Sunday) Hoofdklasse C in the 2013-14 season.

My visit

Alverna 1 LONGA'30 0 (Sunday 19^th January 2014) Zondag Hoofdklasse C (Att: around 200)

It was my fourth day of my long weekend of football and socialising around Holland, and I was rather tired after a heavy day and night in Zwolle, followed by visiting three amateur clubs in Nijmegen before watching the excellent NEC v ADO Den Haag Eredivisie clash.

My research on the excellent Soccerway website (http://uk.soccerway.com/) before the trip had me looking for the potential of a later game. Despite there being many local clubs in the region, Alverna looked my best bet as it was located to the west of the city, as was De Goffert where NEC played.

Common sense should have had me heading to my room for a sleep, but I wasn't going to give up on an opportunity to broaden my knowledge, regardless of missing the first half. The brilliant 9292 transport app on my phone had been most helpful but I had read it wrong this time as I walked a long way for a bus, when there was a closer stop in the park.

Not to worry. I was dropped at the edge of Alverna at the Havenweg stop. I heard the music coming from the ground confirming that it was half time, so I decided to have a look at the home of nearby sv AWC. A path through the copse led me from there to the entrance of Sportpark Bospad. The gates were open for the second half, so I didn’t have to pay, and I picked up a free programme in the welcoming clubhouse.

The facilities were all at the entrance end to the ground on Bospad, with a seated stand in front of the club and the dressing rooms down a tunnel at lower level. The rest of the ground had hard standing all the way round the artificial surface, with a secondary grass pitch alongside.

The game was of the same standard as the one I'd seen at Wezep the day before; hard but skillfull. I was slightly surprised at the amount of long balls being played. I'd missed the goal earlier, which was scored by Rick Hutting. The great thing about nearly every amateur ground I visited was that there was a scoreboard to put me right.

Alverna's skilfull young winger had a good run and shot that struck the far post and the LONGA keeper Kaj Boschker made a decent save, but there were to be no more goals. The win put the home side into seventh place in the league, with the defeat for the side from Lichtenvoorde leaving them bottom of the table.

At least the visitors had the consolation of travelling home in style as they were using the team coach of De Graafschap, which was parked behind the ground. I had about about ten minutes before my bus was due at the Industriepark stop. The no.15 service took me round the houses in Nijmegen and close to De Goffert. It was the bus I should have caught to the game.

After checking into the Prince B&B and enjoying a shower and siesta, I relaxed for the evening and stayed off the beer. The city centre was lovely, even when mainly closed as I wandered about taking in the sights. I got an added bonus on planning an early night that the TV in my room had BBC One and Two, so I got to see Ronnie O’Sullivan win the Masters snooker and later Match of the Day Two!

I slept extremely well, not for the only time on my weekend away.

FC Eindhoven (Holland)

FC Eindhoven is a professional club from the city of Eindhoven, in the east of The Netherlands. The club were formed on the 16^thNovember 1909, five years before neighbours PSV, as EVV, or Eindhovense Voetbal Vereniging, starting out playing in the regional Brabantse Voetbalbond.

Within a couple of years EVV had progressed to the NVB national competition. In 1921 the club merged with local side Gestel to become EVV Eindhoven. 1937 saw the first honour arrive at the club as they lifted the KNVB Cup by defeating De Spartaan 1-0. Two years later they ended fourth in the league play off.

Throughout this period EVV were the biggest club in the city as they competed in the Lichtstad, or City of Light Derby.

In 1954 EVV were the last champions of the old national league before the introduction of professional football to Holland. However in 1957 the club were relegated to the Eerste Divisie. Things were to get worse as they went down to the third tier Tweede Divisie in 1969, before climbing back in 1971.

1975 saw Rinus Gosen’s EVV Eindhoven team reach the Eredivisie, but there spell in the top flight lasted just two seasons. A decade later EVV took the decision to become an amateur club, but a new professional club SBV Eindhoven (Stichting Betaald Voetbal Eindhoven) was formed to replace them, changing their name to FC Eindhoven in 2002. Two years later the club set up a deal with PSV to allow the swapping of youth players between the clubs.

2009-10 saw FC Eindhoven under head coach, former Dutch international Jan Poortvliet, reach the end of season play offs, but they were defeated 3-2 on aggregate by Willem II. In 2011-12 they narrowly missed out on promotion as they ended in third place.

Jean Paul de Jong arrived at the Jan Louwers Stadion in the summer of 2013 after a poor previous campaign saw the team finish third from bottom of the table.

FC Eindhoven will play in the Eerste Divisie (First Division) in the 2013-14 season.

My visit

Jong PSV 0 De Graafschap 2 (Monday 20^th January 2014) Eerste Divisie (att: 250)

I was on the fourth day of a most enjoyable journey around The Netherlands visitng clubs and watching games. I’d already been to visit grounds in Groesbeek, Nijmegen, Uden and Veghel. Fortunately buses were on my side and I arrived in Eindhoven earlier than schedule, so although the light was closing in I decided to head down to FC Eindhoven.

A kind lady invited me in to take photos and comment that she'd maybe see me later for the match? It turned out that had been moved from Philips Stadion, which was a shock and a disappointment as I had it down as one of the highlights of my visit. However, these things come to test us, so I headed to Philips Stadion to collect my ticket and book into my digs for a much needed siesta.

After a bite to eat it was time to catch the bus back to the south of the city. After a mix up I found the right stop, with the no.171 dropping me at the Theo Koomenlaan stop, just a short walk away. I was slightly perturbed to see only a couple of others getting off and then see an empty stadium under the lights through a gap in the corner.

 

I entered the ground by the corner of the Main Stands with my €10 ticket. It was the only side apparently open. A kind steward by the players tunnel went to get me a free teamsheet, as no programmes had been printed. I climbed up the steps at the front to survey the scene.

The Jan Louwers Stadion, named after a former player and businessman, was a perfect size for a club of FC Eindhoven’s status. The original Main Stand was a raised seating deck, with two newer additions on either side filling the whole of one side. Similar newer stands were behind the south goal, which half of which was segregated by a basic electronic scoreboard for away fans, and along the far touchline. The north end had no spectator facilities, but the large sports centre had windows facing the pitch.

It’s fair to say that there wasn’t much of an atmosphere inside the sparsely populated stadium. The away section had just seven De Graafschap fans in it, with four stewards looking after them!

The first half was really poor, and it was cold. De Graafscap were coached by ex Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood, while Bolo Zenden was Jong PSV's second it command. The head coach was Darije Kaleziæ who had a disastrous two month spell in charge at Stockport County a year or two previously.

I managed to talk my way into the immaculate club bar at the top of the stand for the second half. It was like the member’s area of a cricket ground with free nuts on the bar and an area to watch the game through the glass. I did my bit for league sponsors Jupiler over the following hour or so. Indeed, I did my best to remain a fine diplomat. There were no cash transactions, so I had to purchase tokens, or munts as they’re called. I miscalculated how many I needed, but managed to return some of them. The beer was excellent.

After the break the poor affair came to life when PSV were awarded a penalty, but Alex Schalk's effort just about reached the keeper. The game looked certain to be a draw before defender Vlatko Lazik broke a challenge near the half way line and went on a run before slotting the ball through Benjamin van Leer's legs into the net with five minutes to go. A few cheers went up in the bar from those visiting from Doetinchem who'd used common sense and avoided the cold. Nathan Kabasele made it 2-0 with a minute to go.

I retired to the highly recommended De Gaper pub, which had eight beers on draught and 185 whiskies. The fifteen year old Bowmore malt ended the day well. It was over the road from my budget hotel near to the Philips Stadion. Local fans seemed amazed at my adventures. I lasted until closing time as my new pals insisted I hung around while we picked each others brains talking about the beautiful game.

To read about Jong PSV’s senior team, go to:

http://worldgroundhoptwo.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/PSV%20%28Holland%29

PSV (Holland)

 Philips Sport Vereniging or PSV or even PSV Eindhoven is one of the most prominent football clubs in The Netherlands. The club were formed on August 31^st 1913, and were known as Philips Eftal until 1916, the same year that the team were promoted to the top level of the Brabantian FA.

Coach Wout Buitenweg took PSV to two promotions to reach the Erste Divisie. Despite being relegated in 1925, they regained their status at the first attempt. Frans Otten became chairman of the Philips sports organisation and set about setting high standards of play and facilities.

In 1929 PSV reached the championship play offs, with a win over Velocitas seeing them crowned as champions for the first time. A second success arrived at Philips Sportspark in 1935 following a championship victory over DWS. The first post war triumph came in 1950 as the KNVB Cup was lifted for the first time as HFC Haarlem were beaten 4-3.

The next season saw a third championship title as Willem II were defeated in the final with Coen Dillen’s goals proving invaluable. He departed in 1961 by which time Ben van Gelder had taken over the running of the organisation as players from nationwide joined the club for the first time and the club embraced professionalism.

A 5-2 victory over Ajax in June 1963 sealed a fourth national title for PSV under the management of Bram Appel as head coach. After a couple of other coaches had spells at the helm, Kurt Linder arrived at Philips Stadion in 1968. His side lost two KNVB finals; to Feyenoord in 1969 and Ajax the following year, as well reaching two European Cup Winners Cup semi finals.

Kees Rijvers was appointed as head coach in 1972 as he signed the brothers Willy and Rene van der Kerkhof and Ralf Edstrom to augment the likes of Jan van Beveran and Willy Van der Kuijlen. The team won the 1974 KNVB Cup with a 6-0 hammering of NAC Breda, before going on to win the Eredivisie the following campaign. In 1976 PSV returned to De Kuip to lift the Cup once again; this time by courtesy of a 1-0 win against Roda JC to complete the double after securing the clubs sixth league triumph. The team narrowly missed out on a European Cup Final as they bowed out to St Etienne 1-0 on aggregate.

In 1978 PSV won the league and ended unbeaten as well as claiming their first European trophy. After a Nick Deacy goal proved decisive against FC Barcelona in the semi final. Bastia were beaten 3-0 on aggregate to lift the UEFA Cup.

After a few seasons without success, Hans Kraay was appointed as the new director of football. He immediately looked to sign players of flair such as Ruud Gullit, Soren Lerby, Gerald Vanenberg and Eric Gerets. The Eredivisie was sealed in 1986. Gullit departed during the following season to AC Milan as Guus Hiddink came in as head coach and signed Ronald Koeman, before leading the side to another championship in 1987.

1987-88 proved to be the greatest in the clubs history. The Eredivisie was won with ease and the KNVB Cup was lifted against Roda JC. The icing on the cake was the European Cup campaign. Victories over Fenerbahce, Rapid Wien, Bordeaux and Real Madrid set up a final against Benfica in Stuttgart. The game ended 0-0 but PSV lifted the trophy on penalties with Hans Van Breukelen in goal.

To see the penalty shoot out win over Benfica in the 1988 European Cup Final, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z98yi1y8T0o&feature=related

In 1989 PSV signed the Brazilian Romario, going on to lift the 1990 KNVB Cup with a win against Vitesse. Hiddink departed to be replaced by England boss Bobby Robson. Robson lasted two seasons at the Philips Stadion, but led the team to the Eredivisie titles in 1991 and 1992. Romario departed to FC Barcelona in 1993.

Dick Advocaat took over team affairs in the 1994-95 campaign with the team winning another KNVB Cup in 1996 with a win against Sparta Rotterdam, with a young Ronaldo up front, before leaving for FC Barcelona. With the likes of Phillip Cocu, Jaap Stam, Boudewijn Zenden and Wim Jonk in the team and Luuc Nillis leading the scoring charts, PSV won the league in the 1996-97 season.

The players were sold on as Advocaat departed, with Eric Gerets coming in. A young Ruud van Nistelrooy broke onto the scene to provide the goals. A fifteenth Eredivisie was secured in 1999-00, with PSV retaining the crown the following season. Gerets departed with Hiddink returning and Arjen Robben and Park Si-Jung arriving. The team won the league in 2002-03 with Hiddink’s squad adding another title in 2004-05.

From 2005 one specific seat in the stadium — Section D, Row 22, Seat 43 — was kept permanently empty. This was the seat occupied by former Philips chairman Frits Philips. During the latter part of his life, he chose not to use any of the stadium's hospitality facilities and instead took his place in the general crowd. After his death at the age of 100, the PSV administration chose to keep his seat empty as a tribute. In effect the Philips Stadium was "his house". The first ever kick off at the stadium had been made by him, as an eight year old.

PSV came agonisingly close to reaching the Champions League final in 2006, but were thwarted in the semi final by AC Milan. Solace came by way of yet another Eredivisie triumph arrived at the club as well as the KNVB Cup with a win against Willem II with a fine side including the likes of Mark van Bommel, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Dennis Rommedahl and Lee Young-Pyo. The league title was retained in 2006-07 before Ronald Koeman came in to replace Hiddink as the team went on to make in four Eredivisie titles in a row.

Koeman departed to Valencia in October 2008, to be replaced for a short spell by Huub Stevens, before Fred Rutten took over. Towards the end of Rutten’s reign much money was spent on new signings without success, leading to the return of Advocaat after a caretaker spell from Cocu who led the team to lift the KNVB Cup in 2012 with a 3-0 win over Heracles Almelo at De Kuip.

van Bommel returned to the club but Advocaat’s team ended up as runners up in both the league and cup. Cocu was named as full time head coach in the summer of 2013. At the same time Jong PSV, the clubs under 23 team were admitted into the Eerste Divisie to help raise the standards of the league and to help younger players develop in senior football.

PSV will play in the Eredivisie for the 2013-14 season.

My visits

Friday 6th July 1990

I visited the Philips Stadion with my brother Nick after we had travelled to Italia 90 on the trains and we were now returning home. On the train journey on the way to Cologne a couple of weeks earlier, we had noticed the proximity of the stadium to the railway station. We were due to change trains in Utrecht for our last ride on foreign soil to reach Rotterdam and our ferry back to Hull. I checked out the timetable I was eventually mastering and we realised we could kill some time in Eindhoven. It seemed a good idea to see where Bobby Robson would be working for the foreseeable future.

Unbelievably we had one ticket for the World Cup Final with us. Nick had agreed to try and sell it for one of our pals we had met in Italy, but because there was only one, no travel firms were interested. Do they really think we’d have looked to sell it if there’d have been two of them?

We walked round to the stadium and saw an open gate. A club worker was standing nearby so we approached him and explained where we’d been and asked if it was OK if we had a look inside. He said it was fine and seemed a friendly chap. It was a relief not to be asked if we were hooligans for the first time in twenty four hours.

We went inside the ground behind a goal. The stadium was extremely smart and functional. There was benched seating on three sides while the other was taken up by a large two tiered stand divided by corporate boxes. There was a section of terracing which was heavily segregated for away fans in one corner. Philips heaters hung from the roof to keep fans warm in the winter.

We continued on to Rotterdam to catch the ferry to take us back to Blighty. It had been a long tiring trip and I was glad to be returning!

Monday 20^th January 2014

My planning and improvisation had been absolutely top notch, even if I said so myself. The Philips Stadion was to stage PSV’s under 19 team, Jong PSV’s Eerste Divisie live TV game against De Graafschap on a cold Monday evening. My budget room was just a clearance or an England players penalty kick away. I was looking forward to seeing a game in the magnificent arena, twenty four years after my previous call.

However, before hand I decided to visit the Jan Louwers Stadion on arrival in the city. This was the base of the city’s ‘second’ club FC Eindhoven and dropping in would save me time before my flight the following morning.

I was very glad to make the decision, as when I to the kind lady who let me inside to take photos that I was going to the game, she broke the news that it had been moved there.

This was not what I wanted to hear. However, I had to call back at the Philips Stadion to collect my ticket anyway, so I decided I’d try and get inside for a look if nothing else. I couldn’t see any open gates at a place that had doubled in size since 1990. Seeing a groundsman I attracted his attention. He said he couldn’t let me in, but a bar by gate 7 would get me views inside.

After taking the lift I entered the empty bar and restaurant. The kind lady showed me to the door at the front and told me to help myself taking photos. I’m glad that I made the effort.

On my previous visit, only one side was two tiered. Now all four sides were, with boxes dividing the two levels. The corners were filled in a continuous rake downstairs. However, the latest addition had been to complete the upper corners in 2001 with a window blind type arrangement with gaps between the rows allowing air to flow inside to assist the pitch’s growth. The bright lamps were on the pitch and turned on, giving off a yellow glow.

I departed to collect my match ticket from the huge store on production of an email allowing me to obtain one as a non member. I presumed that this indicated that the fixture would be categorised as high risk. How little I knew!

To read about the Jong PSV v De Graafschap match, go to:

http://worldgroundhoptwo.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/FC%20Eindhoven%20%28Holland%29

Unfortunately, I have had to use images from the internet to supplement this post of the Philips Stadion as it was on my first call, as I cannot locate the ones I took at the time.