Eerste Divisie facts for kids
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| Founded | 1956 |
|---|---|
| Country | Netherlands |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Eredivisie |
| Relegation to | Tweede Divisie (reserve teams) |
| Domestic cup(s) | KNVB Cup |
| Current champions | Volendam (6th title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Volendam (6 titles) |
| TV partners | ESPN |
The Eerste Divisie is a professional football league in the Netherlands. It's the second-highest league, just below the Eredivisie. Teams can move between these two leagues through a system called promotion and relegation. The league is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie because of its sponsor. Before that, it was called the Jupiler League for the same reason.
Contents
How the League Works
The Eerste Divisie has 20 football clubs. Each club plays every other club twice during the season: once at home and once away. This means a lot of exciting matches! The season is split into two halves, with a break around Christmas and New Year's.
At the end of each season, the team that finishes first (the champion) and the team that finishes second automatically get to move up to the Eredivisie. This is a big deal for the clubs and their fans!
Promotion Playoffs
Besides the top two teams, six other clubs get a chance to move up through special games called the Nacompetitie (which means "after-competition" or playoffs). These playoffs also include the team that finished 16th in the Eredivisie.
If a team wins a special "period" during the season, they get a spot in these playoffs. If a team has already qualified, their spot goes to the next best team. Usually, teams finishing from 3rd to 9th in the league table end up in these playoffs.
The teams play in a knockout system. This means if you lose, you're out! The goal is to win the playoff final to earn one spot in the Eredivisie for the next season.
Playoff Rounds Explained
- Round 1: Lower-ranked teams play against each other. The winners move on.
- Semi-finals: The winners from Round 1 play against the 16th-placed team from the Eredivisie. Other highly-ranked Eerste Divisie clubs also play each other.
- Finals: The winners of the semi-final matches play in the finals. The team that wins the final match gets promoted to the Eredivisie.
It's important to know that "Jong" (reserve) teams, like Jong Ajax, cannot be promoted to the Eredivisie. If a Jong team wins a period or finishes high, their promotion spot goes to the next best non-Jong team.
League History and Names
The Eerste Divisie started in 1956. Over the years, the league has had different names because of sponsors.
- From 1990, it was called the Toto-Divisie.
- Between 2001 and 2006, it was the Gouden Gids Divisie.
- From 2006 to 2018, it was known as the Jupiler League.
- Since July 2018, it has been called the Keuken Kampioen Divisie.
For a long time, from 1971 to 2009, teams could not be relegated from the Eerste Divisie to lower amateur leagues. This changed in the 2009–10 season when one team could be relegated.
Since the 2016–17 season, there's an optional relegation system to the third-tier amateur league, the Tweede Divisie. A team from the Eerste Divisie only gets relegated if a team from the Tweede Divisie that wants to be promoted wins their championship.
The 2019–20 season was stopped early because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, no teams were promoted or relegated that season. The KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) decided in June 2022 that relegation from the Eerste Divisie would not happen for a long time, possibly 5 to 10 years.
Clubs in 2024–25
Here are the teams playing in the Eerste Divisie for the 2024–25 season:
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADO Den Haag | The Hague | ADO Den Haag Stadium | 15,000 |
| SC Cambuur | Leeuwarden | Cambuur Stadion | 10,500 |
| FC Den Bosch | 's-Hertogenbosch | Stadion De Vliert | 8,713 |
| FC Dordrecht | Dordrecht | Stadion Krommedijk | 4,235 |
| FC Eindhoven | Eindhoven | Jan Louwers Stadion | 4,600 |
| FC Emmen | Emmen | De Oude Meerdijk | 8,600 |
| Excelsior Rotterdam | Rotterdam | Van Donge & De Roo Stadion | 4,500 |
| De Graafschap | Doetinchem | Stadion De Vijverberg | 12,600 |
| Helmond Sport | Helmond | GS Staalwerken Stadion | 4,142 |
| Jong Ajax | Amsterdam | Sportpark De Toekomst | 2,050 |
| Jong AZ | Alkmaar | AFAS Trainingscomplex | 200 |
| Jong PSV | Eindhoven | De Herdgang | 2,500 |
| Jong FC Utrecht | Utrecht | Sportcomplex Zoudenbalch | 550 |
| MVV Maastricht | Maastricht | Stadion De Geusselt | 10,000 |
| Roda JC Kerkrade | Kerkrade | Parkstad Limburg Stadion | 19,979 |
| Telstar | Velsen | 711 Stadion | 3,060 |
| TOP Oss | Oss | Frans Heesen Stadion | 4,560 |
| Vitesse | Arnhem | Gelredome | 21,248 |
| VVV-Venlo | Venlo | De Koel | 8,000 |
| FC Volendam | Volendam | Kras Stadion | 6,984 |
Attendance Records
Some clubs with many fans have played in the Eerste Divisie. For example, Roda JC set an attendance record in the 2014–15 season with 16,150 people at their home game. The next season, NAC Breda broke that record with 17,800 fans at their match against Go Ahead Eagles. This shows how popular the league can be!
Past Champions
Here is a list of the teams that have won the Eerste Divisie championship and the runner-up teams over the years:
| Season | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1956–57 | ADO / Blauw Wit | Alkmaar '54 / Stormvogels |
| 1957–58 | Willem II / SHS | DFC / Stormvogels |
| 1958–59 | FC Volendam / Sittardia | Leeuwarden / Stormvogels |
| 1959–60 | GVAV / Alkmaar '54 | Vitesse / DFC |
| 1960–61 | FC Volendam / Blauw Wit | De Volewijckers / DHC |
| 1961–62 | Heracles / Fortuna Vlaardingen | Excelsior / DHC |
| 1962–63 | DWS | Go Ahead |
| 1963–64 | Sittardia | Telstar |
| 1964–65 | Willem II | USV Elinkwijk |
| 1965–66 | Sittardia | Xerxes |
| 1966–67 | FC Volendam | NEC |
| 1967–68 | Holland Sport | AZ '67 |
| 1968–69 | SVV | HFC Haarlem |
| 1969–70 | FC Volendam | Excelsior |
| 1970–71 | FC Den Bosch | GVAV |
| 1971–72 | HFC Haarlem | AZ '67 |
| 1972–73 | Roda JC | PEC Zwolle |
| 1973–74 | Excelsior | Vitesse |
| 1974–75 | NEC | FC Groningen |
| 1975–76 | HFC Haarlem | FC VVV |
| 1976–77 | Vitesse | PEC Zwolle |
| 1977–78 | PEC Zwolle | MVV Maastricht |
| 1978–79 | Excelsior | FC Groningen |
| 1979–80 | FC Groningen | FC Volendam |
| 1980–81 | HFC Haarlem | SC Heerenveen |
| 1981–82 | Helmond Sport | Fortuna Sittard |
| 1982–83 | DS '79 | FC Volendam |
| 1983–84 | MVV Maastricht | FC Twente |
| 1984–85 | SC Heracles | FC VVV |
| 1985–86 | FC Den Haag | PEC Zwolle |
| 1986–87 | FC Volendam | Willem II |
| 1987–88 | RKC Waalwijk | SC Veendam |
| 1988–89 | Vitesse | FC Den Haag |
| 1989–90 | SVV | NAC Breda |
| 1990–91 | De Graafschap | NAC Breda |
| 1991–92 | SC Cambuur | BVV Den Bosch |
| 1992–93 | VVV-Venlo | SC Heerenveen |
| 1993–94 | Dordrecht '90 | NEC |
| 1994–95 | Fortuna Sittard | De Graafschap |
| 1995–96 | AZ | FC Emmen |
| 1996–97 | MVV Maastricht | SC Cambuur |
| 1997–98 | AZ | SC Cambuur |
| 1998–99 | FC Den Bosch | FC Groningen |
| 1999–2000 | NAC Breda | FC Zwolle |
| 2000–01 | FC Den Bosch | Excelsior |
| 2001–02 | FC Zwolle | Excelsior |
| 2002–03 | ADO Den Haag | FC Emmen |
| 2003–04 | FC Den Bosch | Excelsior |
| 2004–05 | Heracles Almelo | Sparta Rotterdam |
| 2005–06 | Excelsior | VVV-Venlo |
| 2006–07 | De Graafschap | VVV-Venlo |
| 2007–08 | FC Volendam | RKC Waalwijk |
| 2008–09 | VVV-Venlo | RKC Waalwijk |
| 2009–10 | De Graafschap | SC Cambuur |
| 2010–11 | RKC Waalwijk | FC Zwolle |
| 2011–12 | FC Zwolle | Sparta Rotterdam |
| 2012–13 | SC Cambuur | FC Volendam |
| 2013–14 | Willem II | FC Dordrecht |
| 2014–15 | NEC | FC Eindhoven |
| 2015–16 | Sparta | VVV-Venlo |
| 2016–17 | VVV-Venlo | Jong Ajax |
| 2017–18 | Jong Ajax | Fortuna Sittard |
| 2018–19 | FC Twente | Sparta Rotterdam |
| 2019–20 | No champion and runner-up | |
| 2020–21 | SC Cambuur | Go Ahead Eagles |
| 2021–22 | FC Emmen | FC Volendam |
| 2022–23 | Heracles Almelo | PEC Zwolle |
| 2023–24 | Willem II | Groningen |
| 2024–25 | FC Volendam | Excelsior |
See also
In Spanish: Eerste Divisie para niños
