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 | Willem II (4th title) (2023–24) |
| Most championships | Volendam (6 titles) |
| TV partners | ESPN (switch programme showing live highlights, as well as live broadcasts of important matches and summaries with highlights of every match) |
The Eerste Divisie is the second-highest football league in the Netherlands. It's like the "second division" for professional football teams there. Teams in this league try to get promoted to the top league, called the Eredivisie.
This league is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie because of its main sponsor. Before that, it was called the Jupiler League for the same reason.
Contents
About the Eerste Divisie
The Eerste Divisie has 20 football clubs. Each club plays every other club twice during the season. This means they play one game at home and one game away. The season is split into two halves. There's a break around Christmas and New Year's.
At the end of the season, the team that finishes first (the champion) and the team that finishes second automatically move up to the Eredivisie. This is called promotion.
Other teams get a chance to be promoted too! Six more clubs enter a special playoff system called the Nacompetitie. This playoff also includes the team that finished 16th in the Eredivisie. The goal is to win a spot in the Eredivisie for the next season.
Teams can qualify for the Nacompetitie in a few ways:
- The best team in each of the four parts of the season (called "periods").
- The two highest-placed teams at the end of the season that haven't already qualified.
If a team wins a period but has already qualified, their spot goes to the next best team in that period. Usually, the teams that play in the Nacompetitie are those finishing from 3rd to 9th in the league table.
History of the League
The Eerste Divisie was started in 1956. Over the years, it has had different names because of sponsors. In 1990, it was called the Toto-Divisie. From 2001 to 2006, it was the Gouden Gids Divisie. Then, from 2006 to 2018, it was known as the Jupiler League. Since July 2018, it has been the Keuken Kampioen Divisie.
For a long time, from 1971 to 2009, teams could not be relegated from the Eerste Divisie to a lower amateur league. This changed in the 2009–10 season when one team started to be relegated.
The league has also changed in size. Sometimes teams went bankrupt, and new teams joined. For example, AGOVV Apeldoorn joined in 2003 and FC Omniworld in 2005. This made the league bigger.
Since the 2016–17 season, it's possible for teams to be relegated to the third-tier amateur league, the Tweede Divisie. However, this only happens if a team from the Tweede Divisie wants to be promoted and 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 (the Dutch football association) later decided that there would be no relegation from the Eerste Divisie for a long time, possibly 5 to 10 years.
Clubs in the Eerste Divisie
2023–24 Members
Here are the clubs playing in the Eerste Divisie for the 2023–24 season:
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADO Den Haag | The Hague | Cars Jeans Stadion | 15,000 |
| SC Cambuur | Leeuwarden | Cambuur Stadion | 10,500 |
| FC Den Bosch | 's-Hertogenbosch | Stadion De Vliert | 8,713 |
| FC Dordrecht | Dordrecht | Riwal Hoogwerkers Stadion | 4,235 |
| FC Eindhoven | Eindhoven | Jan Louwers Stadion | 4,600 |
| FC Emmen | Emmen | De Oude Meerdijk | 8,600 |
| De Graafschap | Doetinchem | Stadion De Vijverberg | 12,600 |
| FC Groningen | Groningen | Euroborg | 22,550 |
| Helmond Sport | Helmond | SolarUnie Stadion | 4,142 |
| Jong Ajax | Amsterdam | Sportpark De Toekomst | 2,050 |
| Jong AZ | Alkmaar | AFAS Trainingscomplex | 200 |
| Jong PSV | Eindhoven | PSV Campus De Herdgang | 2,500 |
| Jong FC Utrecht | Utrecht | Sportcomplex Zoudenbalch | 550 |
| MVV Maastricht | Maastricht | Stadion De Geusselt | 10,000 |
| NAC Breda | Breda | Rat Verlegh Stadion | 19,000 |
| Roda JC | Kerkrade | Parkstad Limburg Stadion | 19,979 |
| Telstar | Velsen | Rabobank IJmond Stadion | 3,060 |
| TOP Oss | Oss | Frans Heesenstadion | 4,560 |
| VVV-Venlo | Venlo | Covebo Stadion - De Koel - | 8,000 |
| Willem II | Tilburg | Koning Willem II Stadion | 14,500 |
Attendance Records
Some football clubs with many fans have played in the Eerste Divisie. This has led to some amazing attendance records! For example, Roda JC had 16,150 fans at one of their home games in the 2014–15 season.
A season later, NAC Breda broke that record. They had 17,800 people at their home match against Go Ahead Eagles. This shows how much support these teams get, even in the second division!
League Champions
Here is a list of the teams that have won the Eerste Divisie championship 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 |
1 Some clubs merged over time. For example, Blauw-Wit Amsterdam, A.V.V. De Volewijckers, and AFC DWS became FC Amsterdam. 2 Fortuna 54 and Sittardia merged to form FSC, which is now Fortuna Sittard. 3 ADO and Holland Sport merged to become FC Den Haag, now known as ADO Den Haag. 4 SV SVV and Drecht Steden 79 merged into SVV/Dordrecht'90, which is now FC Dordrecht.
Promotion Playoffs
The playoffs are an exciting part of the season! They give teams another chance to move up to the Eredivisie.
| Position | Playoff | What happens next season |
|---|---|---|
| 1st & 2nd | Direct promotion | Eredivisiea |
| Period champion | Plays in Round 1 or Semi-finals | Eredivisie or Eerste Divisie (depends on winning the playoffs) |
| High-ranked clubs | Plays in Playoff Semi-finals | Eredivisie or Eerste Divisie (depends on winning the playoffs) |
| Lower-ranked clubs | Plays in Playoff Round 1 | Eredivisie or Eerste Divisie (depends on winning the playoffs) |
aSometimes, a "Jong" (reserve) team wins the league. But reserve teams can't be promoted. In that case, the promotion spot goes to the next highest non-Jong team.
The playoffs work like a mini-tournament. Teams play against each other in knockout matches. The winners move on. The final winners of these playoffs get to play in the Eredivisie next season!
See also
In Spanish: Eerste Divisie para niños
- Eredivisie
- KNVB Cup
- Johan Cruijff Shield
- Football in the Netherlands
- Sports league attendances
