The Dutch Football League is organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB, Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond).The most successful teams are Ajax (35), PSV (23) and Feyenoord (15). Important teams of the past are HVV (10 titles), Sparta Rotterdam (6 titles) and Willem II (3 titles).

This article does not cite any sources. (February 2010)

The annual match that marks the beginning of the season is called the Johan Cruijff Schaal (Johan Cruyff Shield). Contenders are the champions and the cup winners of the previous season.

Dutch professional clubs

Almere City

Cambuur

De Graafschap

Den Bosch

Dordrecht

PSV

FC Eindhoven

Emmen

Fortuna

Helmond Sport

MVV

NAC Breda

TOP Oss

RKC

Telstar

Volendam

VVV-Venlo

Feyenoord

Sparta

Excelsior

ADO

Ajax

AZ

FC Groningen

Go Ahead Eagles

SC Heerenveen

Heracles

NEC

PEC Zwolle

Roda JC

FC Twente

FC Utrecht

Vitesse

Willem II

Location of teams in the Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie 2018-2019

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity	Manager
ADO Den Haag	The Hague	Cars Jeans Stadion	15,000	Aleksandar Ranković
Ajax	Amsterdam	Johan Cruyff Arena	53,490	Erik ten Hag
AZ	Alkmaar	AFAS Stadion	17,023	Arne Slot
Excelsior	Rotterdam	Stadion Woudestein	4,400	Marinus Dijkhuizen
Feyenoord	Rotterdam	Stadion Feijenoord	51,177	Dick Advocaat
Go Ahead Eagles	Deventer	Adelaarshorst	10,400	Kees van Wonderen
Groningen	Groningen	Noordlease Stadion	22,550	Danny Buijs
Heerenveen	Heerenveen	Abe Lenstra Stadion	27,224	Johnny Jansen
Heracles Almelo	Almelo	Polman Stadion	13,500	Frank Wormuth
NEC	Nijmegen	Stadion de Goffert	12,500	Rogier Meijer
PEC Zwolle	Zwolle	MAC³PARK Stadion	13,250	Dick Schreuder
PSV	Eindhoven	Philips Stadion	36,500	Roger Schmidt
Roda JC	Kerkrade	Parkstad Limburg Stadion	19,979	Jurgen Streppel
Sparta Rotterdam	Rotterdam	Het Kasteel	11,026	Henk Fräser
Twente	Enschede	De Grolsch Veste	30,205	Ron Jans
Utrecht	Utrecht	Stadion Galgenwaard	23,750	René Hake
Vitesse	Arnhem	GelreDome	25,500	Thomas Letsch
Willem II	Tilburg	Koning Willem II Stadion	14,500	Fred Grim
Almere City	Almere	Yanmar Stadion	3,000	Ole Tobiasen
Cambuur	Leeuwarden	Cambuur Stadion	10,500	Henk de Jong
De Graafschap	Doetinchem	Stadion De Vijverberg	12,600	Mike Snoei
Den Bosch	's-Hertogenbosch	De Vliert	9,000	Erik van der Ven
Dordrecht	Dordrecht	GN Bouw Stadion	4,088	Harry van den Ham
FC Eindhoven	Eindhoven	Jan Louwers Stadion	4,600	Ernie Brandts
Emmen	Emmen	Univé Stadion	8,600	Dick Lukkien
Fortuna Sittard	Sittard	Fortuna Sittard Stadion	12,500	Sjors Ultee
Helmond Sport	Helmond	Stadion De Braak	4,100	Wil Boessen
MVV	Maastricht	De Geusselt	10,000	Darije Kalezić
NAC Breda	Breda	Rat Verlegh Stadion	19,000	Maurice Steijn
TOP Oss	Oss	Heesen Yachts Stadion	4,700	Klaas Wels
RKC Waalwijk	Waalwijk	Mandemakers Stadion	7,508	Fred Grim
Telstar	Velsen	TATA Steel Stadion	3,625	Andries Jonker
Volendam	Volendam	Kras Stadion	6,260	Wim Jonk
VVV-Venlo	Venlo	De Koel	8,000	Hans de Koning

Former Dutch league teams

• Koninklijke HFC
• AVV RAP (of Amsterdam) were the first official champions of the Netherlands in 1899. The club however became a Cricket club in 1916 following a total of 5 national football titles.
• Fortuna 54 (of Geleen) and Sittardia (of Sittard) merged to form Fortuna Sittard in 1968.
• Blauw Wit, DWS and De Volewijckers merged to form FC Amsterdam in 1972, which ceased to exist in 1982.
• PEC and the Zwolsche Boys merged to form PEC Zwolle in 1971, which became FC Zwolle in 1990.
• Sportclub Enschede and the Enschedese Boys merged to form FC Twente in 1965.
• DOS, Elinkwijk and Velox merged to form FC Utrecht in 1970.
• GVAV became FC Groningen in 1971.
• Alkmaar 54 and FC Zaanstreek merged to form AZ in 1967.
• Roda Sport and Rapid JC merged to form Roda JC in 1962.
• BVC Rotterdam and BVC Flamingos merged to form Scheveningen Holland Sport in 1954, which merged with ADO in 1971 to form FC Den Haag, and became ADO Den Haag in 1996.
• SVV and Dordrecht '90 merged to form SVV/Dordrecht '90 in 1991. The club has since been renamed FC Dordrecht.
• VC Vlissingen (from Flushing) became a professional club in 1990, changed its name to VCV Zeeland a year later, and became an amateur club again in 1992.
• FC Wageningen (founded in 1911) won the Dutch cup in 1939 and 1948, joined the Dutch professional league when it was formed in 1954, and remained professional until the club went bankrupt in 1992.
• HVC of Amersfoort was formed in 1905, joined the league in 1954, was renamed to SC Amersfoort in 1973 and went bankrupt in 1982.
• Fortuna Vlaardingen (formed in 1904) joined the professional league in 1955, was renamed to FC Vlaardingen in 1974 and went bankrupt in 1981.
• HFC Haarlem (formed in 1889) joined the professional league in 1954 and remained professional until the club went bankrupt in 2010.
• RBC Roosendaal (formed in 1927) joined the professional league in 1955 till 1971 and 1983 and remained professional until the club went bankrupt in 2011.
• AGOVV Apeldoorn (formed in 1913) joined the professional league in 1954 till 1971, returned to professional soccer on 1 July 2003, and went bankrupt in 2013.
• SC Veendam (formed in 1894) joined the professional league in 1954, and went bankrupt in 2013.
• Zwart-Wit '28 won the national amateur championship in 1971 and the national cup for women in 2000. Went bankrupt in 2004.

See also

• Eerste Divisie
• Eredivisie
• List of football stadiums in the Netherlands

References

External links

• Midfield Dynamo's list of the Dutch football league's 'Big 3' and 'Best of the Rest' of the other clubs, midfielddynamo.com
• (in English) Orange Football Blog - Weekly summaries from the Eredivisie and other articles, nlplanet.com
• (in Dutch) Official Eredivisie site
• (in Dutch) Official Eerste Divisie website
• League321.com - Club stats records.