Eredivisie

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Eredivisie (disambiguation).

Eredivisie

Organising body KNVB

Founded 1956; 67 years ago

Country Netherlands

Confederation UEFA

Number of teams 18

Level on pyramid 1
 Relegation to Eerste Divisie

 KNVB Cup
Domestic cup(s)
 Johan Cruyff Shield

International cup(s)  UEFA Champions League

 UEFA Europa League

 UEFA Europa Conference League

Current champions Ajax (36th title)

(2021–22)

Most championships Ajax (36 titles)

Most appearances Pim Doesburg (687)

Top goalscorer Willy van der Kuijlen (311)

TV partners List of broadcasters

Website eredivisie.eu

Current: 2022–23 Eredivisie

The Eredivisie (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈeːrədivizi]; "Honour Division" or "Premier

Division") is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The
league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the
Netherlands. As of the 2020–21 season, it is ranked the sixth-best league in
Europe by UEFA.[1]
The Eredivisie consists of 18 clubs. Each club meets every other club twice during
the season, once at home and once away. At the end of each season, the two
clubs at the bottom are relegated to the second level of the Dutch league system,
the Eerste Divisie (First Division), while the champion and runner-up of the Eerste
Divisie are automatically promoted to the Eredivisie. The club finishing third from
the bottom of the Eredivisie goes to separate promotion/relegation play-offs with
six high-placed clubs from the Eerste Divisie.[2]
The winner of the Eredivisie claims the Dutch national championship. Ajax have
won the most titles with 36. PSV Eindhoven are next with 24, and Feyenoord follow
with 15. Since 1965, these three clubs have won all but three Eredivisie titles (the
1981 and 2009 titles went to AZ and FC Twente won in 2010). Ajax, PSV, and
Feyenoord are known as the "Big Three" or "Traditional Top Three" of Dutch
football. They are the only clubs in their current form to have never been relegated
out of the Eredivisie. A fourth club, FC Utrecht, is the product of a 1970 merger
between three of that city's clubs, one of which, VV DOS, had also never been
relegated out of the Eredivisie.
From 1990 to 1999, the official name of the league was PTT Telecompetitie (after
the sponsor, PTT Telecom), which was changed to KPN Telecompetitie (because
PTT Telecom changed its name to KPN Telecom) in 1999 and to KPN Eredivisie in
2000. From 2002 to 2005, the league was called the Holland Casino Eredivisie.
Since the 2005–06 season, the league has been sponsored by
the Sponsorloterij (lottery), but for legal reasons its name could not be attached to
the league (the Dutch government was against the name, because the Eredivisie
would, after Holland Casino's sponsorship, yet again be sponsored by a company
providing games of chance).
In August 2012, it was made public that tycoon Rupert Murdoch had secured the
rights to the Eredivisie for 12 years at the expense of one billion euros, beginning
in the 2013–14 season.[3] Within this deal, the five largest Eredivisie clubs were to
receive five million euros per year.[4] In 2020, the Eredivisie was abandoned due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.

History[edit]
From the foundation of the Dutch national football championship in 1898 until 1954,
the title was decided through play-offs by a handful of clubs who had previously
won their regional league.[5] The competition was purely an amateur one; the Royal
Dutch Football Association (KNVB) rejected any form of payment and suspended
players who were caught receiving salary or transfer fees. [6] The call for
professional football grew in the early fifties after many national team members left
to play abroad in search for financial benefits. [7] The KNVB would usually suspend
these players, preventing them from appearing for the Dutch national team. After
the North Sea flood of 1953, the Dutch players abroad (mainly playing in
the French league) organised a charity match against the France national team in
Paris. The match was boycotted by the KNVB, but after the assembled Dutch
players defeated the French (2–1), the Dutch public witnessed the heights that
could be achieved through professional football. [8] To serve the growing interest, a
dissident professional football association (the NBVB) and league were founded for
the 1954–55 season.[9] On 3 July 1954, the KNVB met with a group of concerned
amateur club chairmen, who feared the best players would join the professional
teams. The meeting, dubbed the slaapkamerconferentie ('bedroom conference'),
led to the Association reluctantly accepting semi-professionalism. [6]
Meanwhile, both the KNVB and the NBVB started their separate competition. The
first professional football match was contested between Alkmaar and Venlo.[6] The
leagues went on for eleven rounds, before a merger was negotiated between the
two federations in November. Both leagues were cancelled and a new, combined
competition emerged immediately. De Graafschap, Amsterdam, Alkmaar
and Fortuna '54 from the NBVB were accepted to the new league. Other clubs
merged, which led to new names like Rapid J.C., Holland Sport and Roda Sport.
The first (semi-)professional league was won by Willem II.[10] For the 1956–57
season, the KNVB abandoned the regional league system. The Eredivisie was
founded, in which the eighteen best clubs nationwide directly played for the league
title without play-offs. The inaugural members of the Eredivisie in 1956
were Ajax, BVC, BVV, DOS, EVV, Elinkwijk, SC Enschede, Feijenoord, Fortuna
'54, GVAV, MVV, NAC, NOAD, PSV, Rapid J.C., Sparta, VVV '03 and Willem II.
[11]
 Ajax was the first team to claim the title that season. [11] Below is a complete
record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history;

 18 clubs: 1956–1962
 16 clubs: 1962–1966
 18 clubs: 1966–present