Sunday, 30 November 2025

CHOOSE YOUR WAY TO EXPLORE THIS WEBSITE










All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

NETHERLANDS: RKSV Sarto

Gemeentelijk Sportpark Het Westend, Tilburg (RKSV Sarto)

Netherlands, province: North Brabant = Noord-Brabant

30 XI 2025 / RKSV Sarto - vv Gilze 2-0 / Combined Sunday & Saturday League 1D (= NL level 6)

Timeline
  • 1924 / Foundation of a new Roman Catholic parish on the western outskirts of Tilburg, with the newly built St Margaret Maria Church (Heilige Margerita Mariakerk) taking centre-stage, with a newly built monastery and a boys’ school close by. At the invitation of the bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, a group of monks from Ghent in Belgium, belonging to the Brothers of Charity, move into the new monastery, while also taking over the leadership of the boys’ school, the St. Thomas School. Before long, a football team of primary school boys is formed, named after the school – Sint-Thomas. No more than a recreational team, Sint-Thomas plays its matches on Terrein Bredascheweg, the pitch of RKVV Vincent, a club founded in 1917 by a group of boys living at Huize Nazareth, a Roman Catholic child protection organisation in Tilburg. 
  • 1925 / RKVV Vincent, the main users of Terrein Bredascheweg, join the so-called Roomsch-Katholieke Voetbalbond (RKVB) Den Bosch – RKVB Den Bosch being a sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Catholic Football Federation (RKF). Also in or around 1925, a new football team is formed at the St Thomas’ Boys’ School by a group of boys being part of the Eucharistic Youth Movement – with members being referred to as Eucharistic Crusaders (Eucharistische Kruistochters, EK’ers) – founded in 1920 in Belgium, but finding membership in the Catholic part of the Netherlands as well, in response to the policy of Pope Pius X, declared in 1910, to encourage children of primary school age to celebrate the Eucharist on a weekly basis as well as do the First Holy Communion at the age of seven (rather than at twelve, as had been the custom previously). In honour of Pope Pius X, who had passed away in 1914 after an eleven-year papacy, the boys’ team took on the Holy Father’s name, (Giuseppe) Sarto.
  • 1928 / The recreational boys’ team Sarto successfully applies for membership of the RKVB Den Bosch as Roomsch-Katholieke Sportvereeniging (RKSV) Sarto. With Sint-Thomas being absorbed into the new club, membership is soon allowed to others than boys of the Eucharistic Youth Movement, as was the case in the early days. The first team of RKSV Sarto is placed in RKVB Division 3. 
  • 1929 / Clinching the title in RKVB Division 3, RKSV Sarto wins promotion to Division 2 of the said league system.
  • 1931 / RKSV Sarto wins promotion from RKVB Division 2 to Division 1. That same year, moving away from its groundshare with RKVV Vincent at Terrein Bredascheweg, the club settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Schaapsdijk. 
  • 1934 / As another football club from Tilburg, TAC (Tilburgsche Amateursclub), founded as Volt and later renamed to become VSC – and TAC subsequently – folds, RKVV Vincent moves away from Terrein Bredascheweg to settle at TAC’s former ground. Strikingly, given that TAC was a secular club, affiliated to the BVB (Brabantsche Voetbalbond, sub-branch of the Netherlands’ official FA or KNVB) rather than to the RKF, the bulk of the membership of the former club joins RKSV Sarto. As a result, Sarto’s first team is deemed strong enough to compete at a higher level – being promoted one division by RKF authorities, from RKVB Den Bosch Division 1 to IVCB Division 3 (IVCB = Interdiocesane Voetbalcompetitiebond, the three-tiered Roman Catholic national league system). That same year, RKSV Sarto abandons Terrein Schaapsdijk after three years, moving to Terrein Delmerweg, where it has the luxury of two pitches.
  • 1935 / Runners-up in IVCB Division 3, RKSV Sarto gains promotion to Division 2 of the said league system, holding out at that level until the outbreak of World War II in 1940.
  • 1940 /  As the RKF, the RKVB Den Bosch as well as all other football federations other than the official Netherlands’ Football Association (renamed NVB for the duration of World War II) are wound up in the face of prospective orders to be expected from German authorities, RKSV Sarto is placed in District South’s Sunday Division 3.
  • 1943 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 3I, 7 points behind champions vv DESK.
  • 1945 / As a newly founded club in Kranenburg, Guelders, takes on the name RKSV Ratti – named after Pope Pius XI (PP. 1922-1939), RKSV Sarto is now one of two clubs in the Netherlands to bear the name of a pope.
  • 1946 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 3E, 3 points behind champions RKC.
  • 1947 / Champions in District South I’s Sunday League 3C, 1 point ahead of closest rivals WVO, RKSV Sarto fails to book a ticket for Sunday League 2, falling 1 point short in the subsequent round of championship play-offs. That same year, RKVV Vincent, the original users of Terrein Bredascheweg way back in the 1920s, folds, withdrawing its membership of the Netherlands’ Football Association.
  • 1950 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 3C, 2 points behind champions vv Dongen.
  • 1951 / Champions in District South I’s Sunday League 3C, 1 point ahead of closest followers RKVV Roosendaal, RKSV Sarto goes on to have a successful round of championship play-offs, in which the club takes on MV&AV Middelburg, BSV, vv Baardwijk, and vv Terneuzen. As such, Sarto wins promotion to Sunday League 2 for the first time.
  • 1952 / Having to abandon Terrein Delmerweg after eighteen years, RKSV Sarto has to spend one season as groundsharers at Terrein Industriestraat with TSV NOAD.
  • 1953 / After one year of groundsharing with TSV NOAD at Terrein Industriestraat, RKSV Sarto concludes an agreement with another club, KS Broekhoven, spending the 1953-54 season at that club’s ground at Matterhornhoek.
  • 1954 / After two years of groundsharing, RKSV Sarto moves into its newly laid-out Sportpark Het Westend, laid out on a plot of land owned by the Mutsaers family at Bredaseweg, in September 1954. The new park consists of three pitches as well as one training pitch, with the main pitch being modern-day Pitch (veld) 5, the middle of the three easternmost pitches of the park in its current form - with the entrance meanwhile having been moved to Gilzerbaan.
  • 1956 / As Tilburg’s municipal authorities take over the ownership of RKSV Sarto’s new park at Bredaseweg, the ground officially takes on the name Gemeentelijk Sportpark Het Westend.
  • 1957 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 2A, 6 points behind champions RKSV Boxtel.
  • 1958 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 2B, 3 points behind champions vv TSC.
  • 1959 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 2A, 2 points behind champions TOP.
  • 1965 / Finishing in second-last place in District South I’s Sunday League 2B, RKSV Sarto drops back into Sunday League 3 along with bottom club SV MOC 1917. That same year, the club inaugurates its first small clubhouse in situ at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Het Westend, with the facilities having been built into a small farmstead situated next to the training pitch.
  • 1971 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South I’s Sunday League 3C, RKSV Sarto descends into Sunday League 4 for the first time, along with the club in second-last place, RKVV Uno Animo.
  • 1974 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 4E, 2 points behind champions DVG.
  • 1975 / Champions in District South I’s Sunday League 4B, 6 points ahead of closest followers vv Haarsteeg, RKSV Sarto manages a return to Sunday League 3 after an absence of four years at that level.
  • 1976 / RKSV Sarto finishes as joint runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 3C along with WVO, 2 points behind champions RKVV Berkdijk.
  • 1977 / Champions in District South I’s Sunday League 3C, 2 points ahead of closest rivals WVO, RKSV Sarto wins promotion to Sunday League 2 after an absence of twelve years at that level.
  • 1978 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 2B, 3 points behind champions vv TSC.
  • 1979 / Champions in District South I’s Sunday League 2B, 1 point ahead of closest rivals RKSV Rood-Wit (W.), RKSV Sarto accedes to Sunday League 1 for the first time in club history.
  • 1980 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 1E, RKSV Sarto drops back into Sunday League 2 after just one season, along with the club in second-last place, vv Baronie.
  • 1981 / Champions in District South I’s Sunday League 2B, 1 point ahead of runners-up vv Internos, RKSV Sarto manages an immediate return to Sunday League 1.
  • 1984 / A new clubhouse and main pitch are inaugurated at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Het Westend; the new main pitch - in use in that capacity until the present day - is the southwesternmost of the six pitches of the park.
  • 1987 / Finishing in second-last place in Sunday League 1E, RKSV Sarto suffers relegation to Sunday League 2 after six years, along with bottom side RKVV Bergeijk.
  • 1990 / Finishing in second-last place in District South I’s Sunday League 2B, RKSV Sarto descends into Sunday League 3 along with bottom club vv Zierikzee.
  • 1993 / Suffering its third relegation in six years, RKSV Sarto finishes in second-last place in District South I’s Sunday League 3C, being retrograded into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club Concordia SVD.
  • 1996 / New dressing rooms are inaugurated at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Het Westend.
  • 2002 / RKSV Sarto finishes as joint runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 4F along with RKVV DIA, 8 points behind champions vv Haarsteeg.
  • 2004 / RKSV Sarto finishes as runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 4F, 6 points behind derby rivals vv Zigo.
  • 2005 / Champions in District South I’s Sunday League 4F, 7 points ahead of closest followers SVSSS, RKSV Sarto wins promotion to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Frank de Brouwer.
  • 2006 / Still coached by Frank de Brouwer, RKSV Sarto finishes in ninth place in District South I’s Sunday League 3D, going on to suffer defeat in the relegation play-offs. As such, the club drops back into Sunday League 4 after just one season, along with SV Valkenswaard and bottom finishers RKVV Bergeijk.
  • 2008 / Runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 4F, 2 points behind champions RKVV Wilhelmina, RKSV Sarto goes on to enjoy success in the promotion play-offs. As such, the club accedes to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Marc Stoelinga.
  • 2009 / RKSV Sarto signs former professional league winger Bud Brocken as its head coach. Having spent his youth academy years at TSV LONGA and RKTVV, Brocken had enjoyed a successful career as a player at Willem II, Birmingham City FC, FC Groningen, and BVV Den Bosch (1975-92), moreover winning three caps for the Netherlands in 1983 (1 goal). Brocken would only stay at Sportpark Het Westend for one season. Sadly, Bud Brocken passed away in the summer of 2025 at the age of 67.
  • 2011 / Having spent only a short spell of his youth academy years at RKSV Sarto in 2009 before moving to Willem II’s academy, striker Jürgen Locadia makes his professional league debut with PSV at the age of 17. Locadia went on to have spells at Brighton & Hove Albion FC, 1899 Hoffenheim, FC Cincinnati, VfL Bochum, Persepolis FC, Guangzhou Mighty Lions FC, SD Amorebieta, and CF Intercity. Locadia also made his debut for Curaçao’s national team in 2023, going on to help his country qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
  • 2012 / Runners-up in District South I’s Sunday League 3C, 8 points behind champions RKVV Zwaluw VFC, RKSV Sarto qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out SBC in R1 (3-2 aggr.), going on to crush SV Valkenswaard in the final (6-2 aggr.). As a result, Sarto manages a return to Sunday League 2 after an absence of nineteen years at that level. The successful coach is Marco de Jong.
  • 2015 / In spite of finishing in third place in Sunday League 2E, 5 points behind the two clubs tying for first place – vv Zeelandia Middelburg and vv Uno Animo – RKSV Sarto misses out on qualification for the promotion play-offs.
  • 2016 / Finishing in fifth place in Sunday League 2E, RKSV Sarto qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by SV Someren (4-1 aggr.).
  • 2018 / Runners-up in Sunday League 2E, 8 points behind champions vv Moerse Boys, RKSV Sarto qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out SV Someren in R1 (3-2), only to be eliminated in R2 by derby rivals FC Tilburg (5-0).
  • 2019 / Former RKSV Sarto youth academy defender Pieter Bogaers, who had moved to Willem II’s academy at some point, makes his professional league debut with FC Eindhoven. Bogaers goes on to wear the blue-and-white for four years before hanging up his boots in the summer of 2023.
  • 2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short by the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, RKSV Sarto finds itself tying for first place in Sunday League 2E with RKSV Cluzona, but with a slightly better goal difference than the club from Wouw (+17 vs. +12). On that basis, the club is admitted to Sunday League 1 for the new season, thus managing a return to that level after an absence of 33 years. The successful coach is Max Raeven. Also in 2020, the main pitch of Gemeentelijk Sportpark Het Westend is adorned with an uncovered terrace running the length of the touchline at the western side of the pitch (cp. picture 5 below).
  • 2022 / Finishing in sixth place in Sunday League 1B, RKSV Sarto qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eliminates derby rivals SC ‘t Zand in R1 (3-0), only to be knocked out in R2 by vv Heino (2-0).
  • 2024 / In the best season in club history so far, RKSV Sarto finishes in fifth place in Sunday League 1E, narrowly missing out on the promotion play-offs. Meanwhile, SV Ratti - the former RKSV Ratti, the other club from the Netherlands also named after a pope - concludes a merger with SV Sociï, becoming SBC '24, with RKSV Sarto thus remaining the only club in the country to bear a pope's name.
Note 1 – Thanks to Sarto board member Edwin van Gorp for providing essential additional documentation about the club’s history. Many details about the early history of RKSV Sarto have been derived from a newspaper article published on the occasion of the club’s thirtieth anniversary: “RKSV Sarto gaat zesde lustrum vieren”, in: Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant, May 8th, 1958.

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-4 & 20-21 = non-matchday visit, May 2019 / pictures 5-19 = match visit, November 2025.





















All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

Saturday, 29 November 2025

NETHERLANDS: vv Storica (1977-2011) / vv Dieze West (±1985-2012) / HFC Storica (2011-2025) / vv Dieze West (B) (2012-) / FC Ulu Spor (B) (2012-) / vv WVF (B) (2023-)

Sportpark Het Hoge Laar terr. 1, Zwolle (B ground of vv Dieze West, FC Ulu Spor & vv WVF, formerly vv Storica / A pitch of vv Dieze West / HFC Storica)

Netherlands, province: Overijssel

29 XI 2025 / vv WVF 6 - vv Berkum 8 5-4 / District East, Saturday Reserves' League 5 - Group 01

Timeline
  • 1949 / Foundation of a football club in Zwolle, formed as the corporate team of Stork NV, a local engine factory. The club is given the name vv Storica. Joining the Zwolle sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (KNVB), Afdeling Zwolle – usually referred to by its pre-war name Zwolse Voetbalbond, ZVB – vv Storica is placed in the bottom division of the ZVB Saturday pyramid. In the first thirty odd years of its existence, the club played its football as groundsharers at various other clubs in Zwolle.
  • 1955 / vv Storica clinches its first title in the ranks of the ZVB, in a club history which has been poorly documented. Further ZVB titles would follow in 1958, 1974, 1978, 1980, and 1991, with the club never reaching the level of District East’s Saturday League 4 prior to 1996.
  • 1977 / Having lead a wanderer’s existence in the first 28 years of its existence, vv Storica now settles at a newly laid out ground, Sportpark Het Hoge Laar, of which the three southeasternmost pitches are put at the disposal of vv Storica, with CSV ’28 settling at the northwestern half of the park.
  • 1978 / vv Storica breaks away from Stork NV Motorenfabriek, becoming an independent entity and thus ceasing to be a corporate club.
  • 1979 / vv Storica’s clubhouse at Sportpark Het Hoge Laar is inaugurated.
  • 1982 / A new club is founded in Zwolle, vv Dieze West, which joins the ZVB Sunday divisions. For the time being, not disposing of a ground of its own, vv Dieze West plays its football at Terrein Urbana at Wipstrikkerallee, a communal pitch put at the disposal of the club by Zwolle’s municipal authorities. Training sessions are held on a smaller pitch at a local playground, Speeltuin ‘t Noorden at Albert Cuypstraat.
  • ± 1985 / Moving away from Terrein Urbana, vv Dieze West moves into Sportpark Het Hoge Laar, groundsharing with vv Storica. The two clubs’ first teams share the main pitch – a comfortable arrangement, given that vv Storica plays its football on Saturdays at vv Dieze West on Sundays.
  • 1996 / As Afdeling Zwolle (ZVB) and all other KNVB sub-branches are abolished in a thorough reorganisation of the football pyramid, vv Storica is allowd into District East’s Saturday League 4 for the first time in club history, while vv Dieze West is transferred from ZVB Sunday Division 2 to the newly created District East’s Sunday League 6.
  • 1998 / vv Storica finishes in joint second place in District East’s Saturday League 4D with DSV ’61, 6 points behind champions vv SVI.
  • 2001 / Finishing in third place in District East’s Sunday League 6B, vv Dieze West goes on to have a successful round of promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Sunday League 5 for the first time.
  • 2002 / vv Dieze West signs Martin Reynders as its head coach. Reynders had just ended his career as a professional league midfielder (1989-2002) with successive spells at PEC Zwolle ’82, FC Zwolle, Nashville Metros, FC Jokerit, FC Haka Valkeakoski, and BV Veendam. Staying at vv Dieze West for two seasons, Reynders would sign a deal as a youth academy coach with FC Zwolle in 2004, going on to play four more matches as an emergency first team player with the professional league side (2006-09).
  • ± 2005 / Having been allowed to use vv Storica’s clubhouse in the past twenty odd years, vv Dieze West is now allowed to move into a new clubhouse, taken over from netball club Sparta Zwolle, situated at the westernmost edge of Sportpark Het Hoge Laar – adjacent to the smaller clubhouse of motor club Big V. Although the construction is closer to Pitch 3 of Sportpark Het Hoge Laar (Zuid), vv Dieze West’s first team football continues to be played on Pitch 1 of the park.
  • 2006 / Runaway champions in District East’s Sunday League 5H, 10 points ahead of closest followers vv Reaal Dronten, vv Dieze West accedes to Sunday League 4 for the first time. The successful coach is Jan de Vries.
  • 2007 / Having had a disastrous run in District East’s Saturday League 4D in the 2006-07 season, only obtaining 3 points from 20 matches (goal difference -87), vv Storica withdraws from first team football for the time being. Meanwhile, neighbour club CSV ’28 leaves Sportpark Het Hoge Laar (Noord) to settle at the newly laid-out Sportpark De Verbinding, elsewhere in Zwolle, as the northern part of Het Hoge Laar is due to make way for hockey pitches for HC Zwolle. For the time being, CSV ‘28’s groundsharers FC Ulu Spor remain behind at that part of the park.
  • 2010 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 4H, 7 points ahead of closest rivals SV Colmschate ’33, vv Dieze West accedes to Sunday League 3 for the first time. The successful coach is Nardus de Vries.
  • 2011 / After a twilight existence of four years, vv Storica takes on the amended name Holtenbroeker Football Club (HFC) Storica) and returning to regular football with a first team in Saturday League 4.
  • 2012 / Finishing in fourth place in District East’s Saturday League 4C, HFC Storica qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out CVV Achilles (E) in R1 (6-1 aggr.), only to be eliminated in the final by WVV Wageningen (7-4 aggr.) and thus missing out on promotion. That same year, vv Dieze West clinches a new title, finishing top of the table in District East’s Sunday League 3B, 6 points ahead of runners-up AV&CV Robur et Velocitas 1882, thus gaining promotion to Sunday League 2 for the first time. The successful coach is Marco Onderberg. Meanwhile, in the summer of 2012, Pitch 3 of Sportpark Het Hoge Laar is laid out anew with a synthetic surface. While HFC Storica stays on Pitch 1, vv Dieze West as well as FC Ulu Spor move their first team football to the 3G facility. FC Ulu Spor rebuilds its (wooden) clubhouse alongside the western touchline of the new pitch. For the further history of vv Dieze West (and FC Ulu Spor), check the article dedicated to Pitch (veld) 3 of Sportpark Het Hoge Laar.
  • 2013 / Champions in District East’s Saturday League 4C, 4 points ahead of closest rivals SCD ’83, HFC Storica wins promotion to Saturday League 3 for the first time in club history. The successful coach is Chris Sorries.
  • 2014 / HFC Storica records the best result in club history, finishing in ninth place in District East’s Saturday League 3C – going on to replicate that exact result in the 2014-15 season.
  • 2016 / Coached by Jeroen Kloekke, HFC Storica finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Saturday League 3C, thus dropping back into Saturday League 4 after three seasons, along with vv Bruchterveld and SV VHK.
  • 2017 / HFC Storica finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Saturday League 4C with only 5 points from 26 matches (goal difference -151) – and with the only win being recorded at Sportpark Het Hoge Laar against VSW in the last match of the season (3-1).
  • 2018 / Having obtained not a single point in the 2017-18 season in District East’s Saturday League 4C (goal difference -169) – and with a disastrous 1-16 home defeat at the hands of VSW in the last encounter of the season – HFC Storica withdraws from first team football, with the remaining first team players continuing to play their matches in the “reserves’ team” in Reserves’ Saturday League 5. As the preceding years had seen a rather dramatic decrease in club membership, HFC Storica contacts neighbour club FC Ulu Spor for merger talks to form the prospective FC Het Hoge Laar, in an attempt to avoid the demise of the club.
  • 2020 / After two years of fruitless talks, the merger process between HFC Storica and FC Ulu Spor is discontinued.
  • 2023 / With not enough players available to form a team, HFC Storica remains inactive during the 2023-24 season. Also in 2023, a club in Zwolle with a booming membership and not enough pitches to allow all of its teams to play their home matches, vv WVF, is allowed to move part of its Saturday matches to Sportpark Het Hoge Laar, making use of all three pitches of the park.
  • 2024 / HFC Storica manages to assemble enough players to return with a team in Reserves’ Saturday League 5.
  • 2025 / After one year, HFC Storica withdraws its team from Reserves’ League 5. With the club entering into a twilight existence once again, the only activity developed in the 2025-26 season are Friday evening matches with a recreational 7 vs. 7 team of veteran players.




















All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

Sunday, 23 November 2025

NETHERLANDS: Sportclub Rekken

Sportpark 't Asterloo, Rekken (Sportclub Rekken)

Netherlands, province: Guelders = Gelderland

23 XI 2025 / SP Rekken - FC Eibergen 3-2 / District East, Sunday League 4B (= NL level 9)

Timeline
  • ± 1930 / Foundation of a first football club in Rekken, a village hemmed in between Eibergen, Haaksbergen and the border with Prussia / Germany. The new club takes on the name vv Sparta, joining the so-called Geldersche Voetbalbond (GVB), the Guelders sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (KNVB). A pitch is laid out at modern-day Kraaienboom, on the opposite side of the Berkel river and the Piepermolen windmill.
  • 1938 / vv Sparta changes its name to become vv Rekken.
  • ± 1939-40 / Probably due to a lack of players following the mobilisation of the Netherlands’ armed forces in August 1939, vv Rekken folds, ceasing all activities.
  • 1970 / After a gap of thirty years, a new football club sees the daylight in Rekken, with the name Sportclub (usually abbreviated as SP) Rekken being adopted. Frits Koeslag is elected as the new club’s first chairman. As SP Rekken joins the Guelders’ sub-branch of the Netherlands’ FA – meanwhile renamed Afdeling Gelderland (although the old name GVB was still widely used colloquially at the time) – the club settles on the sports field of the so-called Van Ouwenallenvereniging (VOV), a psychiatric detention centre situated in the immediate vicinity of the village. In those early days, training sessions are sometimes held closer to the village proper, on a plot of land at the back of Bakery Te Nijenhuis in ‘t Kip, the Roman Catholic hamlet in the immediate vicinity of Rekken proper.
  • 1971 / SP Rekken manages to obtain a plot of land halfway between ‘t Kip and Rekken proper, at the back of Café Kerkemeijer. With the help of the so-called Koninklijke Nederlandse Heidemaatschappij (Royal Netherlands’ Association for Wasteland Redevelopment), works get underway to lay out two pitches, the first of which - the projected training pitch (the westernmost pitch of the modern-day park) - is ready for the 1971-72 season. As a first set of dressing rooms is put in place at what is referred to as Sportcomplex aan de Berkel – and with Café Kerkemeijer serving as temporary clubhouse in the absence of a canteen in situ – SP Rekken moves into the new ground, with matches taking place on the sole pitch, while works continue on the projected main pitch to its east.
  • 1972 / In August 1972, the new main pitch of Sportpark aan de Berkel – i.e. the current main pitch of Sportpark ‘t Asterloo – is inaugurated with a gala match between Sunday League 2 side vv Haaksbergen and Sunday League 4 team SC Eibergen, won by the former (2-1). The inaugural ceremony which precedes the match is performed by Eibergen’s mayor, Frans Cappetti.
  • 1974 / A third dressing room as well as a first canteen are added to the set-up at Sportpark aan de Berkel.
  • 1979 / Clinching the title in Afdeling Gelderland’s Sunday Division 3P, 8 points ahead of vv DEO Reserves, SP Rekken wins promotion to D2 of the said league system for the first time. The successful coach is J. Overbeeke. In the following 17 years, the club alternates spells in D2 and D1 of Afdeling Gelderland. Later in 1979, on November 16th, a new clubhouse is inaugurated at what has meanwhile been renamed Sportpark ‘t Asterloo.
  • 1987 / As the clubhouse at Sportpark ‘t Asterloo is given a major upgrade, the canteen is extended with, among other features, a boardroom. 
  • 1996 / As Afdeling Gelderland and all other sub-branches of the Netherlands’ FA are abolished in a thorough reorganisation of the non-league pyramid, SP Rekken is transferred from GVB Sunday Division 1 to District East’s Sunday League 6. 
  • 2000 / The scoreboard of Stadion Het Diekman in Enschede, former home ground of FC Twente, which had been knocked down in 1998, is put in place at Sportpark ‘t Asterloo. The new feature is inaugurated with a gala match between SP Rekken and FC Twente (0-12).
  • 2006 / Finishing in fifth place in District East’s Sunday League 6D, SP Rekken goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Sunday League 5. The successful coach is Gerard Magendans.
  • 2008 / Coached by Ronnie van Oosterwijk, SP Rekken finishes in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 5B, thus dropping back into Sunday League 6 along with bottom club vv Haaksbergen.
  • 2009 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 6C, 5 points ahead of closest followers vv Lochuizen, SP Rekken manages an immediate return to Sunday League 5. The successful coach is Mark Roossink.
  • 2010 / Finishing in third place in District East’s Sunday League 5B, SP Rekken qualifies for the promotion play-offs, being drawn in a group with RKVV Ajax-B and vv SCH, managing an emphatic home win against the latter (5-0), but suffering an away defeat against the former (2-1) – and thus having to leave the promotion ticket to the club from Breedenbroek.
  • 2011 / Finishing in fourth place in District East’s Sunday League 5B, SP Rekken qualifies for the promotion play-offs, being drawn in a group with vv Bentelo and vv Witkampers, suffering an away defeat against the former (2-0) and no more than a draw at home against the latter (2-2). As Witkampers defeats Bentelo in the last match of the three-way competition, the promotion ticket goes to the club from Laren.
  • 2013 / Runaway champions in District East’s Sunday League 5B, 10 points ahead of closest followers vv Buurse, SP Rekken wins promotion to Sunday League 4 for the first time in club history. The successful coach is Mark Roossink.
  • 2014 / In the best season in club history so far, SP Rekken, coached by Frank Bruins, finishes in fourth place in District East’s Sunday League 4C, narrowly missing out on qualification for the play-offs. 
  • 2019 / Finishing in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 4B with coach Edwin van Eerten, SP Rekken drops back into Sunday League 5 along with vv Erix and bottom club FC Aramea.
  • 2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due to the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, SP Rekken finds itself top of the table in District East’s Sunday League 5B after 15 of 24 matches played, an impressive 13 points ahead of closest followers vv Zelhem and GSV ’63. On that basis, the club is placed in Sunday League 4 for the new season. The successful coach is Mark Roossink.
  • 2023 / Coached by Tjerja-Dave Knaken, SP Rekken finishes in tenth place in District East’s Sunday League 4B, failing to save its skin in the subsequent round of promotion-relegation play-offs, in which defeat is incurred at the hands of SV Almelo in R1 (1-1 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out). As such, SP Rekken descends into Sunday League 5 along with SV Hector, vv Twenthe, vv Hoeve Vooruit, and bottom club SP Neede.
  • 2024 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 5B, 1 point ahead of closest rivals vv Erix, SP Rekken manages an immediate return to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Arno Knapen.
Note 1 - Thanks to Henny van Doorn, club historian of Sportclub Rekken, for adding several pieces of information which have been included in this article.

Note 2 - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-3 & 5-24 = match visit, November 2025 / picture 4 = non-matchday visit, March 2025.
























All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author