Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: ASC TIW (1943-1977) / TIW Amstel (1977-1988) / vv Watergraafsmeer (1988-1994) / JOS Watergraafsmeer (1994-)

Sportpark Drieburg - veld 8, Amsterdam Watergraafsmeer (JOS Watergraafsmeer, formerly ASC TIW / TIW Amstel / vv Watergraafsmeer)

Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland

14 III 2013 / JOS Watergraafsmeer - AVV Zeeburgia 2-1 / Zondag 1e klasse A (= NL level 5)

Timeline

1921 / Foundation of a football club in De Pijp, a working-class neighbourhood in Amsterdam, which is given the name DTS (probably meaning ‘Door Training Sterk’, literally translated: Strength By Training), with H. Ch. Wigt being the initiator of the new club, and three youngsters, Jan Helms, Jan Folkerts, and Jan Rijkenberg, being its founding members. With Mr Fremdling Snr. being chosen as the club’s first chairman, DTS settles on a piece of wasteland at Ferdinand Bolstraat. DTS joins the so-called AJVB or Amsterdamsche Jeugdvoetbalbond.
± 1922 / Probably in 1922, DTS applies for membership of the AVB (Amsterdamsche Voetbalbond), the Amsterdam sub-branch of the official Netherlands’ Football Association NVB (later KNVB). The club is admitted on the condition that it changes its name, due to the abbreviation DTS already having been taken by another club; under the new name ASC TIW (‘Trainen Is Winnen’, literally translated: Training Means Winning), the club is accepted. That same year, the club switches to Terrein Frederik Hendrik at Badhoevelaan in Amsterdam-Sloten – a marked improvement compared to the previous ‘pitch’, which did not have any grass cover.
1930 / Having won the title in AVB Division 2 three times – with promotion eventually resulting on the third occasion – TIW now goes on to clinch the title in AVB Division 1 without suffering a single defeat all season. As such, the club accedes to NVB (Sunday) League 4 for the first time.
1934 / Coached by Dries Heinz, TIW wins the title in District West I’s (Sunday) League 4D, 1 point ahead of closest followers HEDW (one of the precursors of WV-HEDW). Going on to win the promotion play-offs against RODI and Ahrends VC, TIW accedes to League 3 for the first time.
± 1935 / Abandoning Terrein Frederik Hendrik after more than a decade, TIW moves to Terrein Kalfjeslaan in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert.
1939 / Abandoning Terrein Frederik Hendrik, TIW settles at a newly laid-out pitch, Terrein Amsteldijk – situated in between a collection of allotment gardens, ‘Ons Lustoord’.
1940 / TIW founds a baseball branch, probably leading to the club taking on the name ASC (Amsterdamse Sportclub) TIW. Possibly, the club name prior to this was AVV (Amsterdamse Voetbalvereniging) TIW, but there are no sources to prove this definitely. Later on, branches for handball and theatre (both in 1945) are added to the club’s myriad of activities.
1942 / Finishing in joint last position in District West I’s Sunday League 3D with JHK (Jan Hanzen Kwartier), ASC TIW meets this club in a tie-break match at VVA’s ground, going on to suffer a 1-0 defeat. As a result, the club has to play a set of relegation play-offs against ASVK and SAVM, with ASVK finishing 1 point ahead of ASC TIW, which drops back to Sunday League 4 as a result.
1943 / ASC TIW is forced out of its ground, Terrein Amstelwijk, which is requisitioned by German occupation authorities. The club moves to the newly laid-out Sportpark Drieburg at Kruislaan, Amsterdam-Watergraafsmeer, finding a place at what is now veld 8 (pitch 8) of this park. TIW is one of the first clubs to move to the new sports park, with RKVV De Meer, CSV DVVA, ASV Wartburgia, and JOS becoming TIW’s neighbours in these new surroundings.
1946 / ASC TIW finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4I, 11 points behind champions APGS.
1948 / Champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4G, 7 points ahead of closest followers AVV Ontwaakt, ASC TIW goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus managing a return to Sunday League 3 after an absence of six years.
1949 / Finishing in second-last place in District West I’s Sunday League 3C, ASC TIW drops back into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club SLTO.
1952 / Finishing in last place in District West I’s Sunday League 4E, ASC TIW drops back into the ranks of AVB after 21 years. In the remaining 25 years of its existence, the club never manages a return to Sunday League 4, mostly playing its football in AVB Division 1.
1962 / The wooden clubhouse at TIW’s Sportpark Drieburg is replaced by a new construction in stone, designed by a vocational school teacher, Mr Tromp. In the following years, dressing rooms in stone are added to the set-up. This clubhouse is still gracing the western side of the main pitch of Sportpark Drieburg (veld 8) today.
1977 / ASC TIW concludes a merger with AVV Amstel, a club founded in 1905, which had been home at Sportpark De Diemen for the last fifteen years of its existence as an independent club. The new club takes on the name TIW Amstel, settling at TIW’s Sportpark Drieburg. In the eleven years of its existence, TIW Amstel never rose above the ranks of AVB Division 1.
1988 / TIW Amstel concludes a merger with SC WTO (in itself a merger of WMHO, TDO, and AVV Ontwaakt, concluded in 1976), leading to the foundation of vv Watergraafsmeer – not to be confused with the eponymous club founded in 1911 which merged with TDW Centrum to become FC Amstelland in 1974. Abandoning SC WTO’s Sportpark Voorland, the new vv Watergraafsmeer settles at TIW Amstel’s Sportpark Drieburg, starting its life with a Sunday team in the ranks of the AVB and a Saturday team in District West I’s Saturday League 4C – thanks to the fact that SC WTO had a team competing at this level in the last season of its existence.
1990 / Finishing in second-last place in District West I’s Saturday League 4C, vv Watergraafsmeer (za) descends into the ranks of the AVB along with bottom club RKSV Rood-Wit A. In the remaining four years of its existence, vv Watergraafsmeer does not manage a return to the League 4 level.
1994 / After an existence of six seasons, vv Watergraafsmeer concludes a merger with JOS (Jeugd Organisatie Sportclub), a club founded in 1920 which had been home at Sportpark Drieburg between 1943 and 1972 (on modern-day veld/pitch 14, nowadays occupied by AFC TABA), spending its last 22 years as an independent club at Sportpark De Toekomst in Duivendrecht – which it has to abandon in 1994 due to the youth academy of AFC Ajax moving to this park. The new merger club is given the name JOS Watergraafsmeer, with all activities moving to vv Watergraafsmeer’s Sportpark Drieburg (veld 8). Due to JOS having suffered relegation from Sunday League 2, the new club’s Sunday team starts its life in Sunday League 3, with a Saturday team competing in the ranks of the AVB.
2000 / Finishing in joint first place in District West II’s Sunday League 3C with AVV Zeeburgia, JOS Watergraafsmeer meets this club in a tie-break match, going on to win the encounter and thus clinching the title as well as promotion to Sunday League 2.
2003 / Champions in Sunday League 2A, 1 point ahead of RKSV DCG, JOS Watergraafsmeer wins promotion to Sunday League 1, the fourth tier of the Netherlands’ football pyramid at that time.
2004 / Finishing in tenth place in Sunday League 1A, JOS Watergraafsmeer goes on to suffer defeat in the promotion-relegation play-offs, thus dropping down into Sunday League 2 along with direct drop-outs Hellas Sport Combinatie and AFC Quick 1890.
2005 / Runaway champions in Sunday League 2B, 10 points ahead of closest followers AFC Quick 1890, JOS Watergraafsmeer wins promotion to Sunday League 1.
2006 / JOS Watergraafsmeer finishes as runners-up in Sunday League 1A, 19 points behind runaway champions HVV Hollandia.
2010 / Finishing in third place in Sunday League 1A, JOS Watergraafsmeer wins promotion to Zondag Hoofdklasse along with champions vv De Zouaven and runners-up SV Huizen, without having to play promotion play-offs, as additional promotion places are available due to the introduction of the so-called Topklasse as the new top division of the Netherlands’ non-league pyramid – and the third tier of the football pyramid as a whole.
2011 / Finishing in second-last place in Zondag Hoofdklasse A, JOS Watergraafsmeer drops back into Sunday League 1 along with bottom club IFC.
2013 / Finishing in third place in Sunday League 1A, JOS Watergraafsmeer qualifies for the promotion play-offs, being eliminated in R1 by SC Feyenoord (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out).
2014 / Champions in Sunday League 1A, 8 points ahead of runners-up RKSV AFC ’34, JOS Watergraafsmeer wins promotion to Zondag Hoofdklasse.
2017 / Finishing in fourteenth – third-last – place in Zondag Hoofdklasse A, JOS Watergraafsmeer drops back into Sunday League 1, by now the sixth tier of the Netherlands’ football pyramid, along with RKVV Alverna, vv Hoogland, and bottom club vv Dieze West.
2018 / Finishing in fourth place in Sunday League 1A, JOS Watergraafsmeer qualifies for the promotion play-offs, defeating vv Legmeervogels (1-2) and RKVV Chevremont (5-3) in the first two rounds, only to be eliminated by RKSV HVCH in the semi-finals (1-2).
2019 / Runners-up in Sunday League 1A, 2 points behind champions RKVV Velsen, JOS Watergraafsmeer qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-offs, managing successive victories over SV Leones (5-1), DHC (3-1), and RKSV Leonidas (3-1 A.E.T.), resulting in the club winning promotion to Zondag Hoofdklasse.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short in March 2020 due to the first COVID lockdown, JOS Watergraafsmeer finds itself in second place in Zondag Hoofdklasse A, 3 points behind leaders HVV Hollandia. On the basis of this, the club wins promotion to the Third Division, the fourth tier of the Netherlands’ football pyramid.
2023 / Finishing in fifteenth place in the Sunday Third Division, JOS Watergraafsmeer has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs, managing to knock out HBS-Craeyenhout in R1 (6-2 aggr.), only to be eliminated by SV Kampong in R2 (3-1 aggr.), leading to the club being retrograded to the Fourth Division (as the Hoofdklasse has been renamed).
2024 / Finishing in fourth place in National Division 4A, only 3 points behind champions AFC Ajax AV, JOS Watergraafsmeer qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club defeats vv Staphorst in R1 (5-3 aggr.), only to be knocked out by RKSV HBC in R2 (4-1 aggr.).

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-5 = non-matchday visit, September 2024 / pictures 6-17 = match visit, March 2013.