Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv LRC Leerdam

Sportpark Bruinsdeel "Glaspark", Leerdam (vv LRC Leerdam)

Netherlands, province: South Holland = Zuid-Holland (1985-2019) / Utrecht (2019-)

24 III 2012 / vv LRC Leerdam - SV Kozakken Boys 1-6 / Zaterdag Hoofdklasse B (= NL level 4)

Timeline

1958 / Following a botched attempt to merge the football branches of multi-sports clubs Voorwaarts and Sparta in Leerdam, a group of former Voorwaarts members decides to form a football club from scratch, choosing the name vv Rood Geel – which is subsequently refused by the Netherlands’ FA (KNVB) due to that name already having been taken by vv Rood Geel from Leeuwarden. Following that, the name vv LRC Leerdam is adopted, with LRC being an acronym of Leerdamse Racing Club. The first chairman of this principled Christian football club – as opposed to the secular Sunday club Leerdam Sport ’55 – is P.H. van Ameijde. The new club settles at Terrein Loosdorp.
1961 / Inauguration of a clubhouse and two dressing rooms at Terrein Loosdorp. In the course of the 1960s, extra dressing rooms and a board room are added to the set-up.
1966 / vv LRC Leerdam wins promotion to KNVB Saturday League 4 for the first time.
1970 / In the best season since the foundation of the club, vv LRC Leerdam finishes runners-up in District West II’s Saturday League 4D, 3 points behind champions vv Haaften.
1972 / Finishing in joint tenth place in District West II’s Saturday League 4C with vv Hardinxveld (za), vv LRC Leerdam meets its rivals in a tie-break match, going on to lose the encounter 1-0 (A.E.T.) – resulting in vv Hardinxveld staying up and LRC dropping back into the ranks of the lower leagues (probably Afdeling Dordrecht), along with bottom side RSM.
1975 / vv LRC Leerdam wins promotion to KNVB Saturday League 4 for the second time.
1981 / Runners-up in District West II’s Saturday League 4D, 1 point behind champions SC Everstein, vv LRC Leerdam narrowly misses out on promotion to League 3.
1985 / With Terrein Loosdorp having to make way for housing, vv LRC Leerdam moves to the newly laid-out Sportpark Bruinsdeel at Bruininxdeelsekade, on the far northern fringes of Leerdam, where the club is given the luxury of four pitches.
1990 / Champions in District West II’s Saturday League 4D, with an advantage of 2 points over closest followers ZW, vv LRC Leerdam wins promotion to Saturday League 3 for the first time in club history.
1993 / Champions in District South I’s Saturday League 3B following a defeat of fellow leaders SV BLC in a tie-break match, vv LRC Leerdam accedes to Saturday League 2 for the first time in club history.
1994 / Finishing last in District South I’s Saturday League 2A, vv LRC Leerdam drops back into League 3 along with the team finishing second-last, vv Arnemuiden.
1996 / Finishing in fifth place in District South I’s Saturday League 3B, vv LRC Leerdam is placed in Saturday League 2 for the first time due to a new top tier being added to the Saturday League pyramid (the so-called Hoofdklasse), resulting in scores of additional promotion places being available in the lower Saturday divisions.
1999 / Runners-up in Saturday League 2F, 5 points behind champions SSC ’55, vv LRC Leerdam goes on to win a round of play-offs, thus acceding to Saturday League 1 for the first time in club history. In the following season, the club manages a respectable fourth place in Saturday League 1C.
± 2001 / A covered stand is added to the set-up at Sportpark Bruinsdeel.
2002 / Bottom of the table in Saturday League 1C, vv LRC Leerdam descends into League 2 after two years, along with the club finishing second from bottom, vv Kapelle.
2003 / Champions in Saturday League 2F, 12 points ahead of closest rivals vv Woudrichem, vv LRC Leerdam manages a return to Saturday League 1 after just one season.
2007 / Champions in Saturday League 1C, 10 points ahead of closest followers vv NIVO Sparta, vv LRC Leerdam accedes to Zaterdag Hoofdklasse – the top tier of Saturday league football at that moment – for the first time. Also in 2007, former DS ’79, Dordrecht ’90, SVV-Dordrecht ’90, VVV, NEC, AZ, and Sparta Rotterdam striker Michel Langerak is signed by vv LRC Leerdam as the club’s new trainer.
2008 / Finishing in twelfth place in Zaterdag Hoofdklasse B, vv LRC Leerdam descends into Saturday League 1 after just one season (along with direct drop-outs vv NIVO Sparta and vv Kloetinge) following an unsuccessful round of play-offs.
2009 / Champions in Saturday League 1C, 6 points ahead of closest rivals vv Roda Boys Bommelerwaard, vv LRC Leerdam manages an immediate return to Zaterdag Hoofdklasse. Also in 2009, the club takes part in the Netherlands’ Cup for the first time, defeating KVV Quick ’20 in R1 (4-2) before being eliminated by professional league side RBC Roosendaal in R2 (1-5).
2010 / Replacing Michel Langerak, who leaves to take over the trainer job at SV Kozakken Boys, vv LRC Leerdam sign former AZ ’67, Feyenoord, and AZ professional league player Ruud Heus as their new trainer – who stays on until being sacked in March 2012.
2012 / Finishing second-last in Zaterdag Hoofdklasse B, vv LRC Leerdam drops back into Saturday League 1 along with bottom side vv Heerjansdam.
2013 / Runners-up in Saturday League 1C, 3 points behind champions SV Oranje Wit, vv LRC Leerdam qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is drawn in a group with vv Spijkenisse and vv Achilles Veen – ultimately having to leave the Hoofdklasse ticket to the last-mentioned club.
2014 / Runners-up in Saturday League 1A, 2 points behind champions FC Breukelen, vv LRC Leerdam qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is drawn in a group with CVV Oranje Nassau 1918 and vv WVF – ultimately having to leave the Hoofdklasse ticket to the last-mentioned club.
2015 / Finishing in third place in Saturday League 1A, vv LRC Leerdam qualifies for the promotion play-offs, managing defeats of CVV Sparta Enschede (2-0) and vv Buitenpost (2-4), resulting in the club winning promotion to Zaterdag Hoofdklasse – by this time no longer the top tier, but the second-highest division, of the Saturday league pyramid.
2016 / Bottom of the table in Zaterdag Hoofdklasse A, vv LRC Leerdam drops back into Saturday League 1 along with SVL and play-off victim vv Bennekom.
2019 / The main pitch at Sportpark Bruinsdeel is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short by the COVID lockdown in March 2020, vv LRC Leerdam finds itself in second place, 2 points behind leaders vv Kloetinge, after 17 of 26 matches played – thus being deprived of the opportunity to fight for promotion. Also in 2020, the clubhouse at Sportpark Bruinsdeel is knocked down and replaced by a much bigger, two-tiered successor. Following the completion of the building works, Sportpark Bruinsdeel – henceforth a municipal sports park rather than LRC’s private property – is renamed Sportpark Glaspark (although the official inauguration has to wait until 2022 due to the COVID lockdown).
2023 / Runners-up in Saturday League 1D, 5 points behind champions vv Scherpenzeel, vv LRC Leerdam qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Drawing a bye in R1, the club successively defeats HSV De Zuidvogels (3-1), ASV Dronten (5-1), and vv Spijkenisse (2-1), thus managing a return to Zaterdag Hoofdklasse after an absence at that level of seven years.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-13 = Sportpark Bruinsdeel, match visit, March 2012 / pictures 14-16 = Sportpark Glaspark, non-matchday visit, June 2024.