NETHERLANDS: vv Hunsingo (1977-2016) / vv Winsum (B) (2016-)

Sportpark Schilligeham, Winsum (B ground of vv Winsum, formerly vv Hunsingo)

Netherlands, province: Groningen

September 2016 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1917 / A first football team is formed in Winsum, a town in the northern part of the Province of Groningen. The team is given the name AFC, an abbreviation of Altijd Fijne Combinatie. Without joining any football association as yet, but playing improvised matches against teams from surrounding villages, AFC settles on a pitch on a pitch of farmland near Enne Jans Hoeve in the hamlet of Maarhuizen. 
• ± 1919 / Moving away from Terrein Enne Jans Hoeve, AFC moves to a newly laid-out pitch, Terrein Lugtenborg in Winsumermeeden.
• ± 1921 / Moving away from Terrein Lugtenborg, AFC moves to a newly laid-out pitch in Obergum. 
• ± 1922 / AFC takes on the new name WVV, Winsumer Voetbalvereeniging.
• 1924 / WVV takes on the new name WFC, Winsumer Football Club, possibly at the request of the Voetbalbond Noord-Westelijk Groningen, a local league association which accepted the club as a new member in 1924. Around this same time, moving away from the pitch in Obergum laid out some three years previously, WVV now moves to a pitch laid out on a plot of land owned by a local smallholder, mr Wierda, at Schouwerzijlsterweg. This pitch, which had the unusual feature of a tree right in the middle of it, coincides with the location of the pitch later used by CVV Viboa in the years 1952-2016 and by vv Winsum in the years 2016-20.
• 1925 / As WFC applies for membership of the Groninger Voetbalbond (GVB), the Groningen sub-branch of the official Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, later renamed KNVB), the club is allowed to join on the condition that it changes its name – possibly to avoid confusion with the older NVB member club WFC from Wormerveer. In a streak of originality, club officials choose to take on the name vv Hunsingo – Hunsingo being the name of the northern region of Groningen which was one of the three of the Ommelanden or ‘surrounding lands’ which were governed from the city of Groningen in the pre-Napoleon days of the United Provinces. For the 1925-26 season, vv Hunsingo is placed in GVB (Sunday) Division 2.
• 1926 / Runner-up in GVB Division 2, vv Hunsingo wins promotion to Division 1 of the said league system.
• 1935 / Clinching the title in GVB Division 1, vv Hunsingo accedes to KNVB District North’s (Sunday) League 3 – the lowest level of the regular league pyramid in District North in the pre-war years – for the first time. In this year at its latest, the tree must have been removed from Terrein Schouwerzijlsterweg, as such anomalies could be turned a blind eye to by subsidiary league associations such as the GVB, but not by the KNVB.
• 1939 / Finishing in second-last place in District North’s (Sunday) League 3C, vv Hunsingo drops back into GVB Division 1 along with bottom club vv Ten Post.
• 1943 / Clinching the title in GVB Sunday Division 1, vv Hunsingo manages a return to Sunday League 3 with coach J. Hazeveld. As regular league football comes to a standstill in the years 1943-45, the club has to wait until the first regular post-war season (1945-46) to take its place in League 3.
• ± 1950 / Abandoning its pitch of the past 25 odd years at Schouwerzijlsterweg, vv Hunsingo moves to a pitch adjacent to this location – directly to its east. 
• 1952 / The old pitch of vv Hunsingo, abandoned some two years ago, is renovated and taken into use by village rivals CVV Viboa. As such, the two clubs become each other’s neighbours.
• 1955 / Finishing in joint first place in District North’s Sunday League 3D along with vv Appingedam, vv Hunsingo takes on this club head-to-head in a tie-break match, played at a neutral venue, the newly inaugurated Sportpark Loppersum. In spite of suffering defeat in the match (2-0) and thus missing out on the title, vv Hunsingo wins promotion to Sunday League 2 for the first time due to extra promotion places being available following the introduction of professional league football – with many clubs in the higher echelons of the regular KNVB divisions ceding their place in what can from now on be referred to as non-league. At the start of the 1955-56 season, vv Hunsingo makes its League 2 debut with a 3-3 home draw against MVV Alcides.
• 1956 / Achieving the best result in club history, vv Hunsingo finishes in third place in District North’s Sunday League 2A, with only vv GRC and MVV Alcides finishing ahead of the club from Winsum. Also in 1956, Klaas van der Veen, one of the players of the team which won promotion to Sunday League 2 the year before, joins professional league side GVV Velocitas from Groningen, going on to have subsequent spell at AVC Heracles before bowing out into non-league in 1959.
• 1958 / Coached by Henk Drewes, vv Hunsingo finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 2A, thus descending into Sunday League 3 after three years.
• 1959 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 3B with the coaching duo Henk Drewes and Hennie Rozema, 3 points ahead of closest rivals SV Houtigehage, vv Hunsingo fails to win promotion to Sunday League 2 in the subsequent round of championship play-offs. 
• 1960 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 3B for the second year running, this time finishing 2 points ahead of runner-up vv Drachten, vv Hunsingo once again fails to win promotion in the championship play-offs. 
• 1961 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 3B for the third year running, finishing 1 point ahead of closest followers vv Drachten, vv Hunsingo goes on to win the championship play-offs, thus managing a return to Sunday League 2 after a three-year absence.
• 1965 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 2A, vv Hunsingo is retrograded into Sunday League 3 along with the club in second-last place, FVC.
• 1967 / Finishing in second-last place in District North’s Sunday League 3B, vv Hunsingo descends into Sunday League 4 for the first time, along with bottom club vv VAKO.
• 1968 / vv Hunsingo finishes as runner-up in District North’s Sunday League 4E, 7 points behind champions vv Groninger Boys.
• 1970 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 4E, vv Hunsingo drops back into GVB Sunday Division 1 after a 25-year-long spell in the KNVB divisions.
• 1976 / Following a 4-1 win over vv Niekerk, vv Hunsingo crowns itself champion in GVB Sunday Division 1A, thus managing a return to Sunday League 4 after six years.
• 1977 / Moving away from Terrein Schouwerzijlsterweg Oost after some 27 years, vv Hunsingo settles at the newly laid-out Sportpark Schilligeham in Winsum proper, where the club has the luxury of two full-size pitches as well as an additional, smaller training pitch.
• 1982 / As the club celebrates its 65th anniversary, vv Hunsingo hosts professional league side FC Groningen in a gala match at Sportpark Schilligeham, attended by 1,300 spectators, which finishes in a 9-0 rout for the professional league side, with goals by Peter Houtman (4), Bert Wiebing (2), Bert Mooibroek, Theo Keukens, and Herman Dijkstra. 
• 1990 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 4E, 3 points ahead of closest rivals Amicitia VMC, vv Hunsingo wins promotion to Sunday League 3 after an absence of 23 years at that level.
• 1991 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3B, vv Hunsingo drops back into Sunday League 4 after just one year, along with the club in second-last place, vv Bakkeveen.
• 1997 / Finishing in second-last place in District North’s Sunday League 4D, vv Hunsingo descends into Sunday League 5 – which had replaced GVB Sunday Division 1 the previous year – along with bottom club vv Astrea.
• 1998 / Runner-up in District North’s Sunday League 5D, 8 points behind champions vv Groningen, vv Hunsingo goes on to have a successful round of promotion play-offs, thus managing an immediate return to Sunday League 4. 
• 2000 / Coached by Klaas van der Ploeg, vv Hunsingo finishes in second-last place in District North’s Sunday League 4D, thus dropping back into Sunday League 5, alongside bottom club vv Paddepoel.
• 2003 / Finishing in third place in District North’s Sunday League 5D, vv Hunsingo goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus earning a spot in Sunday League 4 for the new season. The successful coach is Eddy van Dalsem.
• 2005 / Coached by Jurrie Smit, vv Hunsingo finishes in second-last place in District North’s Sunday League 4B, thus descending into Sunday League 5, along with bottom club FC Grootegast.
• 2006 / Runner-up in District North’s Sunday League 5D, 1 point behind champions vv Noordpool UFC, vv Hunsingo goes on to have a successful round of promotion play-offs, thus winning promotion to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Jurrie Smit.
• 2008 / vv Hunsingo finishes as runner-up in District North’s Sunday League 4D, 1 point behind champions vv Gruno.
• 2009 / Finishing in eleventh place in District North’s Sunday League 4B, vv Hunsingo drops back into Sunday League 5 alongside vv Leek Rodenburg, vv Surhuisterveen, and bottom club vv Marum. Coach Verrie Moegio leaves the club, being succeeded by Egbert Darwinkel. Darwinkel is a former professional league goalkeeper at SC Veendam, BV Veendam, and FC Groningen (1991-2005), ultimately hanging up his boots following a further spell in non-league with vv Harkemase Boys.
• 2010 / Runaway champions in District North’s Sunday League 5D, 15 points ahead of closest followers vv Farmsum, vv Hunsingo manages an immediate return to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Egbert Darwinkel.
• 2012 / Finishing in fourth place in District North’s Sunday League 4C, vv Hunsingo qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club suffers defeat against vv Protos (3-1 aggr.).
• 2013 / Runaway champions in District North’s Sunday League 4C, 11 points ahead of closest followers vv Siddeburen, vv Hunsingo wins promotion to Sunday League 3. The successful coach Egbert Darwinkel leaves the club after four seasons to join vv VAKO. Also in 2013, vv Hunsingo merges its youth academy with village rivals CVV Viboa under the name SJO (Samenwerking Jeugdopleidingen) Winsum.
• 2015 / Finishing in eleventh place in District North’s Sunday League 3C, vv Hunsingo staves off relegation in a play-off against vv Gruno (4-1 aggr.).
• 2016 / In its last season as an independent club, vv Hunsingo, coached by Harry Kramer, finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3C, thus descending into Sunday League 4 along with vv HSC, vv Siddeburen, and MOVV. Following the merger of the two clubs’ youth academies in 2013, vv Hunsingo and CVV Viboa now conclude a fully-fledged merger, resulting in the foundation of vv Winsum. The new club starts its existence with two first teams, one at Sportpark Schouwerzijlsterweg in Saturday League 1, replacing CVV Viboa, and one at Sportpark Schilligeham in Sunday League 4, taking the place of vv Hunsingo.
• 2017 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 4B, vv Winsum (zo) suffers relegation into Sunday League 5. However, following the 2016-17 season, vv Winsum withdraws from regular Sunday League football, continuing with just one first team playing in the Saturday divisions at Sportpark Schouwerzijlsterweg. Sportpark Schilligeham is retained for lower team football and training sessions.
• 2019 / While works have gotten underway for a new park for vv Winsum shortly to the south of Sportpark Schiligeham, the old clubhouse of vv Hunsingo, which had been inaugurated in 1977, is knocked down in April 2019.
• 2020 / The new ground of vv Winsum, Sportpark Geert Reinders, is inaugurated, with the club having six pitches at its disposal from now on – including the three pitches of vv Hunsingo at its northern end (the former main pitch of Sportpark Schilligeham is Pitch/Veld 4 in the new set-up). Sportpark Schouwerzijlsterweg is abandoned.
• 2026 / The striking ticket booth, situated at the entrance of the former Sportpark Schilligeham (cp. first and last photo in the series below), is granted to the Historical Society of the nearby village of Baflo. With the construction being removed from Winsum, the booth is re-erected at the entrance of Sportcomplex vv Rood Zwart Baflo following a thorough renovation.

Note – Much of the information above has been derived from two valuable historical sources; first, there is a booklet, published on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of vv Hunsingo: anon.,“vv Hunsingo 75 jaar. 1 mei 1917-1 mei 1992”; furthermore, there is an interesting short study by Henk Wolters, “Voetbalvereniging Hunsingo 86 jaar”, in: Informatieblad Historische Vereniging Winsum-Obergum, 2004, no. 1, pg. 10-14. Thanks to Wendy Mekel, a vv Winsum board member, for allowing me to use this source material.

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