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

Sportpark Het Hoge Laar terr. 3, Zwolle (vv Dieze West & FC Ulu Spor, formerly B pitch of vv Storica, vv Dieze West & HFC Storica)

Netherlands, province: Overijssel

6 XI 2016 / vv Dieze West - vv SJC 3-2 / Zondag Hoofdklasse A (= NL level 5)

Timeline

1977 / Having lead a wanderer’s existence in the first 28 years of its existence, vv Storica, a small non-league club in Zwolle, 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.
1982 / A new football club is founded in Zwolle, vv Dieze West, which joins the Sunday divisions of Afdeling Zwolle (alternatively referred to as ZVB, Zwolse Voetbalbond), the Zwolle sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (KNVB). 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.
1987 / Foundation of a new football club in Zwolle, FC Ulu Spor, formed by the city’s Turkish community. The new club, which joins the Sunday divisions of Afdeling Zwolle (ZVB), with football being played on one of the side-pitches of vv Berkum’s park, Sportpark De Vegtlust, for the time being.
1988 / Having played at Sportpark De Vegtlust for one season, FC Ulu Spor is allowed to move to the northern half of Sportpark Het Hoge Laar, used by CSV ’28, where the club builds itself a wooden clubhouse alongside one of the side-pitches, used for its first team football.
1992 / Champions in ZVB Sunday Division 2A, 4 points ahead of vv Ruinerwold, FC Ulu Spor wins promotion to Sunday Division 1 of the said league system.
1995 / Finishing in joint first place in ZVB Sunday Division 1A with vv Hardenberg ’85, FC Ulu Spor goes on to win the subsequent tie-break match, thus gaining promotion to District East’s Sunday League 4 for the first time.
1997 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 4H, FC Ulu Spor descends into Sunday League 5 alongside the club in second-last place, vv Kampen.
1998 / Suffering back-to-back relegations, FC Ulu Spor finishes in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 5H, thus being retrograded to Sunday League 6 alongside bottom club vv Kampen.
2001 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 6B, 1 point ahead of closest rivals SOS, FC Ulu Spor manages a return to Sunday League 5 after an absence of three years.
2002 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 5H, FC Ulu Spor drops back into Sunday League 6 after just one season, along with the club in second-last place, SV Zwolsche Boys.
2006 / Finishing in third place in District East’s Sunday League 6B, FC Ulu Spor goes on to gain promotion to Sunday League 5 in the subsequent play-off rounds. The successful coach is Aaldert Schipper.
2007 / 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.
2008 / Coached by Hakan Türk, FC Ulu Spor finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 5H, thus dropping back into Sunday League 6.
2009 / FC Ulu Spor signs Martin Reynders as its head coach. Reynders is a former professional league midfielder with successive spells at PEC Zwolle ’82, FC Zwolle, Nashville Metros, FC Jokerit, FC Haka Valkeakoski, and BV Veendam (1989-2002, 2006-09). Reynders had previously had a spell as coach of vv Dieze West (2002-04).
2010 / Runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 6B, 3 points behind champions ASV Alexandria, FC Ulu Spor wins direct promotion to Sunday League 5 due to extra promotion places being available. The successful coach is Martin Reynders.
2012 / Coached by Jan de Vries, FC Ulu Spor finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 5H, thus descending into Sunday League 6. In the summer of 2012, Pitch 3 of Sportpark Het Hoge Laar is laid out anew with a synthetic surface. While HFC Storica continues using the main pitch, that club’s groundsharers vv Dieze West move their first team football to the 3G facility, as does FC Ulu Spor, which abandons Sportpark Het Hoge Laar (Noord), rebuilding its (wooden) clubhouse alongside the western touchline of the new pitch. Meanwhile, vv Dieze West, just having won promotion to Sunday League 2 for the first time, signs former professional league midfielder Marcel Boudesteyn as its new head coach; between 1989 and 2003, Boudesteyn had had spells at SBV Excelsior, FC Groningen, and FC Zwolle.
2013 / Finishing as runners-up in Sunday League 2J, 2 points behind champions AVC Luctor et Emergo, vv Dieze West qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by vv SDOUC (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out). Meanwhile, down in District East’s Sunday League 6C, FC Ulu Spor finishes in seventh place, but the club is placed in Sunday League 5 for the new season due to the League 6 level being abolished.
2014 / Runaway champions in Sunday League 2K, finishing 17 points ahead of runners-up SVC LSC 1890, vv Dieze West wins promotion to Sunday League 1. The successful coach Marcel Boudesteyn leaves the club after two seasons, being succeeded by another former professional league player, Michel van Oostrum. Between 1985 and 2002, Van Oostrum had been a striker at AFC Ajax, Telstar, PEC Zwolle ’82, BSC Old Boys, BVO Emmen, Cambuur-Leeuwarden, and BV De Graafschap. Meanwhile, down in District East’s Sunday League 5I, FC Ulu Spor finishes as runners-up, 2 points behind champions vv Sportlust Vroomshoop – enough for a ticket to Sunday League 4 due to extra promotion places being available. The successful coach is Kamil Tasdan.
2015 / Champions in Sunday League 1F, 8 points ahead of closest followers vv Hoogeveen, vv Dieze West continues its ascent through the divisions, gaining promotion to Zondag Hoofdklasse – the third-highest level in non-league at that time, i.e. level 5 of the Netherlands’ league pyramid. The successful coach is Michel van Oostrum. Meanwhile, down in District East’s Sunday League 4H, FC Ulu Spor finishes in second-last place with coach Kamil Tasdan, thus dropping back into Sunday League 5 along with bottom club vv IJsselstreek.
2016 / In the best season in club history, vv Dieze West finishes in sixth place in Zondag Hoofdklasse C. Coach Michel van Oostrum leaves the club after two years. Meanwhile, down in District East’s Sunday League 5A, FC Ulu Spor finishes in joint first place with vv Sportlust Vroomshoop, going on to suffer defeat in a tie-break match for the title against their rivals (5-2), with that encounter being played at SV Raalte’s Sportpark Raalte. In the subsequent round of promotion play-offs, the club suffers defeat in R1 against BSC Unisson (3-2 aggr.). Due to extra promotion places being available, a lucky loser competition is organised, in which FC Ulu Spor suffers an emphatic 14-3 aggregate defeat against FC ‘t Centrum, but in another lucky loser round, the club has the better of former professional league side SV De Enschedese Boys (5-2 aggr.), resulting in eventual promotion to Sunday League 4.
2017 / Finishing bottom of the table in Zondag Hoofdklasse A with coach Stephan Rahantoknam, vv Dieze West suffers relegation after two years, along with vv Alverna, JOS Watergraafsmeer, and vv Hoogland. However, with the club’s resources being depleted, rather than taking its place in Sunday League 1, vv Dieze West chooses to make a new start in the Saturday pyramid, being placed in the bottom division, Saturday League 4. Meanwhile, down in District East’s Sunday League 4H, FC Ulu Spor finishes in second-last place with coach Kamil Tasdan, thus dropping back into Sunday League 5 after just one season, along with bottom club SV Wissel.
2018 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 5A, 9 points ahead of closest followers vv Scheerwolde, FC Ulu Spor manages an immediate return to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Kamil Tasdan. Meanwhile, Ulu Spor also starts a process of merger talks with neighbour club HFC Storica.
2020 / After two years of fruitless talks, the merger process between HFC Storica and FC Ulu Spor is discontinued.
2022 / Runaway champions in District East’s Saturday League 4D, 13 points ahead of closest followers vv ‘s-Heerenbroek, vv Dieze West wins promotion to Saturday League 3. The successful coach is Ton IJzerman. Meanwhile, FC Ulu Spor finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 4G with coach Abel Taib, descending into Sunday League 5 alongside DVV DAVO and SV Zwolle. However, following the example of vv Dieze West from five years previously, FC Ulu Spor decides to make a new start in Saturday League 4, the bottom division of the Saturday pyramid in District East.
2023 / Runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 3C, 8 points behind champions vv Heerde, vv Dieze West qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club draws a bye in R1, going on to crush SVVN in R2 (6-0), only to be eliminated in R3 by HVV Tubantia (za) (3-4). In the summer of 2023, vv Dieze West signs Marino Promes as its new head coach. Promes had a career as a professional league striker at HFC Haarlem, Willem II, BV De Graafschap, and FC Zwolle (1994-2004). 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 / Runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4B, 1 point behind champions CSV ’28, FC Ulu Spor qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by vv Kolping-Dynamo (1-3).
2025 / Finishing in eleventh place in Saturday League 3O, vv Dieze West staves off relegation in the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club edges past vv Drienerlo (1-0 A.E.T.). Meanwhile, down in District East’s Saturday League 4A, FC Ulu Spor finishes as runners-up, 2 points behind champions SV VHK. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club draws a bye in R1, going on to knock out vv SDS in R2 (1-0), but stumbling over vv Corenos in the final (1-2).