Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: FC Zaanstreek (1965-1967) / KFC (1965-)

Sportpark De Koog = Terrein Wezelstraat, Koog aan de Zaan (KFC = Kooger Football Club, formerly FC Zaanstreek)

Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland

2 VI 2011 / KFC - ZAP 0-1 / District West I, Sunday Leagues 1 & 2 - promotion-relegation play-off (= NL levels 5 & 6)

Timeline

1910 / Foundation of a football club in Koog aan de Zaan by the name EDO (‘Eendracht Doet Overwinnen’) as a merger of two recreational clubs, EDO and SDO (probably ‘Samenspel Doet Overwinnen’). The club settles at Terrein Bosjesstraat, moving on to Terrein Museumlaan sometime between 1911 and 1922.
1911 / The new EDO from Koog aan de Zaan seeks affiliation with the Noord-Hollandsche Voetbalbond (NHVB), the league association of clubs from the province of North Holland playing their football below the level of NVB League 3. Before being admitted as new member club, EDO has to change its name due to an older club from Haarlem (future professional league side HFC EDO) already having chosen that acronym. EDO from Koog changes its name to become KFC, or in full: Kooger Football Club; and earning the nickname ‘De Groote Koogsche’ in subsequent years.
1913 / In its first season in NHVB, 1912-13, KFC wins the title in Division 3A, thus acceding to Division 2 of NHVB.
1915 / Runners-up in NHVB Division 2A, KFC wins promotion to D1 of that league system.
1918 / Winning the title in NHVB Division 1A, KFC breaks down the door to NVB League 3, only six years after its debut as a competitive club.
1923 / Abandoning Terrein Museumlaan, KFC settles at a newly laid-out pitch, Sportterrein aan de Sportstraat, situated near a local oil mill known as Het Pink.
1925 / Obtaining the title in NVB District West I’s League 3B, KFC qualifies for the promotion play-offs against the winners of 3A and 3C, HRC and QSC – and winning that competition as well, the club finds itself in NVB League 2 for the first time.
1928 / A new grandstand is inaugurated at Sportterrein aan de Sportstraat, a wooden construction offering a seat to some 900 spectators. Initially consisting of a covered middle part with both ends being open, the roof is later extended to cover the stand as a whole. Along with 500 open seats (two smaller stands at both ends of the grandstand) and boards along the three other sides of the pitch, the ground can receive some 8,000 spectators.
1930 / Winning the title in League 2A as well as the promotion play-offs against HFC Haarlem and DEC, KFC accedes to KNVB League 1, the top level of the Netherlands’ football pyramid at that time. Winning its first match at that level (3-1 against RCH), the club holds its own at the top level wonderfully well in the following decade.
1934 / Coached by Scottish trainer Jimmy Marshall, who introduces the defensive WM formation coined in England in the 1920s, KFC wins the title in District West II’s League 1, with an advantage of 3 points over closest followers HBS and IJVV Stormvogels. The club owes the title to a large extent to centre-forward Jaap Mol, who scores 23 of the club’s 53 goals in the regular season. In the ensuing title play-offs against the winners of the other League 1 divisions, AFC Ajax, Willem II, AVC Heracles, and GVV Velocitas, KFC finishes in joint-first position with 10 points, along with AFC Ajax and Willem II. In the extra round of play-offs between the three clubs, KFC loses the title on goal difference in a direct encounter with AFC Ajax, which finishes 2-2 – with KFC taking a 2-0 lead (two goals by Jaap van het Kaar) and Ajax equalising two minutes from the end of the match, played at Amsterdam’s Olympisch Stadion like all of KFC’s home games in these title play-offs.
1936 / Defeating HFC Haarlem in the quarter final (7-0) and HBS in the semis (2-0), KFC reaches the nationwide cup final (KNVB-Bekerfinale). At Terrein Heidelust in Vught, with an attendance of just 200 (!), the club takes on RFC (Roermond), suffering a 4-2 defeat, with both KFC goals being scored by Piet Bouthoorn. After the 1935-36 season, Jaap Mol leaves KFC, choosing to play for DWS in Amsterdam; subsequently, he goes on to play for RKAV and KFC’s derby rivals ZFC. During his time at KFC, Mol also won five caps, scoring one goal in the orange shirt – and being part of the Netherlands’ squad at the 1934 World Cup in Italy.
1941 / Finishing in tenth place in League 1 (A?), KFC drops back into League 2 after eleven years.
1944 / KFC wins the title in Sunday League 2A, but without earning promotion back to League 1.
1947 / KFC wins the title in Sunday League 2B, but without earning promotion back to League 1.
1948 / Winning the title in Sunday League 2A, KFC manages a return to the League 1 level after an absence of seven years.
1951 / Finishing twelfth and last in Sunday League 1C, KFC drops back into League 2.
1955 / Finishing in sixth place in Sunday League 2A, KFC makes the leap to the newly formed professional football league of the Netherlands, being seeded in Professional Division 1C (1e klasse C), one of three ‘tier 2’ divisions.
1956 / Following a draw away at DHC (1-1), KFC clinches the title in Professional Division 1C – in the end having built up a rather comfortable five-point gap with runners-up RKSV Helmondia ’55. In the ensuing play-offs, which includes the two other D1 champions as well as the clubs finishing in ninth place in Hoofdklasse A and Hoofdklasse B, the two top divisions. In these play-offs, in which KFC plays its home games at Amsterdam’s Olympisch Stadion, the club finishes fourth, failing to secure promotion along with fellow-champions RCH and C&FC Hermes-DVS, with Hoofdklasse teams TSV NOAD and GVAV securing a prolonged stay in the top flight. In the following years, KFC is a somewhat anonymous also-ran in Division 1 (renamed in Dutch Eerste Divisie), the second tier of the football pyramid. Due to larger crowds finding their way to the ground following KFC’s joining the professional league, an extra entrance way is created by Koog aan de Zaan’s municipal authorities at Breestraat – resulting in the ground being known as Sportterrein aan de Breestraat since. Also in 1956, the brothers Klaas and Cees Molenaar, members of KFC’s squad – in fact, Klaas had crowned himself the club top scorer in 14 goals in the 1955-56 season – become the club’s main sponsors with their firm of washing machines, Electro-Zaan (later renamed Wastora), set up in 1948.
1957 / KFC’s star player, centre-forward Piet Kruiver, nineteen years old at the time, earns himself a transfer to PSV. Kruiver goes on to defend the colours of Lanerossi Vicenza, Feijenoord, and DWS/A – as well as earning 22 caps (12 goals) between 1957 and 1965.
1960 / Defender Martin Koeman, who had joined KFC from non-league side VPV Purmersteijn in 1957, earns himself a transfer to Amsterdam side Blauw-Wit, later going on to have spells at GVAV, FC Groningen, and SC Heerenveen. Martin Koeman, who later was head coach and manager at FC Groningen for many years, is the father of Erwin and Ronald Koeman, who were both part of the Netherlands’ squad which won the 1988 European Championships in West Germany.
1961 / Runners-up in Division 1A, 1 point behind ASC De Volewijckers, KFC only just misses out on a spot in Eredivisie, the top division of the Netherlands’ football pyramid.
1962 / Finishing in eleventh place in Division 1A, KFC descends into Division 2, the third and lowest tier of the national football pyramid. Also in 1962, KFC signs IJVV Stormvogels player Hans van Doorneveld, who defended the colours of KFC and its successor FC Zaanstreek until withdrawing into non-league with KFC in 1967. Van Doorneveld went on to coaching success with HFC Haarlem, guiding the club to the top flight of the Dutch football pyramid as well as European football, while also working as coach at Fortuna Sittard, AZ, Sparta, and BV De Graafschap in later years.
1964 / In spite of repeated attempts by KFC’s main sponsors Cees and Klaas Molenaar, a merger project with fellow professional league side ZFC from nearby Zaandam falls through. Subsequently, the two brothers take the decision to form a breakaway professional club, FC Zaanstreek (which, incidentally, also was the projected name of the botched merger between KFC and ZFC), which takes over the professional football licence from KFC. With KFC returning to non-league, being placed in District West I’s Sunday League 4B, a groundsharing agreement is concluded between the mother club and its offspring, with both clubs playing their home games at Sportterrein aan de Breestraat. FC Zaanstreek starts its life in Division 2 following KFC finishing in tenth place at that level in the 1963-64 season.
1965 / Abandoning Sportterrein aan de Breestraat, which has to make way for a through road (modern-day Coentunnelweg), FC Zaanstreek and KFC move to a newly laid-out ground, Terrein Wezelstraat. The official inauguration of the ground does not take place until June 1966, as the main stand (room for some 2,500 spectators), two uncovered stands with seats flanking that construction on either side, as well as boards around the remainder of the pitch had not been finished in time. The ground’s maximum capacity is 10,000. Also in 1965, nineteen-year-old winger Chris Dekker makes his debut in KFC’s main squad, having risen through the ranks of the club’s youth academy. Dekker goes on to have a long professional league career as a player, in which he wore the colours of AZ ’67, NEC, DWS, FC Amsterdam, MVV, R Charleroi SC, Seiko SA (Hong Kong), Sparta, and Fortuna Sittard. He also earned one cap, in early 1974 – just missing out on a spot in the Netherlands’ squad for the subsequent 1974 World Cup in West Germany. After hanging up his boots, Dekker worked as a trainer at several Dutch clubs as well as Al-Jazira Club in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
1966 / Finishing in third place in Division 2A, FC Zaanstreek wins promotion to Division 1 along with champions AVC Vitesse as well as VBV De Graafschap and vv Zwartemeer. On September 25th, 1966, FC Zaanstreek receives a record number of 10,000 spectators for the derby against Alkmaar ’54 (2-1 win).
1967 / In its last season as an independent club, FC Zaanstreek finishes in seventh place in Division 1. Following the 1966-67, at the instigation of the Molenaar brothers, the club concludes a merger with the near-broke professional league side from Alkmaar, Alkmaar ’54, resulting in the foundation of AZ ’67 (Alkmaar-Zaanstreek 1967). First team football moves to Alkmaar ‘54’s ground, Alkmaarderhout, with the club’s reserves’ team making use of Terrein Wezelstraat for some more years.
1970 / Winning the title in District West I’s Sunday League 4D, KFC manages a first promotion since withdrawing from professional league football six years previously.
1972 / KFC’s star player in the 1930s, Jaap Mol, passes away at the age of sixty.
1974 / Terrein Wezelstraat is officially renamed Sportpark De Koog.
1975 / Winning the title in District West I’s Sunday League 3B, KFC accedes to Sunday League 2.
1978 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 2A, KFC drops back into League 3.
1985 / Clinching the title in Sunday League 3B, KFC wins promotion to League 2 – but the stay at that level is short-lived, with relegation following immediately in 1986.
1989 / KFC finishes second-last in Sunday League 3A, resulting in the club descending into League 4. Also in 1989, KFC’s star player in the 1950s, Piet Kruiver, passes away at the age of 51.
1998 / After nine consecutive seasons in League 4, KFC now wins promotion to League 3 following a second place in District West I’s Sunday League 4C.
1999 / A renovation of Sportpark De Koog sees all stands except the main stand being removed. The bottom rows of seats of the grandstand are removed as well.
2006 / Runners-up in Sunday League 3B, KFC, coached by Ron Karreman and former professional league player Misha Salden, wins promotion to League 2 via the play-offs. Also in 2006, the main pitch at Sportpark De Koog is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2007 / Champions in Sunday League 2A with coaches Ron Karreman and Misha Salden, KFC manages a return to League 1 for the first time since withdrawing from the professional divisions.
2009 / In the most successful season since the club’s withdrawal from the professional league pyramid, KFC finishes in sixth place in Sunday League 1A.
2010 / In the year in which the club celebrates its centenary, KFC finishes in twelfth place in Sunday League 1A, resulting in relegation to League 2.
2011 / Finishing in fourth place in Sunday League 2A, 22 points behind champions ASV De Dijk, KFC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated by ZAP in R1 (photos below)
2012 / In spite of finishing in third place in Sunday League 2A, only 3 points behind champions FC Uitgeest and just one point behind Hellas Sport Combinatie – the successor club of former professional league rival ZFC – KFC misses out on the promotion play-offs.
2013 / Coached by former FC Zaanstreek player Chris Dekker, KFC finishes in twelfth place in Sunday League 2A, resulting in the club having to play relegation play-offs; being eliminated in R1 by RKAV Volendam, the club drops back into League 3.
2016 / Clinching the title in District West I’s Sunday League 3B, 4 points ahead of closest rivals vv HSV, KFC manages a return to Sunday League 2.
2017 / In March 2017, the main stand of Sportpark De Koog, over fifty years old, is consumed in a fire.
2020 / A replacement grandstand is inaugurated in March 2020, just before the COVID lockdown, in KFC’s home match against SC Spirit ’30.
2024 / Runners-up in Sunday League 2A, 11 points behind champions vv HSV, KFC qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Drawing a bye in R1, the club edges past Montfoort SV '19 (0-0 & penalty shoot-out) and vv De Meern (2-1 A.E.T.) to qualify for the final, in which it is defeated by SV Hoofddorp (1-2).

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of three different visits: pictures 1-20 = match visit, June 2011 / pictures 21-22 = non-matchday visit, June 2017 (three months after the fire which destroyed the historic main stand) / pictures 23-26 = non-matchday visit, December 2023 (new stand).