Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKSV Jonge Kracht (1970-1979) / vv Jonge Kracht (1979-2021)

Sportpark Schalkshof, Huissen Het Zand (formerly RKSV Jonge Kracht & vv Jonge Kracht)

Netherlands, province: Guelders = Gelderland

18 III 2018 / vv Jonge Kracht - DVOL 2-2 / District East, Sunday League 4F (= NL level 9)

Timeline

1932 / Foundation of a football club in Het Zand, a hamlet on the southern outskirts of the town of Huissen in Guelders. The new club, which is given the name SDV (probably meaning Sterk Door Vriendschap) joins the RKUVB (Roomsch-Katholieke Utrechtsche Voetbalbond), a sub-branch of Roman Catholic Football Federation RKF, one year before village rivals RKHVV.
1938 / After an existence of six years, SDV folds, ceasing all activities, mainly due to the inability of the club to pay back a loan to the local church. In the following years, no new club is formally founded in Huissen-Zand, although a large number of short-lived recreational teams sees the daylight, with the names SDV, Excelsior, Huissense Boys, Diekse Boys, OBIOD, DOS, Hercules, Vivantia, and Concordia having been preserved for posterity.
1945 / Creation of a successor club of SDV in Het Zand, which is given the name Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging (RKSV) Jonge Kracht. At the foundation meeting, held at Café Het Wapen van Huissen at Zandsedwarsstraat, Herman Hendriksen is chosen as the new club’s first chairman, with the local chaplain, Fr De Vries, taking on the role of spiritual advisor. The new club joins the Nijmegen sub-branch of the official Netherlands’ Football Association KNVB. Due to the foundation date in October 1945 being too late to take part in the 1945-46 championship, the club spends the first months of its existence playing friendly matches, while a proper pitch is laid out at Polseweg, often being referred to locally as Terrein De Pol.
1946 / With several other clubs in the region filing a protest at KNVB Afdeling Nijmegen due to RKSV Jonge Kracht allegedly having lured away some of their players, the new club is obliged to play an an entrance match, with Sportclub Bemmel being the adversary. Following a convincing performance, resulting in a 3-1 win, RKSV Jonge Kracht is placed in Afdeling Nijmegen Sunday Division 1, i.e. the division right below Sunday League 4, the fourth tier of the Netherlands’ football pyramid at that time.
1947 / In a convincing first season, RKSV Jonge Kracht finishes as runners-up in Afdeling Nijmegen Sunday Division 1 behind champions RKVV HAVO.
1948 / Clinching the title in Afdeling Nijmegen Division 1 following a decisive win over Sportclub Bemmel, RKSV Jonge Kracht qualifies for the championship play-offs, with RKOSV Achates, FC Lienden (later replaced by vv Dodewaard), SV De Treffers II, SV DSZ, and vv SCH III being the adversaries. Following positive results in this competition, the club qualifies for the final round, in which it has the better of Sunday League 4 club FC Kolping (two wins). As a result, RKSV Jonge Kracht wins promotion to Sunday League 4. In order to be allowed to play home matches at this level on its own pitch at Polseweg, the pitch has to be extended by 11 (!) metres.
1950 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 4F, 6 points ahead of closest followers vv Uchta, RKSV Jonge Kracht qualifies for the championship play-offs, but no promotion to League 3 is achieved.
1956 / Runaway champions in District East’s Sunday League 4G, 10 points ahead of runners-up vv De Bataven, RKSV Jonge Kracht crowns its season with a successful round of championship play-offs, resulting in the club acceding to Sunday League 3 for the first time.
1957 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 3C, 5 points ahead of closest rivals Sportclub Neede, RKSV Jonge Kracht goes on to win the championship play-offs. As a result, the club wins back-to-back promotions, acceding to Sunday League 2 for the first time.
1960 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 2A, 1 point ahead of runners-up VVO, RKSV Jonge Kracht goes on to win the championship play-offs. As a result, the club accedes to Sunday League 1, the highest division of non-league football at that time.
1962 / Finishing in last place in Sunday League 1D, RKSV Jonge Kracht drops back into Sunday League 2 after two seasons.
1964 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 2A, 8 points ahead of closest followers RKVV DVC ’26, RKSV Jonge Kracht manages a return to Sunday League 1.
1968 / Finishing in second-last place in Sunday League 1D, RKSV Jonge Kracht drops back into Sunday League 2 along with bottom club WVC (Winterswijk). That same year, following consultation with the local priest, Fr Van Rhijn, Jonge Kracht chairman Piet Mom proposes to the gathered club membership to drop the Roman Catholic prefix from the club’s name.
1969 / In the 1969 annual club meeting, Jonge Kracht’s spiritual advisor, chaplain Braam, announces this is to be his last activity for the club, thereby confirming the proposal of the previous year to drop the Roman Catholic prefix. Although Jonge Kracht still is a multisport club at the time, with branches for handball, walking sports, and theatre (!), the club is commonly referred to as vv (Voetbalvereniging) Jonge Kracht – also because the largest non-football branch, the handballers of HV Huissen (founded in 1967 as a sub-branch of RKSV Jonge Kracht), operate as a semi-independent entity. For that reason, the club is sometimes referred to as RKVV (Rooms-Katholieke Voetbalvereniging) Jonge Kracht as well. The name change is not officialised, though, as a result of which the club is officially named RKSV Jonge Kracht for ten (!) more years.
1970 / Moving away from Terrein De Pol at Polseweg after 25 years, RKSV Jonge Kracht settles at the newly laid-out Sportpark Schalkshof, only a stone’s throw away from the initial location.
1971 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 2A, RKSV Jonge Kracht descends into Sunday League 3 along with the club in second-last place, ESCA-VC.
1975 / RKSV Jonge Kracht finishes as runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 3D, 3 points behind champions SCE.
1978 / RKSV Jonge Kracht finishes as runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 3D, 1 point behind champions MVV ’18.
1979 / Finally, ten years after the decision of the gathered membership of the club to drop the Roman Catholic prefix, the name changed is officialised in a notarial act, with RKSV Jonge Kracht now officially becoming vv Jonge Kracht.
1986 / Finishing in third-last place in District East’s Sunday League 3D, vv Jonge Kracht drops back into Sunday League 4 along with SV DSZ and bottom club vv Beuningse Boys. It marks the return of the club to this lowly level after thirty years. Also in 1986, former Jonge Kracht youth academy defender Brian Wilsterman makes his professional league debut at NEC at the age of 19. Wilsterman would go on to wear the colours of Go Ahead Eagles, Dordrecht ’90, SVV-Dordrecht ’90, Beerschot VAC, Oxford United FC, and Rotherham United FC, eventually hanging up his boots in 2001.
1989 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 4F, 3 points ahead of closest rivals WAVV, vv Jonge Kracht wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
1990 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 3D, vv Jonge Kracht drops back into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club vv Germania.
1991 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 4F, 8 points ahead of runners-up vv Veenendaal, vv Jonge Kracht wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
1992 / vv Jonge Kracht finishes as runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 3D, 3 points behind champions vv Germania.
1996 / Finishing in joint first place in District East’s Sunday League 3D, with an equal number of points as RKVV VDZ, vv Jonge Kracht goes on to suffer defeat in a tie-break match against the club from Arnhem – thus missing out on promotion.
1999 / Runaway champions in District East’s Sunday League 3D, 14 points ahead of closest followers SML, vv Jonge Kracht manages a return to Sunday League 2 after an absence of 28 years.
2001 / Finishing as runners-up in Sunday League 2I, 2 points behind champions SV DCS, vv Jonge Kracht goes on to win promotion to Sunday League 1 in the play-offs. This marks a return of the club to this level after an absence of 33 years.
2008 / In the best season in club history, vv Jonge Kracht finishes in third place in Sunday League 1E, with only vv Germania and runners-up SC NEC obtaining a larger number of points.
2012 / Finishing in second-last place in Sunday League 1E, vv Jonge Kracht is retrograded to Sunday League 2 after eleven seasons, along with HVV Tubantia, PH, and bottom club RKSV De Zweef.
2014 / Finishing in third-last place in Sunday League 2I, vv Jonge Kracht drops back into Sunday League 3, along with AVV Columbia, AV&CV Robur et Velocitas 1882, and bottom club vv Beekbergen.
2015 / Finishing in eleventh place in District East’s Sunday League 3D, vv Jonge Kracht goes on to suffer defeat at the hands of SCE in the promotion-relegation play-offs (3-1 aggr.), as a result of which the club suffers its third relegation in as many years, descending into Sunday League 4 along with direct drop outs SC Millingen and SV Blauw Wit.
2016 / Finishing in third place in District East’s Sunday League 4F, vv Jonge Kracht qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by SCE (3-2 aggr.).
2021 / Abandoning Sportpark Schalkshof after 41 years, vv Jonge Kracht moves into the newly laid-out Sportpark De Rode Veste, situated roughly on the same location as the club’s initial pitch, Terrein De Pol – which was partly located on the main pitch of the new park, partly on the third pitch (the pitch adjacent to Polseweg). In the aftermath of the move, Sportpark Schalkshof is knocked down to make way for housing.

Note 1 - Note - Thanks to vv Jonge Kracht's club archivist Theo Aaldering for providing essential parts of information for the article above.

Note 2 - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-3 = non-matchday visit in July 2016 / pictures 4-16 = match visit, March 2018.