Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: SV Bolnes

Sportpark Bolnes "De Bolnesser Berg", Ridderkerk Bolnes (SV Bolnes)

Netherlands, province: South Holland

2 III 2019 / SV Bolnes - Ammerstolse SV 2-2 / District West II, Saturday League 4E (= NL level 9)

Timeline

1920 / Foundation of Blauw-Wit, a football club in Bolnes, a small village on IJsselmonde island, which, in the course of the 20th century, was absorbed into the growing agglomerations of Ridderkerk (on the eastern side) and Rotterdam (from the west). Originally, Blauw-Wit also comprised branches for netball and music, but but of those later continued independently as Muziekvereniging JUBAL and Korfbalvereniging Bolnes. Blauw-Wit's first pitch is situated at Benedendijk, near the (former) Boele shipyard. In the following 14 years, the club leads a roaming existence, moving grounds several times.
1924 / Probably at the point when the club seeks adherence to Rotterdamsche Voetbalbond (RVB), a league association of clubs from Rotterdam and its surroundings, Blauw-Wit changes its name to become Sportvereeniging (SV) Bolnes.
1934 / Having played on several pitches in and around the village, SV Bolnes settles at Kievitsweg. The inaugural match is played against a Rotterdam side with the evocative name vv Pechvogels.
1936 / Gaining promotion from RVB's Division 1, SV Bolnes accedes to Sunday League 4, the lowest division organised under the auspices of the Netherlands' FA (KNVB). The club remains a regular feature at this level for the following two decades.
1942 / SV Bolnes takes the decision to enter a team in RVB's regular Saturday leagues, to accommodate the village's protestant community, which frowns upon sports activities taking place on Sundays. As one of the few clubs in the region, SV Bolnes has regular Saturday and Sunday League teams existing side-by-side for the following 60 years.
1945 / Its pitch having been requisitioned by German occupation authorities, SV Bolnes was constrained to play its football as groundsharers at other clubs, including vv DHZ and vv CKC. Upon liberation of the western part of the Netherlands in the spring of 1945, the club finds its pitch and premises largely destroyed. Reconstruction works are undertaken by a group of volunteer members, who are assisted by a local contractor company, Splunder.
1952 / SV Bolnes' Saturday team manages a promotion from RVB's Division 1 to KNVB Saturday League 4 for the first time.
1953 / At Kievitsweg, a new clubhouse is inaugurated, which includes four dressing rooms as well as a boardroom.
1955 / Having missed out on promotion to Sunday League 3 the previous year in a memorable play-off match against SV De Musschen, played in Stadion Feijenoord "De Kuip" in front of a baffling number of 10,000 spectators, SV Bolnes wins the title in Sunday League 4G, thus finally acceding to Sunday League 3 for the first time in club history. The team holds its own at that level for three seasons, finally dropping back into L4 in 1958.
1959 / Having dropped back into Sunday League 4 the previous year, SV Bolnes' Sunday league team suffers a second relegation in a row, thus finding itself in RVB Division 1 for the first time since the mid-1930s. The Sunday team never regains its old glory; with the exception of two short interruptions in Sunday League 4 (1972-75 & 1979-81), it is to be found among the ranks of RVB until the abolition of that local league system in 1996.
1961 / Having played nine seasons in L4, SV Bolnes' Saturday league team drops back into RVB Division 1.
1970 / After nine seasons in the RVB ranks, SV Bolnes' Saturday team manages a return to KNVB Saturday League 4.
1973 / As SV Bolnes' old ground has to make way for a new neighbourhood, Waterland, the club moves to the southern side of Kievitsweg, settling at the newly built Sportpark Bolnes, formerly owned by Maarten Bak (probably a local farmer). The new ground is commonly referred to as De Bolnesser Berg.
1975 / Clinching the title in Saturday League 4C, SV Bolnes' Saturday side - rapidly establishing itself as the club's flagship team - accedes to League 3 for the first time.
1978 / Going from strength to strength, SV Bolnes' Saturday league time wins the title in League 3A, thus finding its way up to Saturday League 2. After two seasons at that level, the drop back into L3 occurs in 1981.
1987 / Following two relegations in a row, SV Bolnes' Saturday side suddenly finds itself in RVB Division 1, but a return to Saturday League 4 is managed the following year. In the following seasons, the team drops back into RVB D1 for one more season (1991-92).
1995 / Winning the title in Saturday League 4D, SV Bolnes' Saturday league team returns to L3 after an absence of 14 years.
1996 / As RVB is abolished and absorbed into the regular KNVB league system as District West II's Leagues 5 and 6, SV Bolnes' Sunday side is placed in Sunday League 5. Meanwhile, as a Hoofdklasse is added as a top division onto the Saturday League ladder, resulting in many teams winning automatic promotion to a higher league, SV Bolnes' Saturday team is placed in League 2 thanks to a 9th place finish in League 3B in the 1995-96 season.
2000 / Winning the title in Sunday League 5I, SV Bolnes' Sunday league side manages a return to League 4 after an absence of 19 years at that level. On the other hand, the club's Saturday league branch has a less than successful season, dropping back into L3 after an 11th place finish in Saturday League 2D.
2002 / SV Slikkerveer, SV Bolnes' derby rivals in Sunday League 4H, win the away match at De Bolnesser Berg 1-2; as a result, SV Slikkerveer clinches the title in L4H.
2003 / In spite of a fair 8th place finish in L4G in the 2002-03 season, SV Bolnes withdraws its Sunday team from regular league football. After 61 years of two first teams existing side-by-side, the club is left with just one regular league team in the Saturday pyramid.
2007 / Following two relegations in three years, SV Bolnes suddenly finds itself in Saturday League 5.
2010 / Following back-to-back titles in Saturday Leagues 5B (2009) and 4B (2009), SV Bolnes returns to League 3 level after an absence of six years.
2013 / After finishing 4th in Saturday League 3B, SV Bolnes wins promotion to League 2 via the play-offs.
2014 / Following a surprisingly strong showing in League 2D, resulting in a 3rd place in that division, SV Bolnes wins the promotion play-offs by defeating Leyden side RCL twice in the finals (1-3 away and 3-0 at home), thus acceding to Saturday League 1 for the first time in club history. The successful coach is former professional league player - and former Feyenoord assistant-manager - Geert Meijer. In Saturday League 1C, SV Bolnes stumbles upon vv Rijsoord, meeting their derby rivals at league level for the first time since the early 1980s.
2015 / After a good first half of the season and a much more difficult second half, SV Bolnes finishes in 13th place in L1C, not enough to stay up at that level. In the following years, the club drops down the football pyramid at a dangerously high speed, ending up at the bottom level of the Saturday league system in District West II, League 4, in 2018.
2019 / Signing a partnership deal with The Motivated Academy Rotterdam (T.M.A.R.), a social youth project, SV Bolnes returns with a regular Sunday league team, which starts in League 4.
2021 / With the total implosion of Sunday football in South Holland, SV Bolnes decides to withdraw its Sunday league team from League 4. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, which prevented SV Bolnes' centenary celebrations taking place in 2020, the club holds a celebratory weekend in the fall of 2021, involving, among other activities, a reunion match being held between former Saturday and Sunday league players.
2023 / Finishing second-last in District West II's Saturday League 4D, SV Bolnes is relegated to the newly created Saturday League 5 for the new season.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: picture 1 = non-matchday visit, November 2017 / pictures 2-14 = match visit, March 2019.