Extreme Football Tourism: May 2019

Sportpark Escamp II, The Hague = 's-Gravenhage / Den Haag Escamp (vv BMT = Biedt Moedig Tegenstand, formerly HVV VIOS = Vooruitgang Is Ons Streven / SV Die Haghe / HSV Escamp)

Netherlands, province: South Holland = Zuid-Holland

27 V 2019 / vv BMT (za) - vv RAS 1-1 - BMT win penalty shoot-out (3-1) / Haaglanden Voetbal Cup for level 8&9 clubs, semi-final

Note: Sportpark Escamp II was inaugurated in 1955 to accommodate HVV VIOS; for nineteen years, they shared their ground with SV Die Haghe. In 2005, vv VIOS merged with vv Cromvliet en vv LENS to become HSV Escamp; for the first four years of the club's existence, Sportpark Escamp II remained in use. In 2009, HSV Escamp settled down at the far northern side of Sportpark Escamp I; vv BMT, the original users of Escamp I, went the opposite way, taking over Escamp II in October 2009.

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

Sportpark Nieuw Vreelust, Rotterdam Oud-Mathenesse (FC Maense / RVV GLZ Delfshaven / MSV De Betrokken Spartaan, formerly Sparta - youth academy / RVV GLZ / RKSV Activitas / Real Parbo)

Netherlands, province: South Holland = Zuid-Holland

25 V 2019 / RVV GLZ Delfshaven (za) - VFC (za) 1-7 / District West II, Saturday League 4E (= NL level 9)

Timeline

1959 / With the club having had to make do with just the pitch of Stadion Spangen and its one side-pitch, Rotterdam professional league side RV&AV Sparta is now given the luxury of a youth academy ground, Sportpark Laag Zestienhoven.
1961 / After two years at Sportpark Laag Zestienhoven, RV&AV Sparta moves its youth academy to a newly laid-out ground only a stone’s throw away from the stadium, Sportpark Nieuw Vreelust.
1976 / An administrative separation is implemented, with RV&AV Sparta being subdivided into two independent entities; a professional league club, which henceforth carries the name Sparta Rotterdam; and a non-league club, which retains the old name RV&AV Sparta, as well as taking over the club’s branches for other sports (rugby, cricket, and baseball). Henceforth, RV&AV Sparta shares Sportpark Nieuw Vreelust with Sparta Rotterdam’s youth academy. Sparta’s old third team becomes RV&AV Sparta’s first team, which is placed in District West II’s Sunday League 4.
1978 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 4G, 2 points ahead of runners-up RKVV FIOS, RV&AV Sparta wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
1983 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3D, 7 points ahead of closest followers DVV Emma, RV&AV Sparta wins promotion to Sunday League 2.
1985 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 2B, 2 points ahead of closest rivals – and fellow professional league drop-out – Fortuna Vlaardingen, RV&AV Sparta wins promotion to Sunday League 1, the second-highest level of the Netherlands’ non-league pyramid (and the fourth level in total).
1991 / Finishing in second-last place in Sunday League 1B, RV&AV Sparta drops back into League 2 along with bottom club vv Verburch.
1992 / Finishing in second-last place in District West II’s Sunday League 2B, RV&AV Sparta drops back into League 3 along with bottom club vv ASW.
1994 / Finishing in tenth place in District West II’s Sunday League 3D, RV&AV Sparta descends into League 4 along with VFC and bottom club RVV HOV.
1995 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 4D, with an equal number of points as vv Alexandria ’66, RV&AV Sparta wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
1999 / Finishing in third place in District West II’s Sunday League 3D, RV&AV Sparta wins promotion to Sunday League 2 via the play-offs.
2000 / After 37 years at Sportpark Nieuw Vreelust, Sparta Rotterdam moves its youth academy as well as its non-league satellite RV&AV Sparta to the newly laid-out Sportpark Nieuw Terbregge in Rotterdam-Hillegersberg. Sportpark Nieuw Vreelust continues to be used by several non-league teams, notably Real Parbo, which was home at the ground from its foundation in 1965 onwards, as well as RVV GLZ (founded in 1930) and RKSV Activitas (founded in 1926); in the two latter cases, no information is available on the year in which the move to Nieuw Vreelust was made.
2003 / Finishing in third place in District West II’s Sunday League 4G, RVV GLZ goes on to win promotion to League 3 via the play-offs.
2005 / FC Maense, a football club of emigrants from Cape Verde founded in 1984, which had spent the first 21 years of its existence in a recreational league with other Cape Verde emigrant teams, joins the Netherlands’ Football Association (KNVB). Not disposing of a proper ground of its own, the club is allowed to move into Sportpark Nieuw Vreelust, where it groundshares with RKSV Activitas, Real Parbo, and RVV GLZ Delfshaven. For the 2005-06 season, FC Maense is placed in District West II’s Saturday League 5B.
2006 / Champions in District West II’s Saturday League 5B in its first season in regular non-league, an impressive 14 points ahead of runners-up SV Oosterheem, FC Maense wins promotion to Saturday League 4. Also in 2006, in Saturday League 5C, Real Parbo finishes in second place, 5 points behind champions SCS Wanica Star, going on to win the play-offs, thus acceding to Saturday League 4. Also in 2006, RVV GLZ withdraws from District West II’s Sunday League 3C in the course of the season, automatically condemning the club to relegation to League 4. Following the 2005-06 season, RVV GLZ concludes a merger with the much younger club RVV Delfshaven (founded in 2000 and playing in Sunday League 5), resulting in the foundation of RVV GLZ Delfshaven, with all activities moving to Sportpark Nieuw Vreelust, where the new club’s first team starts its life in District West II’s Sunday League 4F.
2007 / Runners-up in District West II’s Saturday League 4C, 6 points behind champions SV KMD, FC Maense goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Saturday League 3 – amounting to the club’s second promotion in a row. Also in 2007, in the same division as FC Maense, Real Parbo finishes in second-last place, dropping back into Saturday League 5 along with bottom club RKSV Vredenburch.
2008 / Finishing in sixth place in District West II’s Saturday League 3C, FC Maense goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Saturday League 2 – amounting to the club’s third promotion in a row. Meanwhile, down in Saturday League 5B, Real Parbo finishes in joint first place with SCV Neta Dall, going on to be defeated in a tie-break match for the title, but putting its act together in the play-offs, which are won, resulting in the club returning to League 4 after an absence of just one season. Also in 2008, after an existence of 82 years, RKSV Activitas folds, ceasing all activities.
2009 / In the best season in club history, FC Maense finishes in fifth place in Saturday League 2D.
2010 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 4F, 2 points ahead of closest followers SVDPW, RVV GLZ Delfshaven wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
2011 / Finishing bottom of the table in Saturday League 2D, FC Maense drops back into League 3 along with the club finishing second from bottom, PVV Excelsior Pernis.
2014 / Finishing in joint last place in District West II’s Saturday league 4D, Real Parbo withdraws from first team football. Also in 2014, a new club moves into Sportpark Nieuw Vreelust, MSV (Maatschappelijke Sportvereniging) De Betrokken Spartaan, a social project initiated by Sparta Rotterdam to give children from poorer parts of Rotterdam the opportunity to play football.
2015 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3D, 9 points ahead of closest rivals RKSV WCR, RVV GLZ Delfshaven wins promotion to Sunday League 2. Meanwhile, finishing in eleventh place in District West II’s Saturday League 3C, FC Maense has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs against League 4 teams vv Woubrugge and SV Rohda ’76, with the latter finishing in first place in a mini-competition and thus condemning Maense to relegation to League 4.
2016 / After two years without a first team, Real Parbo allows itself to be absorbed by CSV Zwarte Pijl, which is home at Sportcomplex De Venhoeve.
2018 / Runners-up in Sunday League 2D, 1 point behind champions vv Groeneweg, RVV GLZ Delfshaven qualifies for the play-offs, in which the club successively has the better of SV RKDEO (4-2) and CVV Zwervers (1-3). As such, RVV GLZ Delfshaven accedes to Sunday League 1 for the first time.
2019 / In its first and only season in Sunday League 1, RVV GLZ Delfshaven manages a respectable eighth place. Following the season, however, following the trend in District West II, the club withdraws from Sunday football, preferring to focus on its Saturday team, which had been taking part in Saturday League 4 in 2016.
2021 / Withdrawing its first team from Saturday League 4 after the 2020-21 season, RVV GLZ Delfshaven continues with just reserves and youth teams.
2022 / Finishing in third place in District West II’s Saturday League 4G, FC Maense qualifies for the play-offs, in which the club manages successive away defeats against RVV GOZ (1-4), KRSV Vredenburch (0-5), and RKSV Quick Steps (1-6). As such, FC Maense wins promotion to Saturday League 3. Also in 2022, RVV GLZ Delfshaven returns to first team football, being placed in Saturday League 5.
2023 / Finishing in tenth place in District West II’s Saturday League 3C, FC Maense has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs, defeating KRSV Vredenburch (2-1 and RKSV GDA (1-2) in the first two rounds, only to be knocked out in the final by SV Charlois (3-5), resulting in the club dropping back into League 4. Meanwhile, down in Saturday League 5C, RVV GLZ Delfshaven finishes in second-last place – and, yet again, the club withdraws from first team football.

Note - As a result of their comprehensive win in the last game of the regular season (photos below), VFC (za) crowned themselves champions of West II's Saturday League 4E.