NETHERLANDS: UVS (1960-) / LSVV '70 (2020-)

Sportpark Kikkerpolder I, Leyden = Leiden (UVS & LSVV '70)

Netherlands, province: South Holland 

13 VI 2011 / UVS - vv SCO '63 3-0 / District West II, Sunday League 2 - promotion play-off final (= NL level 6)

25 VI 2022 / SV Die Haghe - AFC (Za) 0-0 A.E.T. - SV Die Haghe won penalty shoot-out (4-3) / Saturday League 1A, relegation play-off final - neutral venue (= NL level 6)

Note 1: UVS (Uit Vriendschap Saâm - in English: United in Friendship), founded in 1914, played their football at their own park at Wassenaarseweg between 1938 and 1960. This ground, however, was severely damaged by armed forces of the German oppressors during World War II. Nonetheless, UVS stayed put here for 15 more years after the end of the war. In 1955, the club acceded to the ranks of the newly founded professional league pyramid. Five years later, the move was made to the newly built Sportpark Kikkerpolder, officially renamed Sportpark Kikkerpolder I in the early 1970s after the construction of the nearby Sportpark Kikkerpolder II for LVV Lugdunum. Until 1975, UVS shared the premises of Sportpark Kikkerpolder (I) with RKSV DoCos, who disposed of their own main pitch at the park. In their seven seasons of professional league football (1955-62), UVS remained largely unsuccessful, playing at the third and lowest level of the league pyramid and ultimately being condemned to relegation into non-league after finishing bottom of their division in 1962. In non-league, the club reached the Sunday League nationwide championship final in 1968, ultimately losing out to Amsterdam's DCG in a match played at RCH's Heemsteeds Sportpark attended by 22,000 (!) spectators. In the following decades, UVS remained an important club in Sunday League, with a total of 18 seasons in Zondag Hoofdklasse between the introduction of that league level in 1974, and 2005. Ultimately, in 2014, like so many other clubs in South Holland, UVS withdrew from Sunday League football, henceforth focusing on the Saturday League pyramid. In 2015, Sportpark Kikkerpolder I, which had largely remained unchanged since 1960, was thoroughly renovated, with all old stands and terraces being knocked down and replaced. Since 2020, UVS have shared their main pitch with the first team of students' football club LSVV '70 (Leidse Studentenvoetbalvereniging 1970).

Note 2: Below, a compilation of photos of two different match visits, the first before the major renovation of the ground in 2015, and the second after the completion of those works: pictures 1-23 & 38 = June 2011 / pictures 24-37 = June 2022.

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