Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKSV HVCH

Gemeentelijk Sportpark De Braaken, Heesch (RKSV HVCH)

Netherlands, province: North Brabant

13 XI 2022 / HVCH - SV Orion 0-1 / National Sunday Division 4B (= NL level 5)

Timeline

1909 / Apparently, a first football club in Heesch was already founded in the first decade of the 20th century, as minutes of the village's municipal council make mention of a subsidy of 25 guilders being granted to a football club - unfortunately, no name is given. Further information about this first club in Heesch is sadly missing.
± 1920 / In Heesch, a football club exists by the name of DEVO (meaning of the acronym is uncertain, perhaps: 'Door Eenige Vrienden Opgericht', or, in English, 'Founded by a group of friends'?). DEVO plays its football at a ground situated on a plot of heathland on the fringes of Heesch; later, the club moves on to Terrein Kortenhof - and subsequently on to Terrein Wim van den Berg, a pitch situated in the shadow of the local church (current Irenestraat / Emmahof).
± 1925 / DEVO merges with several other recreational teams in and around Heesch, forming RKVV HVV (Rooms-Katholieke Voetbalvereeniging 'Heesche Voetbalvereeniging'). The club plays its home matches at Terrein Wim van den Berg, DEVO's old pitch. Whereas, initially, only friendlies were played against teams from surrounding villages, HVV soon applied for membership of the Netherlands' Roman-Catholic Football Association. The club's existence cannot have lasted much longer than four or five years.
1932 / Following the initiative of a local chaplain, Fr Brockx, HVV, which must have folded around 1929, is refounded as RKSV HVC (Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging 'Heesche Voetbalclub'). The club's first chairman is Piet van den Akker. Like its predecessor, HVC does not join the official Netherlands' Football Association, preferring membership of the so-called IVCB (Inter-Diocesane Voetbal-Competitie-Bond), the Roman-Catholic Football Association.
1934 / RKSV HVC accedes to Division 1 of Brabant's local branch of the IVCB league system.
1935 / Abandoning Terrein Wim van den Berg, HVC settles at Terrein Kortenhof - formerly used by HVV in the 1920s.
1938 / Winning the title in IVCB Brabant's Division 1, and subsequently winning the promotion play-offs against SVD ('s-Hertogenbosch) and Sint-Michielsgestel, RKSV HVC accedes to IVCB's supraregional League 4 for the first time.
1940 / Having occupied the Netherlands in May 1940, German occupation authorities have little patience with the country's complicated structure of various football associations, largely organised by religious denomination. Catholic association IVCB is forced to cease its activities, with clubs given the choice to fold or join the regular Netherlands' FA (NVB) - and RKSV HVC chooses the latter option. Around the same time, the club moves to a new ground, Terrein Kerkeind.
1941 / At the request of the Netherlands' FA, RKSV HVC changes its name to become RKSV HVCH (Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging 'Heesche Voetbalclub Heesch') to avoid confusion with HVC in Amersfoort.
1942 / With ever more little football being played due to the effects of German oppression on daily life, RKSV HVCH is forced to cease its activities for a longer period. It is not until May 1944 when the club is revived, largely through the efforts of a local cleric, Fr Servatius.
1945 / The southern half of the Netherlands having been liberated in the latter stages of 1944, regular league football is taken up in the summer of the following year. HVCH, placed in a temporary local league organised under the auspices of NVB, moves back to its old ground, formerly known as Terrein Wim van den Berg - but, having changed ownership, henceforth usually being referred to as Terrein (Café) Jan van de Kamp. In those years, HVCH is not the only football club in Heesch - a more modest club by the name of Heesche Boys has its home at Terrein Osseweg on Heesch's northern outskirts. Shortly after the war, however, Heesche Boys folds, resulting in a considerable - and welcome - growth of HVCH's membership, which, by 1944, had shrunk to a meagre 30.
1947 / Winning the title in its local division, and subsequently holding its own in promotion play-offs against clubs from Oeffelt and Overloon, HVCH accedes to the Netherlands' FA regular (Sunday) League 4.
1957 / Having played in League 4 for ten consecutive seasons, HVCH drops back into the local divisions, by now organised by the so-called NBVB or Noord-Brabantse Voetbalbond.
± 1964 / With local authorities planning to replace the club'ss ground at Café Van de Kamp with housing, HVCH temporarily moves to a pitch situated next to the local secondary school at Narcislaan, the so-called MULO-terrein.
1966 / In the summer months of 1966, RKSV HVCH moves to a new ground, initially referred to as Gemeentelijk Sportpark Schoonstraat. Construction works having been completed in November of the same year, the park is inaugurated by Heesch's mayor, Mr Dosker - and also given its official name, Gemeentelijk Sportpark De Braaken. The entrance, initially located at Schoonstraat, is later replaced to Binnenweg.
1967 / Clinching the title in NBVB's Division 1 after a 4-0 home defeat of vv De Willy's, HVCH manages a return to Sunday League 4 after an absence of ten seasons. That same season, the club also wins the so-called Toon Schröderbeker, a cup competition organised by NBVB.
1968 / HVCH reaches the final of the Regional Cup, which is played at Sportpark De Braaken with an attendance of 1,800. Opponents on the night are RKVV Zwaluw VFC, a League 3 club, who eventually walk away with the trophy after winning the encounter after extra time.
1969 / Two extra pitches are added to Sportpark De Braaken, including the new main pitch - in use until the present day.
1970 / Winning the title in Sunday League 4 after a home win against's SES (Langenboom), HVCH accedes to Sunday League 3 for the first time in club history. In the following 36 years, the club alternates spells in Sunday Leagues 3 and 4.
1973 / HVCH's main pitch at Sportpark De Braaken is adorned with a covered stand. Later on, probably in the second half of the 1990s, an open terrace is added on the stand's southern side, giving the ground its current look.
2006 / After a relatively anonymous existence in the lower reaches of Sunday league football, HVCH's first team, coached by Stef Sijbers, finds its way to Sunday League 2 for the first time by winning the L3 play-offs.
2007 / With HVCH celebrating its 75th anniversary, the club organises a gala match at Sportpark De Braaken against PSV, narrowly won by the professional league side (2-3) - Patrick Kluivert scoring the winning goal two minutes before the end of the game. It was the third time PSV played a friendly at HVCH, after earlier visits in 1972 and 1996.
2008 / Champions in Sunday League 2, HVCH wins promotion to Sunday League 1 - at the time the fourth tier of the Netherlands' football pyramid - for the first time. The club's first taste of L1 football lasts no longer than one season, though, with relegation following in 2009.
2010 / Clinching the L2 title for the second time in three seasons, HVCH finds its way back to Sunday League 1. The club also qualifies for the Netherlands' Cup for the first time, being defeated emphatically in a home tie at De Braaken by vv Sparta Nijkerk (1-5).
2018 / Inauguration of HVCH's new, two-tiered clubhouse.
2022 / After 12 consecutive seasons in L1, in which the club came close to winning direct promotion on several previous occasions, RKSV HVCH finishes first in Sunday League 1C, thus qualifying for national league football for the first time, being placed in the newly created National Sunday Division 4.
2023 / In the best season in club history, HVCH finishes in eleventh place in National Sunday Division 4B, thus assuring itself of a prolonged stay at that level.
2024 / Bottom of the table in National Division 4C, HVCH drops back into League 1 along with RKSV Nemelaer.

Note: Main source of the historical information given above is a book released on HVCH's 75th anniversary: Jan de Graaf / Bert Heesakkers / Edgard Kosman / Rudo Romijnders, "75 jaar balgevoel in Heesch. Jubileumboek HVCH 1932-2007)", ed. Eurobook: Haarlem 2007. Many thanks to club officials for offering me the book on my visit to Sportpark De Braaken in November 2022.