Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: SV De Lier (1967-1973) / vv Lyra (1973-)

Saturday 4 March 2023

NETHERLANDS: SV De Lier (1967-1973) / vv Lyra (1973-)

Sportpark De Zweth, De Lier (vv Lyra, formerly SV De Lier)

Netherlands, province: South Holland

4 III 2023 / vv Lyra - SV Zuid-West DH 4-0 / District West II, Saturday League 3B (= NL level 8)

Timeline

1932 / Foundation of Sport- en Atletiekvereniging (SAV) De Lier, later renamed Sportvereniging (SV) De Lier. The club starts its life at a ground situated at Hoefweg.
1947 / Foundation of a second football club in De Lier, which is given the name LVSJ (= Lierse Voetbal Sint-Joost). While SV De Lier is a protestant club, LVSJ is created by De Lier's Roman-Catholic community. This club's ground was situated at Laan van Zeestraten.
1949 / Abandoning Terrein Hoefweg, SV De Lier settles at a ground at Kerklaan.
1957 / Winning promotion from the local leagues, SV De Lier accedes to the Netherlands' FA Saturday League 4 for the first time. Meanwhile, the more modest LVSJ plays its football in the so-called Haagse Voetbalbond (HVB) - never climbing to a level higher than HVB League 2.
1967 / SV De Lier moves for a second time; leaving behind Terrein Kerklaan, the club settles at Sportpark De Zweth. Originally, the entrance of the ground is situated at Kanaalweg - to be switched to Veilingweg approximately ten years later.
1973 / SV De Lier and LSVJ conclude a merger, resulting in the foundation of Voetbalvereniging (vv) Lyra (not to be confused with its Flemish near-namesakes K Lyra and K Lyra TSV). All activities are moved to SV De Lier's Sportpark De Zweth. From the outset, the club fields first teams in Saturday as well as Sunday league football; mirroring the old situation of the two clubs, the Saturday branch remains the more ambitious part of the new club.
1976 / Following back-to-back titles, vv Lyra finds itself in Saturday League 2 - at the time the second-highest level of the Netherlands' Saturday league pyramid.
1985 / After nine years in Saturday League 2, vv Lyra drops back into L3.
1992 / vv Lyra suffers relegation to Saturday League 4, 17 years after having acted at that lowly level for the last time.
1995 / Winning promotion via the play-offs, vv Lyra manages a return to Saturday League 3.
1996 / Upon the creation of a Zaterdag Hoofdklasse as the top of the Saturday pyramid, a new level created above Saturday League 1, vv Lyra is placed at L2 level, having finished in the top half of Saturday League 3 in the 1995-96 season.
1999 / Coached by Jan Hoos, vv Lyra wins the Saturday League 2 promotion play-offs, thus gaining access to L1 for the first time in club history. That same year, the club's 15-year old youth prodigy Johan Voskamp switches to RKVV Westlandia from nearby Naaldwijk. Voskamp, whose doggedness on the pitch earns him the nickname 'De Stier van De Lier' (= De Lier's Bull) goes on to have a respectable career as a professional league player (2005-18), representing SBV Excelsior, RKC Waalwijk, Helmond Sport, Sparta Rotterdam, and WKS Śląsk Wrocław. Other vv Lyra youth products who made it as a football pro include the brothers Patrick & Cees Paauwe.
2001 / Former Sparta player Aad Andriessen takes over the position of club manager, staying on in that capacity for two seasons.
2005 / Finishing one point short to save its skin, vv Lyra drops back into Saturday League 2 after a six-year spell in L1.
2006 / Under the guidance of coach Rob Beunder, vv Lyra wins the title in Saturday League 2D, thus returning to League 1 after a one-year absence.
2008 / Managing an 11th place in Saturday League 1B, not enough to maintain itself at that level, vv Lyra suffers relegation to L2 for a second time in three years.
2014 / After 31 years, vv Lyra withdraws its first Sunday league team. From now on, the club only fields recreational Sunday teams.
2017 / Having finished 11th in Saturday League 2C, vv Lyra's first team drops into League 3, not having played at that modest level for the past 21 years.
2023 / Finishing 3rd in District West II's Saturday League 3B, vv Lyra qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in its first match by HVC '10 (3-0).