NETHERLANDS: SV Sint Adelbert (1973-2023) / SSA SJO vv Egmond (B) (2023-)

Sportpark De Kwekerij, Egmond Egmond-Binnen (SV Sint Adelbert)

Netherlands, province: North Holland

8 IV 2023 / SV Sint Adelbert - ZCFC 1-2 / District West I, Saturday League 4A (= NL level 9)

Timeline

• 1923 / Foundation of a first football club in Egmond-Binnen, which is given the name ESV (acronym for Egmondsche Sportvereeniging). The club joins an association of Roman-Catholic clubs, the so-called DHVB (Diocesaan-Haarlemsche Voetbalbond), starting its life in DHVB Division 4. The club cannot have existed longer than one or two years before folding.
• 1930 / Refoundation of ESV. Like its predecessor, this club is firmly Roman-Catholic, joining the DHVB rather than the official Netherlands' Football Association (NVB, later KNVB)
• 1940 / After the German invasion of the Netherlands, all football associations other than the NVB are disbanded. Given the choice between folding and joining the official FA, ESV chooses the latter option, becoming a NVB member under a slightly adapted name: ESV '30.
• 1941 / ESV '30 folds, ceasing all activities in March 1941.
• 1950 / Foundation of a new, third successive football club in Egmond-Binnen, Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging (RKSV) Sint Adelbert, named after the 8th century Anglo-Saxon saint who joined Willibrord in sailing to the Low Countries as a missionary - and whose shrine is in Egmond-Binnen. In the founding meeting, taking place in Café Swart, P. Berdee is chosen as the club's first chairman. In spite of not taking a personal interest in football, Berdee remains at the helm of RKSV Sint Adelbert for 17 years. The club's first ground, Terrein De Nollen, is situated at Duinweg. Placed in Division 3 of the so-called Noord-Hollandse Voetbalbond, the local league system below the lowest level organised by the Netherlands' FA (KNVB), Sunday League 4, SV Sint Adelbert hosts derby rivals vv Egmondia from Egmond aan Zee in the club's first-ever competitive match on September 3rd, 1950. Most of the new club's squad is made up of players from Egmond-Binnen previously playing at vv Zeevogels in Egmond aan den Hoef.
• 1953 / Coached by a gentleman called Bakker, who also managed ESV in the pre-war era, RKSV Sint Adelbert records its first tangible success, winning the league title in NHVB Division 3 by defeating SSV from Stompetoren in a decider play-off played at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Robonsbosweg in Alkmaar. 
• 1957 / Having dropped back into NHVB Division 3 at some point after 1953, RKSV Sint Adelbert again wins the league title in the lowest tier of the NHVB pyramid, defeating Sint Victor in an away match (1-2) to obtain the decisive points. Goalscorers on the day were W. Zwart and H. Levering.
• 1958 / Going from strength to strength, RKSV Sint Adelbert wins its second league title in a row, thus making the leap from NHVB Division 2 to Division 1.
• 1959 / A proposal to conclude a merger with vv Zeevogels from nearby Egmond aan de Hoef is turned down by RKSV Sint Adelbert's membership and presidency, with chairman Berdee being the only board member in favour. In the following years, new merger talks are heavily promoted by Egmond's municipal authorities, but without success - not even promises to build a state-of-the-art municipal sports park in Rinnegom, halfway between Egmond-Binnen and Egmond aan de Hoef, manages to cajole vv Egmondia, vv Zeevogels, and RKSV Sint-Adelbert into a merger.
• 1965 / In the countercultural 1960s, the decision is taken upon by RKSV Sint Adelbert's presidency to leave the NKS (Nederlandsche Katholieke Sportfederatie), an association of Roman Catholic sports clubs, due to the club no longer agreeing with the principles of the association. A name change is made to become SV Sint Adelbert.
• 1966 / Having dropped out of NHVB Division 1 at some point after 1958, the club's first team, coached by Mr De Heer, clinches the NHVB D2 title, winning the decisive match away at BSV Bergen.
• 1967 / Egmond's municipal authorities launch a new plan for a sports park at Hogedijk for vv Zeevogels as well as SV Sint Adelbert, but, yet again, nothing comes of the proposals. In the end, vv Zeevogels moves into the new park at Hogedijk on its own, the inauguration taking place in mid-1968.
• 1968 / SV Sint Adelbert wins the title in NHVB Division 1, winning the decisive away game at Zaanse Boys 1-2, with goals scored by J. Liefting and K. Dekker. Thus, after 18 years in NHVB, the club from Egmond-Binnen accedes to KNVB Sunday League 4 for the first time.
• 1969 / Although holding their rivals from Egmond aan Zee to a 0-0 stalemate at Terrein De Nollen, SV Sint Adelbert cannot prevent vv Egmondia from winning the title in Sunday League 4A.
• 1970 / Finishing in joint-first place in Sunday League 4B, the best result in club history, SV Sint Adelbert plays a decider play-off against CSV for one place in Sunday League 3, but the match, attended by some 4,000 spectators, is won by the Castricum side. Although managing some respectable finishes in Sunday League 4 in the following years, the club never manages to make the jump to League 3.
• 1973 / Having played at Terrein De Nollen for 23 years, SV Sint Adelbert moves into a new, purpose-built ground, Sportpark De Kwekerij, situated on the northern fringes of the village. With no permission having been granted to erect stone buildings on the site, the club has to content itself with a wooden clubhouse.
• 1977 / Having played in Sunday League 4 for 9 seasons, SV Sint Adelbert now finishes in 12th place in L4A, resulting in relegation back into the ranks of NHVB.
• 1985 / Peter Arntz, former professional league player at DVV Go-Ahead, Go Ahead Eagles, and AZ '67, who also won 10 caps for the Netherlands, joins SV Sint Adelbert from Alcmaria Victrix. 
• 1986 / Coached by Martin Rood, SV Sint Adelbert wins the title in NHVB Division 1, thus acceding to NHVB Hoofdklasse - the top tier of NHVB's league system since 1969. That same year, with a building permission finally having been obtained, the wooden clubhouse is replaced by a much larger construction in stone.
• 1988 / With Peter Arntz still among its squad members, SV Sint Adelbert wins the title in NHVB Hoofdklasse to return to District West I's Sunday League 4 after an absence of 10 seasons. At the end of the 1987-88 season, the successful manager Martin Rood leaves the club, as does Arntz, who rejoins Alcmaria Victrix.
• 1993 / Finishing 12th in District West I's Sunday League 4B, SV Sint Adelbert drops back into NHVB Hoofdklasse. In May 1993, a covered stand is erected alongside the western end of the main pitch at Sportpark De Kwekerij - the necessary funds having been brought together thanks to a club lottery.
• 1996 / Due to a good season in NHVB Hoofdklasse (although exact data are missing), SV Sint Adelbert is placed in Sunday League 4 for the 1996-97 season.
• 1999 / Finishing 11th in Sunday League 4A, SV Sint Adelbert saves its skin in L4 by defeating ASV Go Ahead '18 in a relegation play-off, played at vv HSV's home ground (2-1). That summer, pavement is added to the perimeter of the main pitch at Sportpark De Kwekerij.
• 2000 / Finishing 12th in Sunday League 4A, the club is relegated to Sunday League 5 - with a second relegation, into Sunday League 6, following the next year. Sunday Leagues 5 & 6 were introduced in 1996 with the disbandment of NHVB.
• 2005 / Managing a 2nd place in Sunday League 6A, SV Sint Adelbert wins the subsequent promotion play-offs to return to L5.
• 2009 / Runners-up in Sunday League 5 for the second year in a row, SV Sint Adelbert wins the promotion play-offs to return to Sunday League 4 after a 9-year absence at that level.
• 2013 / Having suffered relegation into L5 the previous year, SV Sint Adelbert now conquers first place in Sunday League 5A, thus returning to League 4 straightaway.
• 2017 / After 4 seasons in Sunday League 4, the club drops back into L5 after an insufficient 14th-place finish in League 4C.
• 2019 / In its last season as a Sunday League club, SV Sint Adelbert finishes in 8th position in Sunday League 5B. Transferring its first team to KNVB's Saturday League, the club is placed in League 4, the lowest tier of District West I's Saturday League pyramid.
• 2023 / Finishing in 4th place in Saturday League 4A, SV Sint Adelbert qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by FC VVC. In the summer of 2023, as a prelude to a merger, a partnership deal is concluded between vv Zeevogels, SV Sint Adelbert, and vv Egmondia, resulting in the foundation of SSA SJO vv Egmond. With vv Zeevogels' Sportpark Hogedijk being thoroughly renovated in the 2023-24 season, all activities temporarily move to SV Sint Adelbert's Sportpark De Kwekerij and vv Egmondia's Sportpark De Lange Plas - with those two grounds due to be abandoned and knocked down once the works at Hogedijk will be finished.

Note - The main source of information for the timeline above is an anniversary book on the occasion of the club's 50th anniversary: "50 jaar Sint Adelbert. Van (k)nollen tot kwekers" (various authors, published by SV Sint Adelbert in 2000).

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