Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKSV Stormvogels '28 (1969-2023) / SJO SSA MSH Maasduinen (C) (2023-)

Gemeentelijk Sportpark 't Eindpunt, Siebengewald (RKSV Stormvogels '28)

Netherlands, province: Limburg

21 V 2023 / RKSV Stormvogels '28 - RKSV Meterik 5-2 / District South II, Sunday League 4F (= NL level 9)

Timeline

1928 / Foundation of Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereeniging (RKSV) Stormvogels '28, most probably the first football club in the village of Siebengewald. The first meeting, at which Th. Weijers is elected club chairman, takes place in the café of Anton Peeters, nicknamed 'Toontje de Mof'. The idea to name the club 'Stormvogels' came from Anton Janssen, the club's first treasurer, who was an ardent supporter of IJVV Stormvogels from faraway IJmuiden in North Holland. In the future, the name would lead to some confusion occasionally - for example, one time in the 1950s or 1960s, when a referee showed up in Siebengewald, while he had been scheduled to lead a match in IJmuiden. After the foundation in 1928, the club refrains from joining the official Netherlands' FA (NVB), instead applying for membership of the so-called Rooms-Katholieke Limburgse Voetbalbond (RKLVB), a Roman-Catholic league of clubs. Stormvogels starts its life in the lowest division, Division 2 Maasbuurt, but, in the course of the 1930s, the club manages to win promotion 3 times, working its way up to Division 2 of IVCB - the so-called Interdiocesane Voetbalcompetitiebond (IVCB), another Roman-Catholic football association, of which RKLVB used to be a feeder league. Stormvogels' first ground, where the club plays from 1928 onwards and all through the 1930s, is situated at the back of Café Anton Peeters, situated in the hamlet Groote Horst, referred to locally as 'De Hei' (near modern-day Gochsedijk 33).
1940 / With the German occupation of the Netherlands, all football associations apart from the official Netherlands' FA (NVB) are dissolved. Given the option between folding or making the leap to NVB, RKSV Stormvogels '28 chooses the latter, thus making its debut in regular Sunday league football.
1944 / Due to the havocs of the latter stages of World War II, regular league football came to a practical standstill. It is unclear if RKSV Stormvogels '28's pitch at Café Anton Peeters still existed when the village was liberated in the fall of 1944. Probably, in part due to the lack of footballing activity, the pitch was removed and turned into farmland again in 1942 or shortly after - and a 1944 RAF aerial photo does not betray the presence of a pitch on the pre-war location. Shortly after the war, the location of the former pitch was used for the construction of several new houses (Gochsedijk 17 to 31).
± 1946 / In 1945 or 1946 - but in 1948 at the latest -, RKSV Stormvogels '28 settled at a newly laid-out pitch near the crossroads of Augustinusweg and Gochsedijk, at a stone's throw from the German border. The plot of land was originally owned by the Gaesdonck seminary, situated just across the German border, but was probably sold to local authorities some years after the football club's arrival. According to local folklore, the owners of Café Van Riswick "Jagershof" at Augustinusweg gave their permission to lay out the pitch at the back of their pub only on the condition that the entrance to the park would be via Augustinusweg rather than Gochsedijk - which obviously assured them of some extra clientele on Sunday afternoons.
1956 / Having played in Sunday League 4 from the resumption of regular league football after the liberation ot the Netherlands onwards, RKSV Stormvogels now clinches the title in District South II's Sunday League 4G following a decisive victory on vv Resia '42. Thus, access is obtained to Sunday League 3 for the first time. One of Stormvogels' players at the time is Jaap Kersten, who also was a keen cyclist - and signed a professional contract as a cyclist in 1957. Kersten took part in 5 editions of the Tour de France (1957-61), making it to Paris on all 5 occasions and being one of the key domestiques of Luxembourg's Charly Gaul in his 1959 Tour win; in his own right, Kersten also finished in 5th place in the 1959 Tour of Flanders. During his professional cycling career, which lasted until 1962, Kersten continued playing first team football for Stormvogels whenever he was available.
1963 / Given the rather Spartan conditions of the park at Augustinusweg, RKSV Stormvogels '28 files a request with municipal authorities to improve the state of the sole pitch as well as the dressing rooms - asking for, amongst other things, connection to water supply.
1966 / Exasperated at the state of the pitch at Augustinusweg, officials of the Netherlands' FA (KNVB) forbid further official matches being played here. In the following 3 seasons (1966-69), RKSV Stormvogels '28 groundshares with RKVV Montagnards at Sportpark Venhorst in Nieuw Bergen, while using RKVV HRC '27's Terrein Melkweg in Afferden as well as vv Heijen's Sportpark De Heikamp for training sessions. For Stormvogels' youth academy, a solution is found in the shape of a temporary pitch, laid out on one of the pastures of a local farmer, Boer Rutten (a location now taken by Siebengewald's fishing pond, crossroads Gochsedijk - Kanunnik Geurtsstraat).
1969 / After 3 years in exile, RKSV Stormvogels '28 returns to Terrein Augustinusweg, where the main pitch has been given a quarter turn, giving it its current position. One extra pitch is added to the set-up. Some years later, in the first half of the 1970s, a competition is organised in Siebengewald to give the premises a fitting new name - a contest won by Stormvogels' chairman, who suggested the name ''t Eindpunt' ('the Final Destination'), given that the park was the last stop before crossing the border with West Germany.
1982 / Having played 26 (!) consecutive seasons in League 3, RKSV Stormvogels '28 obtains the title in Sunday League 3D, thus winning promotion to League 2 for the first time. The decisive points are won in a match against vv Sparta '18.
1983 / In the best season in club history, Stormvogels manages a 6th place in Sunday League 2B.
1988 / Having come closer and closer to the red line in the previous seasons, RKSV Stormvogels '28 now fails to avoid the drop following a last place in Sunday League 2B. The club returns to League 3 after 6 years.
1990 / Due to an 11th place in Sunday League 3D, Stormvogels descends into League 4 - a level at which the club last played 34 years previously.
1994 / Following a 11th place finish in Sunday League 4H, RKSV Stormvogels '28 drops into the ranks of LVB (Limburgse Voetbalbond), the association of Limburg clubs playing their football below Sunday League 4, for the first time - a lowpoint in club history.
1997 / The foundations having been laid in November 1997, a new clubhouse is inaugurated at Sportpark 't Eindpunt.
2000 / Having spent several years in Sunday Leagues 5 and 6 (which replaced LVB Divisions 1 & 2 in 1996), RKSV Stormvogels '28 finds the way back up the league ladder following a 5th place in Sunday League 5D and a successful set of promotion play-offs. In the following 13 seasons, the club alternates spells in League 4 (2000-01, 2003-11, 2012-13) and League 5 (2001-03, 2011-12).
2010 / At Gochsedijk, right in front of Stormvogels' clubhouse, a new park is built for Siebengewald's tennis club. In the process, the entrance of the football ground is replaced from Augustinusweg to Gochsedijk.
2011 / The club's youth academy merges with their counterparts of RKVV HRC '27 from Afferden. Henceforth, youth teams consisting of players of both clubs compete under the denomination ST (Samenwerkende Teams) HRC '27/Stormvogels '28.
2012 / Finishing runners-up in District South II's Sunday League 5G, 7 points behind vv Excellent, Stormvogels, trained that season by John Janssen, wins the promotion play-offs to return to League 4.
2013 / Winning the title in Sunday League 4H with a 4-point gap with closest rivals SV Milsbeek, RKSV Stormvogels '28, coached by Jeroen Tax, manages its 2nd promotion in a row, acceding to League 3 after a 23-year absence.
2014 / In Sunday League 3D, Stormvogels, still trained by Jeroen Tax, finishes in 4th place behind title winners vv Nooit Gedacht, RKSV Margriet, and vv Boekel Sport. In the ensuing play-offs, the club edges past RKSV Blerick in R1 to accede to the final, which is played against IVO. Managing a 2-1 aggregate win (with goals by Ingo Custers and former NEC player Zoran Borojević), Stormvogels manages its 3rd promotion in a row. Also in the 2013-14 season, the club reaches the semi-finals of District South II's Regional Cup (Districtsbeker), in which it suffers a 3-0 defeat at the hands of JVC Cuijk. On the back of this cup run, Stormvogels qualifies for the Nationwide Cup (KNVB-Beker) for the first time, being defeated comprehensively in R1 by SV Kozakken Boys (7-0). For the 2014-15 season, Stormvogels' squad is reinforced by 31-year old attacker Harrie Gommans, who had a career as a professional league player behind him at Fortuna Sittard, SBV Excelsior, KVC Westerlo, MVV, SBV Vitesse, Roda JC, KSV Roeselare, KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren, and BV De Graafschap. Stormvogels signs Gommans from Belgian lower league side Spouwen-Mopertingen.
2015 / Avoiding direct relegation in Sunday League 2H by finishing just ahead of vv Sparta '18 and SVC 2000, who both descend into League 3 directly, RKSV Stormvogels '28 is given the opportunity to extend its spell in League 2 via the promotion play-offs. In R1, however, the club suffers a comprehensive 10-4 aggregate defeat at the hands of FC Uden, resulting in relegatino. Harrie Gommans leaves the club after just one season, moving on to MMC Weert.
2017 / Finishing in 3rd place in Sunday League 3C behind Sportclub Irene and vv Sparta '18, RKSV Stormvogels '28 qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Reaching the finals, the club misses out on promotion due to defeat in a penalty shoot-out following a 6-6 aggregate score against RKSV Venhorst.
2018 / Coached by Roy de Haan, RKSV Stormvogels finishes 2nd-last in Sunday League 3D, with only vv Hapse Boys picking up fewer points. As such, the club descends into League 4.
2019 / Finishing runners-up in Sunday League 4G behind walk-away winners FCV, RKSV Stormvogels '28 qualifies for the promotion play-offs. After defeating RKSV Festilent in R1, the club is eliminated by GFC '33 (1-2 A.E.T.) - thus missing out on a return to League 3. Alson in 2019, the combined youth academies of HRC/Stormvogels conclude a partnership with RKVV Montagnards, merging part of their youth teams under the name ST (Samenwerkende Teams) Maasduinen.
2022 / A complete merger of the youth academies of RKVV HRC '27, RKSV Stormvogels '28, and RKVV Montagnards is brought about, with all youth teams henceforth taking part in regular competitions under the name SJO (Samenwerkende Jeugdorganisatie) Maasduinen.
2023 / In its last season as an independent club, RKSV Stormvogels '28 finishes in 9th place in Sunday League 4F (the encounter with RKSV Meterik, at which the photo series below was taken, being the last home match of that season). Following the 2022-23 season, a provisional merger is concluded between RKVV Montagnards, RKSV Stormvogels '28, and RKVV HRC '27, resulting in the foundation of SSA (Samenwerking Seniorenafdeling) MSH (Montagnards-Stormvogels-HRC) Maasduinen. With first team football moving to RKVV Montagnards' Sportpark Venhorst, the grounds in Afferden and Siebengewald remain in use for lower team football and training sessions.

Note - Important parts of the information given above were provided by Jaap Kersten (born 1934, former Stormvogels player and professional cyclist) and Hens Borkent, webmaster of a great site dedicated to the history of Siebengewald. Many thanks to both of them!