Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: SDVB

Sportpark Norschoten, Barneveld (SDVB)

Netherlands, province: Guelders = Gelderland

27 V 2023 / SDVB - HZVV 4-0 / National Saturday Division 4B (= NL level 5)

Timeline

1936 / In Barneveld, a town with a mixed population of Roman-Catholics and adherents of various protestant and evangelical churches, a first football club is founded, vv Barneveld (often referred to locally as VVB). vv Barneveld is an open club, in which Sunday as well as Saturday football is played, but there is a focus on first team football on Sundays.
1954 / A group of VVB members with a protestant background, disaffected by the lack of priority given to Saturday league football in their club, decides to break away and found a club with a firmly protestant signature: Sterk Door Vriendschap Barneveld ("Strength Through Friendship Barneveld", abbreviated as SDVB or SDV Barneveld). The foundation meeting takes place at Café Vinkenborg, Nieuwe Markt, on March 24th, 1954, with Piet van den Berg being elected as the new club's first president. For the moment, no first team is entered in regular league football, with activities mostly remaining restricted to training sessions. The club's first ground is situated at the back of the Gelria cardboard factory.
1955 / With SDVB entering a first team in KNVB Afdeling Utrecht's Saturday Division 3 for the first time (Afdeling Utrecht being the association of football clubs in the province of Utrecht and some surrounding municipalities, such as Barneveld, playing their matches below the level of KNVB League 4), the club moves to a new, better equipped ground at Hessenweg. The first match is played there on September 10th (with VVOP being the opponent), while the official inauguration of the park, with 2 dressing rooms in situ, takes place one month later. Due to the steady growth in membership, the club is faced with a lack of capacity - given there is just one pitch available at Hessenweg. For some time, lower team football and training sessions are moved to Terrein Oosterbos (where the local swimming pool was constructed later onwards) and subsequently to vv Barneveld's former pitch at the back of Café Huppelschoten. After some time, though no exact year can be given, a training pitch with floodlights was added to Terrein Hessenweg, solving the club's space problem temporarily.
1957 / Winning its first title ever, SDVB takes the leap from Afdeling Utrecht Saturday Division 3 to Division 2.
1961 / Winning the title in Afdeling Utrecht Saturday Division 2 under the guidance of trainer A. van de Pol, SDVB fails to win the ensuing play-offs, thus missing out on promotion to Division 1.
1963 / Winning the title in Afdeling Utrecht Saturday Division 2, SDVB, still trained by A. van de Pol at the time, accedes to Division 1.
1965 / With coach G.W.A. Kwik, SDVB clinches the title in Afdeling Utrecht Saturday Division 1, thus making the historic step to KNVB Saturday League 4.
1966 / In its first season as a regular KNVB league club, SDVB - still coached by G.W.A. Kwik - wins the title in Saturday League 4C, thus acceding to League 3 straightaway. Also in 1966, abandoning Terrein Hessenweg, the club - with an ever-increasing membership - moves into the newly built Sportpark Barnseweg, later renamed Sportpark Norschoten (inaugurated officially on November 5th, 1966). In its original set-up, the new park consists of 2 regular pitches, 1 training pitch, and 2 dressing rooms.
1970 / Having been among the strongest sides in League 3 for 4 seasons, SDVB now wins the title in Saturday League 3B with coach Jan Straks, thus acceding to League 2 for the first time.
1972 / Obtaining yet another title, this time in Saturday League 2C, SDVB, guided by trainer Wim Bleijenberg at the time, accedes to Saturday League 1, the highest level in Saturday football at that time. Some time during the 1970s, with more and more people gathering to watch SDVB's progress with their own eyes, a grandstand is added to the set-up at Sportpark Norschoten.
1974 / SDVB finishes 4th in Saturday League 1A, the best result in club history until that time.
1976 / Managing a meagre 13th and second-last place in Saturday League 1B with trainer Gerard Lenselink, SDVB suffers the first relegation in club history, being retrograded to League 2.
1982 / Two SDVB youth players, 11-year old Dick Schreuder and his younger brother Alfred, are admitted to the youth academy of Feyenoord. Moving on to the academy of PSV 5 years later, both go on to have respectable careers as professional league players, Dick Schreuder at PSV, Sparta, FC Groningen, RKC, Stoke City FC, Helmond Sport, and Go Ahead Eagles (1989-2002); and Alfred Schreuder, a midfielder like his brother, at Feyenoord, RKC, NAC, NAC Breda, FC Twente and SBV Vitesse (1991-2009). After hanging up their boots, both of them move on into a coaching role, with Alfred working as a manager at - among other clubs - FC Twente, 1899 Hoffenheim, Club Brugge KV, and AFC Ajax (also being assistant-manager under Ronald Koeman at FC Barcelona); and Dick (after starting his coaching career with SDVB in the years 2007-13) taking on his first job as professional league manager at PEC Zwolle in 2021.
1989 / Having played 13 consecutive years of League 2 football, SDVB, coached by Piet van den Ham, now wins the title in Saturday League 2D, thus managing a return to the highest level of Saturday league football. The club's 22-year old centre-forward Hans van Arum earns himself a contract with top flight club SBV Vitesse, where he forms a successful goalscoring couple with Rick Hilgers. It is the start of a professional league career which also takes him to Willem II, RKC, and Go Ahead Eagles. After 13 years as a professional, Van Arum finishes his career in non-league with vv DOVO. Subsequently, as a coach, he had two spells at SDVB (2001-02 and 2013-17), working as a manager at several professional clubs in the intervening years, most notably SBV Vitesse and AGOVV Apeldoorn.
1990 / After just 1 season in Saturday League 1A, in which the club finishes 14th and last, SDVB drops back into League 2.
1991 / Winning the title in Saturday League 2C, SDVB, still coached by Piet van den Ham, manages an immediate return to League 1.
1994 / Having spent 3 seasons in League 1, SDVB, trained by Joop Kols, ends up in 13th (and second-last) place in Saturday League 1B, thus descending into League 2. Also in 1994, 23-year old midfielder Arco Jochemsen leaves the club, signing a contract with professional league side SBV Vitesse. After his spell in Arnhem, Jochemsen goes on to play for Feyenoord, FC Utrecht, FC Twente, and FC Zwolle, before retiring into non-league at his old club SDVB in 2006.
1995 / The clubhouse at Sportpark Norschoten is given a thorough refurbishment.
1996 / Finishing in 6th place in Saturday League 2C with trainer Joop Kols, SDVB wins automatic promotion to Saturday League 1 due to a top tier being added to the Saturday league pyramid in the shape of a so-called Hoofdklasse (a level already introduced in Sunday football in 1974). In the following season, the club does very well, finishing runners-up in Saturday League 1A.
2000 / Coached by Gerard Top, SDVB wins the title in Saturday League 1A, thus acceding to Zaterdag Hoofdklasse for the first time.
2002 / Finishing 14th and last in Zaterdag Hoofdklasse B, SDVB, still coached by Gerard Top, drops back into Saturday League 1.
2004 / On the club's 50th anniversary, SDVB drops back into League 2 following a 10th place in Saturday League 1D with coach Henk van de Pol. The situation is put right straightaway in the 2004-05 season, in which the club clinches the Saturday League 2I title to return to League 1 at the first opportunity.
2013 / After finishing runners-up in Saturday League 1D twice in a row (in 2011 behind vv Bennekom, in spite of Alfred Schreuder joining SDVB as a guest player for the decisive match) and 2012 (behind DTS Ede), the club now clinches the title in League 1A with an impressive 7-point advantage over closest rivals FC Breukelen. Thus, the club, coached by Dick Schreuder, returns to Zaterdag Hoofdklasse after 11 years.
2014 / Finishing dead-last in Zaterdag Hoofdklasse A, SDVB descends into League 1 after just one year, being accompanied on that journey by ZSV Sportlust '46.
2016 / SDVB and vv Berkum finish in joint-first place in Saturday League 1D with 54 points. As such, both clubs have to play a tie-break match to determine the title winner; at CSV Apeldoorn's Sportpark Orderbos, a Jan Doornbos goal assures SDVB of a 1-0 win and direct promotion to Zaterdag Hoofdklasse.
2017 / Leaving only ASV Dronten behind, SDVB finishes second-last in Zaterdag Hoofdklasse B, thus descending back into League 1 yet again.
2018 / A brand-new, two-tiered clubhouse is inaugurated at Sportpark Norschoten.
2022 / Finishing in 3rd place in Saturday League 1D, SDVB - with its coach Bart Schreuder - qualifies for the promotion play-offs. After defeating vv Sliedrecht (after a penalty shoot-out), the club meets SV Nootdorp in the final, played at vv Achilles Veen's Sportpark De Hanen Weide. The match, marred by racist abuse hurled at SV Nootdorp players by SDVB supporters (as a result of which the match was interrupted for some time), is won by the Barneveld side thanks to a penalty scored by Zakaria El Biyar (1-0). As such, SDVB wins promotion to Zaterdag Hoofdklasse - renamed National Saturday Division 4 that summer; and in fact the first time in SDVB's club history that promotion is achieved via the play-offs.

Note - Thanks to Marius Kolkman for important parts of the information provided above. Further information was retrieved from two booklets released on SDVB's 50th and 60th anniversaries respectively: "SDVB in het Goud" (2004) and "60 jaar Sterk Door Vriendschap" (2014).