Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKVV Voorwaarts (1927-1938) / LSVV (1938-)

Sportpark Voorwaarts, Zuid-Scharwoude (LSVV, formery RKVV Voorwaarts)

Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland

8 VI 2023 / LSVV - ZSGOWMS 1-3 A.E.T. / Sunday Leagues 1 & 2 - promotion-relegation play-off R1 (= NL levels 6 & 7)

Timeline

1926 / An interconfessional football club in Noord- & Zuid-Scharwoude, called Holland, falls apart, with the non-Roman Catholics seeking affiliation with SV DTS in nearby Oud-Karspel, while the Roman Catholic part of the membership founds a club of its own, RKVV Voorwaarts. Joining the Roman Catholic football association in North Holland, the so-called DHVB (Diocesaan Haarlemsche Voetbalbond), RKVV Voorwaarts rents the pitch previously used by Holland at Laanweg (near Roskambrug), a plot of farmland owned by Teun Kostelijk.
1927 / Filing a request at the local Roman Catholic church, RKVV Voorwaarts is given permission to lay out a pitch on 4 plots of farmland at the back of Noord-Scharwoude's Sint-Jan-de-Doperkerk - still the main pitch of the ground, later renamed Sportpark Voorwaarts, today. Because the entrance to the pitch is had via Zuid-Scharwoude (modern-day Sportlaan), the club is officially home in that village rather than in Noord-Scharwoude.
1932 / Winning the title in DHVB Division 2, RKVV Voorwaarts accedes to Division 1.
1936 / RKVV Voorwaarts manages the title in DHVB Division 1.
1938 / At the behest of DHVB, RKVV Voorwaarts changes its name to become LSVV (Langedijker Sportvereniging Voorwaarts), most probably because the name 'Voorwaarts' had already been taken by another club with older rights. That summer, LSVV wins the final of the so-called Noordhollandsch Dagblad Beker, defeating the short-lived vv Oranje Wit (Alkmaar).
1939 / LSVV wins its 2nd Noordhollandsch Dagblad Beker in a row, having the better of RKAFC in the final.
1940 / Due to the mobilisation in the Netherlands, no regular 1939-40 season is organised by DHVB, with clubs instead being placed in regional leagues; LSVV wins one of those local competitions. After the German occupation, DHVB as well as all other football associations except the official KNVB, renamed NVB (losing the epithet 'koninklijk' or royal, for obvious reasons), LSVV seeks affiliation with NVB, being placed in Afdeling Noord-Holland (NHVB) Sunday Division 1.
1942 / Winning all of its 14 league games, LSVV clinches the title in NHVB Division 1, thus acceding to NVB Sunday League 4.
1943 / Again without losing a single match, LSVV finishes in 1st place in NVB District West I's Sunday League 4A - yet, there is to be no new promotion, given that no promotion play-offs are held due to the war circumstances.
1950 / Following back-to-back relegations, LSVV finds itself in NHVB Division 2.
1953 / A second pitch is added to LSVV's ground, to the south of the main pitch. That same year, the club wins the title in NHVB Division 2, thus managing a return to Division 1.
1958 / Winning the title in NHVB Division 1C with an impressive 8-point gap over its closest follower, LSVV returns to KNVB Sunday League 4 after 9 years.
1960 / Probably at the request of KNVB officials, LSVV's main pitch is extended.
1966 / Following a renovation of Sportpark Voorwaarts, a covered stand is inaugurated with 4 dressing rooms and a small clubhouse at the back. Building works had taken some 2 years.
1967 / In a new round of renovations, pitch 2 of Sportpark Voorwaarts is replaced by 2 new training pitches. As a result, lower team football and training sessions are moved to a temporary pitch, Terrein Oostelijke Randweg (later renamed Mavo-veld).
1969 / The new B & C pitches are inaugurated. Although lower team football returns to Sportpark Voorwaarts, the Mavo-pitch is destined remain in use for training sessions for many years to come.
1973 / Winning the title in Sunday League 4A, LSVV accedes to League 3 for the first time.
1990 / Having played 17 consecutive seasons at League 3 level, LSVV wins the title in Sunday League 3A, thus acceding to League 2 for the first time. In its first season at that level, the club manages a respectable 4th place in Sunday League 2A.
1993 / A new round of renovations gets underway at Sportpark Voorwaarts. The works are completed in 1995.
1995 / Following back-to-back relegations, LSVV suddenly finds itself in District West I's Sunday League 4. In the 1995-96 season, relegation from this level is avoided narrowly, in the last match of the competition.
2002 / Winning the title in Sunday League 4A, LSVV wins promotion to League 3; its stay at this level is short-lived, however, with relegation duly following in 2003.
2010 / The main pitch as well as the C pitch at Sportpark Voorwaarts are equipped with a synthetic surface. As a result, after 43 years, the club abandons its training ground, the Mavo-veld at Oostelijke Randweg.
2011 / Winning the title in Sunday League 4A with a 20-point (!) margin over vv Con Zelo and vv SRC, LSVV manages a return to Sunday League 3.
2013 / In District West I's Sunday League 3A, LSVV, coached by Sem Wokke, loses its last game of the season, a home match against SC Spirit '30 (0-2); as a result, the club misses out on direct promotion, as Spirit now has an equal number of points. A tie-break match is held between the two clubs at SV Westfriezen's Sportpark 't Krijt, with LSVV winning this all-important match 2-0 - thus clinching promotion to League 2 after all.
2015 / Sportpark Voorwaarts is privatised, with the municipality of Dijk & Waard handing the ground to the club itself - with the exception of the main pitch, the use of which is still allowed to the club by local church authorities in a loan agreement existing from 1927 onwards.
2017 / Finishing in 4th place in Sunday League 4A, 9 points behind champions FC Uitgeest, LSVV qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Defeating SO Soest in R1 (4-2 aggregate), the club manages a 1-1 draw away at ZVV Zilvermeeuwen in the first leg of the final. In the decisive home match at Sportpark Voorwaarts, goals by Toon Merk and Danny Konijn hand the club a 2-0 win - as well as a historic promotion to Sunday League 1. After this season, 36-year-old LSVV skipper Rob ter Burg hangs up his boots after 509 matches in the club's first squad.
2019 / In the best season in club history so far, LSVV finishes 7th in Sunday League 1A - a performance which is repeated in the 2021-22 season.
2023 / Due to a reorganisation of the football pyramid, which sees an extra number of clubs facing relegation, a 10th place in Sunday League 1A means LSVV's season is extended with a round of relegation play-offs. Given a bye in R1, the club crashes out against League 2 side ZSGOWMS in R2, thereby dropping back into League 2 after 6 years.
2024 / Finishing in ninth place in Sunday League 2A, LSVV only avoids a second consecutive season of relegation play-offs on goal difference (+8 vs. -8 for no. 10 RKVV Saenden).

Note - ZSGOWMS's coach, celebrating his club's win in the play-off match which I attended at Sportpark Voorwaarts (photos 14 & 16), is Rob Rijnink, former professional league player at AFC Ajax, Roda JC, and VVV.