Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv Holwierde

Sportpark Katmis, Holwierde (vv Holwierde)

Netherlands, province: Groningen

10 VI 2023 / vv Holwierde - vv NEC Delfzijl 0-3 / District North, Saturday Leagues 3 & 4 - promotion-relegation play-off (= NL levels 8 & 9)

Timeline

1933 / Foundation of a football club in Holwierde, which is given the name DVS (Door Vriendschap Sterk), with P. Til being chosen as the club's first chairman. A makeshift pitch is laid out on a pasture owned by a local farmer, Mr Alting, at Damsterweg (just beyond the confines of the village). The club's first match, a friendly played in Holwierde, is won 1-0 against SSS from nearby Bierum, with Luit Windt scoring the only goal. Later that year, a new pitch is found in Nansum on a pasture owned by another farmer, Mr Elema. Meanwhile, DVS joined a small league of clubs from the northeastern part of Groningen, the so-called OLVB (Onderlinge Voetbalbond).
1934 / Abandoning Terrein Elema, DVS settles on a pitch laid out in Bierum on a pasture owned by yet another local farmer, Mr Van Weerden.
1940 / Having played on a temporary pitch in Krewerd for a short while, DVS finds itself a new home at Nansumerweg, on a pitch inaugurated by club chairman E. ten Hove. Shortly after the German occupation of the Netherlands, however, OLVB football comes to a complete standstill.
1945 / Much of the village of Holwierde is destructed in the so-called Bombardment of Delfzijl in April 1945, with the German occupation forces resisting heavily in the face of the Allied onslaught. The official Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) offers help to DVS, handing a club delegation travelling down to The Hague a set of balls and football boots on the condition that the club would apply for membership. Given that the name DVS had already been taken by several other clubs, an obligatory name change took place - the unimaginative yet obvious option being chosen, vv Holwierde. With OLVB not restarting its activities, other members of the former league association take the step to the official FA's Saturday leagues as well, including Noordster (from Spijk), changing its name to become vv Noordpool; and Heracles (from Uithuizermeeden), adapting its name to become SV De Heracliden.
± 1947 / Abandoning Terrein Nansumerweg (a location later known as 'Het Vlietje'), vv Holwierde moves to the current Sportpark Katmis in the second half of the 1940s. The name of the location is a derivation of this area, originally a hamlet slightly to the west of Holwierde proper. Allegedly, the name 'Katmis' was derived from an odd event in the grey past - about a tom-cat ('kat') attempting to jump from one windmill to another, but missing ('mis') its target. The story can be found (written in local dialect) in a newspaper article from 1930.
1960 / At Sportpark Katmis, a first set of dressing rooms is inaugurated.
1963 / Having played in KNVB Afdeling Groningen for the first 18 years of its existence, vv Holwierde now clinches the title in Afdeling Groningen Saturday Division 1, the decisive points being won in an emphatic 7-1 away defeat of CVV Viboa. vv Holwierde's squad includes the likes of Derk Kramer, Evert Bierman, and Ritze Mooi. Earning promotion, the club accedes to KNVB Saturday League 4 for the first time.
1964 / In its first season in the regular KNVB league system, vv Holwierde wins the title in Saturday League 4C, thus acceding to League 3.
1967 / Finishing in 11th place in District North's Saturday League 3C, vv Holwierde drops back into League 4 after 3 years.
± 1970 / A second pitch is laid out at Sportpark Katmis.
1971 / Having suffered just one defeat in the entire season (against vv Wagenborger Boys), vv Holwierde clinches the title in Saturday League 4C. In the following 21 years, the club alternates spells in Saturday League 3 (1971-74, 1975-77, 1978-85 & 1988-92) & League 4 (1974-75, 1977-78 & 1985-88), each promotion being won with a title in League 4C. In total, vv Holwierde won 1st place in this division on 5 occasions between 1964 and 1988.
1980 / The current clubhouse at Sportpark Katmis is inaugurated.
1992 / In the most successful season in club history until then, vv Holwierde, coached by Jan Piek, reaches the semi-final of the Regional Cup (Districtsbeker), eventually bowing out against Sunday league team vv Achilles. In District North's Saturday League 3B, the club wins the title, thus acceding to League 2 for the first time.
1993 / Finishing second-last in Saturday League 2E, vv Holwierde descends into League 3 after just 1 season. In the following seasons, the club alternates spells in League 3 (1993-95 & 1997-99) and League 2 (1995-97, 1999-2000). The 2 promotions are both earned by winning the League 3B title (in 1995 with coach Rinie Jurna).
1994 / As Jan Hendrik Norden steps down from the club's presidency after 25 years, Bert ten Hove, the owner of a local insurance company, takes over the chairmanship. Before long, Ten Hove also starts investing serious amounts of money in the club's first team.
2000 / Clinching the title in Saturday League 2L, vv Holwierde manages a historic promotion to League 1.
2002 / In the best season of club history, vv Holwierde, coached by Dick van Streun, finishes in 3rd place in Saturday League 1E. The club also manages 4th places in the final tables of that same division in 2001, 2006, 2007, and 2011.
2003 / vv Holwierde's 70th anniversary is celebrated with a gala match at Sportpark Katmis against FC Groningen on July 19th, 2003 (0-8).
2007 / In the course of the 2007-08 season, the 3 former bus shelters, which served as covered 'stands' along vv Holwierde's main pitch for many years, are replaced by a slightly bigger stand, of which the cover was previously in use as a bicycle shed - with a capacity of 42 (!) seats.
2012 / After 18 years, Bert ten Hove withdraws as vv Holwierde's chairman and main sponsor - mainly because, by now, he preferred investing his money in a professional speedskating team. Although vv Holwierde stayed up in Saturday League 1E that season, finishing in 10th place, the club withdraws its first team for the following season; given that the entire squad left the club, it would have been impossible to field a team able to hold its own at League 1 level.
2013 / vv Holwierde's new board enters a first team in Saturday League 5, the bottom level of the Saturday pyramid in District North.
2016 / Finishing 4th in Saturday League 5D, vv Holwierde qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is knocked out in R1 by NWVV.
2017 / Finishing 4th in Saturday League 5A, vv Holwierde, guided by trainer Eddy Tuik, qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Reaching the final, the club defeats vv Ternaard (8-7 aggregate), thus winning promotion to League 4.
2018 / With a 10-point advantage over closest followers - and derby rivals - vv Poolster, vv Holwierde, still coached by Eddy Tuik, wins the title in its first season in Saturday League 4D.
2019 / The B pitch at Sportpark Katmis is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2022 / Finishing 12th in Saturday League 3C, vv Holwierde has to play a round of play-offs to remain in League 3. Reaching the final, played at NWVV's Gemeentelijk Sportpark Nieuw-Weerdinge, the club is defeated by vv DKB (2-3), thus dropping back into League 4. Trainer Eddy Tuik is succeeded by Danny Schudde. Later that year, in October 2022, Bert ten Hove, the chairman and sponsor who led the club during its pinnacle.
2023 / Finishing runners-up in District North's Saturday League 4C, 6 points behind champions vv Mamio, vv Holwierde qualifies for the play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by vv NEC Delfzijl.

Note - The main source for the information given above is a magazine published on the occasion of vv Holwierde's 90th anniversary in 2023: "Jubileumuitgave vv Holwierde 90 jaar". Thanks to vv Holwierde's board for providing me with a copy.