Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv Musselkanaal

Gemeentelijk Sportpark - Parklaan, Musselkanaal (vv Musselkanaal)

Netherlands, province: Groningen

17 VI 2023 / vv SJS - vv Onstwedder Boys 2-3 A.E.T. / Sunday Leagues 3 & 4 - promotion-relegation play-off final (neutral venue) (= NL levels 8 & 9)

Timeline

± 1919 / Foundation of 2 first football clubs in Musselkanaal, MIA (Musselkanaal in Actie) and VOMOS (Vele Oefeningen Maken Ons Sterk), which both seem to have originated from netball clubs with the same name. MIA played at Terrein Sluisstraat, while VOMOS was home at Terrein Verbindingsweg. Both football clubs were short-lived, though, mainly due to local politics; as the dominant Protestant-Christian church demanded strict Sunday rest, football matches played on that day were frowned upon. After the demise of VOMOS and MIA, many football enthusiasts from Musselkanaal sought refuge at vv Nieuw Buinen, across the provincial border in Drenthe.
1931 / Foundation of vv Musselkanaal in a meeting at Hotel Schot, during which J. Ebels is appointed the new club's first chairman. The club joins the so-called GVB (Groningsche Voetbalbond), a league of clubs from Groningen playing their football below KNVB District North's Sunday League 3. It is unclear where vv Musselkanaal's home ground was situated in those pre-war years.
1937 / Winning the title in GVB Division 1, vv Musselkanaal accedes to District North's Sunday League 3.
1949 / vv Musselkanaal wins the title in Sunday League 3C, but misses out on promotion due to play-off defeat at the hands of vv Veelerveen.
1950 / vv Musselkanaal wins the title in Sunday League 3C a 2nd time running, but misses out on promotion due to play-off defeat at the hands of vv BNC.
1951 / Winning the Sunday League 3C title for a 3rd time in a row thanks to a 5-0 defeat of vv ZBC, vv Musselkanaal seems to have acceded to Sunday League 2 without having to go through the motions of promotion play-offs. The joy about finally reaching League 2 was short-lived, though, with relegation duly following in 1952.
1955 / Winning the title in Sunday League 3C, vv Musselkanaal accedes to Sunday League 2 for a 2nd time. Also in 1955, the club moves into the new municipal sports park at Parklaan, home of the club until the present day.
1962 / Following 7 seasons at League 2 level, vv Musselkanaal suffers relegation to League 3 following a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of vv Noordster - the result being a last place in Sunday League 2B.
1963 / Having descended into League 3 the previous year, vv Musselkanaal now clinches the Sunday League 3C title, thus managing an immediate return to League 2. This time, the club's stay at that level lasts 3 seasons, with relegation following in 1966.
1968 / Finishing in joint-first place in Sunday League 3C with DVC '59, vv Musselkanaal meets the club from Nieuw-Dordrecht in a two-legged tie-break, in which a 3rd match - played at a neutral venue, vv Weerdinge's ground - is required to determine a winner; eventually, vv Musselkanaal comes out on top with a 1-0 win in this 3rd match. Thus, the club returns to League 2.
1975 / Having suffered relegation from League 2 in 1973, vv Musselkanaal now descends into League 4 for the 1st time in club history following an 11th place finish in Sunday League 3C.
1976 / A first round of renovations is carried out at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Parklaan.
1977 / Following back-to-back titles (in League 4G in 1976 and in League 3D in 1977), vv Musselkanaal manages a return to Sunday League 2 at breakneck speed. The new spell at this level lasts for 3 seasons, with relegation into League 3 following in 1980.
1979 / Inauguration of a covered stand at Sportpark Parklaan, which had been worked on for about a year. The construction offers space for some 250 spectators. Also in 1979, vv Musselkanaal's clubhouse in consumed in a fire. A successor is constructed in the following year.
1981 / In its first season back in League 3, vv Musselkanaal secures the Sunday League 3D title, thus returning to League 2 immediately. It is the start of a new, 5-year period at this level.
1990 / vv Musselkanaal wins 1st place in Sunday League 3D, just 1 point ahead of vv Oosterparkers. The title is secured with a 5-1 win over vv Muntendam on the last day of the season. Also at Sportpark Parklaan, 2 tie-break matches are played between SC Stadskanaal and vv Nieuw Buinen, as both clubs finished in joint-first place in Sunday League 2B; in the 1st encounter, attended by 5,000 spectators, the clubs draw 1-1 A.E.T. (with former professional league player Boy Nijgh scoring the Stadskanaal goal), and, 1 week later, with a mind-blowing attendance of 5,500, SC Stadskanaal finally comes out on top (1-0), thus gaining promotion to Sunday League 1.
1992 / In the best season in club history, vv Musselkanaal finishes in joint-first place in Sunday League 2B, obtaining 31 points from 22 matches along with vv Nieuw Buinen. A tie-break match is organised at SC Stadskanaal's Sportpark Het Pagedal; in the encounter, attended by 3,700 spectators, vv Nieuw Buinen comes out on top with a 3-1 win. Thus missing out on direct promotion, vv Musselkanaal qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in the group stage (along with vv Hoogezand) by vv Zwartemeer. After the 1991-92, 20-year old Musselkanaal player Wessel Woortman is signed by professional league side BV Emmen. Having a relatively good first season at Sportpark De Meerdijk, Woortman never really manages to make his mark in Emmen, eventually bowing out of professional football in 1996.
1997 / Following 2 relegations in 3 seasons, vv Musselkanaal finds itself in League 4 for the 1st time in 21 years.
1999 / Thanks to a title win in Sunday League 4E in 1998 and a promotion play-off win in 1999 (following a 3rd-place finish in Sunday League 3B), vv Musselkanaal manages a return to League 2.
2005 / After back-to-back relegations, the club descends into Sunday League 4 yet again.
2008 / Winning the title in Sunday League 4E, vv Musselkanaal wins promotion to League 3.
2012 / Securing the title in Sunday League 3D with a narrow margin of just 1 point over vv ASVB, vv Musselkanaal accedes to League 2.
2013 / Finishing 13th in Sunday League 2L, vv Musselkanaal drops back into League 3 along with bottom club FC Ter Apel '96.
2022 / Following 9 years in League 3, vv Musselkanaal clinches the Sunday League 3C title with a 5-point advantage over closest followers vv HOC, thus managing a return to League 2.
2023 / Due to a reorganisation in the football pyramid, a 9th place in Sunday League 2K is not sufficient for vv Musselkanaal to assure itself of a prolonged stay at that level. In a round of play-offs, the club fights its way past vv Oerterp to qualify for the final against vv Drachten, played at vv VKW's Sportpark Perkenslag. Winning the match 4-2, the club eventually stays up in League 2, condemning their Frisian adversaries to a descent into League 3.

Note - In the match I attended at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Parklaan, vv Onstwedder Boys secured promotion to Saturday League 3, while vv SJS went the opposite way, descending into Saturday League 4.