NETHERLANDS: VCH (1971-2023)

Sportpark Maassenhof, Boekend (formerly VCH)

Netherlands, province: Limburg

October 2023 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1945 / Foundation of a football club in Blerick, VCH (Voetbalclub Horsterweg). In fact, VCH was the refoundation of ‘Eigen Teelt’ a recreational team from Horsterweg in Blerick which in the pre-war years took on teams from other neighbourhoods, most notably the soldiers of the nearby army base. The founding fathers of VCH, Jo Canjels and Jan Rademakers, filed a request at the official Netherlands’ Football Association (KNVB) to be admitted as new members in May 1945, adding a list of three suggested club names (ERDAL, “Elf Rappe Duivels Achter Leer” / Maasvogels / SCH = “Sportclub Horsterweg”), all of which are turned down. Thereupon, the name VCH is adopted. Starting its life in Afdeling Limburg, the association of KNVB clubs in Limburg playing their football in divisions below Sunday League 4, VCH plays its home matches at Terrein De Zongert, situated at Horsterweg. 
• 1948 / Winning the promotion play-offs against vv Baarlo and RKDSO, VCH wins promotion from Afdeling Limburg Division 1 and accedes to KNVB District South II’s Sunday League 4 for the first time.
• 1950 / Moving away from Terrein De Zongert, VCH temporarily settles at Terrein Ubroek (a plot of farmland owned by the Stroecken family) to finally find a new home at Terrein Gruisdonk in Grubbenvorst later that same year.
• 1954 / Clinching the title in Sunday League 4G as well as winning the set of promotion play-offs against vv Boxmeer, VCH accedes to Sunday League 3.
• 1957 / Abandoning Terrein Gruisdonk in Grubbenvorst after seven years, VCH moves on to Terrein Zoarbrook at Groot-Bollerweg on the northern outskirts of Blerick.
• 1961 / Going from strength to strength, VCH wins the title in Sunday League 3D, thus acceding to Sunday League 2.
• 1966 / In the best season in club history, VCH finishes in 5th place in Sunday League 2B.
• 1967 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 2B, VCH drops back into League 3 after six seasons.
• 1969 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 3D, VCH drops back into League 4.
• 1971 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 4G, VCH drops back into Afdeling Limburg Division 1, a level at which the club last played 23 years back; it constitutes the club’s third relegation in the scope of four years. Also in 1971, having played at Terrein Zoarbrook for fourteen years, VCH moves to the newly laid-out Sportpark Maassenhof at Langvenweg in Boekend, a hamlet just to the west of Blerick.
• 1974 / VCH drops back yet another level, now finding itself in Afdeling Limburg Division 2. The stay at that level lasts for one season only, though, with promotion following in 1975.
• 1979 / Winning the title in Afdeling Limburg Division 1, VCH manages a return to Sunday League 4 after eight years.
• 1985 / Clinching the title in District South II’s Sunday League 4G, VCH wins promotion to League 3 – but the stay at that level does not last longer than one season, with relegation following in 1986.
• 1993 / Finishing 11th in Sunday League 4G, VCH drops back into Afdeling Limburg Division 1.
• 1995 / After two years, VCH manages a return to Sunday League 4.
• 2001 / Finishing 11th in Sunday League 4G, VCH descends into Sunday League 5, the level which replaced Afdeling Limburg Division 1 in a reorganisation of the football pyramid five years previously.
• 2002 / Finishing 11th in Sunday League 5E, VCH now suddenly finds itself in Sunday League 6.
• 2005 / Winning the title in District South II’s Sunday League 6E, one point ahead of vv Baarlo, VCH returns to Sunday League 5.
• 2010 / Finishing runners-up in Sunday League 5E, VCH qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it edges past VCA and SES to win promotion to Sunday League 4.
• 2013 / Qualifying for the promotion play-offs for a place in Sunday League 3 for the second year running, VCH bows out in the first round against SJVV (0-3).
• 2014 / Finishing second-last in Sunday League 4F, VCH drops back into League 5 along with bottom club Sporting ST.
• 2019 / Ending the season in 12th place in Sunday League 5D, with just Sporting ST and SV Kronenberg finishing with a lower number of points in that division, VCH bows out of regular league football. For the new season, only recreational teams take part in KNVB’s reserves’ leagues.
• 2023 / VCH folds, ceasing all activities.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author