Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv Krayenhoff

Sportpark De Schoonhorst Zuid, Nijmegen (vv Krayenhoff)

Netherlands, province: Guelders = Gelderland

5 X 2023 / vv Krayenhoff - RKSV Festilent 3-4 / District South II, Sunday League 3D (= NL level 8)

Timeline

1937 / Foundation of a football club in Nijmegen, which takes on the name vv Krayenhoff. As it seems, vv Krayenhoff is a merger of two older clubs from the same city, UDI (probably meaning Uitspanning Door Inspanning) and WKB (Wolfskuilse Boys). WKB must have been founded around 1934 (although no definite information is available) and played its football in Nijmeegse Voetbalbond a.k.a. Afdeling Nijmegen (the association of club from the Nijmegen region associated to the official Netherlands’ FA, KNVB, and playing their football below KNVB Sunday League 4), while UDI does not seem to have left any traces whatsoever. Another mystery is the choice of the club name vv Krayenhoff – was it named after the eponymous local military base or after Krayenhofflaan, a street in the Waterkwartier area of Nijmegen? Both seem illogical, given that neither are situated in Wolfskuil, the neighbourhood where the club originated. One theory is that one of the founders of the club, Wim van Rooy, lived at Krayenhoffstraat in 1937. Other club founders include Frans Laurens, Gradus Evers, Jan Winnen, Ben Peters, and the local barber, Mr Kerkhof. The club’s pitch is situated at the crossroads of Wolfskuilseweg and Oude Graafseweg (at modern-day Klimopstraat) and is colloquially referred to as (Terrein) De Ponybaan. As it seems, unlike WKB, vv Krayenhoff shuns KNVB membership, instead joining a Roman-Catholic league of clubs, the so-called Rooms-Katholieke Voetbalbond (RKVB), being placed in District Nijmegen Division 2 for the 1938-39 season, its first year as a competing club.
1939 / In its first season, vv Krayenhoff wins the title in RKVB District Nijmegen Division 2, thus gaining access to Division 1 of that same league pyramid.
1940 / Upon the German invasion of the Netherlands, occupation authorities abolish all football associations except the official Netherlands’ FA , forcing all clubs to either fold or join the NVB (the royal epithet ‘koninklijk’ being dropped during the war years… for obvious reasons) – and Krayenhoff is placed in NVB’s Afdeling Nijmegen, in which its predecessor WKB had also played.
1948 / Having had to abandon Terrein De Ponybaan some time before and having spent the intervening period at a temporary pitch, Terrein Meezennest, vv Krayenhoff now settles at the newly laid-out Terrein Driehuizerweg. The club does not dispose of a clubhouse, the social activities taking part in local cafés – as a result of which the club is sometimes referred to in jest as WK-OBIOD, acronym for “Wolfskuil – Ouwe Bols Is Onze Drank” (the first part being a reference to the working-class neighbourhood where the club had its origins, the second part roughly translating as ‘Our Preferred Liquor Is Old Gin’).
1956 / Winning the title in Afdeling Nijmegen Division 1 following a defeat of NDT, vv Krayenhoff – coached by Frans Peperzak – accedes to KNVB Sunday League 4 for the first time in club history.
1958 / Krayenhoff’s talented centre-forward Toon Mijling signs a contract with Nijmegen’s professional league club NEC. The quality of the first team is further depleted due to the departure of the brothers Bert, Theo, and Thies van Leth to vv Noviomagum.
1959 / Having managed three seasons in Sunday League 4, vv Krayenhoff now finishes second-last in Sunday League 4H, losing the subsequent relegation play-offs (against derby rivals vv Noviomagum) and thus dropping back into Afdeling Nijmegen Division 1.
1964 / Having played at Terrein Driehuizerweg for sixteen years, vv Krayenhoff moves on to Sportpark Grootstal at Mollenhutseweg, where it disposes of just one pitch – which sometimes has to be shared with SV Hatert and SCE. Adding insult to injury, the new pitch is situated some 6 kilometres away from the Wolfskuil neighbourhood, where the club disposes of a small training pitch at Wolfskuilseweg (at the crossroads with Floralaan).
1969 / First team player Henk Schaap dies as a result of a heart-attack suffered on the pitch; he was just 22 years old.
1972 / Winning the title in Afdeling Nijmegen Division 2, vv Krayenhoff wins promotion to Division 1 of that same league association. Subsequently, many players leave for others clubs, resulting in a serious depletion of the quality of the squad – and Krayenhoff dropping back into Division 2 after just one season.
1976 / Clinching the title in Afdeling Nijmegen Division 2B following a tie-break match against vv DVOL, played at vv Union’s Sportpark De Kluis for an estimated 2,600 spectators (2-1 win), vv Krayenhoff accedes to Afdeling Nijmegen Division 1 – only to drop back again in 1977.
1978 / In the promotion play-off against Eendracht Herveld, vv Krayenhoff is defeated 2-1, thus missing out on a return to Afdeling Nijmegen Division 1. After a Krayenhoff supporter is bitten by a police dog, a restive situation ensues, upon which one police officer draws his revolver to calm the situation.
1986 / Nijmegen’s municipal authories want vv Krayenhoff to move in with rival club SCH at Sportpark De Biezen, but SCH’s board successfully challenges the city-hall’s project in a court case, as a result of which vv Krayenhoff stays at Sportpark Grootstal for the time being.
1987 / vv Krayenhoff’s 50th anniversary year does not pass unnoticed as several first team matches are abandoned due to misconduct on and off the pitch. The club makes nationwide headlines when it is forced to play the remainder of two abandoned matches on the same afternoon in February 1987 – 11 minutes away at SV Juliana ’31 (0-0) followed by 56 minutes away at DVE ’35 (a 6-1 defeat). Two months later, when a third match is called off for the same reasons, the Netherlands’ FA takes the far-reaching decision to ban the club from continuing the season and purging its membership – the latter part of the punishment later being remitted.
1996 / With Afdeling Nijmegen being abolished along with all other associations of clubs in the Netherlands below League 4 level, vv Krayenhoff is placed in District East’s Sunday League 6H. Also in 1996, the club abandons Sportpark Grootstal after a stay of 32 years, settling at the newly laid-out Sportpark Schoonhorst Zuid, where, for the first time in club history, it disposes of its own clubhouse – and, what is more, the new ground situated close to the Wolfskuil neighbourhood where the lion’s share of the membership lives. However, also at this ground, vv Krayenhoff disposes of just one pitch as well as a smaller training pitch.
1997 / Runners-up in Sunday League 6H, vv Krayenhoff – coached by Leo Geurts – wins promotion via the play-offs along with vv Dodewaard at the expense of vv Victoria ‘25, thus acceding to League 5. The decisive 2-1 winning goal against vv Dodewaard is scored by Leon Woudstra in the last minute of extra time.
1999 / Finishing 3rd in Sunday League 5E, vv Krayenhoff – coached by Wanny Schaap – wins promotion via a 4-2 aggregate win over vv Trekvogels in the play-offs, thus acceding to League 4 after an absence at that level of forty years.
2000 / Ruining its title chances in Sunday League 4E after a defeat at SV AWC – this match being attended by a staggering 7,500 spectators – vv Krayenhoff goes on to finish 5th in that division.
2004 / Bottom of Sunday League 4E at the end of the 2003-04 season, vv Krayenhoff drops back into League 5 after five years. Thereupon, the club withdraws its first team for the following season, returning to regular league football in Sunday League 6 in 2005.
2006 / Clinching the title in Sunday League 6G, vv Krayenhoff wins promotion to Sunday League 5.
2008 / Without giving up its first squad in the Sunday leagues, vv Krayenhoff fields a regular Saturday team for the first time, which is placed in District East’s Saturday League 4. Also in 2008, vv Krayenhoff's pitch is moved several dozens of yards southwards - its training pitch becoming part of the new main pitch. The plot of land now fallen free is sold by Nijmegen's municipal authorities - according to vv Krayenhoff's board because Nijmegen's alderman charged with sports affairs, Paul Depla, was frustrated with the club refusing a merger with vv Noviomagum and SV Nijmegen two years previously.
2010 / Finishing 11th in District East’s Sunday League 5F, vv Krayenhoff – coached by Fred Arts – has to save its skin in a round of play-offs, in which it is eliminated away at vv Lochuizen after a penalty shoot-out. In the aftermath of the match, the police has to intervene to calm the situation after several of Krayenhoff’s players and supporters took on an aggressive stance. The club drops back into League 6. Meanwhile, vv Krayenhoff’s board decides to withdraw its Saturday team from Saturday League 4 after two years.
2012 / Winning the title in District East’s Sunday League 6E, 9 points ahead of SV DSZ, vv Krayenhoff manages a return to the League 5 level.
2013 / Finishing in 5th place in Sunday League 5E, vv Krayenhoff qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it defeats vv Victoria ’25 (6-4 on aggregate) to accede to League 4.
2014 / Unable to cope with the level of League 4 football, vv Krayenhoff finishes 14th in Sunday League 4E with just 9 points. The club drops back into Sunday League 5. Meanwhile, vv Krayenhoff’s board allows a first Saturday team to return to Saturday League 4 after an absence of four years.
2017 / Winning the title in Sunday League 5E, 3 points ahead of vv RODA ’28, vv Krayenhoff wins promotion to League 4 – managing an excellent second place in Sunday League 4E the following season, 7 points behind… vv RODA ’28. Meanwhile, the club withdraws its Saturday league team from Saturday League 4 after three years.
2019 / Finishing 4th in Sunday League 4E, vv Krayenhoff qualifies for the promotion play-offs, defeating vv AD ’69 in R1 (2-4) only to be eliminated by another club in the following round (information not available).
2022 / Runners-up in Sunday League 4E, vv Krayenhoff qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated by SV DSZ in R1 (2-3).
2023 / Picking up the decisive points in a home match against vv Heumen, vv Krayenhoff clinches the title in Sunday League 4E, 4 points ahead of SSA-SJO SVO ’68/VVLK. As such, the club wins promotion to Sunday League 3 for the first time ever.
2024 / Finishing in tenth place in District South II's Sunday League 3D, vv Krayenhoff has to play relegation play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by vv Mariahout (1-2). As such, vv Krayenhoff drops back into League 4 after just one season.

Note – The main source for the information given above is a booklet published on the occasion of the club’s 75th anniversary in 2012 by Michiel van de Loo, “vv Krayenhoff-75 jaar”, a copy of which was kindly put at my disposal by vv Krayenhoff’s board.