Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKSV Vitesse '22

Sportpark De Puikman, Castricum (RKSV Vitesse '22)

Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland

17 XII 2023 / RKSV Vitesse '22 - SV Hoofddorp 1-1 / District West I, League 1A (= NL level 6)

Timeline

1912 / Foundation of a football club in Castricum, named vv Castricum. This club’s ground is situated at Haagscheweg in Bakkum. In fact, vv Castricum probably was the second club founded in the village, with CSV (Castricumsche Sportvereeniging) having been founded around 1910-11.
1914 / Having played two unsuccessful seasons in Division 2 of the so-called Noord-Hollandsche Voetbalbond, vv Castricum folds, ceasing all activities. The ground at Haagscheweg is taken over by CSV.
1922 / With a piece of land at Oudeweg in Castricum having been put at the nascent club’s disposal by the local Roman Catholic church, who enthusiastically sponsored the foundation of an explicitly Roman Catholic club in Castricum a successor club of vv Castricum is formed in the shape of RKVV (Roomsch-Katholieke Voetbalvereeniging) Vitesse. The founding fathers of the club are chaplain J.J.J. Starrenburg, P. Bakker, W. Groot, and Fr. Schut. The club’s first chairman is a local schoolmaster, Wouter Koot, who stays on in this capacity for three years before moving away to Warmenhuizen – and becoming vv VIOS-W’s chairman in 1937. In July 1922, Terrein Oudeweg is inaugurated with the semifinal match in the so-called Silver Episcopal Cup (Zilveren Bisschopsbeker) between RKVV HBC and Wilskracht (Amsterdam); final score: 1-0. Instead of joining the official Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, later KNVB), RKVV Vitesse successfully applies for membership of the so-called Diocesaan-Haarlemsche Voetbalbond, a league of Roman Catholic clubs, being placed in DHVB Division 3A for the 1922-23 season.
1923 / In its first season as a competitive club, RKVV Vitesse clinches the title in DHVB Division 3A, thus gaining promotion to DHVB Division 2.
1924 / Construction of a set of wooden barracks at Terrein Oudeweg, with two dressing rooms being installed in it. The inaugural ceremony is taken care of by chaplain Van der Oudenhoven, the club’s Spiritual Advisor (Geestelijk Adviseur, GA).
1927 / Having suffered from a decreasing membership in the past years as a result of the foundation of RKSV Vitesse ’22 – with CSV being a club without an affiliation to any religion – this club eventually folds in 1927, only to be reformed in 1930.
1929 / RKVV Vitesse accedes to DHVB Division 1 after a set of promotion play-offs – losing the first set of matches at the hands of RKVV Onze Gezellen (5-3 aggregate), but confidently working its way past another Haarlem side, RKSV TYBB, in the lucky loser final (6-2 aggregate).
1931 / Winning the title in DHVB Division 1B, RKVV Vitesse gets to play a round of promotion matches against GVO from Krommenie (8-5 aggregate win) and RKSV Volendam Reserves (4-4 aggregate score) which results in the club acceding to Roomsch-Katholieke Federatie (RKF) Division 2 – RKF (renamed IVCB, Interdiocesane Voetbalcompetitiebond, in 1932) being the nationwide league of Roman Catholic clubs of which DHVB was a feeder league. In the following season, RKVV Vitesse manages a respectable fourth place in RKF Division 2N.
1932 / An additional pitch is put at Vitesse’s disposal by the church, Terrein Schoutenbosch, just down the road from Terrein Oudeweg.
1935 / Successively eliminating RKSV DEM, RKSV GDA, and RKSV TYBB, RKVV Vitesse qualifies for the semifinal of the first edition of IVCB’s cup competition. In that semifinal, however, the club suffers an emphatic away defeat at the hands of RKSV EMOS in Enschede (12-0).
1937 / Two years after the humiliating defeat in Enschede, RKVV Vitesse have their revenge on RKSV EMOS by eliminating the Enschede side in the IVCB cup semifinal at Terrein Oudeweg. Unfortunately, though, in part due to the financial difficulties of travelling across the country in these years of economic crisis, the final against VVH ’16 from faraway Heerlen in Limburg is never played.
1940 / Having spent the first near-two decades of its existence in DHVB and RKF/IVCB, RKVV Vitesse is now constrained to make the step to the official Netherlands’ FA (renamed NVB following the German oppression of the Netherlands, abandoning the royal epithet ‘koninklijk’ for obvious reasons) as all other football associations are abolished by German occupation authorities. To avoid confusion with other members of the regular Football Association (as Vitesse from Arnhem, known as Vitesse 1892 at the time – the current SBV Vitesse), the club slightly adapts its name to become RKSV (Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging) Vitesse ’22. The club is placed in District West I’s Sunday League 4H.
1941 / In its first season as a NVB side, RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes dead-last in Sunday League 4H, but without having to descend into the ranks of NHVB.
1943 / Coached by Volgert Ris, future trainer of professional league side SC Heerenveen, RKSV Vitesse ’22 clinches the title in District West I’s Sunday League 4C. However, the club has to wait a full year before being given the opportunity to play promotion play-offs – against the 1944 champion in the same division, vv ADO ’20, suffering a 6-2 aggregate defeat, thereby missing out on promotion. Also in 1943, Vitesse’s protestant antagonists of CSV move into an awkward groundshare at Terrein Oudeweg after being evicted from their ground at Zeeweg, which is requisitioned by the German occupation army.
1944 / Towards the end of 1944, RKSV Vitesse ’22 is constrained its ground at Oudeweg temporarily at the behest of the German oppressors, settling for a groundshare with GVO from Krommenie, only to return to their home ground after the end of German occupation in the spring of 1945.
1946 / As CSV moves back to Terrein Zeeweg after three years, RKSV Vitesse ’22 abandons Terrein Oudeweg as well, which is given up to a housebuilding project. With no definitive solution being available, the club temporarily settles at Terrein Oude Haarlemmerweg – in fact a plot of farmland owned by two farming brothers going by the name Beentjes.
1947 / Coached by Jan Eijkmans, RKSV Vitesse ’22 wins the title in Sunday League 4C as well as the quartet of promotion play-off matches against SV DRC (10-2 aggregate) and NEA (3-1 aggregate) to accede to District West I’s Sunday League 3 for the first time. Also in 1947, Vitesse’s youth teams abandon Terrein Oudeweg, temporarily settling at a pitch at Doodweg, at the back of the farmstead owned by a local farmer, Mr Van Dam.
1948 / Clinching the title in Sunday League 3A in its first season at this level after a decisive 2-1 home win over GVO, RKSV Vitesse ’22 gets to play a set of eight promotion play-off matches against SV De Meteoor (4-3 aggregate defeat), vv Zaandijk (5-2 aggregate defeat), and EMM Alkmaarsche Boys (3-3 aggegrate score) – thus failing to finish with the first two clubs, which are placed in Sunday League 2. Also in 1948, having been home at Terrein Doodweg for one year only, RKSV Vitesse ’22’s youth academy is moved to Terrein Zeeweg, where it groundshares with CSV.
1950 / A plot of land, hemmed in between the dunes and Beverwijkseweg, offering space for two – and later three – pitches, is bought by Castricum’s Roman Catholic church to be put at the disposal of RKSV Vitesse ’22.
1951 / Inauguration of Sportpark De Puikman at Beverwijksestraatweg, the official ceremony being performed by Fr Goes, the village priest – and the inaugural match seeing RKSV Vitesse ’22 hosting CSV. At the western end of the main pitch, a set of dressing rooms as well as a boardroom are put in place. Terrein Oude Haarlemmerweg as well as Terrein Zeeweg are abandoned once and for all.
1952 / RKSV Vitesse ’22 wins the so-called Missiebeker (Mission Cup, the revenues going to the Roman-Catholic missions) by defeating RK-AFC away at Terrein Westerweg in Alkmaar (2-3). Coach Jan Eijkmans leaves the club, being succeeded by George Koning, formerly player at AFC Ajax and nationwide champions in 1946 with HFC Haarlem.
1956 / Finishing 5 points behind champions SV Wijk aan Zee, RKSV Vitesse ’22, coached by Jan Eijkmans, are runners-up in Sunday League 3B.
1959 / Winning the title in District West I’s Sunday League 3B with coach Jan Hagenaars in the last match of the season (a 5-0 home defeat of Rood Wit A, while rival EMM Alkmaarsche Boys, 1 point ahead, lost 7-1 away at vv HSV), RKSV Vitesse ’22 gets to play a round of promotion play-offs against QSC (7-3 aggregate win), DWSV (5-1 aggregate win), and JOS (4-3 aggregate defeat), thereby joining JOS in a historic promotion to Sunday League 2. In the following season, the club manages a more than respectable third place in Sunday League 2A.
1960 / Having received HFC Haarlem for a Easter friendly – the first against a professional side ever – at Sportpark De Puikman, RKSV Vitesse ’22 loses its star player Nico Jonker to the Haarlem side in the summer of 1960.
1961 / Coached by Jan Hagenaars, RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes runners-up in Sunday League 2A – thus qualifying for a set of play-off due to extra promotion places for League 1 being available. After two draws and a defeat in a tie-break match played at Koninklijke HFC’s Terrein Spanjaardslaan, though, the club misses out on access to this level, as AVV OVVO walks away with the laurels. Also in 1961, the inauguration takes place of a covered stand at the western end of De Puikman’s main pitch, at the back of which a new clubhouse has been constructed.
1963 / Vitesse ’22 misses out on promotion in the most dramatic of fashions, finishing only 1 point behind League 2A champions EMM Alkmaarsche Boys.
1964 / A second Vitesse player earns a contract with a professional league side, as Dick Twisk signs for KFC – renamed FC Zaanstreek in 1964.
1965 / The covered stand at Sportpark De Puikman is extended to both sides, with two dressing rooms being added to the set-up.
1968 / As Nico Jonker returns to Vitesse ’22 after eight seasons with KFC / FC Zaanstreek / AZ ’67, Henk Bakker goes the opposite way, signing a contract with AZ ’67, the merger club of FC Zaanstreek and Alkmaar ’54. Also in 1968, a fourth pitch is added to the set-up at Sportpark De Puikman.
1969 / Coached by Nic Lute, RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes in joint-second place in Sunday League 2A with Koninklijke HFC, just 1 point adrift of champions HVV Hollandia.
1970 / Yet again, Nic Lute’s men just miss out on promotion, finishing 1 point behind champions ZSV Zandvoortmeeuwen. Also in 1970, nineteen-year-old youth prodigy Jos Jonker leaves RKSV Vitesse ’22, signing a contract with Telstar – staying at that club for thirteen years, and earning two caps for the national team in 1980-81, before moving on to FC Den Haag and finishing his career at AZ ’67.
1975 / Vitesse ’22 player Hans Reijnders, twenty years old at the time, signs a contract with AZ ’67, staying with that club for eleven seasons and being part of the squad which won the national title with coach George Kessler in 1981.
1976 / Coached by Rob Kramer, RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes in second place in Sunday League 2A behind champions SV Ilpendam.
1977 / Coached by Rob Kramer, RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes runners-up in Sunday League 2A for the second time running, this time having to leave the title to SVW ’27.
1978 / After nineteen years in League 2, RKSV Vitesse ’22 wins the title in Sunday League 2A with coach Rob Kramer and skipper André Vermorken; first place was conquered with less than spectacular football, the goal difference after 22 matches being 30-10 – and the season including no fewer than six goalless draws and only one defeat; the decisive point is clinched in the second-last match in a 1-1 draw with HRC. Also in 1978, the club previously having included branches for gymnastics and handball, the year 1978 sees the foundation of RKSV Vitesse 22’s softball branch – later continuing independently as groundsharers at Sportpark De Puikman as Red Stars Vitesse.
1979 / The first-ever season in League 1 ends in disappointment, as RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes second-last in Sunday League 1A, thus dropping back into League 2 immediately.
1980 / Rob Kramer leads Vitesse’s main squad to a third place in Sunday League 2A, only two points behind champions RKSV AFC ’34. Also in 1980, Sportpark De Puikman’s original set of dressing rooms, constructed in 1950-51, as well as the clubhouse, dating back to 1961, are replaced by a new building, still housing the club’s current clubhouse today (although successive renovation works were carried out in 2011 and 2018).
1985 / Eighteen-year-old Vitesse defender Johan Baltus signs a contract with AZ ’67.
1986 / Eighteen-year-old defender Michel Vonk, who had joined RKSV Vitesse ‘22’s youth academy several years previously from USVU, signs a contract with AZ, going on to have a more than respectable career as a professional league player with SVV, SVV/Dordrecht ’90, Manchester City FC, Oldham Athletic FC, and Sheffield United FC before hanging up his boots at MVV in 2001.
1988 / Returning to RKSV Vitesse ’22 after three seasons with AZ, Johan Baltus goes on to defend the black and blue of Vitesse for two years before signing a deal with ambitious Amsterdam non-league side FC Sloterplas (predecessor of the current Almere City FC) in 1990.
1989 / Coached by Antoon Gerrits, RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes runners-up in Sunday League 2A yet again, this time behind ZVV Zilvermeeuwen.
1991 / In spite of a 2-1 away defeat at Rood Wit A in the decisive last match of the season, RKSV Vitesse ’22, coached by Job Dragtsma, wins the title in Sunday League 2A due to their only remaining rivals, HRC, also suffering defeat. As such, after twelve years, Vitesse returns to Sunday League 1. Also in 1991, 21-year-old defender Arjan de Zeeuw is taken over by Telstar’s youth academy, making his debut in Telstar’s main squad one year later – and going on to have spells at English clubs Barnsley FC, Wigan Athletic FC, Portsmouth FC, and Coventry City FC, playing his last professional match in 2008.
1994 / In the best season in club history, RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes in fourth place in Sunday League 1A, missing out on the promotion play-offs, though, in which the club took part unsuccessfully in the two previous years following a fifth place in the final table.
1995 / Finishing in tenth place in Sunday League 1A, RKSV Vitesse ’22 drops out of that division after four seasons. Following five years at the helm of the club, trainer Job Dragtsma leaves the club, going on to have an interesting coaching career at AZ Reserves, Fenerbahçe SK, FC Inter Turku, and Venezuelan side Academia Puerto Cabello.
1996 / Vitesse ’22 youth player Kees Luijckx, ten years old at the time, is taken over by AZ’s youth academy, making his professional league debut for the Alkmaar side in 2006 and going on to have spells at SBV Excelsior, ADO Den Haag, NAC Breda, Roda JC Kerkrade, PAE Niki Volos, Videoton FC, SønderjyskE, and Silkeborg IF, before spending his last season at Roda JC again in 2020-21.
1998 / Finishing second-last in Sunday League 2A, Vitesse ’22, coached by Rob Kramer who returned to the club in the summer of 1997, suffers a second relegation in three years, suddenly finding itself in League 3.
1999 / Coached by Rob Kramer, RKSV Vitesse ’22 just misses out on promotion, finishing in third place in Sunday League 3A, only 1 point behind champions vv De Zouaven – and failing to clinch a spot in League 2 in the subsequent round of promotion play-offs.
2000 / Still coached by Rob Kramer, RKSV Vitesse ’22 clinches the title in Sunday League 3A with ease, obtaining the decisive points in a 1-6 away defeat at vv Hollandia-T. Also in 2000, Vitesse’s most promising player, twenty-year-old Thijs Sluijter, signs a contract with SC Heerenveen, going on to have a respectable (yet somewhat exotic) professional league career with Heracles Almelo, FK Litex Lovech, AS Trenčín, Nea Salamina Famagusta FC, FC Volendam, and Almere City FC, before withdrawing into non-league in 2012 with SV Spakenburg, and later joining vv ADO ’20.
2002 / Coached by Jos van Veelen, RKSV Vitesse ’22 is unable to avoid the drop following a thirteenth place in Sunday League 2B.
2006 / Finishing 1 point ahead of SV Vrone, RKSV Vitesse ’22 walks away with the title in Sunday League 3A, thus forcing its way back into League 2 with coach Dick-Jan Enter.
2009 / Vitesse’s youth prodigy Teun Koopmeiners, only eleven years old at the time, is taken over by AZ’s youth academy, with the midfielder eventually making his professional league debut with Jong AZ in 2016 and going on to play for AZ, Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, and the Netherlands’ national side.
2012 / Coached by John Lute, RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes in eleventh place in Sunday League 2A, having to assure itself of a prolonged stay at that level in a round of play-offs – ultimately successfully so following wins over VVS ’46 (6-4 aggregate) and IVV (10-5 aggregate).
2014 / Following a season in which the club finished second, 11 points behind champions VPV Purmersteijn, and failed to turn the ensuing promotion play-offs into a success (being knocked out in R1 by SV Nieuw Utrecht), RKSV Vitesse ’22 sees its all-time top scorer Lennert Beentjes (192 goals in eleven consecutive seasons) hanging up his boots.
2015 / With Patrick van der Fits being the club’s trainer, RKSV Vitesse ’22 reaches the last 16 of the Regional Cup (Districtsbeker), bowing out against eventual winners vv IJsselmeervogels (1-5), but finishes in eleventh place in Sunday League 2A, having to play for survival at this level in a set of play-offs. Defeating SV Westfriezen in R1, the club loses the R2 encounter with vv Kolping Boys as well as the lucky loser round against ZVV Zaanlandia – thus eventually descending into the abyss of League 3. In the following season, the club finishes in third place in Sunday League 3B, but fails to win a spot in the promotion play-offs.
2018 / RKSV Vitesse ’22 finishes fourth in Sunday League 3A with coach Everard Luijckx, being defeated in R1 of the promotion play-offs by vv Texel ’94 (3-3 away draw, losing the ensuing penalty shoot-out).
2019 / Coached by former player Thijs Sluijter, Vitesse ’22 obtains the title in District West I’s Sunday League 3B, with an equal number of points as BVV De Kennemers, but with a far superior goal difference (84-23 vs. 59-23) – the decisive point being picked up in a 1-1 draw away at SV DTS – thus managing a return to Sunday League 2 after four years.
2020 / Following the 2019-20 season, cut short by the COVID lockdown, trainer Thijs Sluijter leaves the club, signing a deal with AVV SDZ. He is succeeded at RKSV Vitesse ’22 by a duo, Pim Touber and another former professional league player, Arjan de Zeeuw.
2022 / Coached by Pim Touber and Arjan de Zeeuw, Vitesse ’22 wins the title in Sunday League 2A, 3 points ahead of vv VIOS-W, thus managing a return to League 1 after 27 seasons of not having played at that level. In the first season back in Sunday League 1A, the club finishes in fifth place, just missing out on the promotion play-offs.

Note – Main source for the information provided above is a 580 page book about RKSV Vitesse 22’s history, published on the occasion of the club’s 100th anniversary in 2022: “Vitesse ’22 100 jaar”, by Joop Hollenberg – Hans Kaandorp – Peter Levi – Peter Scheerman – Jeroen Tromp – Gé de Wit (ed. Pirola). Thanks to Joop Hollenberg for putting at my disposal a PDF copy of this monumental book.