Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv STA (1974-1996) / vv 't Klooster (1974-1996) / FC Ter Apel '96 (1996-)

Sportpark 't Heem, Ter Apel (FC Ter Apel '96, formerly vv STA / vv 't Klooster)

Netherlands, province: Groningen

17 II 2024 / FC Ter Apel '96 - SC Zwartemeerse Boys 3-1 / District North, Sunday League 4D (= NL level 9)

Timeline

± 1908 / Foundation of a first football club in Ter Apel, which takes on the name TVC (Terapelsche Voetbalclub). This club’s pitch is situated at the back of Café Job Schot.
1913 / Not having joined any league association in the previous years, TVC now becomes one of the founding members of the so-called Veenkoloniale Voetbalbond (VVB), a league of clubs from the eastern halves of the provinces of Drenthe and Groningen not affiliated to the official Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB). The club’s first official match under the auspices of the VVB is played against Phoenix from nearby Musselkanaal.
1919 / Foundation of a sports club in Ter Apel which takes on the name STA (Sportclub Ter Apel), with a local schoolmaster, Mr De Vroome, and lieutenant Willems being the driving forces behind the fledgling club, which comprises branches for gymnastics, athletics, netball, and football. For the moment, STA does not join the ranks of the NVB or VVB. The club’s home ground is situated at the back of Hotel Het Boschhuis at Boschlaan.
1920 / Probably, TVC joined STA in the course of 1920, though continuing to play football under its own name for three more years.
1921 / Moving away from Terrein Boschlaan, STA settles at a new ground situated at Schotslaan. Also in 1921, TVC clinches the title in VVB Division 1 with an advantage of 6 points over its closest followers.
1922 / Foundation of a short-lived football club in the hamlet of Ter Apelkanaal, just to the north of Ter Apel proper, which takes on the name TVV, but folds just one year later.
1923 / With TVC having withdrawn from VVB in the fall of 1922, its place is taken from early 1923 onwards by STA – leading to the inevitable conclusion that TVC had allowed itself to be absorbed by STA. Allegedly, a local schoolmaster, Mr Lukkien, was instrumental in bringing about the final merger between STA and TVC.
1924 / Between 1924 and 1934, STA’s football branch must have broken away from the mother club, taking on the new name vv STA.
1925 / After two years of playing in the Veenkoloniale Voetbalbond, STA (or vv STA) joins the regular Netherlands’ FA, joining the Groninger Voetbalbond (GVB) in November 1925 and playing its first official match against a club from Foxhol.
1928 / Although further details are not available, STA (or vv STA) absorbs another local football club called TAB (Ter Apelsche Boys?).
1932 / Foundation of a second short-lived football club in the hamlet of Ter Apelkanaal, which takes on the name TSV, but folds just one year later.
1944 / Although Ter Apel is situated in the province of Groningen, vv STA decides to leave the GVB to join Drenthe’s NVB branch, DVB (Drentsche Voetbalbond) – remaining a member of this league association until its disbandment in 1996.
1945 / Following the end of World War II, vv STA is placed in KNVB District North’s Sunday League 3 – at that time the lowest division in District North above the ranks of the provincial football associations.
1946 / Finishing in joint-first place in District North’s Sunday League 3I with CVV Germanicus, vv STA takes on the club from Coevorden in a tie-break match, in which it suffers a 3-1 defeat – and thus missing out on the promotion matches as well.
1953 / Foundation of a football club for Ter Apel’s protestant community, vv ‘t Klooster. From the outset, vv ‘t Klooster, which joins DVB’s Saturday league pyramid, shares Terrein Schotslaan with vv STA.
1955 / Abandoning Terrein Schotslaan, vv STA and vv ‘t Klooster move into the newly laid-out Gemeentelijk Sportpark Mansholtpark, situated at the back of the local secondary school.
1956 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 3C, vv STA descends into District North’s Sunday League 4.
1959 / Clinching the title in Sunday League 4E, vv STA fails to win promotion to League 3 in the subsequent round of promotion play-offs.
1960 / After five years without any facilities of the kind, Gemeentelijk Sportpark Mansholtpark is equipped with a set of changing rooms – with floodlights being added to the set-up two years later.
1964 / Finishing in joint-first place in District North’s Sunday League 4H with vv SVBO, vv STA takes on the club from Barger-Oosterveld in a tie-break match, played at the old Emmersportpark in Emmen (also referred to as Gemeentelijk Sportpark Emmen), where it suffers a 1-0 defeat – and thus missing out on promotion to League 3 as well.
1974 / Abandoning Gemeentelijk Sportpark Mansholtpark, vv STA and vv ‘t Klooster move into their newly laid-out ground, Sportpark ‘t Heem, situated at the northern end of the village – with the first official matches taking place here in October 1974. Originally, the plans for the park involved the football clubs sharing the grounds with NATO, who were planning to build a depot here. Eventually, the North-Atlantic Alliance never moved to the park, instead building their depot in 1985 at Ter Apelervenen, to the west of the village. As a result, the sports park eventually comprised no fewer than eight (!) football pitches.
1975 / Finishing ahead of closest rivals vv Emmerschans and vv Valthermond, vv STA clinches the title in Sunday League 4F, thus managing a return to League 3 after an absence of nineteen seasons.
1977 / The decisive defeat being incurred against vv HSC, vv STA suffers relegation from Sunday League 3B after having played two years at that level.
1979 / Former vv STA player Jos Heijne, who had left the club at age 17 to play for vv Musselkanaal three years previously, signs a contract with professional league side SC Heerenveen. Heijne goes on to wear the blue-and-white stripes of the Frisian side for five seasons before bowing out into non-league with SC Stadskanaal (1984-88), vv Musselkanaal (1988-90), and vv STA (1990-92).
1980 / Winning the title in DVB Division 1, vv ‘t Klooster wins promotion to KNVB District North’s Saturday League 4 for the first time. The stay at this level is short-lived, though, with relegation following after just one season in 1981.
1983 / Clinching the title in DVB Division 1, vv ‘t Klooster manages a return to Saturday League 4 after an absence of two years. Also in 1983, 20-year-old vv STA striker Harris Huizingh, who was the club’s top scorer that season with 14 goals, leaves the club to sign an amateur contract with professional league side FC Groningen. Huizingh goes on to have an impressive career with FC Groningen (1983-86, 1990-99), SC Veendam (1986-90), and SC Heerenveen (1999-2001), even reaching the Champions League with the last-mentioned club. After hanging up his boots, Huizingh, no doubt the best player in the history of football in Ter Apel, has spells as coach at BV Veendam (assistant: 2009-11), SV Mussel (2010-11), vv SJS (2011-14), and vv Valthermond (2014-17).
1986 / Led by player-coach Bert Oldenburger, vv STA conquers the title in District North’s Sunday League 4H, clinching the decisive points in a 2-4 away win at vv Titan (goals by Herman Suelmann, Herman Kuhl, and Herman Wortelboer (2)); as such, the club manages a return to Sunday League 3 after nine years. Also in 1986, vv ‘t Klooster wins the title in District North’s Saturday League 4D, thereby acceding to Saturday League 3 for the first time in club history.
1990 / Finishing last in Sunday League 3D, vv STA drops back into Sunday League 4 after four seasons.
1992 / Runners-up in Sunday League 4G with trainer Jack Geerdes, vv STA qualifies for the promotion play-offs, reaching the final, played at vv Weerdinge’s Sportpark De Luwte, where the club takes on DVC ’59; the match finishes 1-1 A.E.T. (STA’s goal by Gert Hofkamp), with STA winning the penalty shoot-out 3-0 (penalties scored by Kenneth Osayende, Gerard de Vries, and Klaas Dubben) to win promotion to Sunday League 3.
1993 / Runners-up in Saturday League 3B, vv ‘t Klooster manages an unprecedented promotion to Saturday League 2 following a successful round of promotion play-offs. The stay at this level is short-lived, though, with relegation following immediately in 1994. Also in 1993, vv STA drops back into League 4 after just one year (along with SV Twedo and SV Zwartemeerse Boys), with the decisive defeat being incurred at vv Schoonebeek (7-0).
1996 / Eventually, after more than two decades of fruitless talks, a merger is concluded between vv STA and vv ‘t Klooster, resulting in the foundation of FC Ter Apel ’96. In its last year as an independent club, vv STA wins the title in District North’s Sunday League 4G. Meanwhile, vv ‘t Klooster narrowly saves its skin in Saturday League 3B. As such, the new merger club at Sportpark ‘t Heem starts its life with two League 3 teams, one in the Sunday League pyramid, the other in the Saturday leagues.
1997 / Finishing in twelfth place in Sunday League 3D, FC Ter Apel ‘96’s Sunday team descends into League 4 in its first season.
1998 / FC Ter Apel ’96 withdraws its Saturday team from regular league football. A new Saturday team is formed, starting its life in Saturday League 7, several years later, but its subsequent role in club history remains insignificant.
2000 / Title winners in Sunday League 4E, FC Ter Apel ‘96’s Sunday team manages a return to League 3 after an absence of three seasons. Also in 2000, one of the eight pitches at Sportpark ‘t Heem is laid out anew to house three mini-pitches for youth football – the so-called Jeugdstadion or, in English, Youth Stadium - in fact the first of its kind in the Netherlands.
2003 / Following two relegations in a row, FC Ter Apel ’96 suddenly finds itself in League 5.
2004 / Winning the title in Sunday League 5E, FC Ter Apel ’96 accedes to Sunday League 4.
2005 / Runners-up in Sunday League 4E, FC Ter Apel ’96 wins the subsequent round of promotion play-offs, thus securing a second promotion in a row and acceding to Sunday League 3.
2006 / Coached by Gert Aalderink, FC Ter Apel ’96 finishes in third place in Sunday League 3A, winning the subsequent round of promotion play-offs to secure a third promotion in a row and accede to Sunday League 2 for the first time in the history of football in Ter Apel.
2007 / Coached by Gert Aalderink, FC Ter Apel ’96 clinches the title in Sunday League 2K, thus winning an unprecedented promotion to Sunday League 1.
2008 / Coached by Gert Aalderink, FC Ter Apel ’96 finishes in twelfth and last place in Sunday League 1F, thus dropping back into Sunday League 2 after just one season.
2009 / FC Ter Apel ’96 finishes in eleventh place in Sunday League 2L, thus suffering its second relegation in a row and dropping back into Sunday League 3.
2011 / Finishing 6 points ahead of closest rivals vv Wildervank, FC Ter Apel ’96 conquers the title in Sunday League 3C, thus managing a return to Sunday League 2 after two years. Also in 2011, the main pitch at Sportpark ‘t Heem is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2013 / Finishing fourteenth and last in Sunday League 2L, FC Ter Apel ’96 suffers relegation to League 3 along with vv ZBC, vv Valthermond, and derby rivals vv Musselkanaal.
2014 / Finishing fourteenth and last in Sunday League 3D, FC Ter Apel ’96 suffers a second relegation in a row – dropping back into League 4 along with SC Stadskanaal, with vv ZBC, which finished on an equal number of points as Ter Apel and Stadskanaal, narrowly saving its skin on goal difference.
2015 / Finishing 10 points behind champions SC Stadskanaal, FC Ter Apel ’96 finishes in third place in Sunday League 4D, securing promotion to League 3 via the promotion play-offs – defeating vv Sweel in the final. Also in 2015, FC Ter Apel ’96 withdraws its Saturday team from regular league football for the last time – eventually winding up its Saturday branch in 2022.
2016 / Finishing in eleventh place in District North’s Sunday League 3D, FC Ter Apel ’96 eventually secures its stay at this level in a round of promotion-relegation play-offs, defeating (yet again) vv Sweel in the final (3-2 aggregate score).
2019 / Runners-up in Sunday League 3C, 6 points behind champions WKE ’16, FC Ter Apel ’96 qualifies for the promotion play-offs; defeating vv Oldeholtpade in the semi-final (4-3 A.E.T.), the club eventually goes under in the final against vv Dalen (3-5, match played at vv HOVC’s Harm Kuiper Sportpark).
2023 / FC Ter Apel ’96 finishes in ninth place in Sunday League 3D, having to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs to secure a prolonged stay at that level. Defeating vv ZNC in the semi-final (4-2), the club qualifies for the final, played at Achilles 1894’s Sportpark Marsdijk in Assen, where the club incurs a 3-1 defeat at the hands of vv De Blesse. As such, FC Ter Apel ’96 drops back into Sunday League 4 after seven years.

Note 1 – Important parts of the information above were derived from the publication ‘STA eens even stil bij 75 jaar STA uit Ter Apel’, compiled by Dolf Klok on the occasion of vv STA’s 75th anniversary (ed. Abbes-Hummel: Nieuw-Weerdinge 1994)

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-4 = non-matchday visit, July 2018 / pictures 5-14 = match visit, February 2024