Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv Stellendam

Sportpark Molengors, Stellendam (vv Stellendam)

Netherlands, province: South Holland = Zuid-Holland

13 IV 2024 / vv Stellendam - RKSV Halsteren (za) 4-4 / District South I, Saturday League 3B (= NL level 8)

Timeline

± 1930 / Foundation of a first football club in Stellendam on the island Goeree-Overflakkee, which takes on the name ROHDA (‘Recht Op Het Doel Af’). The founding fathers of the club find a pitch at the eastern end of Stellendam’s port, which, however, is not suitable for playing matches. Therefore, ROHDA initially sticks to playing away matches against makeshift teams from surrounding villages.
± 1933 / ROHDA settles on a more suitable pitch, Terrein Fortuinweg, a pasture in Weipolder owned by a local smallholder, Marien Lokker.
± 1934 / ROHDA takes part in a regular competition for the first time, a Sunday league against other teams from the island.
1940 / Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, ROHDA folds, ceasing all activities.
1946 / Foundation of a new football club in Stellendam, vv Stellendam, with Andries Jansen – who had also been one of the founding fathers of ROHDA – being elected as the club’s first chairman. This club settles at Terrein Oude Haven, laid out on a piece of land in Melissant, to the east of the port, owned by P.D. Sieling. The new pitch is inaugurated by Stellendam’s mayor, Mr Knobelsdorff. The club signs up for a KNVB Saturday competition, with the first home match being played against vv Goeree.
1953 / In the devastating North Sea Flood of 1953, the pitch of vv Stellendam is washed away completely. When regular league football is resumed, the club is allowed a temporary groundshare at vv Melissant.
1955 / Having groundshared at vv Melissant the previous season, vv Stellendam now settles at a newly laid out pitch, Terrein Human, situated in Adrianapolder.
1959 / Abandoning Terrein Human, vv Stellendam settles at a newly laid out municipal pitch, Terrein Molenpolder. An inaugural match is played against a team of The Hague’s fire brigade.
1972 / Clinching the title in RVB Division 1 – RVB being the so-called Rotterdamse Voetbalbond, the association organising league football in the wider Rotterdam region played below the level of KNVB League 4 – vv Stellendam accedes to District West II’s Saturday League 4 for the first time. Also in 1972, having to abandon Terrein Molenpolder, the grounds of which were sold by Stellendam’s municipal authorities, the club settles at the newly laid out Sportpark Molengors.
1981 / Finishing last in District West II’s Saturday League 4C, vv Stellendam descends into the ranks of RVB along with SC Hillegersberg ’32.
1987 / Finishing with an equal number of points in RVB Hoofdklasse as vv GOZ, vv Stellendam has to play a tie-break match against the club from Mijnsheerenland. At a chosen neutral venue, PVV Excelsior Pernis’ Sportpark De Madroel, Bram Kievit scores the only goal of the match for vv Stellendam, which thus manages a return to District West II’s Saturday League 4 after an absence of six seasons.
1988 / vv Stellendam purchases a covered stand. The construction had hitherto graced the main pitch of Rotterdam non-league club RSV HION. As HION’s ground had to make way for an expansion of the Van Brienenoord Bridge, the stand is sold to vv Stellendam by the Netherlands’ Department of Waterways and Public Works, the owner of the ground.
1989 / Rebuilt alongside the main pitch of Sportpark Molengors, the covered stand which had been brought to Stellendam from RSV HION’s former ground in Rotterdam is inaugurated with a match between vv Stellendam and Saturday League 1 side vv NSVV (2-4).
1994 / Clinching the title in District West II’s Saturday League 4C, 1 point ahead of SV Bolnes – which had been held to a 0-0 stalemate at Sportpark Molengors in an all-decisive last match of the season – vv Stellendam accedes to Saturday League 3 for the first time in club history.
1996 / Due to a reorganisation of the league pyramid, vv Stellendam, which finished in eighth place in District West II’s Saturday League 3B, is placed in Saturday League 2 for the new season, in which the club manages an excellent third place straightaway.
1998 / Finishing in third place in Saturday League 2D for the second year running, vv Stellendam qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is defeated in the final by DSVP.
2003 / Finishing in joint-first place in Saturday League 2D, with an equal number of points as Xerxes DZB, vv Stellendam has to play the Rotterdam side in a tie-break match. Winning that encounter 2-0, vv Stellendam accedes to League 1 – the second-highest tier of the Netherlands’ non-league pyramid at the time – for the first time in club history.
2004 / Finishing second-last in the club’s first – and only – season in Saturday League 1B, vv Stellendam drops back into League 2 along with bottom club vv NSVV.
2005 / Finishing in fourth place in Saturday League 2D, vv Stellendam qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by vv Lyra (6-3 aggr.).
2007 / Finishing in tenth place in Saturday League 2D, vv Stellendam ultimately drops back into League 3 after losing a set of relegation play-offs.
2008 / Finishing in tenth place in District West II’s Saturday League 3D, vv Stellendam suffers its second relegation in a row after losing a set of relegation play-offs. As such, the club finds itself in Saturday League 4 for the first time in fourteen years.
2010 / Finishing in fourth place in District West II’s Saturday League 4G, vv Stellendam qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Winning a play-off group against VVK ’68 and SV Quick Steps, the club manages a return to Saturday League 3.
2011 / Finishing in second-last place in District West II’s Saturday League 3D, vv Stellendam drops back into League 4 after just one season, along with bottom club SV Simonshaven.
2012 / Champions in District West II’s Saturday League 4F, 1 point ahead of SV DBGC, vv Stellendam manages an immediate return to League 3. The decisive point is clinched in the second-last match of the season, a 1-1 draw away at vv SNS.
2013 / Finishing in last place in District West II’s Saturday League 3D, vv Stellendam descends into League 4 for the second time in three seasons, along with vv OSV (Oud-Beijerland).
2015 / Finishing in fourth place in District West II’s Saturday League 4G, vv Stellendam qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it defeats VC Vlissingen (za) (2-2 aggr. and penalty shoot-out) to accede to League 3.
2016 / Finishing in second-last place in District South I’s Saturday League 3B, vv Stellendam drops back into League 4 along with bottom club SV DFS (Burgh-Haamstede).
2017 / Runners-up in District West II’s Saturday League 4G, 3 points behind vv Zinkwegse Boys, vv Stellendam qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by vv Hekelingen (6-2).
2023 / Runaway champions in District West II’s Saturday League 4F, 14 points ahead of closest followers vv ‘s-Gravendeel, vv Stellendam returns to League 3 after an absence of seven seasons.