Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: SV Wippolder

Sportpark Pauwmolen, Delft (SV Wippolder)

Netherlands, province: South Holland = Zuid-Holland

19 VI 2024 / SV Wippolder - SV DZC '68 1-6 / Combined Sunday & Saturday Leagues 1 - lucky loser promotion play-off semi (= NL level 6)

Timeline

1914 / Foundation of a football club in Delft, which is given the long-winding name Delftsche Voetbalvereeniging ‘Harmenkokslaansche Voetbalvereeniging’, abbreviated as dvv HVV or simply HVV. The club, originating from recreative football being played by boys from the same street, taking on makeshift teams from other parts of Delft, includes Steef van der Berg, Dirk van Manen, Joop Simmers, Rinus Grensveld, Gerard Peters, and Johan van Manen among its founding fathers. HVV settles at Terrein Schietbaan for its home matches.
1916 / Having changed its name to DVV Hollandia to avoid confusion with the older football club HVV (Haagsche Voetbalvereeniging) from nearby The Hague, the club first enters the so-called Delftsche Competitie, a sub-branch of the Haagsche Voetbalbond (HVB) – which in itself constituted a sub-branch of the official Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB). By that time, DVV Hollandia had probably already changed grounds, moving from Terrein Schietbaan to Terrein Het Haantje. In the years leading up to World War II, the club made several more ground moves, successively playing at Terrein Engelsestraat, Terrein Abtswoudseweg, Terrein Laan van Vollering, and Terrein Laan van Altena.
1918 / Undefeated champions in Division 2 of the Delftsche Competitie, DVV Hollandia wins promotion to Division 1 of the same league association.
1919 / Undefeated champions in Division 1 of the Delftsche Competitie, DVV Hollandia wins promotion to the ranks of the Haagsche Voetbalbond. For reasons unclear, the club is forced by football authorities to make another name change – becoming OB (Onderling Bevriend).
1924 / Following successive titles in HVB Divisions 2 and 1, OB wins promotion to NVB League 4 for the first time.
1925 / Champions in District West II’s League 4A, with the brothers Jan, Koos, and Henk Priem forming the backbone of the team, OB subsequently loses the promotion match against 4B champions DCL, with accession to Sunday League 3 thus eluding the club. OB goes on to be a stable factor in (Sunday) League 4 for the following two decades.
1945 / OB absorbs the membership of folding club vv Wit Blauw (year of foundation unknown, called Trekvogels until 1935), marking the occasion by changing its name to become Sportvereniging (SV) Wippolder.
1946 / Abandoning Terrein Laan van Altena, SV Wippolder settles at the newly laid-out Terrein Nassaulaan, which is inaugurated in October 1946 with a gala match between HFC EDO and SC Neptunus.
1947 / Finishing in tenth and last place in District West II’s Sunday League 4D with only 5 points from the entire season, SV Wippolder descends into HVB Division 1, 23 years after OB last played at that level.
± 1950 / As Terrein Nassaulaan has to make way for housing, SV Wippolder moves to a temporary ground (location unknown), while a new park is being laid out for the club at Zuidplantsoen.
1951 / SV Wippolder moves into the newly laid-out Terrein Zuidplantsoen in July 1951.
1952 / SV Wippolder is relegated from HVB Division 1, descending into Division 2 of that same league system.
1961 / After nine years in HVB Division 2, SV Wippolder manages a return to Division 1 of that same league system.
1963 / Winning the title in HVB Division 1, SV Wippolder accedes to Sunday League 4, sixteen years after last having played at that level. In the following season, the club manages a respectable fourth place in District West II’s Sunday League 4C.
1966 / A baseball club, WHV (Wippolder Honkbalvereniging) The Blue Birds, is founded under the aegis of SV Wippolder.
1968 / Moving away from Terrein Zuidplantsoen after seventeen years, SV Wippolder moves into the newly laid-out Sportpark Oude Laan at Schoemakerstraat. The clubhouse is designed by H. Gabeler.
1970 / WHV The Blue Birds breaks away from SV Wippolder, taking on the name HV Blue Birds.
1975 / Finishing last in District West II’s Sunday League 4B, SV Wippolder descends into HVB Hoofdklasse, the new top division of the Haagse Voetbalbond.
1977 / SV Wippolder suffers relegation from HVB Hoofdklasse, thus finding itself in Division 1 of that same league system – managing a return to Hoofdklasse in one of the following five seasons.
1983 / Conquering the title in HVB Hoofdklasse following a 3-0 defeat of RSV De Flamingo’s, SV Wippolder, coached by Martin Stoelinga, wins promotion to Sunday League 4.
1984 / The clubhouse of Sportpark Oude Laan, in part constructed in wood, is consumed in a fire in January 1984. Later that year, Martin Stoelinga’s men manage a shock result in the Regional Cup (Districtsbeker) by defeating Feyenoord Reserves – including the likes of Stanley Brard, Gert van Hanegem, Cees Spaans, Michel Marree, Ruud Brood, and Frans van der Heide – 4-1, with Wippolder’s goals being scored by Ben Ouwersloot, Leo Mulder (2), and Frans van Velsen.
1987 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 4D, 7 points ahead of closest followers vv Schipluiden, SV Wippolder – still coached by Martin Stoelinga – wins promotion to Sunday League 3 for the first time in club history. In the following season, the club manages an excellent third place in Sunday League 3B.
1994 / Having managed in third place in District West II’s Sunday League 3 the previous season, SV Wippolder now finishes last in that same division, thus dropping back into League 4 along with KRSV Vredenburch.
1995 / Runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 4D, 2 points behind vv Hoek van Holland, SV Wippolder fails to win promotion in the subsequent round of play-offs.
1996 / After a spell of 28 years at Sportpark Oude Laan, which has to make way for an extension of the Delft University of Technology, SV Wippolder moves into the newly laid-out Sportpark Pauwmolen, consisting of three pitches, and situated at the far east of Delft’s city borders, in the new Emerald neighbourhood, bordering the village of Delfgauw (belonging to the municipality of Pijnacker).
2010 / Finishing in fourth place in District West II’s Sunday League 4A, SV Wippolder qualifies for the play-offs; successively defeating Stompwijk ’92 (4-2 aggr.) and RKVV Meerburg (0-1), the club manages a return to Sunday League 3 after an absence of sixteen seasons.
2011 / Bottom of the table in District West II’s Sunday League 3C, SV Wippolder suffers relegation back into League 4 after just one year, along with second-from-bottom club HSV Escamp.
2014 / Finishing in third place in District West II’s Sunday League 4C, 4 points behind champions SC REMO, SV Wippolder qualifies for the play-offs, in which a defeat of vv Kethel Spaland (5-1 aggr.) is sufficient to win promotion to Sunday League 3. Also in 2014, SV Wippolder’s main pitch is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2016 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3B, 5 points ahead of closest followers SV Den Hoorn, SV Wippolder wins promotion to Sunday League 2 for the first time in club history.
2022 / Champions in Sunday League 2D, 2 points ahead of closest followers HVV, SV Wippolder wins promotion to Sunday League 1 for the first time in club history – but, due to the abolition of Sunday league football in District West II following the 2021-22 season, the club is placed in Saturday League 1B.
2023 / In its first season in Saturday League 1B, SV Wippolder manages a respectable second place, 6 points behind champions SV DSO. In the promotion play-offs for a ticket to National Division 4, the club draws a bye in R1, going on to defeat vv WNC in R2 (3-2), but being eliminated by RVVH in R3 (4-2).
2024 / Finishing in sixth place in Combined Saturday & Sunday League 1C, SV Wippolder qualifies for the promotion play-offs for a second year running, successively eliminating SC Susteren (0-1) and vv Bennekom (3-1) to qualify for the final at Zaltbommel’s Sportpark De Watertoren, in which it suffers a last-minute 1-0 defeat at the hands of SV Valkenswaard. Due to an extra promotion place being available following the decision of SV OSS ’20 to withdraw from national league football, a lucky loser play-off round is organised, in which SV Wippolder defeats vv SHO in R1 (4-1), but suffers elimination at the hands of SV DZC ’68 in the semi-final (1-6).