Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv Zwart-Wit '63

Gemeentelijk Sportpark Parkweg, Harderwijk (vv Zwart-Wit '63)

Netherlands, province: Guelders = Gelderland

8 VI 2024 / vv Zwart-Wit '63 - KSV BWO 1-4 / District East, Saturday Leagues 2 & 3 - promotion-relegation play-off (= NL levels 7 & 8)

Timeline

1963 / Foundation of a football club in Harderwijk, vv Zwart-Wit ’63. The club, which joined Saturday league football, settles at Terrein Groentjesweg.
1965 / Having played at Terrein Groentjesweg for two years, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 settles at the newly laid-out Gemeentelijk Sportpark Parkweg, where the club has been home ever since – with the location of the main pitch also having been the same from 1965 until the present day.
1985 / A two-storey clubhouse – with a canteen on the top floor – is added to the set-up at Sportpark Parkweg.
1996 / Never having climbed out of the Saturday divisions of Afdeling Gelderland (a.k.a. Gelderse Voetbalbond, GVB), the association in Guelders organising football below the level of KNVB Saturday and Sunday Leagues 4, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 now takes advantage of a general restructuration of the Netherlands’ non-league football, which sees all local district leagues, including Afdeling Gelderland, being absorbed into the regular KNVB divisions; as such, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 is placed in KNVB Central District’s Saturday League 3D – the Central District (or District Midden in Dutch) being a newly created (and short-lived) football creation – with the club being allowed to skip Saturday League 4 due to the Central District having a shortage of teams as compared to the other districts.
1997 / Clinching the title in the Central District’s Saturday League 3D, 6 points ahead of closest rivals vv De Merino’s, in the club’s first-ever season at this level, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 wins promotion to Saturday League 2.
1999 / In spite of a more than respectable third place finish in the Central District’s Saturday League 2B in the previous season, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 now finds itself second-from-bottom in the final ranking in that same division, thus dropping back into League 3 along with bottom club VVOP.
2001 / Champions in the Central District’s Saturday League 3D, an impressive 13 points ahead of closest followers SV Candia ’66, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 finds its way back to League 2.
2002 / Clinching its second title in a row, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 finishes in first place in Saturday League 2I, 1 point ahead of closest rivals IJVV, thus winning a historic promotion to Saturday League 1, the second-highest level in the Saturday league pyramid at that time.
2003 / Bottom of the table in Saturday League 1D, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 drops back into Saturday League 2 after just one season, along with second-last finishers Elburger SC. Also in 2003, a covered stand is added to the set-up at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Parkweg, with the structure forming one construction with the clubhouse which had been erected eighteen years previously.
2010 / Finishing in third place in Saturday League 2I, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 wins direct promotion to Saturday League 1 due to extra promotion places being available following the introduction of a Zaterdag Topklasse as the new top division of the Saturday league pyramid.
2011 / In the best season in club history, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 finishes in eighth place in Saturday League 1D.
2012 / Finishing second-last in Saturday League 1D, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 drops back into League 2 after two seasons, along with bottom club CVV Be Quick ’28.
2013 / Finishing third from bottom in Saturday League 2G, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 suffers its second relegation in a row due to an unsuccessful round of play-offs, thus descending into League 3 along with direct drop-outs SV ‘t Harde and SV Excelsior.
2014 / The main pitch of Gemeentelijk Sportpark Parkweg is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2020 / vv Zwart-Wit ’63 finds itself in second place in District East’s Saturday League 3B after 17 of 26 matches played, 3 points behind leaders vv Blauw Geel ’55, but is denied the opportunity to fight for promotion as the 2019-20 season is broken off in March 2020 due to the Covid lockdown.
2024 / Finishing runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 3C, 7 points behind champions vv Zeewolde, vv Zwart-Wit ’63 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, drawing a bye in R1 and defeating SV De Paasberg in R2 (6-1), but being eliminated by League 2 club KSV BWO in the semi-final (1-4) – and thus missing out on promotion to Saturday League 2.