Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKVV De Meer (1943-1956) / RKSV De Meer (1956-±1977) / SV De Meer (±1977-)

Sportpark Drieburg - veld 2, Amsterdam Watergraafsmeer (SV De Meer, formerly RKVV De Meer / RKSV De Meer)

Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland

14 IX 2024 / SV De Meer (za) - AFC Nautilus 4-0 / District West I, Regional Cup - group stage, group 3-14

Timeline

1918 / Foundation of a Roman-Catholic football club in Amsterdam, which takes on the name RKWV (Roomsch-Katholieke Watergraafschmeerse Voetbalvereeniging), in February 1918, with the club joining the so-called Aartsdiocesane Utrechtsche Voetbalbond (AUVB) later that year under a different name, RKVV (Roomsch-Katholieke Voetbalvereeniging) De Meer and being placed in AUVB Division 3B West for the 1918-19 season, with RKVV SDO being one of the adversaries in that competition. The club’s first pitch is situated at the back of the farmstead of the Witteveen family, Middenweg 86.
1919 / Abandoning Terrein Witteveen, RKVV De Meer moves to a newly laid-out pitch at Zaaiersweg, at the back of the farmstead owned by the Den Haan family.
1920 / Abandoning Terrein Den Haan, RKVV De Meer moves to a newly laid-out pitch on the crossroads of Kruislaan and Darwinplantsoen.
1922 / Abandoning Terrein Kruislaan, RKVV De Meer moves to a newly laid-out pitch at Middenweg (the pitch at Sportpark Voorland later taken over by SV Middenmeer). Also in 1922, after four seasons in the AUVB, RKVV De Meer switches to membership of another Roman-Catholic football association, the RKS (Roomsch-Katholieke Sportfederatie?) – and later changing its allegiance once more, joining the RKAVB (Roomsch-Katholieke Amsterdamsche Voetbalbond), a sub-branch of the DHVB (Diocesaan Haarlemsche Voetbalbond).
1924 / RKVV De Meer wins promotion to Division 1 – it remains unclear if the club was a member of the RKS or the RKAVB (DHVB) at this stage.
1940 / Having spent the two decades of its existence in three different Roman-Catholic football federations, RKVV De Meer is now constrained to make the step to the official Netherlands’ FA (KNVB, 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. For the 1940-41 season, RKVV De Meer is placed in District West I’s Sunday League 3C.
1943 / After 21 years at Terrein Middenweg, RKVV De Meer is the first club to settle on the newly laid-out Sportpark Drieburg, where it has occupied the southernmost end of the park ever since. RKVV De Meer is the first club to move into the new park, followed later in 1943 by neighbour club CSV DVVA – and in subsequent months and years by clubs such as ASC TIW, ASV Wartburgia, and JOS. In the aftermath of the war, the clubhouse, dressing rooms, as well as the two stands which had graced De Meer’s previous park at Middenweg – all made of wood and stacked away from the German oppressors during the years of occupation – are rebuilt alongside the club’s new main pitch at Sportpark Drieburg.
1951 / Finishing in last place in District West I’s Sunday League 3B, RKVV De Meer descends into Sunday League 4.
1952 / RKVV De Meer finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4E, 4 points behind champions Wilhelmina Vooruit (one of the precursors of WV-HEDW).
1956 / Following the introduction of handball and baseball branches in 1954, and a gymnastics branch one year later, all in addition to the football which had been the club’s sole sporting activity up to that point, RKVV De Meer changes its name to become RKSV (Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging) De Meer.
1963 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 4D, RKSV De Meer descends into the ranks of the AVB (Amsterdamse Voetbalbond) for the first time; the AVB organises league football in Amsterdam below the level of KNVB Sunday and Saturday League 4. Also in 1963, RKSV De Meer’s wooden clubhouse dating back to the 1930s and rebuilt at Sportpark Drieburg in the aftermath of the war, is knocked down, with the club having to make do with temporary constructions in the following three years.
1966 / Inauguration of RKSV De Meer’s new clubhouse at Sportpark Drieburg – in fact, a second-hand construction purchased from another club.
1967 / SV De Meer’s 16-year-old youth prodigy, midfielder Louis van Gaal, is taken over by AFC Ajax’s youth academy. After one season as a senior player with AFC Ajax, in which he did not play a single match (1972-73), Van Gaal goes on to have a respectable career as a professional league player with R Antwerp FC, Telstar, Sparta Rotterdam, and AZ, before hanging up his boots in 1986 and embarking on a markedly more successful second career as a coach with AZ, AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona, the Netherlands’ national team, FC Bayern München, and Manchester United FC.
1969 / Having descended into AVB Division 2 in one of the previous seasons, RKSV De Meer now wins the title in AVB Sunday Division 2B – in fact the club’s first title since 1924.
1970 / Going from strength to strength, RKSV De Meer now wins the title in AVB Sunday Division 1 as well – going on to defeat SV DVOS, the winner of the other AVB Sunday D1 branch (3-0) as well as the champion of the AVB Saturday D1 divisions, SV Brandweer in a play-off played at AVV Zeeburgia’s Sportpark Middenmeer. Apart from crowning itself AVB champions, RKSV De Meer also wins promotion to KNVB Sunday League 4 after an absence of seven years at that level.
1973 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 4F, RKSV De Meer drops back into the ranks of the AVB.
1975 / Replacing the construction erected eight years previously, RKSV De Meer’s new clubhouse at Sportpark Drieburg is inaugurated in May 1975 following building works which lasted for the best part of a year. The building, still standing today, is a design by architect W. van Dapperen.
1976 / Winning the title in AVB Sunday Division 1, RKSV De Meer manages a return to Sunday League 4.
± 1977 / Shedding the references to its past as a Roman-Catholic club, RKSV De Meer changes its name to become SV (Sportvereniging) De Meer.
1978 / Champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4E, 1 point ahead of closest followers P&T, SV De Meer wins promotion to Sunday League 3 after an absence of 27 years at that level. Also in 1978, branches for tennis and indoor football are added to the club.
1981 / Finishing in second-last position in District West I’s Sunday League 3C, SV De Meer drops back into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club ASV DJK.
1985 / SV De Meer’s Saturday team wins promotion to District West I’s Saturday League 4 for the first time. In spite of having had spells in Saturday League 3 and 4, SV De Meer has continued to be a predominantly Sunday league club, with the focus being on first team football on Sunday until the present day.
1987 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 4E, SV De Meer is retrograded to the AVB along with the club finishing second from bottom, ASV Vespucci. In the following years, De Meer even drops back further down the ladder of AVB divisions.
1990 / Former SV De Meer player Jeffrey Kooistra makes his debut as a professional league player with FC Volendam, going on to wear the colours of HFC Haarlem, SC Heerenveen, NEC, FC Groningen, Helmond Sport, and RBC Roosendaal, before hanging up his boots in 2002.
1997 / With the AVB meanwhile having been integrated into District West I’s regular divisions, SV De Meer wins its first promotion in nearly twenty years, clinching the title in Sunday League 7B and acceding to Sunday League 6.
2000 / Runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 6B, 18 points behind champions ASC Waterwijk, SV De Meer goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Sunday League 5.
2010 / Finishing in third place in District West I’s Sunday League 5F, SV De Meer qualifies for the promotion play-offs, going on to win first place in the first group stage, having the better of SV Ouderkerk and FC Amstelland. In spite of losing all three of its matches in the final round, against vv ‘t Goy, Sporting Krommenie, and SV Saestum, SV De Meer is placed in Sunday League 4 for the new season due to additional promotion places being available. It marks the return of the club at this level after an absence of 23 years.
2014 / Finishing in third place in District West I’s Sunday League 4F, SV De Meer qualifies for the play-offs, in which the club manages successive victories over ZVV Zaandijk (6-6 aggr. & penalty shoot-out) & Zuidoost United (4-1 aggr.), thus managing a return to Sunday League 3 after an absence of 33 years.
2016 / Finishing in second-last place in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, SV De Meer drops back into Sunday League 4 along with vv Brederodes and bottom club SV Aurora.
2018 / Champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4F, 2 points ahead of AVV Swift (zo), SV De Meer wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due to the first Covid lockdown in March 2020, SV De Meer finds itself in first place in District West I’s Sunday League 3C, 2 points ahead of closest rivals ZSGOWMS, after 17 of 26 matches. As such, the club accedes in Sunday League 2 for the first time in club history. Also in 2020, the extension of SV De Meer’s 1970s clubhouse, a design by architect Naomi Felder – works on which took four years to complete – is inaugurated.
2022 / In the first full post-COVID season, SV De Meer wins the title in Sunday League 2B, finishing with an equal number of points as runners-up IVV, but with a slightly better goal difference (+46 vs. +43), meaning that the club achieves a historic promotion to Sunday League 1.
2023 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 1A, SV De Meer drops back into Sunday League 2 after just one season, along with vv Assendelft and FC Uitgeest.

Note – Much of the information above has been derived from the booklet ‘De Meer. Een polder – een club’, written by Lenie Witteveen / Ria Keet / Ton Copier / Joseph van Vuuren / Erik Handgraaf, and published on the occasion of RKVV De Meer’s 75th anniversary in 1993.