Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKSV Laar

Sportpark Laarderveld, Weert (RKSV Laar, commonly known as "SV Laar")

Netherlands, province: Limburg

27 X 2024 / RKSV Laar - RKVV EVV 3-3 (EVV wins penalty shoot-out: 1-4) / District South II, Regional Cup R1

Timeline

1935 / Foundation of a football club in the hamlet of Laar, just to the north of Weert in the Netherlands’ part of Limburg. The new club, which is given the name RKLSV (Rooms-Katholieke Laarder Sportvereniging), joins Roman-Catholic league association RKF (Rooms-Katholieke Federatie), playing in the Limburg sub-branch of this federation, the so-called RKLVB. It is unknown where RKLSV’s first pitch was situated, most probably on a location in Laar proper. It is clear, though, that the club moved away from Laar early on in its history, settling at Terrein Overmans, at the back of Café De Halve Maan. Café De Halve Maan, owned by Wullem Overmans, was situated at Helmondseweg in Weert – on the location now occupied by transportation company Van den Boom.
1940 / Having spent the first five years of its existence in the ranks of Roman-Catholic league association RKF, RKLSV 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, the club is placed in the ranks of the so-called Limburgse Voetbalbond (LVB), the association organising football in the Province of Limburg below the level of KNVB (Sunday) League 4 – more specifically in LVB (Sunday) Division 2L.
1941 / RKLSV adapts its name to become RKSV (Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging) Laar – probably at the behest of NVB authorities due to a club in Leerdam with older rights (founded in 1890) already using the acronym LSV.
1943 / Runners-up in LVB Division 2O, RKSV Laar wins promotion to LVB Division 1.
1952 / Finishing in ninth place in LVB Division 1H, RKSV Laar drops back into LVB Division 2.
1953 / Champions in LVB Division 2O, RKSV Laar manages an immediate return to LVB Division 1.
1954 / Champions in LVB Division 1I, RKSV Laar wins its second promotion in a row, acceding to KNVB (Sunday) League 4 for the first time in club history.
1957 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 4E, 2 points ahead of runners-up RKVV Koningsbosch, RKSV Laar wins promotion to Sunday League 3 for the first time.
1965 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, 2 points ahead of closest followers RKVV Obbicht, RKSV Laar accedes to Sunday League 2 for the first time.
1966 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South II’s Sunday League 2B, RKSV Laar drops back into Sunday League 3 after just one season.
1972 / Finishing in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, RKSV Laar is retrograded to Sunday League 4 along with bottom club MHD.
1973 / An exchange programme is held between RKSV Laar and English non-league club Manor Athletic FC for the first time – with delegations from one club travelling to the other alternately each summer for the best part of the following thirty years.
1975 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 4F, 4 points ahead of closest rivals SVVH, RKSV Laar wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
1976 / Finishing in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, RKSV Laar drops back into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club RKSV Merefeldia.
± 1983 / Moving away from Terrein Overmans at Helmondseweg, RKSV Laar settles at the newly laid-out Sportpark Laarderveld, situated in the Molenakker neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Weert. The small covered stand, which still graces the main pitch today, was part of the setup from the outset.
1984 / Finishing in joint last position in District South II’s Sunday League 4F with RKSVW, RKSV Laar only stays up after winning a tie-break match against the club from Wessem.
1985 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South II’s Sunday League 4F, RKSV Laar descends into the ranks of the LVB after 31 years, along with the side finishing second from bottom, SC Leeuwen.
1994 / Finishing in fifth place in LVB Division 1F, RKSV Laar either wins promotion to LVB Hoofdklasse via the play-offs or is placed in that division due to it being newly created – no information regarding this is available. LVB Hoofdklasse is the new top division of the LVB, directly below Sunday League 4.
1995 / Finishing bottom of the table in LVB Hoofdklasse D, RKSV Laar drops back into LVB Division 1.
1996 / Champions in LVB Division 1D, RKSV Laar is placed in the newly created District South II’s Sunday League 5. In 1996, all local sub-branches of the Netherlands’ Football Association KNVB are abolished, with all clubs being incorporated into the regular district leagues.
2001 / Coached by Wim Vaessen, RKSV Laar finishes in seventh place in District South II’s Sunday League 5C, ultimately winning promotion to Sunday League 4 in the play-offs.
2002 / Still coached by Wim Vaessen, RKSV Laar is unable to cope with the level of Sunday League 4, finishing in twelfth place in District South II’s Sunday League 4E and dropping back into League 5 along with the clubs finishing in the two last places, SV Leveroy and vv Koningslust.
2009 / RKSV Laar – by now almost universally referred to as SV Laar – finishes as runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 5D, 4 points behind champions SC Leeuwen, with the door to League 4 being barred in the subsequent round of promotion play-offs.
± 2010 / The main pitch of SV Laar’s Sportpark Laarderveld is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2011 / Runaway champions in District South II’s Sunday League 5D, 10 points ahead of closest rivals RKSV Haelen, RKSV Laar wins promotion to Sunday League 4 after an absence of nine years at that level.
2014 / Coached by Gerard Hölzken, RKSV Laar clinches the title in District South II’s Sunday League 4E, 7 points ahead of runners-up vv Maarheeze, thus winning promotion to Sunday League 3 after an absence of 38 years at that level.
2015 / Still coached by Gerard Hölzken, RKSV Laar manages a fourth place in its first season in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, qualifying for the play-offs, in which the club successively knocks out SV Rood Wit ’62 (6-2 aggr.) and Sportclub Irene (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out). As such, SV Laar wins its second promotion in a row, finding itself in Sunday League 2 for the first time in 49 (!) years.
2016 / As on the previous occasion, in the 1965-66 season, RKSV Laar suffers relegation from the League 2 level after just one season – with the club, coached by Eric Caasenbrood, finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 2F and dropping back into League 3 along with PSV AV and RKSV Braakhuizen.
2017 / Finishing in fifth place in District South II’s Sunday League 3B, RKSV Laar qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by Sporting Heerlen (5-4 aggr.).
2019 / Coached by Danny Pala, RKSV Laar finishes in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, dropping back into League 4 along with bottom club SC Oranje Zwart Helmond, which had withdrawn its first team shortly after the start of the season, folding subsequently.
2022 / Coached by Gionni Peluso, RKSV Laar clinches the title in District South II’s Sunday League 4D, winning all of its 26 matches (goal difference: +124) and finishing 16 points ahead of runners-up vv Maarheeze. As such, the club wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
2023 / With Gionni Peluso still in charge of the first team, RKSV Laar wins its second title in a row, finishing in first place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, 32 (!) points ahead of closest ‘followers’, derby rivals RKSV Merefeldia. Yet again, the club remains unbeaten all season, with 25 wins and one draw (goal difference: +70). As such, the club manages a return to Sunday League 2. On October 12th, 2023, after staying unbeaten for a staggering spell of two years and nine months (partly the result of two COVID lockdowns), RKSV Laar loses its away match at RKVV Reusel Sport (3-2), ending a streak of 57 matches without a defeat – thereby breaking a record of unbeaten matches previously held by former national league side SVV (55 matches).
2024 / Still coached by Gionni Peluso, RKSV Laar finishes in third place in its first season in Sunday League 2D, thereby qualifying for the promotion play-offs. In those play-offs, the club manages successive victories over vv Moerse Boys (0-2) and vv Oirschot Vooruit (1-4), thereby reaching the final, played at a neutral venue (SV VOAB’s Sportpark Van den Wildenberg in Goirle) against RKSV Cluzona – going on to defeat the club from Wouw as well, 1-2. As a result, SV Laar accedes to Sunday League 1 for the first time in club history.