Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv De Blesse

Sportpark De Berk, De Blesse (vv De Blesse)

Netherlands, province: Frisia = Friesland

30 XI 2024 / vv De Blesse - FC Oldemarkt 0-3 / District North, Sunday League 4A (= NL level 9)

Timeline

1926 / Foundation of a first football club in the vicinity of De Blesse – in the hamlet of Steggerda, some 3km eastwards. The new club joins the Friesche Voetbalbond (FVB), the league association organising football in Frisia below the level of (K)NVB Sunday League 3 (a Sunday League 4 only becomes part of District North’s football pyramid after World War II), with the name ROHDA (Recht Op Het Doel Aan). A football is put at the disposal of the boys of the club by the village priest, Fr Buve, on the condition that they are back in time from their matches for the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 3pm on Sundays. The club’s first pitch is situated at the back of Café Bouma, Kerklaan.
± 1927 / Moving away from the pitch at the back of Café Bouma, ROHDA settles on a newly laid-out pitch on a piece of farmland at Bovenweg, put at the disposal of the club by a local smallholder, Mr Vonk, in return for half a box of cigars per annum.
1929 / After three years, ROHDA folds, ceasing all activities. Some of the remaining players join clubs in villages nearby.
1931 / Foundation of a club in De Blesse proper, which is given the name BVC (Blesser Voetbalclub), with Herman de Vent being chosen as the new club’s first chairman. The club’s first pitch is situated on a plot of farmland put at the disposal of the club by one of the founding members, Arp Brouwer, at Steenwijkerweg. Upon joining the FVB in mid-1931, the club is placed in FVB Division 3E.
1933 / BVC wins promotion to FVB Division 2. Also in 1933 – although another source gives 1932 as the correct year – BVC changes its name to become vv De Blesse. Meanwhile, a successor club of ROHDA in Steggerda has been founded as well (name unknown), but it must have been a short-lived affair.
± 1934 / Moving away from Terrein Arp Brouwer, vv De Blesse settles on a newly laid-out pitch on a plot of farmland put at the club’s disposal by the Ten Berge family, at the back of Café Van Wijlandt. In the following two decades, the club has to move around from one makeshift pitch to the other, with two of the locations mentioned being Terrein Mulder at Konijnenbergen, Terrein Hendrik Dedden at Bovenweg (not far from Overburen), which is rented to the club in exchange for one bag of fertiliser per annum).
1935 / In FVB Division 2, vv De Blesse finishes as joint runners-up with vv Oosterstreek, behind champions vv Mildam. A tie-break match is organised between the two clubs for one extra place in FVB Division 1. In this match, organised on the pitch of DOG in Wolvega, vv De Blesse achieves an emphatic 9-1 win, resulting in the club acceding to FVB Division 1 for the first time. Also in 1935, vv De Blesse wins the FVB Cup, defeating vv GAVC in the final (played in De Blesse), 2-1.
1938 / Finishing bottom of the table in FVB Division 1, vv De Blesse drops back into FVB Division 2 after three seasons. In one of the seasons between 1939 and 1946, the club must have managed a return to FVB (Sunday) Division 1, but no information is available on this matter.
1947 / Champions in FVB Sunday Division 1, vv De Blesse wins promotion to KNVB District North’s Sunday League 4 for the first time. The decisive points are clinched in a 2-0 away win at vv Oldeboorn.
1955 / With vv De Blesse having had to change grounds at least half a dozen of times since the club’s foundation, the club’s board decides to purchase a plot of land instead of renting it – to avoid the risk of being thrown out at short notice for the umpteenth time. A piece of farmland at Steenwijkerweg is found and bought from a local smallholder, Mr Lubek. Somewhat later (year unknown), an adjacent piece of land is bought from Mr Berkenbosch, resulting in the club having the opportunity to lay out a second pitch.
1957 / A first wooden dressing room is put in place at Terrein Steenwijkerweg, replacing the sheep pen having served as such for the past two seasons.
1960 / Finishing in last place in District North’s Sunday League 4B, vv De Blesse drops back into FVB Division 1.
1961 / Finishing in last place in FVB Sunday Division 1B, vv De Blesse suffers its second relegation in a row, descending into FVB Division 2.
1962 / Champions in FVB Sunday Division 2B, vv De Blesse manages an immediate return to FVB Division 1.
1964 / vv De Blesse receives a proposal from RKVV DIOW, a Sunday league club from Wolvega, to conclude a merger, but the offer is rejected unanimously. Four years later, RKVV DIOW would merge with DOG to form FC Wolvega.
1966 / Finishing in joint first place in FVB Sunday Division 1B with Sportclub Makkinga, vv De Blesse meets that club in a tie-break match, played at vv Gersloot’s Terrein Tijnjeweg, finishes in a 2-1 win (A.E.T.) for Sportclub Makkinga. However, due to an extra promotion place turning out to fall free following the merger of two clubs, vv De Blesse is eventually admitted to Sunday League 4 as well.
1970 / Several improvements are made to the facilities at Terrein Steenwijkerweg, notably the putting in place of a new set of dressing rooms – in fact the old dressing rooms of RKVV DIOW from Wolvega. However, following the Netherlands’ FA (District North) authorities declaring the main pitch at Terrein Steenwijkerweg unfit for football due to the abysmal underground, a new pitch has to be laid out by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Heidemaatschappij (Royal Netherlands’ Association for Wasteland Redevelopment). Meanwhile, the club has to look for options elsewhere, with several clubs in the vicinity – notably vv Willemsoord, but also FC Wolvega and SV Olyphia – hosting home games and training sessions of vv De Blesse teams in the following seasons. Some training sessions are also moved to makeshift pitches in and around De Blesse. With first team football initially being moved to vv Willemsoord’s ground, Sportpark De Boschkamp, which had been inaugurated in 1968, most first team matches are subsequently played on the B pitch of Terrein Steenwijkerweg.
1973 / Finally, after three years, the newly sown main pitch at Terrein Steenwijkerweg is given the go-ahead sign from FA authorities. All of vv De Blesse’s activities return to the club’s home ground.
1977 / With the underground of the pitches at Steenwijkerweg still being a liability for the club, vv De Blesse finally receives funding from Wolvega’s municipal authorities to buy a plot of land elsewhere in De Blesse. Subsequently, the club purchases a piece of land, owned by Bert Sloot, at Markeweg, on the western outskirts of the village.
1979 / Building works on the clubhouse at Markeweg, designed by engineering company Oranjewoud, get underway in December 1979.
1980 / On September 5th, 1980, the new clubhouse at Markeweg is officially inaugurated. All club activities are moved away from Terrein Steenwijkerweg to the new park, which is given the name Sportpark De Berk.
1983 / Finishing in last place in District North’s Sunday League 4B, with just 5 points obtained in as many draws, vv De Blesse drops back into the ranks of the FVB.
1984 / Finishing as runners-up in FVB Sunday Division 1, 6 points behind champions vv De Sweach, vv De Blesse wins promotion to Sunday League 4 due to an extra promotion place being available.
1987 / Coached by Gerrit Greven, vv De Blesse finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 4B, thus dropping back into the ranks of the FVB.
1988 / Champions in FVB Sunday Division 1, 2 points ahead of closest followers vv TFS, vv De Blesse manages an immediate return to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Gerrit Greven.
1996 / Runners-up in District North’s Sunday League 4B, vv De Blesse wins promotion to Sunday League 3 for the first time in club history – probably after a round of play-offs. The successful coach is Marcel Kars.
1998 / Coached by Marcel Kars, vv De Blesse finishes in second-last position in District North’s Sunday League 3D, thus dropping back into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club vv Dwingeloo.
2000 / A new wing is added to the clubhouse at Sportpark De Berk.
2001 / Runaway champions in District North’s Sunday League 4C, 11 points ahead of runners-up vv Zandhuizen, vv De Blesse wins promotion to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Henry Rijke.
2006 / In the best season in club history, vv De Blesse finishes as runners-up in District North’s Sunday League 3D, 3 points behind champions vv Zuidwolde. The club fails to win promotion in the subsequent play-off rounds. That summer, the national U21 squad of Israel uses Sportpark De Berk as its fall-out base for the 2006 U21 European Championships, held in the Netherlands.
2015 / After several years of narrowly avoiding the drop, vv De Blesse, coached by Henry Rijke, now finishes in last place in District North’s Sunday League 3B, thus dropping back into Sunday League 4 along with vv Read Swart, vv Jubbega, and SV VENO.
2016 / Coached by Peter Gjaltema, vv De Blesse finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 4A, thus descending into Sunday League 5 along with the club finishing in second-last place, FC Kraggenburg.
2017 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 5A, 3 points ahead of closest rivals SC Balkbrug, vv De Blesse wins promotion to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Peter Gjaltema.
2018 / Finishing in fourth place in District North’s Sunday League 4E, vv De Blesse qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by vv Musselkanaal (3-5).
2019 / Finishing in fifth place in District North’s Sunday League 4A, vv De Blesse qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by RKVV MKV ’29 (4-0).
2023 / Finishing in fourth place in District North’s Sunday League 4A, vv De Blesse qualifies for the play-offs, in which the club manages successive victories over vv De Sweach (1-4), SC Zwartemeerse Boys (2-3), and FC Ter Apel ’96 (3-1). As such, the club wins promotion to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Teun Dikken.
2024 / Coached by Frank van der Werf, vv De Blesse finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3A, thus dropping back into Sunday League 4 along with vv Renado, vv Oosterlittens, derby rivals FC Oldemarkt, and vv DTD.

Note – Much of the information in the above has been retrieved from a wonderful booklet – unfortunately, hardly any of the priceless anecdotes from the early years described in it fit into the framework of this website – published by vv De Blesse on the occasion of the club’s fiftieth anniversary in 1981: “50 jaar vv De Blesse 1931-1981”, by J.D. Wolters / J.Ch.I. van der Zee / B.J. Kroon / H.R. Faber / R. Hettinga-Bos. Thanks to vv De Blesse’s presidency for putting a copy of this booklet at my disposal.