Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: HVV (Koninklijke HC&VV)

Sportpark De Diepput, The Hague = 's-Gravenhage = Den Haag Benoordenhout (HVV, football section of Koninklijke HC&VV)

Netherlands, province: South Holland = Zuid-Holland

16 XI 2024 / HVV - LFC 1-0 / District West II, League 1B (= NL level 6)

Timeline

1878 / Foundation of a cricket club in The Hague, which is given the name HCC (Haagsche Cricketclub). Its founders are two upper-class schoolboys, Jaap van Stolk and Willem de Kock van Leeuwen, who had been given the idea by one of their teachers, who had returned from a holiday in England with a cricket ball as well as a football.
1881 / Foundation of a second cricket club in The Hague, Olympia.
1883 / Judging the weather in the winter season too cold to play cricket, Olympia’s membership decides to change gear and play football instead. A pitch is laid out at Malieveld, a park in the heart of The Hague owned by the Netherlands’ Treasury (Ministry of Finance). As such, Olympia – the precursor of HVV – is one of two football clubs starting their activities in 1883 still existing today, the other being HFC from Haarlem. The country’s oldest football club, AFC Sport from Amsterdam (1880), must have folded in or around 1887. The year 1883 also sees the foundation of a new cricket club in The Hague, CC Concordia.
1884 / Foundation of a new cricket club in The Hague, Volharding.
1886 / CC Concordia and Volharding are absorbed into HCC, which changes its name to become HCCC (Haagsche Cricketclub Concordia).
1887 / One year after its merger with CC Concordia and Volharding, HCCC reverts to its old name, HCC (Haagsche Cricketclub).
1888 / The football branch of cricket club Olympia changes its name to become ‘s-Gravenhaagsche Football Club (FC). A League 1 is organised for the first time in 1888-89, with ‘s-Gravenhaagsche FC being one of seven clubs, all from the provinces of North and South Holland, taking part. At the time, the club still plays it football at Terrein Malieveld, which, in the following decade, is due to be used by several other fledgling football clubs, most notably HBS (founded in 1893).
1889 / In the course of the 1888-89 season, ‘s-Gravenhaagsche FC changes its name to become HVV (Haagsche Voetbalvereeniging). finishing in third place behind RC&FC Concordia and HFC, in a competition between seven clubs, all from the provinces of North and South Holland. Not all matches are played at Malieveld, with the home match against HFC taking place on the middle section of The Hague’s velodrome in Scheveningen (Nieuwe Scheveningsche Boschjes). Also in 1889, HVV is one of nine founding member clubs of the NAV (Nederlandsche Athletiek- & Voetbalbond), the precursor of the NVB / KNVB (Koninklijke Nederlandsche Voetbalbond).
1891 / HVV clinches its first-ever league title, finishing 3 points ahead of runners-up HFC. However, due to the top flight being contested for the moment by clubs from the western provinces of the Netherlands only – and not in a nationwide competition – the league title is an unofficial one.
1892 / HVV exceptionally plays its home game against RC&VV Victoria (5-0) at Terrein Sporttentoonstelling at Gevers Deynootplein.
1893 / A personal union is created between cricket club HCC and football club HVV (and possibly also the cricket club Olympia as third partner), leading to the foundation of ‘s-Gravenhaagsche Cricket & Football Club (C&FC), with its member components being HVV and the renamed ‘s-Gravenhaagsche Cricketclub (CC) – which later reverts to the name HCC. Also in 1893, HVV adopts its yellow-and-black colours, which the club has retained until the present day. Also in 1893, the cricket branch of the new club is ordered to abandon its pitch at Malieveld at the behest of the Ministry of Finance, finding itself a new home at Laan van Meerdervoort (in the vicinity of the Verversingskanaal & Waldeck Pyrmontkade).
1894 / HVV is one of the co-founders of the Haagsche Voetbalbond (HVB), an association of football clubs in The Hague (and its wider surroundings), which organises league football below the level of League 3 West. The HVB is a sub-branch of the NAV, which is renamed NVB in 1895 (NVB standing for Nederlandsche Voetbalbond – from 1929 onwards: Koninklijke Nederlandsche Voetbalbond, KNVB). Also in 1894, after one year at Laan van Meerdervoort, cricket club HCC returns to Malieveld for a short while, only to be ordered to leave again within a year. Subsequently, the club finds a temporary home at Beeklaan, near the Hoeve Kranenburch country house.
1896 / HVV clinches its second league title, finishing 5 points ahead of runners-up RAP. This second title remains unofficial as well, for the same reason as in 1891 – with only clubs from the western provinces of the country being eligible for the title. Notably, though, HVV obtained first place without suffering a single defeat.
1897 / HVV finishes as runners-up in League 1, 5 points behind champions RAP.
1898 / After cricket had been banned at Terrein Malieveld several years before, HVV and all other football clubs are now forced out as well at the behest of the Ministry of Finance. After having played several matches on a temporary pitch laid out at Stadhouderslaan, the club finds itself a new home on a plot of open land hemmed in between The Hague and Wassenaar. It is part of the Clingendael estate, owned by Baron Van Brienen van de Groote Lindt. Allegedly, the baron agreed to lease part of his land to the club, on the condition that he would not be disturbed by the football going on. To that end, HVV’s chairman, F.L. Kleyn, walks away from Van Brienen’s mansion while waving a flag, until the point where the baron cannot see the flag any longer – which is at the far western end of the estate, just inside the city borders of The Hague, near the so-called Huys van den Jager (Hunter’s House), a construction dating back to 1873, which is still standing today (and better known nowadays as ‘De Huisjes’). The location is called Achterste Diepput, also referred to colloquially as the Diepput-Weide, situated at Wassenaarscheweg (modern-day Van Hogenhoucklaan). Here, a pitch is laid out, roughly coinciding with the location of today’s main pitch of Sportpark De Diepput. Subsequently, a lease agreement is concluded between HVV and the baron’s tenant Adrianus van den Ende, with the amount due per year being fixed at 280 guilders. The first football match played on the new location is a friendly against RC&FC Concordia (October 9th, 1898), with HVV-RAP (0-4) being the first league match on the pitch on October 30th, 1898. Initially, the pitch is only used by HVV, with the cricketers of HCC joining from Terrein Beeklaan, where they had been playing since 1894 or 1895, one year later. From that moment on, Terrein Achterste Diepput is used for HVV’s football matches in the winter season, with cricket taking over for the summer season. With the ground initially being situated outside of The Hague proper, visitors have to make a brisk walk across the farmland, with a connection of small bridges facilitating the journey.
1899 / HVV finishes as runners-up in League 1 West, 8 points behind champions RAP. RAP also goes on to crown itself as the first official champion of the Netherlands by winning a title play-off against the champions of League 1 East – making the club from Amsterdam the first-ever nationwide champion. That same year, HVV reaches the final of the so-called Holdertbeker – the precursor of the KNVB-Beker, the national cup tournament. The club loses the match, played on a pitch in Heemstede, 1-0 (A.E.T.) against, yet again, RAP. Also in or around 1899, a clubhouse is put in place at Terrein Achterste Diepput, a two-tiered wooden construction previously used at an exhibition about the Dutch East Indies in The Hague, the so-called Insulindetentoonstelling. The clubhouse, built alongside the southern side of the pitch and due to remain in place for some sixty years, is given the English name ‘Our New Home’. Due to the proximity of its ground to Wassenaar’s municipal borders, HVV is often referred to locally with the heroic-sounding nickname ‘De Leeuw van Wassenaar’ (literally translated: The Lion of Wassenaar).
1900 / Finishing 5 points ahead of runners-up LC&FC Ajax (Leyden) in League 1 West, HVV qualifies for the title play-offs, which had been introduced one year previously. In the encounter against the League 1 East champions, WVV Victoria, the club wins the home tie (4-1), only to lose the away encounter (2-0) – with a tie-break match having to decide the winner. In this third match, HVV manages a 1-0 win, enough to give the club its third national title – though it has to be pointed out that it is its first official, nationwide title.
1901 / Finishing 3 points ahead of runners-up CVV Celeritas in League 1 West, HVV qualifies for the title play-offs, in which the club yet again meets WVV Victoria. With the first two matches again producing two different winners, a tie-break match has to bring the decision for the second year running, resulting in a 2-1 win – and HVV’s fourth national title (second official nationwide title). That same year, HVV is the first-ever club team from the Netherlands to take on an English team, Southampton FC, with the friendly at Terrein Achterste Diepput ending in a 2-6 win for the guests from overseas.
1902 / HVV wins its third consecutive title in League 1 West, but only with the narrowest of margins – defeating its ultimate derby rivals HBS only by virtue of a better goal difference (+ 38 vs. + 22). The title play-offs are a third showdown in as many years with WVV Victoria, with the outcome being identical, as HVV walks away with its fifth national title (third official nationwide title).
1903 / Winning the title in League 1A West, 2 points ahead of runners-up RV&AV Sparta, HVV qualifies for the title play-offs, in which the club wins all its matches, four in total, against AVC Vitesse (League 1 East) and RC&VV Volharding (League 1B West), thus clinching its fourth title in a row (sixth national title, fourth official nationwide title). In the most successful season in club history, the club also wins the Holdertbeker by defeating derby rivals HBS in the final, played at Terrein De Diepput (6-1). In the preceding rounds, HVV had had the better of EVV Prinses Wilhelmina Reserves (0-11), UC&VV Hercules (7-1), RAP (3-2 A.E.T.), and NOAD (Breda) (2-4 A.E.T.). It was to remain HVV’s only-ever nationwide cup win.
1904 / HVV finishes as runners-up in League 1B West, 3 points behind champions CVV Velocitas. In the Holdertbeker, the club reaches the final, played at its own Terrein De Diepput, suffering a 1-3 defeat at the hands of HFC. Also in 1904, HVV has the benefit of a team coach, an Englishman by the name of Yates. It is unclear how long he stayed with the club.
1905 / HVV wins the title in League 1 West, but only with the narrowest of margins – defeating DFC only by virtue of a better goal difference (+ 29 vs. + 23). In the title play-offs against the League 1 East champion, EVV Prinses Wilhelmina (PW), the club walks away as comfortable winners (8-3 aggr.), thus easing to its seventh national title (fifth official nationwide title). Also in 1905, HVV’s Dolph Kessler is the captain of the Netherlands’ side in the country’s first-ever international match, a 1-4 away win against Belgium at Stadion Het Kiel in Antwerp. Dolph Kessler, who captained HVV to four titles between 1901 and 1905, won three caps for his country in 1905, with his career being cut short due to injury one year later. Another player in that first Netherlands’ national team was striker Guus Lutjens of army club CVV Velocitas (Breda); Lutjens joined HVV in 1906, staying with the club until 1911 and winning a total of fourteen caps for his country (1905-11, 5 goals).
1906 / HVV finishes as runners-up in League 1 West, 4 points behind champions HBS. That same year, wooden dressing rooms are put in place on the northern side of the main pitch, a small construction which had previously served as a public bathing facility for women at Plein in The Hague’s city-centre. The roof of the construction is painted in red-and-white, the original colours of cricket and football club Olympia, one of the precursors of HVV. Also in 1906, HVV’s Jan Schoemaker wins two caps for the Netherlands’ national side.
1907 / Winning the title in League 1 West, 1 point ahead of runners-up HFC, HVV qualifies for the title play-offs, in which the club sees off EVV Prinses Wilhelmina (PW) for the second year running (9-4 aggr.). As such, the club clinches its eighth national title (sixth official nationwide title). To accommodate the ever-increasing number of spectators flocking to HVV home matches, two wooden grandstands are constructed on the southern side of the main pitch, with one being erected on each side of the clubhouse; in fact, the two stands had previously been in use at the Concours Hippique at the Houtrust Hippodrome in The Hague. Moreover, uncovered wooden seats are put in place on the northern side of the pitch. Around the same time, a small open stand is added on top of the clubhouse, with these places usually being given to HVV youth members. All these new additions to the set-up gives the ground the feel of a stadium, the result being that the Diepput-Weide is chosen as the venue of an international match between the Netherlands and England, with the final score being a 1-8 wipeout for the hosts. In the encounter, attended by 7,454 spectators, two HVV players are part of the Netherlands’ team, captain John Heijning (who won 8 caps, 1907-12) and Karel Heijting (17 caps, 1907-10). Heijting played a total of 246 matches for HVV, helping the club win no fewer than six of its ten national titles. There are two other HVV players winning caps for their country that same year; midfielder Tonny Kessler (3 caps in total), who played no fewer than 328 matches for HVV between 1904 and 1923; and goalkeeper Lo La Chapelle, who was only called up once. Still in 1907, following the passing of Baron Van Brienen van de Groote Lindt, ‘s-Gravenhaagse C&FC concludes a new lease agreement with his heir, giving the club the luxury of an extra plot of land to the north of the pitch. This part of the estate, known as Voorste Diepput, gives the club the opportunity to lay out two extra pitches, which are still part of the modern Sportpark De Diepput today.
1908 / HVV finishes as runners-up in League 1 West, 5 points behind champions and derby rivals HV&CV Quick. Also in 1908, three HVV players are included in the Netherlands’ football squad which wins a bronze medal in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London: Eetje Sol (3 caps in total, 1908-09), Karel Heijting (17 caps, 1907-10), and Miel Mundt (4 caps, 1908-09). In October of the same year, a second and last international match is held at Terrein De Diepput, in which the Netherlands defeats Sweden 5-3 (att. 8,000). On the day, Karel Heijting and Miel Mundt are part of the victorious Netherlands’ team.
1909 / HVV finishes as runners-up in League 1 West, having to leave the title to RV&AV Sparta on goal difference (+ 46 vs. + 39). That same year, HVV’s Dé Kessler wins the first of 21 caps for the Netherlands’ national team (1909-22, 9 goals).
1910 / Winning the title in League 1 West, 3 points ahead of runners-up RV&AV Sparta, HVV qualifies for the title play-offs, in which the club has the better of NC&VC Quick (5-2 aggr.). As such, the club, coached by Fred Coles, clinches its ninth national title (seventh official nationwide title). Also in 1910, HVV’s reserves team sensationally reaches the final of the Holdertbeker, in which it meets HV&CV Quick Reserves on the pitch of DSV Concordia in Delft, losing the match 2-0. That same year, HVV’s Miel van Leijden wins his first and only cap for the Netherlands’ national team.
1911 / HVV’s Jan van Breda Kolff becomes the youngest-ever player to make his debut for the Netherlands’ national team (to this day), being 17 years and 74 days old on April 2nd, 1911, when the Netherlands defeated Belgium (3-1). Van Breda Kolff went on to win 11 caps (1 goal between 1911 and 1913. Another HVV player making his debut in the Netherlands team in 1911 is Squire Guus de Serière, who played a second and last cap in 1912.
1913 / An English coach is signed by HVV, Fred Warburton, due to stay with the club for a mind-blowing 22 (!) consecutive seasons.
1914 / Winning the title in League 1 West, 9 points ahead of runners-up RV&AV Sparta, HVV qualifies for the title play-offs, in which the club meets AVC Vitesse and Willem II – with the home tie against the last-mentioned club being attended by the Netherlands’ prince-consort, Queen Wilhelmina’s husband Prince Henry (Hendrik). In the end, HVV only finishes in first place due to a better goal difference than the club from Arnhem (+ 10 vs. + 5) by virtue of a hard-fought 2-1 home win over this same adversary in the last match (decisive goal scored by Guus de Serière). As such, HVV clinches its tenth and last national title (eighth official nationwide title). With its ten titles, HVV remains one of only four clubs with ten or more league titles to its credit (the other three being AFC Ajax, PSV, and RVV Feijenoord/Feyenoord Rotterdam). Also in 1914, HVV’s striker Jan Noorduijn wins four caps for the Netherlands’ national team.
1915 / The personal union ‘s-Gravenhaagsche C&FC changes its name to become Haagsche Cricket- & Voetbalvereeniging (HC&VV), with its components remaining HVV and HCC. Also in 1915, with the club finishing 4 points behind RV&AV Sparta, HVV are runners-up in League 1 West, in a competition which has been abridged due to the mobilisation of the Netherlands’ forces to guard the borders against the German forces which occupied Belgium in World War I. In the following years, the club’s achievements are less impressive than in the previous decades, with third places in League 1 West in 1917 and 1920 being the highlights. The decline of the club’s fortunes in the 1910s and 1920s can easily be explained by the increasing popularity of football among broader masses of the population – with the distinctly elitist HVV having been the most successful of the upper-class clubs which dominated the sport in the first decades after its introduction in the Netherlands.
1916 / HVV’s longtime captain Miel Mundt hangs up his boots after seventeen years with the club, in the course of which he played 320 first team matches, being part of six title-winning squads. Also in 1916, the ditch between the main pitch (Achterste Diepput) and the two side-pitches (Voorste Diepput) is filled up with earth. In that same year, part of the clubhouse at Terrein De Diepput is damaged in a fire, with reconstruction works having to be carried out as a result.
1917 / Side-aisles are added on each side of the wooden dressing rooms on the northern side of the main pitch at Terrein De Diepput.
1919 / HVV’s Boelie Kessler, the youngest of the four Kessler brothers, wins the first of nine caps for the Netherlands’ national team (1919-22, 2 goals).
1920 / HVV striker, Squire Constant Feith, hangs up his boots after playing 350 matches (324 goals!) for HVV between 1903, when he joined from LC&FC Ajax, and 1920, also winning 8 caps (2 goals) for the Netherlands between 1906 and 1912. Also in 1920, HVV’s goalkeeper Dick MacNeill is an unused sub in the Netherlands’ football squad which won a bronze medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. Eventually, MacNeill won seven caps for his country, all in 1923.
1921 / HVV’s Joop Campioni wins two caps for the Netherlands’ national team.
1922 / HVV’s Dolf Heijnen wins the first of two caps for the Netherlands’ national team (1922-23, 1 goal).
1924 / HVV’s striker Albert Snouck Hurgronje is part of the Netherlands’ football squad which finished in fourth place in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. In total, Snouck Hurgronje won six caps (1 goal) in 1924-25.
1926 / HVV’s striker Marius Sandberg, who also had a spell at Akademisk BK (AB) in Denmark, wins two caps for the Netherlands’ national team.
1927 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West II’s League 1, HVV has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club finishes in first place, ahead of HFC Haarlem and AVV DEC, thus assuring itself of a prolonged stay in League 1.
1928 / HVV’s striker Rense Vis is part of the Netherlands’ squad in the 1928 Summer Olympics, held in Amsterdam, as an unused sub. Vis, who left HVV in 1930 to live in the Dutch East Indies, had won his only cap for the Netherlands in 1926.
1929 / Plans of The Hague’s municipal authorities are revealed, involving the construction of houses on part of HVV’s Terrein De Diepput. To avoid this, the club and its members bring together enough money to purchase the endangered part of the ground – a move completed in two separate transactions (1929 & 1932).
1932 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West II’s League 1, HVV has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club finishes in last place behind HVV ‘t Gooi, HBS, and IJVV Stormvogels. In a final play-off for one extra place in League 1, the club suffers a new defeat, 5-2, at the hands of HFC Haarlem. As such, HVV descends into League 2 for the first time in club history – destined never to return to the top flight of the Netherlands’ football pyramid.
1933 / Champions in District West II’s League 2A after winning a second tie-break match against DVV ODS (5-0), played at RV&AV Sparta’s Kasteel, HVV qualifies for the championship play-offs against RV&AV Excelsior and vv West Frisia, in which the club fails to win promotion to League 1 – finishing as runners-up behind the club from Rotterdam. Also in 1933, winger Law Adam, who is regarded as the inventor of the step over in football and who had left HVV for Swiss side Grasshopper Club in 1930, rejoins HVV; that same year, Adam also played his eleventh and last cap for the Netherlands’ national side (1930-33, 6 goals), making him the last of 23 HVV players to have worn the orange of his country.
± 1934 / An open terrace is constructed at the western end of the main pitch of Terrein De Diepput.
1935 / Champions in District West II’s League 2A by virtue of a better goal difference than CVV (+ 42 vs. + 13), HVV qualifies for the championship play-offs, in which the club fails to win promotion to League 1 – losing a decisive tie-break match against derby rivals HBS (2-0), played on HSV VUC’s pitch at Schenkkade, as a result of which HBS staves off relegation. After the 1934-35 season, HVV’s trainer Fred Warburton leaves the club after having served in this capacity for 22 years. The remaining pre-war years, HVV’s first team is coached by three other Brits successively; Bert Bellamy (1935-37), Tommy Clay (1937-39), and Bernard Oxley (1939-40).
1936 / Champions in District West II’s League 2A, 2 points ahead of closest rivals RFC, HVV qualifies for the championship play-offs, in which the club fails to win promotion to League 1 yet again.
1938 / HVV finishes as runners-up in District West II’s League 2A, 1 point behind champions DVV Emma.
1939 / HVV finishes as runners-up in District West II’s League 2A, 5 points behind champions ASV UVV.
1940 / Upon the German occupation of the Netherlands, HVV’s coach, a UK citizen called Bernard Oxley, leaves the country to avoid being taken hostage by the oppressors. He is eventually succeeded by Gerrit van Wijhe.
1942 / German occupation authorities, notably the engineers of Organisation Todt, requisition the two side-pitches of Terrein De Diepput, which are taken in use as a building site for the Atlantic Wall, with facilities for cement manufacturing and transport – including even a small train track – and storage rooms.
1943 / HVV clinches the title in District West II’s Sunday League 2A, finishing 4 points ahead of closest rivals Velox. Due to the hardships of the war, the Netherlands’ FA (NVB, dropping the royal epithet ‘koninklijk’, K, during the war years at the behest of German occupation authorities) takes the decision not to organise championship play-offs at the end of the 1942-43 season. In the fall of 1943, one year after requisitioning the two side-pitches, Organisation Todt commandeers the main pitch of Terrein De Diepput as well, constraining HVV to leave its ground and play its matches elsewhere in The Hague for the remainder of the war, notably at HSV VUC (Terrein Schenkkade) and HVV ADO (Stadion Zuiderpark).
1944 / The decision is taken upon by the Netherlands’ FA to give the 1943 champions the opportunity to vie for promotion with one year’s delay. As such, HVV meets the 1943-44 League 2A champions HV&CV Quick, winning the tie 6-3 (aggr.). Subsequently, the club plays a promotion play-off against League 2B winners RV&AV Neptunus, with the ‘home’ game at HSV VUC’s Schenkkade being won (1-0), but the away tie, at Sparta’s Kasteelstadion, being lost with the same margin (1-0). Drawing lots, the decision falls that the decisive third match is to be played at Sparta’s ground yet again – with this match ending in a dramatic 2-1 defeat, with HVV missing a penalty and an own goal sealing the fate of the club. After the match, the national-socialist Landwacht paramilitaries make an attempt at holding a razzia among the spectators, which comes to naught due to their being trampled by the huge number of attendants leaving the stadium. In the annals of the club, the defeat against RV&AV Neptunus is still considered the nadir in HVV’s long history.
1945 / After the hardships of the war and the German requisitioning the pitches at De Diepput, HVV returns to its home ground, with the main pitch being taken in use within a year. Due to stone remnants of German building activity continuing to be found on the two side-pitches in the following months and years, it takes more time before these can be made use of again.
1947 / After having purchased part of the ground in two separate transactions in 1929 and 1933, HC&VV succeeds in acquiring ownership of all three of its pitches by buying them from the heirs of Baron Van Brienen. Also in 1947, the open seats situated in front of the two covered stands are renovated.
1949 / HVV clinches the title in District West II’s Sunday League 2B, finishing 1 point ahead of GVV Unitas, against which it drew in the last (away) match of the season (0-0). In the championship play-offs, the club fails to win promotion to League 1 – incidentally the last time ever HVV had the opportunity to vie for a place in the top flight – having to leave the honours to RCH, which wins promotion, at the expense not only of HVV, but also of League 1 clubs DFC and DHC, which both drop down into League 2 as a result. The home tie against DHC (0-3) draws 9,500 spectators to Terrein De Diepput – an all-time record attendance.
1952 / A first floodlight installation is put in place alongside Pitch 3 of Terrein De Diepput, facilitating the organisation of midweek training sessions. Fourteen years later, it is replaced by an improved installation.
1954 / Professional league football is introduced in the Netherlands, but HVV chooses to remain in, what is from now on, non-league.
1957 / HVV finishes as runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 2A, 8 points behind champions HSV VUC.
1959 / The wooden clubhouse at Terrein De Diepput, ‘Our New Home’, constructed in or around 1899, is knocked down and replaced by a stone construction built in a similar style. The first stone of the new clubhouse, a design by architect Romke de Vries, is laid by HC&VV’s chairman, Ir. E.M. (Ernst) Neuerburg, with the construction eventually being inaugurated in April 1960.
1962 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West II’s Sunday League 2A, 1 point behind vv Papendrecht and safety, HVV descends into Sunday League 3 for the first time in club history. The coach is Paul van Osch. The club’s fate is sealed in the last match of the season, a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of RV&AV Neptunus – with the club’s board contesting the result in vain with a civil court on the grounds that a goal by Cees Stol had wrongly been disallowed for offside.
1963 / The two wooden grandstands on the southern side of Sportpark De Diepput are both thoroughly renovated.
1967 / While the main pitch of Sportpark De Diepput is laid out anew, HVV groundshares with HSV VUC at Sportpark Het Kleine Loo between March and September 1967.
1971 / In one of the saddest moments of club history, HVV’s trainer Harry de Vos suffers a lethal heart-attack during a training session on Pitch 2 of Sportpark De Diepput. Led by caretaker manager Jan Mak in the last stages of the season, HVV finishes in last place in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, thus dropping back into Sunday League 4 for the first time in club history.
1972 / Coached by Geoff Burch, HVV clinches the title in District West II’s Sunday League 4A, finishing 7 points ahead of runners-up HVV Archipel. The decisive points are clinched against vv Hillegom (2-1). As such, the club wins promotion for the first time (!) in its 89-year-long history.
1973 / Former HVV academy player Boudewijn de Geer, who had left for FC Den Haag five years previously, makes his debut as a professional league player with that club – the first-ever former HVV player to become a football professional. De Geer has an adventurous career, which takes him to HFC Haarlem, Molde FK, Lillestrøm SK (with which he wins the Norwegian double in 1979), Panathinaïcos AO, Hércules CF (Alicante), BV De Graafschap, and Brisbane Lions, eventually hanging up his boots in 1983.
1975 / A tennis club sees the daylight at Sportpark De Diepput, HTV (Haagse Tennisvereniging) Groen Geel.
1976 / HVV finishes as runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, 2 points behind champions HSV Celeritas.
1978 / Still coached by Geoff Burch, HVV clinches the title in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, 3 points ahead of closest followers FC Lisse. The decisive points are clinched in a goalless away draw against SV HMSH. As such, the club manages a return to Sunday League 2 after an absence of sixteen years at that level. Also in 1978, a squash club sees the daylight at Sportpark De Diepput, HSV (Haagsche Squashvereniging) De Diepput, with both clubs being integrated into the personal union. That same year, on the club’s 100th anniversary, HC&VV receives the royal epithet, officially becoming Koninklijke Haagse Cricket- & Voetbalvereniging (HC&VV). To allow squash to be played at the park, the easternmost of the two grandstands on the southern side of the main pitch is knocked down to make way for an indoor hall, which is inaugurated in November 1978.
1982 / Coached by Ab Aalberts, HVV finishes bottom of the table in District West II’s Sunday League 2A. As such, the club drops back into Sunday League 3 after four seasons.
1983 / HVV finishes as runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, 6 points behind champions RKAVV. In the summer of 1883, anniversary celebrations are organised at Sportpark De Diepput to commemorate the centenary of the football branch of HC&VV, with HVV playing host to AFC Ajax in a gala match, which is won 1-12 by the club from Amsterdam (attendance: 1,800). Ajax’s side, coached by Aad de Mos, includes players such as Frank Rijkaard, Jesper Olsen, Gerald Vanenburg, Jan Mølby, and John van ‘t Schip. Remarkably, this result means there is now a perfect equilibrium between HVV and AFC Ajax, with each having won 11 matches against the other in the course of both clubs’ history.
1985 / HVV’s Frank Bijloos hangs up his boots after many years of first team football at HVV, playing a record total of 394 matches in the flagship team of the club, 74 more than the previous record holder Constant Feith (1903-20).
1986 / Coached by Geert van Vugt, HVV finishes in second-last place in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, thus dropping back into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club vv UDO.
1988 / Coached by Rob Wijnstok, HVV finishes bottom of the table in District West II’s Sunday League 4B, thus suffering relegation – along with the club finishing second from bottom, Duindorp SV – to HVB Hoofdklasse, the level below Sunday League 4 in the The Hague region, for the first time in club history.
1989 / Although missing out on the title in HVB Hoofdklasse, HVV reaches the promotion play-offs, in which it misses out on an immediate return to Sunday League 4, with HSV Kranenburg and VDS walking away with the two promotion tickets. That same year, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Netherlands’ FA (KNVB), HVV and Koninklijke HFC, the only remaining of the nine clubs which had laid the foundation for the football association in 1889, are invited to play a pre-game at Amsterdam’s Olympisch Stadion on the evening of the friendly encounter between the Netherlands and Denmark. HVV is defeated 3-2 on the night.
1990 / Finishing as runners-up in HVB Hoofdklasse behind champions RKSVM, HVV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it finishes in second place in a group of four, behind DSV Full Speed, but ahead of SV Wassenaar and SVH. With the only promotion ticket going to DSV Full Speed, HVV is handed an extra opportunity in a lucky loser final against Duindorp SV, played at VTC '88’s ground, Terrein Buurtweg – incidentally also the pitch where HVV had hosted its home matches in these play-offs due to its own main pitch being in use for the cricket season. Defeating Duindorp SV 3-0, HVV manages to retrace its steps to Sunday League 4 after a humiliating spell of two years in HVB Hoofdklasse. The successful coach is former HVV first team player Frank Bijloos.
1992 / André Wetzel, former professional league player (1972-82) at HFC Haarlem, FC Amsterdam, FC Den Haag, and Telstar, joins HVV as a coach. Also in 1992, the last remaining covered stand, to the south of the clubhouse, is knocked down due to its having become ramshackle, mainly due to woodworms eating themselves into the construction. It is replaced by several steps of open terrace.
1993 / Finishing in eleventh place in District West II’s Sunday League 4C, HVV has to play a set of relegation play-offs against vv WIK and HSV Cromvliet, eventually assuring itself of a prolonged stay at this level – with HSV Cromvliet finishing last and descending into the ranks of the HVB. In these play-offs, HVV plays its home matches at SV Voorburg’s park at Prinses Mariannelaan due to the main pitch of Sportpark De Diepput already having been laid-out anew for the cricket season. That same year, the wooden dressing rooms on the western side of the main pitch, dating back to 1906 (side-buildings: 1917), is knocked down and replaced by an identical construction in stone. Also in 1993, Koninklijke HC&VV celebrates the personal union of HCC and HVV, concluded in 1893, with several festivities, including a gala match between HVV and 'Lucky Ajax', a team of erstwhile AFC Ajax players captained by former Netherlands’ international player Sjaak Swart, ending in a 4-2 win.
1994 / Coached by André Wetzel, HVV finishes as runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 4G, 10 points behind champions SMC. In the promotion play-offs, HVV wins its two matches in the group stage against vv ONA (3-4) and RKSV Excelsior ’20 (1-0) – with the home tie being played yet again at SV Voorburg’s Terrein Prinses Mariannelaan. Thus qualifying for the final, which is played at RKVV Westlandia’s Sportpark Hoge Bomen (Zuid), HVV has the better of vv HWD (3-0, goals by Marcus Keane & Elliot Simon, 2). As such, the club wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
1997 / Finishing as runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, 2 points behind champions RKAVV, HVV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by HSV VUC (7-5 aggr.). Yet again, HVV plays its home tie at SV Voorburg’s Terrein Prinses Mariannelaan. After five seasons at the helm of the club, André Wetzel leaves HVV, going on to have a successful second career as a professional league coach at, among other clubs, Willem II, YR KV Mechelen, VVV-Venlo, and ADO Den Haag.
1998 / HVV’s former youth player Jan-Paul Saeijs has his breakthrough as a professional league player at ADO Den Haag, going on to defend the colours of Roda JC Kerkrade, Southampton FC, and BV De Graafschap, before withdrawing into non-league with HBS Craeyenhout in 2012.
1999 / HVV’s former youth prodigy Cedric van der Gun, who had left the club to play for ADO Den Haag’s youth academy several years before, has his breakthrough as a professional league player at the age of twenty at AFC Ajax, going on to have a 15-year-long pro career at FC Den Bosch, Willem II, ADO Den Haag, Borussia Dortmund, FC Utrecht, and Swansea City FC.
2004 / Finishing in tenth place in District West II’s Sunday League 3C, HVV has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club defeats RVV EDS in R1 (9-4 aggr.) to qualify for the final, played at RKSV VELO’s Sportpark Noordweg, where the club manages a comprehensive defeat of vv HWD (7-1). As such, HVV stays in Sunday League 3.
2007 / Runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, 1 point behind champions FC Boshuizen, HVV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it defeats DHL in R1 (10-2 aggr.) and DVV Delft in R2 (7-5 aggr.) – with the club playing its ‘home’ matches at HSV VUC’s Sportpark Het Kleine Loo, as the main pitch at Sportpark De Diepput was unavailable due to it being in use for the cricket season. In the final, played at SV RKDEO’s Sportpark Het Centrum in Nootdorp, with an attendance of 2,000, HVV defeats vv OLIVEO (3-0, all goals by Marnix van der Gun). As such, HVV wins promotion to Sunday League 2. The successful coach is Harold Tjaden. That same year, a thorough renovation of the clubhouse at Sportpark De Diepput is undertaken, which sees the replacement of the three-tiered open stand, dating back to 1992, with a somewhat larger, six-stepped uncovered spectator area, which has been integrated into the refurbished clubhouse. Also in 2007, the decision is taken to add a lone star to the logo on HVV’s outfits in recognition of the club’s ten national titles (of which eight official, nationwide titles), obtained between 1891 and 1914.
2008 / HVV manages its 1000th ever league win in an away match against vv Alphense Boys (1-2).
2009 / Finishing in third place in Sunday League 2C, 9 points behind champions vv Alphense Boys, HVV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club defeats AFC DWS (3-1, goals by Derick Mekking, Erik van Galen, and Bas Conradi) in the final, played at vv Oegstgeest’s Sportpark De Voscuyl (Zuid), with an attendance of 1,500 spectators. As such, the club manages a return to Sunday League 1 after an absence of 77 years at that level – by now the fourth tier of the Netherlands’ football pyramid (fifth tier from 2010 onwards). The successful coach is Kees Mol.
2011 / In the best post-war result, HVV finishes in seventh place in Sunday League 1B under the aegis of coach Faizel Soekhai.
2012 / Coached by Albert van der Dussen, HVV finishes in eleventh place in Sunday League 1B, having to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs to assure itself of a prolonged stay at that level. However, the club is eliminated in R1 by DVV Delft (5-3 aggr.), thus suffering relegation along with HSV VUC, RKSV GDA, and bottom club vv Papendrecht. Also in 2012, HVV’s Derick Mekking breaks the record of highest number of first team matches for HVV by disputing his 395th encounter for the club, the previous record holder being Frank Bijloos with 394 (1985).
2013 / Coached by Albert van der Dussen, HVV finishes in eleventh place in Sunday League 2C, having to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs to assure itself of a prolonged stay at that level. However, the club is eliminated in R1 by SV ROAC (7-4 aggr.), thus suffering its second relegation in a row, descending into Sunday League 3 along with RKVV Meerburg, vv OLIVEO, and bottom club KRSV Vredenburch.
2014 / Runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 3C, 4 points behind champions GSC ESDO, HVV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which an aggregate win against RVV GLZ Delfshaven (4-1, home tie at SVC ‘08’s Oostersportpark) is sufficient to manage a return to Sunday League 2 after an absence of two years. The successful coach is Albert van der Dussen, who is succeeded after the 2013-14 season by Edmund Vriesde, a former professional league defender at FC Den Haag & ADO Den Haag (1990-96).
2015 / Finishing in twelfth place in Sunday League 2C, HVV has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs to assure itself of a prolonged stay at that level. Defeating vv ESTO in R1 (7-1 aggr.), the club suffers defeat at the hands of RVC ’33 in the final (2-2 & penalty shoot-out). In a lucky loser round, HVV saves its skin by defeating SV Charlois (A.E.T., 5-4). Also in 2015, the two side-pitches at Sportpark De Diepput, part of the park since 1907, are equipped with an artificial surface. From now on, HVV plays its first team football on side-pitch 2 (the easternmost pitch of the park) from March/April until September, with cricket being played on the main pitch during that part of the year. Also, progressively, first team football in other parts of the year is moved to this pitch, when the surface of the main pitch is deemed unplayable.
2016 / Finishing in twelfth place in Sunday League 2C, HVV has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs. In a tumultuous match against Voorschoten ’97, played at RKAVV’s Sportpark Kastelenring, the club suffers a 4-1 defeat (A.E.T.), but relegation is eventually staved off when it is established in a civil court case that a HVV player (Kevin van den Broek) had been sent off after a first, and not a second, yellow card.
2018 / Finishing in twelfth place in Sunday League 2C, HVV has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs to assure itself of a prolonged stay at that level for the third year running. Defeating DSV Full Speed in R1 (2-1), HVV is knocked out by Stompwijk ’92 in R2 (2-4), but the club is once again handed a lifeline in the shape of a lucky loser play-off, in which it has the better of HVV ODB (0-2). Having concluded his career as a professional league coach, and after an absence of 21 years, André Wetzel returns to Sportpark De Diepput for his second spell as HVV’s head coach, succeeding Edmund Vriesde, who had been in charge of the club’s first team for four seasons.
2022 / Coached by André Wetzel, who returned to the club after his successful career as a professional league coach, HVV finishes as runners-up in Sunday League 2D, 2 points behind champions SV Wippolder. Qualifying for the promotion-relegation play-offs, HVV successively has the better of SV KDO (1-0), RSV Antibarbari (3-1 A.E.T.), and SV DONK (3-0), as a result of which the club wins promotion to Sunday League 1. However, as the Netherlands’ FA allows a ‘horizontal switch’ the Saturday divisions for the first time – and with many other clubs from District West II having made the step in previous years – HVV chooses to be placed in Saturday League 1 for the new season. This marks the end of an uninterrupted club tradition of 139 years of Sunday football.
2023 / Finishing in tenth place in Saturday League 1B, HVV has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs. Defeating HVV Alphia (2-2 & penalty shoot-out) and SV DONK (3-4) in the first two rounds, the club eventually stumbles over SV RKDEO in the final (2-2 & penalty shoot-out). As a result, HVV descends into Saturday League 2. Following the season, coach André Wetzel leaves the club.
2024 / Finishing as runners-up in Saturday League 2C, 4 points behind champions HSV VUC, HVV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club edges past SCS TAC ’90 (2-2 & penalty shoot-out) and SV Honselersdijk (1-2), thus managing a return to the League 1 level after just one season.

Note – Apart from various open sources, the information for the article above has been retrieved from various books about the history of HVV and HC&VV, published on the occasion of several different club anniversaries, notably: “Jubileumuitgave HVV 1883-1973” (anonymous, ed. HC&VV: ‘s-Gravenhage 1973); “Eeuwboek der HVV 1883-1983”, by K.J. de Bruijn / H.B. Castendijk / K. Kooistra / J. de Lavieter / P.P. Marijnen / R.K.L. Ravelli (ed. Sijthoff: Rijswijk 1983); “100 jaar Diepput”, by Rob Borgers / Hans Castendijk / Roeland Engelen / Peter Paul Marijnen / Peter Poharnok (ed. Koninklijke HC&VV: ‘s-Gravenhage 1998); and “Haagse Voetbal Vereniging 1883-2008”, by Rob Borgers / Roeland Engelen / Koen Kooistra / Frederick Mansell (ed. Koninklijke De Swart: ‘s-Gravenhage 2008).