Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: VCS (1957-) / HVV Hercules (2018-2019) / LFC (2024-)

Sportpark Escamp I - VCS, 's-Gravenhage = Den Haag Escamp (VCS & LFC, formerly HVV Hercules)

Netherlands, province: South Holland = Zuid-Holland

9 XI 2024 / VCS - RVV Semper Altius 0-3 / District West II, Saturday League 5C (= NL level 10)

Timeline

1908 / Foundation of a football club in The Hague, which takes on the name Swift. The founding father of the club was Dick Bordewijk. The club, little more than a band of boys playing improvised matches against teams from other parts of the city, spends the first years of its existence on a makeshift pitch laid out at Frederik Hendrikplein.
1910 / Swift takes part in the so-called Volkscompetitie, a league of aspirant clubs in The Hague organised by the HVB.
1911 / After unexpectedly winning a summer cup tournament in Rotterdam, organised by RVV Transvalia, and with RV&AV Excelsior, RV&AV Sparta, and RVV Feijenoord being among the participants, Swift is admitted as new member of the Haagsche Voetbalbond (HVB), the Hague’s sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB). However, due to an older NVB member club from Amsterdam already having the name Swift (AVV Swift), the club has to take on a new name. Its first suggestion, Voetbalclub Swift (VCS) is rejected, upon which the painfully straightforward solution is found to translate the English ‘swift’ into Dutch, ‘snel’ – and, as a result, the club is accepted as new HVB member as Voetbalclub Snel (VCS). For the 1911-12 season, VCS is placed in HVB Division 2B. Moving away from Terrein Frederik Hendrikplein, the club settles at Terrein Fahrenheitstraat, part of a larger conglomerate of sports pitches near Valkenbosplein also used by other clubs, such as UNI and VVDH. Also in 1911, two new clubs see the daylight in The Hague, TOGO (‘Tot Ons Genoegen Opgericht’) and SHC (Spartaansche Haagsche (?) Club, a name chosen after the HVB had rejected the name ‘Sparta’, which had already been taken by the aforementioned club from Rotterdam). It is unclear where the grounds used by TOGO (until 1930) and SHC/SVC (until 1940) were situated.
1912 / In its first season as a HVB member, VCS clinches the title in HVB Division 2B without suffering a single defeat (goal difference: 84-4). In the subsequent promotion play-off against the winner of HVB Division 2A, DHC, the club manages a 11-6 aggregate win. As a result, VCS wins promotion to HVB Division 1. Also in 1912, VCS wins the first edition of the HVB Cup, defeating HSV Celeritas in the final (1-0). Most probably still in 1912, VCS moves away from Terrein Fahrenheitlaan (Valkenbosplein), settling at a newly laid-out pitch at Laan van Meerdervoort (near the crossroads with Lijsterbesstraat), where it finds vv BMT and HVV De Ooievaars as its neighbour clubs.
1913 / After approximately one year at Terrein Laan van Meerdervoort, VCS moves to a newly laid-out pitch, Terrein Boudsvelden, hemmed in between the grounds of HV&CV Quick and DVV on the one side, and the dunes separating The Hague from the North Sea on the other, at the back of the Hoeve Hanenburg estate. Also in 1913, SHC changes its name to become SVC, Spartaansche Voetbalclub.
1914 / Due to the mobilisation of the Netherlands’ armed forces, another club in The Hague, UNI, finds its membership too far depleted to continue its existence; the remaining UNI members now deprived of a club join VCS.
1916 / Champions in HVB Division 1A, VCS goes on to win the overall HVB title in the final against TOGO, which had won HVB Division 1B. Both clubs accede to NVB (Sunday) League 3, the third level of the Netherlands’ league pyramid, for the first time. Also in 1916, VCS’ centre-forward Henk Roomberg earns himself a transfer to RV&AV Sparta, where he spends the remaining nine seasons of his footballing career. Roomberg was also part of the Netherlands’ squad in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, but he never won a cap for his country. Roomberg passed away in 1945 at the age of fifty.
1919 / VCS clinches the title in NVB District West’s Division 3C, with an equal number of points as runners-up RKSV Leonidas, but with a better goal difference; in fact, the difference was no more than just one goal, with VCS winning its last match against RVV Saturnus emphatically, 10-0, to obtain the title. In the subsequent play-offs against HVV Hollandia, Hortus (Amsterdam), and DVV ODS, the club fails to secure promotion to League 2.
± 1920 / Moving away from Terrein Boudsvelden, probably involuntarily, VCS settles on a pitch at Fruitweg, which it has to share with HVV Laakkwartier.
1923 / In spite of VCS holding its own in League 3 with a respectable fifth place, the club is retrograded to the ranks of the HVB due to the measurements of its pitch at Fruitweg not being in conformity with NVB regulations. The club does not manage a return to the (K)NVB divisions in the last seven years of its existence as an independent club.
1924 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West II’s League 3C, TOGO descends into League 4, a level introduced in NVB District West the previous year.
1925 / As a new sports ground with a multitude of pitches is inaugurated in The Hague, Sportcomplex Zuiderpark, the main pitch (the future Stadion Zuiderpark) as well as two side-pitches are occupied by HVV ADO, while VCS is allowed to settle on one of the remaining pitches.
1926 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West II’s League 4B, TOGO drops back into the ranks of the HVB after ten years. Also in 1926, SVC wins promotion from HVB Division 2 to HVB Division 1.
1928 / Champions in HVB Division 1, TOGO manages a return to KNVB League 4 after an absence of two years. Also in 1928, SVC suffers relegation from HVB Division 1 to HVB Division 2. In one of the following two seasons, the club must have managed a return to HVB Division 1, but no details about this are available.
1930 / VCS and TOGO conclude a merger, resulting in the foundation of VCST (Voetbalclub-Snel-TOGO), which starts its life in District West II’s (Sunday) League 4, the level where TOGO had played in its last season as an independent club.
1931 / Champions in HVB Division 1, SVC wins promotion to KNVB (Sunday) League 4 for the first time. It is unclear how SVC fared in the last nine years of its existence as an independent club (1931-40).
1932 / Champions in District West II’s League 4A, 5 points ahead of runners-up HVV Archipel, VCST fails to win promotion in the subsequent championship play-offs.
1940 / In its last season as an independent club, VCST finishes in eighth place in District West II’s League 4B. After the 1939-40 season, VCST concludes a merger with SVC, resulting in the foundation of VCS (Voetbalclub Sparta). This ‘new’ VCS is placed in (Sunday) League 3 for the 1940-41 season.
1942 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3D, 2 points ahead of closest followers RC&VV VOC, VCS fails to win promotion in the subsequent play-off round.
1948 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3F, 1 point ahead of closest rivals RVV HOV, VCS fails to win promotion in the subsequent play-off round.
1951 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, 5 points ahead of runners-up RKSV Blauw-Zwart, VCS goes on to win promotion to Sunday League 2 in the subsequent play-off round. At the time of its title, VCS does not play at Sportcomplex Zuiderpark, though, having been thrown out by The Hague’s municipal authorities, upon which the club commences a groundsharing arrangement with HSV VUC at Terrein Schenkkade.
1952 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West II’s Sunday League 2A, VCS drops back into League 3 after just one season.
1953 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3B, 3 points ahead of closest rivals RKSV Excelsior ’20, VCS goes on to win the championship play-offs against League 3A winner LVV De Postduiven in a match played at Stadion Zuiderpark, HVV ADO’s stadium, in front of a sell-out crowd of over 15,000 spectators (2-1, two goals by Piet Fens). As such, the club manages an immediate return to Sunday League 2. Also in 1953, after some two years of groundsharing with HSV VUC at Terrein Schenkkade, VCS is allowed to return to Sportcomplex Zuiderpark.
1955 / Champions in Sunday League 2B, 2 points ahead of UVS, VCS goes on to win the championship play-offs, resulting in the club winning promotion to Sunday League 1 for the first time. That same year, professional league football is introduced in the Netherlands, but – contrary to the other club playing at Sportcomplex Zuiderpark, HVV ADO – the club chooses to stay in non-league.
1956 / VCS’ defender Guus Haak, 19 years old, is signed by professional league side HSV ADO, going on to wear the colours of RVV Feijenoord, and Holland Sport, until hanging up his boots in 1971. Haak also won fourteen caps for the Netherlands’ national team between 1962 and 1965.
1957 / VCS manages a respectable fifth place in Sunday League 1A, the best result the club had ever managed. That same year, the club moves away from its sole pitch at Sportcomplex Zuiderpark, settling at the newly laid-out Sportpark Escamp I at Dedemsvaartlaan, where the club has been home ever since. Sportpark Escamp I was part of an urban development zone, for which the initial design had been made by the renowned architect Willem Dudok. Originally, the oblong plot of land hemmed in between the Morgenstond and Bouwlust neighbourhoods had been destined to be used for a highway or a railway station, but in the end, these plans come to nothing – and a large sports park is laid out in the area. Also in 1957, although VCS had always been a non-confessional club, the decision is taken to start a branch for Saturday football to accommodate members of the Protestant faith – with a Saturday team being fielded in the HVB divisions from then onwards. In the first sixty years of the club’s existence, the Saturday section played second fiddle in the club, with the focus firmly being on Sunday football.
1958 / Finishing in second-last place in Sunday League 1A with RFC, VCS meets the club from Rotterdam in a tie-break match to determine which club would join bottom club AVV Zeeburgia in League 2 the following season. The encounter, played at SHS’ Sportpark Houtrust (att. 4,000), is won by VCS (2-0, goals by Thijs Barendse & Dé Fouw). As such, the club saves its skin in the top non-league division. Also in 1958, VCS celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with a gala match against professional league side SHS at Sportpark Escamp I (0-6). At the time, the club has a membership of 1,600, with activities not only comprising football, but athletics, gymnastics, and baseball – and from 1962 even a short-lived section for philately.
1959 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 1A, VCS drops back into League 2 after four seasons.
1961 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West II’s Sunday League 2A, VCS drops back into League 3. The decisive blow is dealt by the club finishing in second-last place, HVV (Koninklijke HC&VV), 2-1.
1962 / VCS crowns itself as champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3B, 1 point ahead of runners-up RKVV Westlandia, with the decisive points being clinched in a 3-2 win over ‘s-Gravenzandse VV (zo). As such, VCS qualifies for the championship play-offs with the three other title winners in District West II’s Sunday League 3, HVV VIOS, FC Kranenburg, and DVV ODS, with two promotion places at stake. However, the two tickets are clinched by HVV VIOS and DVV ODS, with VCS thus staying in Sunday League 3. In the following decade, the club remains a regular feature at this level.
1963 / Former VCS youth player, defender Pleun Strik, who had joined RVV Feijenoord’s youth academy in 1960, makes his debut in that club’s flagship team. Strik goes on to have an impressive 21-year-long professional league career at RVV Feijenoord, DVV Go Ahead, PSV, EVV Eindhoven, NEC, and FC VVV. Between 1969 and 1974, Strik won eight caps for the Netherlands’ national side, being an unused sub in the 1974 World Cup squad which won a silver medal.
1972 / VCS’ new clubhouse at Sportpark Escamp I is inaugurated – the construction still in place today. Also in 1972, 20-year-old midfielder André Wetzel, who had joined HFC Haarlem’s youth academy from VCS in the summer of 1971, makes his debut in HFC Haarlem’s first team, going on to defend the colours of several other professional league sides; FC Amsterdam, FC Den Haag, and Telstar.
1978 / Finishing in second-last place in District West II’s Sunday League 3B, VCS descends into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club SV RKDEO. It is the first time VCS finds itself at this lowly level since the 1940 merger between VCST and SVC.
1979 / Inauguration of VCS’ new grandstand at Sportpark Escamp I, a construction still in place today.
1981 / The Hague’s city-council presents a plan, Structuurplan Eshofpolder, involving all the sports facilities at Dedemsvaartlaan, including VCS’ Sportpark Escamp I, having to make way for housing. After protests by inhabitants, however, the plans are shelved.
1982 / After a professional league career of ten years, André Wetzel returns to VCS as a player, hanging up his boots one year later and taking on the role as head coach from the 1983-84 season onwards.
1984 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 4D, 5 points ahead of closest rivals SVDP, VCS wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
1985 / Coached by André Wetzel, VCS only just misses out on the title in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, finishing 2 points behind champions VSV TONEGIDO after a tight race. On the other hand, the club succeeds in winning the Haagsche Courant Cup, a prestigious local tournament, defeating VVM at Sportpark Escamp I (2-1) in front of an impressive crowd of 4,000.
1986 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, 2 points ahead of closest followers FC Lisse, VCS wins promotion to Sunday League 2. The decisive points are clinched in a 3-0 home win against HBS (goals by John van den Hoogenband, Onno Sterk, and Ben Wiggeraad), attended by some 1,200 spectators. It heralds the club’s return to League 2 after an absence of 25 years. After the 1985-86 season, trainer André Wetzel leaves the club, signing for RVC. In the following decades, Wetzel goes on to work as a coach for many clubs, including Willem II, YR KV Mechelen, VVV-Venlo, and ADO Den Haag.
1988 / Finishing in second-last place in District West II’s Sunday League 2A, VCS drops back into League 3 along with bottom club SV Den Hoorn. The club’s trainer in this unsuccessful season is Rob Jansen. Also in 1988, former VCS youth player, winger Gaston Taument, makes his debut in Feyenoord Rotterdam’s first team, going on to wear the colours of RV&AV Excelsior, SL Benfica, RSC Anderlecht, OFI (Crete), and SK Rapid (Vienna), until hanging up his boots in 2002. Taument also won fifteen caps for the Netherlands’ national side between 1992 and 1996, being part of his country’s squads in the 1994 World Cup (in which he scored one goal) and the 1996 European Championships.
1990 / Coached by Leen de Graaf, VCS clinches the title in District West II’s Sunday League 3B, 5 points ahead of runners-up SV DWO. The decisive points are clinched in a direct confrontation with DWO at Sportpark Escamp I, ending in a 2-0 win for VCS (goals by Mark Rog & John Kleyn). As such, the club manages a return to Sunday League 2.
1992 / Finishing in joint first place in District West II’s Sunday League 2A with HSV ADO, VCS meets its city rivals in a play-off, played at VSV TONEGIDO’s Complex Rodelaan in Voorburg, with the first encounter finishing 0-0 A.E.T., and a second match on the same location seeing VCS walking away as winners (2-1, goals by Dennis Louwe and Jeroen Peeters). Both matches were attended by some 2,500 spectators. As such, VCS wins promotion to Sunday League 1.
1996 / Champions in Sunday League 1B, 2 points ahead of closest rivals UVS, VCS wins promotion to Zondag Hoofdklasse – the top division of the Sunday league pyramid since 1974 – for the first time. The decisive points for the team coached by Cees Tempelaar are obtained in a 2-4 away win at vv Nieuwenhoorn.
1997 / In the best season in club history, VCS finishes in sixth place in Zondag Hoofdklasse A.
1998 / Finishing bottom of the table in Zondag Hoofdklasse A, VCS drops back into Sunday League 1 after two seasons, along with the club finishing in second-last place, AFC. In the course of the season, coach Rob Beunder had been replaced by Ed de Maat, but to no avail. For the 1998-99 season, VCS signs a new trainer, Wim Meutstege, former professional league player at Go Ahead Eagles, RV&AV Excelsior, Sparta Rotterdam, and AFC Ajax (1970-80); moreover, Meutstege also won one cap for the Netherlands’ national team in 1976, being part of the national squad which won a bronze medal at the European Championships in Yugoslavia that same year.
1999 / Coached by Gerard van der Mark, who had replaced Wim Meutstege after an unsatisfactory first half of the season, VCS finishes in tenth place in Sunday League 1B, subsequently failing to hold its own in a promotion-relegation play-off. As such, the club suffers its second relegation in a row, descending into League 2 along with direct drop-outs SC Gastel and LVV Lugdunum.
2002 / Coached by Jan Linkerhof, VCS wins the title in Sunday League 2D, 1 point ahead of RKSV VELO, thus managing a return to Sunday League 1 after an absence of three seasons. The decisive points are clinched in a 0-1 away win against derby rivals HVV Laakkwartier (goal by Olav Goulooze).
2003 / Coached by Jan Linkerhof, VCS finishes in second-last place in Sunday League 1B, thus dropping back into League 2 after just one season, along with bottom club vv SJC.
2006 / Runners-up in Sunday League 2C for the third year running, this time finishing 10 points behind champions HVV Laakkwartier, VCS now finally succeeds in winning promotion via the play-offs. The successful coach is Hans Honders.
2007 / Finishing in tenth place in Sunday League 1B, VCS is unable to hold its own in the promotion-relegation play-offs, thus dropping back into League 2 along with the two bottom clubs, SV DRL and HVV Laakkwartier.
2009 / Finishing in tenth place in Sunday League 2C, VCS is unable to hold its own in the promotion-relegation play-offs, suffering a decisive defeat at the hands of BVV Wit-Rood-Wit, resulting in the club descending into League 3 along with the two bottom clubs, UVS and SV RKDEO.
2010 / Finishing in third place in District West II’s Sunday League 3C, VCS qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by CVV Zwervers (4-1 aggr.).
2011 / Former VCS youth player, attacker Anass Achahbar, who had joined Feyenoord Rotterdam’s youth academy in 2002, makes his debut for that club’s first team, going on to have a professional league career at DSC Arminia Bielefeld, PEC Zwolle, NEC, FC Dordrecht, ACS Sepsi OSK, and AEPS Aeolicos, eventually hanging up his boots in 2023.
2012 / Finishing in third place in District West II’s Sunday League 3C, VCS qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by RVV AGE (3-0 aggr.). Also in 2012, much of VCS’ Saturday team, which suffers relegation from Saturday League 3 in the 2011-12 season, joins a newly founded club, HVV Hercules. Not disposing of its own ground, HVV Hercules concludes a groundsharing agreement with SV HMSH at Sportpark Vrederust.
2013 / In a difficult season, in the course of which trainer Wout Pronk is replaced by Ed van Kouwenhoven, VCS finishes bottom of the table in District West II’s Sunday League 3A, thus descending into League 4 along with the club finishing in second-last place, vv UDO. For VCS, the relegation heralds a return to Sunday League 4 after an absence of 29 years at that lowly level.
2014 / Runners-up in District West II’s Sunday League 4C, 2 points behind champions SC REMO, VCS wins direct promotion to League 3 due to extra promotion places being available. The decisive points are clinched in a 0-10 away win at HSV ADS. The successful player-coach is Tolga Turkeri.
2015 / Finishing in twelfth place in District West II’s Sunday League 3C, VCS has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs, in which it finishes in first place in a group with RV&AV Overmaas and vv Abbenbroek. As such, the club staves off relegation.
2016 / VCS is pressured by The Hague’s city-council to conclude a merger with neighbour club HSV Escamp, but with neither of those clubs being keen on the merger, The Hague’s municipal authorities ban HSV Escamp from Sportpark Escamp I (West), leading to the club having to groundshare at various other non-league clubs in The Hague for the 2016-17 season, ceasing its activities in 2017, eventually being wound up in 2020. As for HSV Escamp’s pitch on the western side of Sportpark Escamp I, those had already been occupied by GSC ESCO in 2013 – initially as groundsharers, and from 2016 as sole users.
2018 / After six seasons of groundsharing with SV HMSH at Sportpark Vrederust, HVV Hercules, which had been a Saturday breakaway club of VCS, concludes an agreement with VCS, settling as groundsharers at Sportpark Escamp I, where it plays its first team football on a side-pitch.
2019 / In a one-off experiment, the Sunday Leagues 3 & 4 in District West II are combined, with the place each club finds itself in after the first half of the season determining if it is placed in League 3 or League 4 in the second half of the season. As VCS finishes in the bottom half of the table of the first part of the season, the club is retrograded to League 4 for the second half of the season – amounting to relegation to this level. Also in 2019, HVV Hercules allows itself to be absorbed into VCS, with HVV Hercules’ first team becoming the Saturday team of VCS.
2021 / After the 2020-21 season, which had been cut short due to the second COVID lockdown in the fall of 2020, the club withdraws from Sunday league football after 110 years. Henceforth, VCS’s Saturday team, which had been created in the 1950s and finds itself in Saturday League 4 in 2021, is the flagship team of the club.
2023 / Finishing in tenth place in District West II’s Saturday League 4E, VCS has to play a set of relegation play-offs, in which it is defeated comprehensively by HV&CV Quick (za), 2-7. As such, the club is placed in the newly created bottom division of District West II’s Saturday pyramid, Saturday League 5.
2024 / VCS is joined at Sportpark Escamp I by an unexpected groundsharer, a non-league club from Leyden, LFC (called FC Boshuizen until 2023). LFC had been evicted from Sportpark Boshuizerkade Zuid in Leyden by Leyden’s city-council following the club’s membership having fallen below a level deemed viable by municipal authorities. VCS and LFC, which plays its football in District West II’s League 1 – four divisions above VCS – explore the possibilities of a merger in the summer of 2025.

Note – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-6 = non-matchday visit, March 2019 / pictures 7-23 = match visit, November 2024.