Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: CVV Achilles

Terrein Horstlindelaan "Ontmoetingspark 't Wageler", Enschede (CVV Achilles)

Netherlands, province: Overijssel

7 XII 2024 / CVV Achilles - FC Aramea 2-0 / District East, Saturday League 5E (= NL level 10)

Timeline

1924 / In the predominantly Roman-Catholic Enschede, a football club is founded by the city’s Reformed (i.e. Protestant) community, CVV (Christelijke Voetbalvereeniging) Achilles (often referred to as Achilles Enschede or Achilles E). Until the present day, Sunday rest is observed, with regular matches being played on Saturdays. The club’s first pitch is laid out not far from the location of Manege Horstlinde, a horse-riding school, at Pompstationweg, to the north of the city. No further information is available about the club’s pre-war history; it is unclear if the club joined the Netherlands’ Football Association ((K)NVB) – or rather, its regional branch in Twente, the so-called TVB (Twentsche Voetbalbond) – in 1924 or only after the abolition of all other football associations upon the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940.
1939 / CVV Achilles moves to a newly laid-out pitch, only dozens of yards away from its original ground. The new pitch is situated at the northern side of Horstlindelaan, near the crossroads with modern-day Van Heeksbleeklaan.
1947 / CVV Achilles wins promotion to District East’s Saturday League 4, the highest level in Saturday football in District East at the time (Saturday League 3 from 1950, Saturday League 2 from 1965, and Saturday League 1 from 1970).
1952 / CVV Achilles finishes as runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4B, 5 points behind champions vv DES.
1959 / Clinching the title in District East’s Saturday League 4C, 3 points ahead of vv Vroomshoopse Boys, CVV Achilles qualifies for the championship play-offs, in which the club finishes in second place in a group of three, ahead of ESA but behind SV Urk, which is the only Saturday League 4 champion winning promotion to League 3.
1965 / CVV Achilles finishes as runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4C, 4 points behind CVV Oranje Nassau Almelo.
1966 / Champions in District East’s Saturday League 4C, 5 points ahead of SV Sportlust Glanerbrug, CVV Achilles achieves promotion to Saturday League 3 for the first time.
1967 / Finishing in second-last place in District East’s Saturday League 3, CVV Achilles drops back into Saturday League 4 instantly, along with bottom club vv Bennekom.
1971 / CVV Achilles finishes as runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4C, 10 points behind champions vv Enter Vooruit.
1973 / Champions in District East’s Saturday League 4C, 2 points ahead of runners-up SV Gramsbergen, CVV Achilles wins promotion to Saturday League 3 for a second time.
1974 / As on the previous occasion, seven years previously, CVV Achilles is unable to hold its own at League 3 level, finishing in last place in District East’s Saturday League 3B and dropping back into League 4 after just one year.
1978 / Finishing in joint first place in District East’s Saturday League 4C with SVVN, CVV Achilles loses a tie-break match against the club from Nijverdal, thus ultimately missing out on promotion to League 3.
1981 / Champions in District East’s Saturday League 4D, 2 points ahead of runners-up vv Daarlerveen, CVV Achilles wins promotion to Saturday League 3.
1982 / As on the two previous occasions, CVV Achilles is unable to avoid the drop in Saturday League 3 – finishing in second-last place in District East’s Saturday League 3B and thus descending into League 4 along with bottom club vv Bergentheim.
1986 / Abandoning the two pitches to the northern side of Horstlindelaan, CVV Achilles moves into a newly laid-out park right across the road – i.e. to the south side of Horstlindelaan, where three pitches are laid out in north-south direction for the club by Enschede’s municipal authorities. The new clubhouse adjacent to the middle pitch, the new main pitch, is inaugurated on August 16th, 1986, by Mrs A. Deuzeman-Buter, the widow of former honorary president H.J. Deuzeman.
1991 / Finishing in second-last place in District East’s Saturday League 4D, CVV Achilles drops back into the ranks of TVB for the first time in 44 years, along with bottom club SV Sportlust Glanerbrug.
1992 / Champions in TVB Saturday Division 1A, 1 point ahead of closest rivals ZVV Blauw Wit ’66, CVV Achilles manages an immediate return to Saturday League 4.
1993 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Saturday League 4D, CVV Achilles yet again drops back into TVB Division 1, along with the club finishing in second-last position, SV De Eversberg.
1994 / Finishing in joint first position in TVB Division 1A with vv Vesos, CVV Achilles meets the club from Hellendoorn in a tie-break match – winning the encounter and thus managing an instant return to Saturday League 4.
1997 / Champions in District East’s Saturday League 4E, CVV Achilles wins promotion to Saturday League 3.
1998 / As on the previous four (!) occasions, CVV Achilles proves unable to hold its own at League 3 level, finishing in last place in District East’s Saturday League 3D and thus dropping back into Saturday League 4 after just one season.
2001 / Coached by Reint Anderson, CVV Achilles finishes in fourth place in District East’s Saturday League 4B, going on to win the play-offs. Thus acceding to Saturday League 3, the club succeeds at staying up at this level for the first time in the 2001-02 season, managing a respectable fourth place.
2003 / Finishing in fourth place in District East’s Saturday League 3D for the second year running, CVV Achilles goes on to win the subsequent round of play-offs, thus achieving a historic promotion to Saturday League 2. The successful coach is Rob de Jong.
2004 / Coached by Rob de Jong, CVV Achilles finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Saturday League 2J, thus dropping back into League 3 immediately, along with the club finishing in second-last place, CVV Oranje Nassau Almelo.
2008 / Coached by Rob de Jong during the trainer’s second spell with the club, CVV Achilles finishes in joint tenth place in District East’s Saturday League 3D with SV Juliana ’32, meeting the club from Wierden in a tie-break match to determine which of the two would have to descend into League 4 along with bottom club EFC Prinses Wilhelmina 1885 – with this fate befalling CVV Achilles.
2009 / Champions in District East’s Saturday League 4D, 3 points ahead of closest rivals vv Drienerlo, CVV Achilles manages an immediate return to Saturday League 3. The successful coach is Bert-Jan Heupers.
2010 / Still coached by Bert-Jan Heupers, CVV Achilles finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Saturday League 3D, thus dropping back into Saturday League 4 along with the club finishing in second-last position, ZSV Zelos. That same year, the main pitch at Terrein Horstlindelaan is laid out anew as a 3G; moreover, the pitch is given a quarter’s turn, meaning that the short ends are now facing the west and the east. Around this time, Enschede’s municipal authorities officially rename the ground Ontmoetingspark ‘t Wageler, although the name does not really seem to have struck root – with the club website simply mentioning the ground as (Terrein) Horstlindelaan.
2013 / Finishing as runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4D, 9 points behind champions RKSV, CVV Achilles wins direct promotion to Saturday League 3 due to extra promotion places being available. The successful coach is Steven Bergink.
2014 / Finishing in third-last place in District East’s Saturday League 3D, CVV Achilles has to play a promotion-relegation play-off to maintain itself at that level – succeeding to do so against BZSV Blauwwitters (5-3 aggr.).
2015 / Finishing in third-last place in District East’s Saturday League 3D for the second year running, CVV Achilles has to play a set of promotion-relegation play-offs to avoid the drop – successfully doing so by finishing top in a group with SDC ’12 (za) (8-1 win) and DKB (1-1 draw).
2016 / Coached by Mark de Jong, CVV Achilles finishes in second-last place in District East’s Saturday League 3D, thus dropping back into League 4 along with bottom club SV Sportlust Glanerbrug.
2017 / Runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4D, 6 points behind champions ASV ’57, CVV Achilles qualifies for the promotion play-offs. In those play-offs, the club suffers an aggregate defeat at the hands of RKSV (3-1), but due to extra promotion places being available, a lucky loser round is held, with CVV Achilles being drawn against CSV ’28 – and winning that encounter (5-3 aggr.), the club accedes to Saturday League 3 through the backdoor. The successful coach is Mark de Jong.
2018 / Coached by Mark de Jong, CVV Achilles finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Saturday League 3D, thus dropping back into Saturday League 4 after just one year, along with vv Drienerlo and RKSV. Also in 2018, former professional league player Kåre Becker, who had spells with FC Twente, Heracles Almelo, and FC Zwolle (1995-2002), is signed as trainer by CVV Achilles, staying on in that position for three years.
2021 / CVV Achilles is joined at Terrein Horstlindelaan by the PFA Football Academy.
2023 / Coached by Benjamin Can, CVV Achilles finishes in seventh position in District East’s Saturday League 4G – one place short to avoid the drop to the newly formed Saturday League 5, into which the club is retrograded along with RKSV EMOS, SVV ’91, EFC Prinses Wilhelmina 1885, SC Enschede, and bottom club FC Aramea.
2025 (projected) / The PFA Football Academy will be merged into CVV Achilles.