LATEST UPDATE - vv DEVO '58 / SPORTPARK OOKMEER VELD 18, AMSTERDAM (NETHERLANDS)
Simply photos of matchday and stadium visits, mainly in Belgium and the Netherlands, occasionally in Britain or farther afield. Additionally, some historical information about grounds and clubs is provided. Others call it 'groundhopping', whereas I prefer 'football tourism'... but things have run slightly out of control: therefore, this is Extreme Football Tourism.
Monday, 3 February 2025
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Saturday, 1 February 2025
NETHERLANDS: vv ZOB
Zuidoosterpark, Zuidoostbeemster (vv ZOB)
Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland
1 II 2025 / vv ZOB - vv VIOS-W 5-0 / District West I, Combined Sunday & Saturday League 1A (= NL level 6)
Timeline
- 1956 / Foundation of a football club in the village of Zuidoostbeemster, on the western outskirts of Purmerend in North Holland. The new club, which takes on the name vv ZOB (Zuidoostbeemster), joins the NHVB (Noord-Hollandse Voetbalbond), the North Holland sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (KNVB). vv ZOB settles on a newly laid-out pitch at J.J. Grootlaan. Although the majority of the club’s membership has a Roman Catholic background, vv ZOB joins the Saturday league pyramid, traditionally dominated by clubs of Protestant background – the reason behind this being that there is no room for an additional club in the NHVB Sunday pyramid for the 1956-57 season.
- 1968 / After twelve years in the NHVB divisions, with several promotions behind them, vv ZOB now wins the title in NHVB Division 1, with the decisive points being obtained in a 4-0 home win over vv PSZ Reserves. As such, vv ZOB accedes to KNVB District West I’s Saturday League 4 for the first time. The successful coach is Steef Nijenhuis.
- 1976 / Champions in District West I’s Saturday League 4A, 8 points ahead of closest followers vv Kromhout, vv ZOB wins promotion to Saturday League 3. The successful coach is Dolf van Dijk.
- 1977 / Champions in District West I’s Saturday League 3A, 3 points ahead of closest followers vv Blauw-Wit (za), vv ZOB – still coached by Dolf van Dijk – wins its second promotion in a row, acceding to to Saturday League 2 for the first time.
- 1982 / Finishing in second-last place in District West I’s Saturday League 2C, vv ZOB drops back into Saturday League 3 after five seasons, along with bottom club DOSC.
- 1986 / vv ZOB finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Saturday League 3A, 3 points behind derby rivals VPV Purmersteijn.
- 1987 / Finishing in joint first place in District West I’s Saturday League 3A with RCH (za), vv ZOB meets the club from Heemstede in a tie-break match, going on to win the encounter 2-0 (goals by Walter Huybrechts & Peter van Rijn). As such, vv ZOB manages a return to Saturday League 2 after an absence of five years.
- 1991 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Saturday League 2C, vv ZOB is retrograded to Saturday League 3 along with the club finishing in second-last position, HSV De Zuidvogels.
- 1992 / Champions in District West I’s Saturday League 3A, 3 points ahead of vv Zandvoort ’75, vv ZOB wins promotion to Saturday League 2.
- 1993 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Saturday League 2C, vv ZOB drops back into Saturday League 3 along with the club in second-last place, vv NSC.
- 1996 / Although only finishing in ninth place in District West I’s Saturday League 3A, vv ZOB is placed in Saturday League 2 for the new season due to extra promotion places being available following the introduction of a Zaterdag Hoofdklasse as the new top division of the Saturday league pyramid.
- 1999 / Finishing in joint first place in Saturday League 2A with CSW, vv ZOB meets the club from Wilnis in a tie-break match for the title – going on to suffer defeat in this encounter and thus missing out on promotion to Saturday League 1.
- 2000 / Champions in Saturday League 2A, 2 points ahead of closest rivals HFC Kennemerland, vv ZOB wins a historic promotion to Saturday League 1. The successful coach is Chris Abels.
- 2001 / Finishing in joint last place in Saturday League 1A, vv ZOB drops back into Saturday League 2 after just one season, along with SV Lelystad ’67 and CSW.
- 2006 / Moving away from Terrein J.J. Grootlaan after exactly half a century, vv ZOB settles on the newly laid-out Zuidoosterpark, where the club has four pitches at its disposal. Alongside the western side of the main pitch, which has been laid out as a 3G, a covered stand has been erected – a feature which had been missing at the old ground. Terrein J.J. Grootlaan has to make way for a primary school.
- 2007 / vv ZOB finishes as runners-up in Saturday League 2A, 11 points behind champions HCSC.
- 2011 / Finishing in fourth place in Saturday League 2A, vv ZOB qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by vv De Beursbengels (5-0 aggr.).
- 2017 / Finishing in third place in Saturday League 2A, vv ZOB qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by CSW (4-2 aggr.).
- 2018 / Finishing in fifth place in Saturday League 2A, vv ZOB qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by HC&FC Victoria (2-1 aggr.).
- 2019 / Runners-up in Saturday League 2A, 1 point behind champions vv Monnickendam, vv ZOB qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Managing successive victories over BFC (3-1), FC Aalsmeer (4-1) and FC Delta Sports ’95 (1-0), the club accedes to Saturday League 1 after an absence of eighteen years at that level. The successful coach is Mohad Zaoudi.
- 2021 / The covered stand at vv ZOB’s Zuidoosterpark is named after club volunteer par excellence, former club chairman Fred van Rijswijk on the occasion of his eightieth birthday.
- 2023 / In the best season in club history (so far), vv ZOB manages an eighth place in Saturday League 1A.
NETHERLANDS: AVV ZSGO (1961-1985) / RKSV DCG (1963-1968) / RKSV DCG (B) (1968-1985) / vv DEVO '58 (1985-)
Sportpark Ookmeer - veld 18 "Devonello", Amsterdam Osdorp (vv DEVO '58, formerly AVV ZSGO / RKSV DCG / B pitch of RKSV DCG)
Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland
1 II 2025 / vv DEVO '58 - FC VVC Reserves (3) 2-2 / District West I, Reserves' League 3 Group 3
Timeline
- 1919 / On July 1st, 1919, also in the Frederik Hendrikbuurt, ASC (‘Amsterdamsche Sportclub’) sees the daylight, founded by a group of boys which had already started playing unorganised matches on a plot of wasteland at Van Rappardstraat in the summer of 1918.
- 1920 / Joining the AVB (Amsterdamsche Voetbalbond), Amsterdam’s sub-branch of the official Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, from 1929 onwards: KNVB) one year after its foundation, ASC changes its name to become AVV ZSGO (Amsterdamsche Voetbalvereeniging ‘Zonder Strijd Geen Overwinning’). Abandoning Terrein Van Rappardstraat, ZSGO settles on a newly laid-out grass pitch at Zuidelijke Wandelweg. Also in 1920, a Roman Catholic football club sees the daylight in the Spaarndammerbuurt in Amsterdam, RKWSV DOSS (Roomsch-Katholieke Westelijke Sportvereeniging ‘Door Oefening Steeds Sterker’). DOSS joins the Roman-Catholic football association RKAVB (Roomsch-Katholieke Amsterdamsche Voetbalbond), being placed in Division 2 of the nationwide Catholic league IVCB (Interdiocesane Voetbalcompetitiebond). The new club’s first ground is laid out on a plot of land owned by a local smallholder, Mr Ruiter, at Hemweg in the so-called Amsterdamsche Polder.
- 1921 / Foundation of a new Roman Catholic club in Amsterdam; this club, which takes on the name RKSV (Roomsch-Katholieke Sportvereeniging) Constantius, joins the DHVB (Diocesaan Haarlemsche Voetbalbond), into which the RKAVB had been absorbed. Initially playing its football on a makeshift pitch in Watergraafsmeer, RKSV Constantius concludes a groundsharing agreement with VIC at Kalfjeslaan later in 1922. Later in the 1920s, Constantius acquires its own pitch at Kalfjeslaan, Terrein Boer Groot.
- ± 1923 / Moving away from Terrein Zuidelijke Wandelweg, AVV ZSGO settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Amstelveenscheweg.
- 1927 / Abandoning Terrein Amstelveenscheweg, AVV ZSGO settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Nieuwe Kalfjeslaan.
- 1929 / AVV ZSGO abandons Terrein Nieuwe Kalfjeslaan, settling on a newly laid-out pitch at Weesperzijde. That same year, a new Roman Catholic football club sees the daylight, RKVV (Roomsch-Katholieke Voetbalvereeniging) Gezellen Vier, which joins the DHVB league association. This club’s first ground is the so-called Katholiek Sportpark in Amsterdam-Watergraafsmeer.
- 1931 / RKWSV DOSS moves away from its ground at Hemweg to a newly laid out pitch at Uitweg. Also in or around 1931, Abandoning Terrein Weesperzijde, AVV ZSGO settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Amstelveenscheweg – not the same pitch where the club spent several seasons in the 1920s, but a location close to Koenenkade.
- 1933 / Moving away from the Katholiek Sportpark after four years, RKVV Gezellen Vier moves to a newly laid-out pitch at Middenweg.
- 1934 / AVV ZSGO wins promotion to KNVB Sunday League 4 for the first time.
- 1936 / Abandoning Terrein Amstelveenschweg (II), where the club had spent five odd seasons, AVV ZSGO moves away to Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg, also used by its future merger partner ASC WMS. Another club moving to Velserweg, a huge municipal sports complex comprising forty football pitches, that same year is RKWSV DOSS, which abandons its old ground at Uitweg.
- 1937 / Moving away from Terrein Boer Groot at Kalfjeslaan, RKSV Constantius settles at Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg.
- 1938 / Following the example of dozens of other clubs, RKVV Gezellen Vier moves to Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg, where the club acquires its own main pitch, with the club concluding an agreement with RKSV Constantius, stipulating that the pitches required for the two clubs’ youth academies are rented in conjunction.
- 1941 / The boards of RKWSV DOSS and RKSV Constantius conclude a merging agreement, but as DOSS’ membership votes down the proposal, further merger talks are stalled.
- 1943 / With the hardships of the German occupation of the Netherlands being felt ever more acutely, Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg has to be vacated at the behest of occupation authorities. Some clubs cease their activities for the duration of the war, but AVV ZSGO manages to conclude a groundsharing agreement with CSV De Geuzen for the 1943-44 season. Meanwhile, the German oppressors plough up the entire Velserweg area, with most of the constructions situated on the sports fields – including, notably, the clubhouse of RKSV Constantius – being demolished.
- 1944 / New merger talks get underway between four Roman Catholic clubs: RKWSV DOSS, RKASV Wilskracht, RKVV Gezellen Vier, and RKSV Constantius. With no agreement being reached by the end of 1944, RKASV Wilskracht withdraws from the project due to the three other clubs refusing to grant Wilskracht’s demand to see its name retained in the name of the prospective merger club.
- 1945 / On September 11th, 1945, just in time for the start of the first post-war season, a merger agreement is concluded between RKWSV DOSS, RKSV Constantius, and RKVV Gezellen Vier, resulting in the foundation of RKSV DCG (Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging ‘Door Combinatie Sterk’); note that the first letters of the three clubs were thus preserved in the acronym ‘DCG’. Due to the area having been devastated by Allied bombers in the previous two years, neither AVV ZSGO nor RKSV DCG can take their place at Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg, which has to be rebuilt from scratch. In the 1945-46 season, ZSGO groundshares at APGS, SNA, and AVV De Spartaan, while RKSV DCG’s first team temporarily moves into a groundshare with AFC DWS at Spaarndammerdijk; the new club’s youth academy finds its place at the grounds of VIC (Kalfjeslaan), AVV BDK, and RKVVA.
- 1946 / AVV ZSGO returns to Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg after an absence of three years, although the club is being allocated two different pitches than the ones used in the 1936-43 period.
- 1947 / Having had to subdivide its activities on the grounds of several other Amsterdam clubs in the two preceding years, RKSV DCG can finally return to Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg in August 1947, one year later than AVV ZSGO.
- 1958 / Foundation of a new football club in Amsterdam’s Kolenkitbuurt, which is given the name vv Door Enige Vrienden Opgericht (DEVO) ’58. In the preceding years, a group of some fifteen to twenty boys from the aforementioned neighbourhood had gotten together to play street football in Akbarstraat – which laid the basis for the eventual foundation of vv DEVO ‘58. The club, which joined the AVB that same year, settled on a plot of farmland at Spaarndammerdijk, in use as a cow pasture during midweeks.
- 1961 / Having suffered relegation to Sunday League 4 in the 1960-61 season, AVV ZSGO moves away from Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg, settling at the newly laid-out Sportpark Ookmeer in Amsterdam-Osdorp. On this new location, ZSGO is given the luxury of three pitches – with the southernmost of those becoming its main pitch for the following 24 years. This pitch, referred to as "pitch/veld 18”, has the luxury of a covered (Elascon) stand (possibly erected in 1963 or 1964), wooden boards on the side facing this stand, as well as two steps of terracing behind the two goals. Meanwhile, also in or around 1961, after some three years at Terrein Spaarndammerdijk, the young club vv DEVO ’58 is allowed to move in to Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg as groundsharers with RKVV Aristos.
- ± 1962 / Probably after just one season as groundsharers with RKVV Aristos at Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg, vv DEVO ’58 moves in with SV Real Sranang at Sportpark Sloten – on the pitch later occupied by SC Sloten-Rivalen.
- 1963 / With the arrival of RKSV DCG, another club which was home at Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Velserweg, at Sportpark Ookmeer, AVV ZSGO has to share its main pitch with this club from now on. At that time, DCG was a club playing its football in the top division of the Netherlands’ non-league, Sunday League 1. DCG's lower team football and training sessions are held on the southernmost pitches of the new park.
- 1964 / Probably after two seasons at Sportpark Sloten, vv DEVO ’58 is allowed to move to Sportpark Ookmeer, where it becomes a groundsharer with RKSV DCG – however, not occupying one of that club’s principal pitches, but playing its football on the two pitches at the far southwestern end of the ground. In the following years, a former site hut is erected alongside these two pitches to serve as a makeshift clubhouse. Meanwhile, AVV ZSGO’s clubhouse at Sportpark Ookmeer is inaugurated after construction works which commenced one year previously. Unusually, the clubhouse has not been built close to the (shared) main pitch at the southern end of the park, but at the far other, northern, side, alongside pitch 14.
- 1965 / To facilitate the drainage of Sportpark Ookmeer, a monumental windmill, 1100 Roe, is disassembled at its old location at Haarlemmerweg, where it had been in place since 1674, to be rebuilt alongside pitch 18 of the park, where it has fulfilled its useful function until the present day. Meanwhile, also in 1965, the first stone is laid for RKSV DCG’s new clubhouse, situated in the southeastern corner of DCG’s part of Sportpark Ookmeer.
- 1966 / RKSV DCG finishes as runners-up in Sunday League 1A, 3 points behind champions ASV JOS. On May 21st, 1966, DCG’s new clubhouse, for which the foundation stone had been laid in the preceding year, is officially inaugurated. Meanwhile, also in 1966, winning its first-ever title, vv DEVO ’58 finishes in first place in AVB Sunday Division 3A. The decisive points are clinched in a 4-3 away win at SV Osdorp. As such, the club won promotion to AVB Sunday Division 2. It is unclear for how long DEVO managed to hold its own at this level.
- 1967 / RKSV DCG finishes as runners-up in Sunday League 1A, 1 point behind champions AFC.
- 1968 / In the most successful season in club history, RKSV DCG, coached by Harry Pelser, wins the title in Sunday League 1A, 2 points ahead of closest rivals ASC SDW. As such, the club qualifies for the nationwide non-league title championship with the winners of the other five Sunday League 1 divisions, UVS, vv Emmen, MV&AV Middelburg, RKVV Almania, and vv Rheden. In the last of its ten matches, the home tie against UVS, DCG has to obtain 1 point to obtain the title, but the encounter at Sportpark Ookmeer veld 18, attended by 7,500 spectators, finishes in a 2-3 win for the club from Leyden. As a result, DCG and UVS meet again in a tie-break match for the title at RCH’s Heemsteeds Sportpark, attended by a staggering 22,000 spectators; in that last encounter, DCG manages a 2-1 win, with striker Freddie Mulder scoring both goals for the club from Amsterdam. Meanwhile, also in the 1967-68 season, having finished as runners-up in Sunday League 4 on four previous occasions in the same decade, AVV ZSGO now finally clinches the title in District West I’s Sunday League 4C, 4 points ahead of runners-up vv Schoten. The decisive points are clinched in a home win against GVO. As such, after an absence of seven seasons, ZSGO manages a return to Sunday League 3. Also in 1968, RKSV DCG abandons pitch 18 of Sportpark Ookmeer, which it had shared as its main pitch with AVV ZSGO since 1963; with DCG withdrawing to a new main pitch at the southern end of Sportpark Ookmeer, where a new Elascon stand is inaugurated for the start of the 1968-69 season, pitch 18 is used for first team football by just one club, AVV ZSGO, in the following seventeen years, although it has to cede it occasionally to District West I when tie-break matches are held there at the end of the season, as well as for school tournament finals. Moreover, DCG continues to make use of the pitch for lower team football.
- 1969 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 3B, AVV ZSGO descends back into Sunday League 4 after just one season.
- 1976 / vv DEVO ‘58’s most prominent member, folk singer André Hazes (Snr.), scores the first of a string of hits which would make him one of the Netherlands’ most popular singers, ‘Eenzame kerst’. In spite of his growing success, Hazes is notorious for not paying his contribution, leading to the singer being expelled from the club altogether.
- ± 1980 / The covered stand at “pitch 18”, erected in the early 1960s, is dismantled due to the construction being dilapidated beyond repair.
- 1981 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 4E, AVV ZSGO drops back into the ranks of the AVB after 47 years.
- 1985 / After an absence of four seasons, AVV ZSGO finds its way back up to Sunday League 4, winning promotion from the ranks of the AVB. That same year, the club abandons its main pitch, “pitch/veld 18”, moving its first team football to pitch/veld 14, the pitch adjacent to its clubhouse, while RKSV DCG stops making use of pitch 18 for lower team football as well. Meanwhile, pitch 18 is taken over by vv DEVO ’58, groundsharers at RKSV DCG for the past 21 years. A clubhouse is erected alongside the pitch by DEVO members that same year.
- 1987 / Finishing 1 point ahead of closest rivals AGS/Olympus, vv DEVO ’58 clinches the title in AVB Sunday Division 3A, thus winning promotion to AVB Sunday Division 2. The decisive points are obtained in a 5-1 away win at SV Rap – with two goals being scored by Jan Ravenswaaij, and one each by Willem Peterson, Michal Sirach, and Kenneth Reiziger.
- 1988 / Finishing bottom of the table in AVB Sunday Division 2 without having obtained a single point all season, vv DEVO ’58 drops back into AVB Division 3 after just one season.
- 1996 / With the abolition of all KNVB sub-branches, including the AVB, vv DEVO ‘58’s Sunday team is placed in the newly created District West II’s Sunday League 6. Meanwhile, the club also has a regular Saturday team, which is placed in Saturday League 6.
- 1997 / Champions in District West II’s Sunday League 6A, finishing 8 points ahead of closest followers AVV FIT, AVV TOG, and ASC Waterwijk, vv DEVO ‘58’s Sunday team wins promotion to Sunday League 5.
- 2000 / Although always leading an existence in the shadow of the club’s Sunday team, vv DEVO ‘58’s Saturday squad now manages to win the title in District West II’s Saturday League 6A, 5 points ahead of closest followers AVV BDK and SC Sloterpark/AGS. As such, promotion is achieved to Saturday League 5, but, instead, in an unusual move, DEVO withdraws from Saturday football, continuing with just regular first team football on Sundays.
- 2004 / Finishing in second-last place in District West I’s Sunday League 5D, vv DEVO ’58 drops back into Sunday League 6 along with bottom club P&T. Following the 2003-04 season, however, the club withdraws from first team football, continuing its existence in the reserves’ leagues in all but one of the six following seasons (2004-06 & 2007-10).
- 2009 / Former Netherlands’ international winger, 40-year-old Glenn Helder (formerly at Sparta Rotterdam, SBV Vitesse, Arsenal FC, SL Benfica, NAC, MTK Hungária, RBC Roosendaal, and TOP Oss), joins vv DEVO ’58 veterans’ team for some time after the demise of his former club FC Türkiyemspor.
- 2010 / vv DEVO ’58 returns to regular first team football on Sundays, being placed in District West I’s Sunday League 6B.
- ± 2013 / Parts of a new golf course for Golfclub Ookmeer are laid out at the two short ends of Sportpark Ookmeer veld 18. As part of this unwelcome development, the two steps of terracing at the western end of vv DEVO ‘58’s pitch has to make way for an artificial slope.
- 2014 / Runners-up in District West I’s Sunday League 6B, 1 point behind champions BSV Allen Weerbaar, vv DEVO ’58 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club goes on to win both its encounters (2-6 vs. SV Rap / 3-1 vs. vv APWC), thus acceding to Sunday League 5.
- 2016 / Replacing the old dressing rooms erected at Sportpark Ookmeer veld 18 in 1985, replacements are inaugurated at vv DEVO ‘58’s park, with the new construction being built into the older part of the clubhouse.
- 2017 / Finishing in fifth place in District West I’s Sunday League 5C – thus equalling the club’s best result since the turn of the century, dating back to 2002 – vv DEVO ’58 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by Sporting Krommenie (10-0 aggr.).
- 2018 / Finishing in joint last place in District West I’s Sunday League 5B with ASC SDW – moreover having incurred a penalty of 8 points being deducted due to foul play – vv DEVO ’58 withdraws from Sunday football, making the leap to Saturday League 4 (the lowest division in District West I’s Saturday pyramid at the time).
- 2019 / vv DEVO ’58 has its best season as a Saturday club, finishing in fifth place in District West I’s Saturday League 4D and only just missing out on the promotion play-offs.
- 2022 / Having managed a tenth place in District West I’s Saturday League 4E, vv DEVO ’58 withdraws from regular league football. From that time onwards, the club has only competed in the reserves’ divisions.
Note 1 – Important parts of information concerning the history of vv DEVO ’58 have been derived from an interesting documentary by Arthur Stam from 2008, “50 jaar DEVO ’58. Van de Kolenkit tot de Molen”, which has been published on YouTube in two parts (links to part 1 & part 2). Other details of recent club history were added by DEVO’s chairman, Marcel Linthorst. Furthermore, my thanks go out to RKSV DCG’s club historian Ed Degenkamp for providing priceless information regarding his club’s involvement at “pitch 18” of Sportpark Ookmeer.
Note 2 – A more extensive club history of AVV ZSGO, its future merger partner ASC WMS, and AVV ZSGOWMS can be found in an article with pictures of ZSGOWMS’s Sportpark Ookmeer veld 14 elsewhere on this website.
Note 3 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-23 & 26-27 = match visit, February 2025 / pictures 24-25 = non-matchday visit, November 2024.
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