Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv Gorredijk

Sportpark Kortezwaag, Gorredijk = De Gordyk (vv Gorredijk)

Netherlands, province: Frisia = Friesland

9 II 2025 / vv Gorredijk - vv GOMOS 3-2 / Sunday League 2H (= NL level 7)

Timeline

± 1905 / First attempts at forming a football club are undertaken in Gorredijk and the nearby hamlet of Kortezwaag in Frisia, with groups of youngsters getting together to play matches on pastures turned into improvised pitches. Club names from those early years include Excelsior and Blauw Wit Junior.
1908 / A first mention is made of a club from Gorredijk, GVV (Gorredijkster Voetbalvereeniging), taking part in the competitions organised by the so-called Friesche Voetbalbond (FVB), the Frisian sub-branch of the Netherlands’ FA (NVB – renamed KNVB in 1929). In fact, GVV joined the FVB after a first tentative friendly match against VAC from Heerenveen, resulting in a 11-0 battering. GVV proved short-lived, though, and in one of the following years, a new clubs saw the daylight, GVC (Gorredijkster Voetbalclub), of which the existence proved equally ephemeral. It is unclear where the pitch or pitches of these clubs were situated.
1913 / A new club is founded in Gorredijk, VVG (Voetbalvereeniging Gorredijk), which joined the FVB in the fall of 1913.
1914 / Following the demise of Excelsior and Blauw Wit Junior, mentioned is made of a new boys’ club in Gorredijk, TOP (Tot Ons Plezier). As in the case of its predecessors, it is unclear how long TOP held out, but obviously not longer than a couple of years at most.
1915 / The latest of the clubs from Gorredijk joining the FVB, VVG, folds, ceasing all activities. For the remainder of World War I – in which the Netherlands remained neutral, but mobilised its forces, resulting in many young men being called up for army service – no organised football was played in Gorredijk.
1920 / In the summer of 1920, a new football club is founded in Gorredijk, which takes on the name of one of its predecessors, GVC (Gorredijkster Voetbalclub). The founding meeting is held in a local café, De Waag at Kerkewal, with J. Biesma, G. Bouwhuis, and R. Schaap being explicitly named in the sources as the founding fathers of the club. Biesma also takes on the role of GVC’s first chairman. The club rents a plot of land from a local smallholder, Eise Bergsma, situated on the location of the modern-day ice rink ‘Hâld Moed’ in Kortezwaag. Upon applying for membership of the FVB, the club’s board is requested to change the club name due to the acronym GVC already being in use by another FVB member. Thereupon, the club is accepted as new FVB member with the new name vv (Voetbalvereeniging) Gorredijk. Being placed in FVB Sunday Division 1, vv Gorredijk manages a 1-1 draw in its first match official, a home encounter against vv Friso (Leeuwarden).
1921 / Finishing as runners-up in FVB Sunday Division 1, vv Gorredijk wins promotion to NVB District North’s (Sunday) League 3. That same year, the club abandons Terrein Eise Bergsma, settling on a new pitch laid out at Hegedyk, nicknamed It Lytse Fuotbalfjild (‘The Small Football Pitch’) in the Frisian language.
1923 / A new pitch is laid out for vv Gorredijk, also at Hegedyk, at the back of the farm of Hearre de Vries. The Lytse Fuotbalfjild is retained for lower team football and training sessions.
1925 / vv Gorredijk finishes as runners-up in District North’s League 3C, 3 points behind champions SVC LSC 1890.
1927 / vv Gorredijk finishes as runners-up in District North’s League 3A, 7 points behind champions vv Drachten.
1928 / Finishing in joint first place in District North’s League 3A with SSC, vv Gorredijk meets the club from Steenwijk in a tie-break match in Heerenveen – but, suffering a 3-1 defeat, vv Gorredijk misses out on the title.
1931 / Former vv Watergraafsmeer and vv Achilles (Assen) player Karel Kaufman becomes vv Gorredijk’s first official trainer. Kaufman was no mean force in the Netherlands’ football of the day, in fact working as physical trainer for the Netherlands’ national team for more than three decades (1930-64).
1933 / vv Gorredijk finishes as runners-up in District North’s League 3A, 1 point behind champions vv CAB.
1934 / Finishing 4 points ahead of runners-up HZC in District North’s League 3A, vv Gorredijk finally manages to win its first title. The decisive points are clinched in a 9-3 win over SSC. However, the club misses out on promotion to League 2 following a 5-4 aggregate defeat in a promotion-relegation play-off against SVC LSC 1890. Also in 1934, a modest covered stand is erected alongside vv Gorredijk’s main pitch at Hegedyk.
1936 / Finishing 1 point ahead of runners-up HZC, vv Gorredijk clinches its second League 3A title in three years. The decisive points are obtained in a 4-0 win over vv Nicator. Yet again, though, the club fails to book its ticket for League 2, suffering defeat in the promotion play-offs.
1938 / Finishing in joint first place in District North’s League 3A with vv CAB, vv Gorredijk meets the club from Bolsward in a tie-break match – but, suffering a 6-2 defeat, vv Gorredijk misses out on the title.
1939 / Finishing 3 points ahead of runners-up vv Oostelijke Boys, vv Gorredijk wins the title in District North’s League 3B. In the championship play-offs, the club meets vv CAB and vv Rood Geel. Finishing in joint first place with vv CAB, vv Gorredijk meets the club from Bolsward in yet another tie-break match, with SVC LSC 1890’s Terrein Leeuwarderweg being the venue – but, this time, Gorredijk walks away as 3-0 winners, thus finally acceding to League 2 for the first time in club history. The successful coach is Mr Vossenberg. However, due to the mobilisation of the Netherlands’ armed forces in the summer of 1939, no regular league football is played in the 1939-40 season due to the serious depletion of the membership of many football clubs. Therefore, vv Gorredijk’s first match as a Sunday League 2 club has to wait until the fall of 1940.
1941 / vv Gorredijk manages the best result in club history, finishing in seventh place in District North’s Sunday League 2A – copying that result in 1942 and 1944. Also in 1941, a set of basic dressing barracks are erected at Terrein Hegedyk – only to be knocked down again one year later due to the maintenance costs exceeding the club’s financial means.
1943 / Finishing in joint last place in District North’s Sunday League 2A with MSC, vv Gorredijk narrowly avoids relegation by defeating the club from Meppel in a tie-break match.
1946 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 2A with only 3 points obtained in the entire season, vv Gorredijk goes on to fail in its mission to avoid relegation by slumping to a clear-cut 9-1 aggregate defeat against League 3 champions vv Oosterparkers. As such, the club drops back into League 3 – in fact, constituting the club’s first-ever relegation.
1951 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3B, vv Gorredijk drops back into Sunday League 4 for the first time. Also in 1951, after having had to make do without for the past nine years, vv Gorredijk acquires the luxury of new changing rooms at Terrein Hegedyk – in fact, a set of wooden barracks previously in use in Camp Sparjebird, which had been a German labour camp during the occupation years and a re-education centre for Nazi collaborators in the first years after the liberation of the Netherlands.
1952 / Finishing in joint first place in District North’s Sunday League 4A with vv Freno, vv Gorredijk meets the club from Franeker in a tie-break match for the title at GAVC’s ground in Grouw – and, following a comfortable 4-0 win, the club manages a return to Sunday League 3 after just one season.
1953 / Unable to hold its own at League 3 level once again, vv Gorredijk finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3B with coach Tjeerd Delgrosso, thus dropping back into League 4.
1957 / Finishing in joint last place in District North’s Sunday League 4B with RKVV Bakhuizen, vv Gorredijk avoids relegation by winning a tie-break match against that club in Joure (5-2).
1959 / vv Gorredijk finishes as runners-up in District North’s Sunday League 4B, 9 points behind champions vv De Kooi.
1962 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 4B, 6 points ahead of closest followers DOG – with the decisive points being clinched in a convincing 3-0 away win against that club in Wolvega – vv Gorredijk qualifies for the championship play-offs, with vv Bergum, SC Assen, and vv Kwiek being the other contenders. Assuring itself of first place following a 2-0 win over SC Assen, vv Gorredijk clinches promotion to Sunday League 3. The goals in the decisive match, attended by some 1,200 spectators, were scored by Bennie Eppinga and future Gorredijk trainer Gerrit de Vries. The successful coach is Sjirk Flisijn.
1965 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3A with coach Siep van der Zee, vv Gorredijk drops back into Sunday League 4. Also in 1965, the club enters a Saturday team in the regular FVB leagues for the first time; however, also in the following years and decades, the focus of the club’s activities remains firmly centred on Sunday football.
1966 / At the behest of Gorredijk’s municipal authorities, the so-called Koninklijke Nederlandse Heidemaatschappij (Royal Netherlands’ Association for Wasteland Redevelopment) is invited to lay out the pitches for a new sports park for vv Gorredijk. The works take the best part of the following two years.
1968 / Having played at the two pitches at Hegedyk for more than half a century, vv Gorredijk now moves into the newly laid-out situated at Mientewei, Sportpark Kortezwaag, which is inaugurated officially by Gorredijk’s mayor, Mr Posthuma. Sharing the park with a netball club – and later also with a rugby club RC De Wrotters – vv Gorredijk disposes of three pitches and a smaller practice pitch, with the capacity of the main pitch being extended considerably with the construction of two open terraces running alongside the touchlines on either side. As no dressing rooms have been constructed yet, the club has to make do with the old facilities taken along from Terrein Hegedyk.
1970 / A clubhouse as well as a set of dressing rooms are inaugurated at Sportpark Kortezwaag.
1971 / With vv Gorredijk’s squad bolstered by former vv Heerenveen (professional league) player Tjeerd Krist, the club manages a second place in District North’s Sunday League 4C, 1 point behind champions vv De Wilper Boys. In the following decade, vv Gorredijk is little more than an anonymous force in Sunday League 4. Also in 1971, Sportpark Kortezwaag hosts the tie-break match for the title in Sunday League 1C between vv Drachten and vv Harkema-Opeinde (2-1), attended by a baffling number of some 11,000 (!) spectators – all the more astonishing, given that the capacity of the ground had been estimated at 6,000 upon its inauguration in 1968.
1982 / Former vv Gorredijk youth academy goalkeeper Rob de Blois makes his debut as a professional league player with FC Groningen, going on to have a spell at SC Veendam before bowing out into non-league in 1988.
1985 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 4B, finishing 1 point ahead of derby rivals vv Jubbega, vv Gorredijk wins promotion to Sunday League 3 after an absence of twenty years at that level. The decisive points were clinched in a 2-1 home win over vv Renado. The successful coach is Gerrit de Vries.
1986 / Finishing in second-last place in District North’s Sunday League 3A with coach Gerrit de Vries, vv Gorredijk drops back into Sunday League 4 after just one season, along with bottom club vv Dronrijp.
1988 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 4B, 5 points ahead of closest followers vv Renado, vv Gorredijk manages a return to Sunday League 3. The decisive points were obtained in a 3-1 away win at SV VENO (two goals by Jacko Krist, one more by Jan Mast). The successful coach is Ger Lamberts.
1989 / A covered stand is added to the set-up at Sportpark Kortezwaag, with the construction being built onto the terrace on the western side of the main pitch.
1990 / Coached by Jelte Postma, vv Gorredijk finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3A, thus dropping back into Sunday League 4 along with the club finishing in second-last position, vv Jubbega. Also in 1990, former vv Gorredijk youth academy defender Wilco Hellinga makes his professional league debut at SC Heerenveen – going on to have spells at KFC Germinal Ekeren, FC Sankt-Gallen, 1. FC Nürnberg, FC Zürich, and BV Veendam before hanging up his boots in 2006.
1991 / Finishing in joint first place in District North’s Sunday League 4B with vv Jubbega, vv Gorredijk meets its eternal rivals in a tie-break match, staged at SV UDIROS’ ground in Nieuwehorne, with some 3,000 spectators witnessing a 3-0 win for vv Jubbega. As such, vv Gorredijk has to try to achieve promotion via the backdoor of the play-offs. Achieving first place in the group stage against SV UDIROS and vv De Sweach, the club qualifies for the final, played in Lemmer, in which SC Emmeloord proves too strong (6-3). As such, vv Gorredijk ultimately misses out on promotion.
1996 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 4C, 6 points ahead of runners-up vv Bergum and without suffering a single defeat all season, vv Gorredijk manages a return to Sunday League 3 after six seasons. The decisive point was clinched in a 2-2 away draw against last remaining rivals vv Bergum. The successful coach is Jelte Postma. Also in 1996, former professional league player, 34-year-old midfielder Maarten de Jong, who had had spells with SC Heerenveen and FC Groningen, joins vv Gorredijk, spending the last years of his playing career at Sportpark Kortezwaag.
2001 / Replacing its predecessor from 1970, a new clubhouse is inaugurated at Sportpark Kortezwaag.
2002 / Coached by Marten Kamstra, who had succeeded Willem Weening in the course of the season, vv Gorredijk finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3C, thus dropping back into League 4 along with the club finishing in second-last position, vv Akkrum.
2004 / Runaway champions in District North’s Sunday League 4B, 10 points ahead of closest followers vv ONB, vv Gorredijk wins promotion to Sunday League 3. The decisive points are clinched in a 2-1 home win over vv Akkrum (goals by Mark Goerres & Remko de Leeuw). The successful coach is Jan Stuiver.
2005 / Finishing in third place in District North’s Sunday League 3D, vv Gorredijk qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out by vv Roden.
2007 / In the club’s best performance in more than sixty seasons, vv Gorredijk finishes as runners-up in District North’s Sunday League 3B, 1 point behind champions vv Drachten. Ultimately, the club misses out on promotion due to defeat in the play-offs against vv Veendam 1894.
2008 / Coached by Johan van Slooten, vv Gorredijk finishes in second-last place in District North’s Sunday League 3A, thus dropping back into League 4 along with bottom club vv Rood Geel.
2010 / Coached by Ronald Veld, vv Gorredijk experiences the worst season in club history, finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 4A and thus descending into Sunday League 5 for the first time in club history, along with the club finishing in second-last place, RKVV MKV ’29. Relegation had become inevitable following a 2-1 defeat against vv Sport Vereent.
2012 / Finishing in joint second place in District North’s Sunday League 5B along with SV UDIROS, 1 point behind champions vv Steenwijker Boys, vv Gorredijk qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Following an away win against SC Terschelling (2-3), the club also wins its second, decisive play-off match, at home against FC Kraggenburg (3-0, two goals by Peter Boerstra, one more by Sake Rinsma) – resulting in the club managing a return to Sunday League 4 after two seasons. The successful coach is Jan Stuiver.
2016 / Former SC Heerenveen and FC Emmen professional league player, defender Arjen Bergsma, joins vv Gorredijk after successive spells at vv Harkemase Boys and vv Flevo Boys – staying at Sportpark Kortezwaag for seven seasons, eventually hanging up his boots in 2023.
2017 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 4B, 4 points ahead of runners-up vv Surhuisterveen, vv Gorredijk wins promotion to Sunday League 3. The decisive points were obtained in a 2-0 away win at SVMH, with Mart van der Tuin scoring both goals. The successful coach is Jacob Russchen.
2022 / Finishing in fourth place in District North’s Sunday League 3A, vv Gorredijk qualifies for the play-offs, in which the club knocks out SVZ in R1 (0-1), thus qualifying for the final, played at vv De Blesse’s Sportpark De Berk – with the season ending in tears, as the club stumbles to a 2-1 defeat against League 2 club vv Zuidwolde.
2024 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 3A, 4 points ahead of closest followers vv Drachten, vv Gorredijk wins promotion to Sunday League 2 – constituting a return to that level after an absence of 78 (!) years. In the fall of 2024, in a check-up of Sportpark Kortezwaag by Opsterland’s municipal authorities, the roof construction of the covered stand dating back to 1989 is judged unsafe and closed down for health and safety reasons. It remains to be seen if the stand will be renovated or knocked down and replaced.

Note – Much of the information above has been derived from a book published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of vv Gorredijk in 2020, “100 jaar vv Gorredijk” by Harm Bruinsma / Alrik de Jong / Anne Veenstra / Jelle Tenge / Boy Willems / Arne de Jong (published by vv Gorredijk in 2020).