Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: SV FAK (1983-1997) / FC De Bilt (1997-)

Sportpark Weltevreden, De Bilt (FC De Bilt, formerly SV FAK)

Netherlands, province: Utrecht

29 III 2025 / FC De Bilt - SV Argon 1-0 / Saturday League 2B (= NL level 7)

Timeline

1906 / Foundation of a first football club in De Bilt, which takes on the name Biltsche Voetbalclub, abbreviated as Biltsche VC or BVC. The club joins the so-called Utrechtsche Provinciale Voetbalbond (UPVB), Utrecht’s sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, later KNVB).
1910 / Biltsche VC wins promotion to NVB District West’s (Sunday) League 3.
1911 / Biltsche VC folds, ceasing all activities. A new club is founded in De Bilt that same year, which goes by the simple and straightforward name De Bilt.
1913 / De Bilt folds after an existence of two years only.
1917 / A new football club is founded in De Bilt. The new club, which takes on the name Biltsche Voetbalclub (BVC), is renamed De Bilt in October 1917. Like its predecessors, De Bilt joins the UPVB.
1921 / Foundation of a new football club in De Bilt, which is given the name Biltsche Sportvereeniging – abbreviated as BS or BSV. The new club settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Groenekanseweg. BS exists parallelly with De Bilt, the club founded four years previously.
1922 / After an existence of four years, De Bilt folds, ceasing all activities. That same year, BS(V) changes its name to become De Bilt.
1923 / De Bilt, i.e. the former BS(V), takes on the new name Biltsche Voetbalclub (BVC).
1925 / Moving away from Terrein Groenekanseweg after four years, BVC settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Oude Brandenburgerweg. The park, usually referred to in post-war sources at Sportpark Brandenburg, is later extended with a second pitch as well as a wooden grandstand alongside the main pitch.
1926 / BVC absorbs Ares, a (Sunday) League 3 club from Utrecht founded in 1911, as a result of which the club accedes to District West I’s League 3 without having won promotion from the UPVB.
1927 / Finishing in second-last place in District West I’s League 3D, BVC drops back into the ranks of the UPVB along with bottom club vv DOS.
1931 / Foundation of a new football club in De Bilt under the aegis of Koninklijke Fabriek Inventum, a household appliances manufacturer; the corporate club takes on the name Sportvereeniging (SV) Flink Aanpakken Kameraden (FAK). Initially refused its UPVB membership appliance in 1931, the club is eventually admitted to the association in 1932. Starting its life on a pitch laid out at the back of Café Zilvervos, the club later moves to a pitch on the factory’s grounds, at Leyens(ch)eweg.
1935 / Winning promotion from UPVB Sunday Division 1, BVC manages a return to the ranks of District West I after an absence of eight years, being placed in (Sunday) League 4 for the 1935-36 season.
1936 / Champions in District West I’s League 4G, 5 points ahead of closest followers vv Culemborg, BVC fails to win promotion to League 3 in the subsequent championship play-offs.
1937 / Champions in District West I’s League 4G, 3 points ahead of closest rivals HC&FC Victoria, BVC goes on to win the championship play-offs, thus gaining promotion to League 3.
1940 / Champions in District West I’s League 3E, 2 points ahead of runners-up vv SEC, BVC fails to win promotion to Sunday League 2 in the subsequent championship play-offs.
1946 / At the instigation of the Roman-Catholic parish in Bilthoven, a village situated to the north of De Bilt, a new football club is formed, RKSV (Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging) Bilthoven. The club’s first chairman is Mr M. Rutgers. A pitch is laid out for the club at the back of Café Verhoef at Soestdijkseweg. Being placed in Sunday Division 2 of Afdeling Utrecht (as the UPVB was officially renamed in 1940) for the 1946-47 season, RKSV Bilthoven makes its debut with a home game against RVV Voorwaarts.
1947 / BVC finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Sunday League 3F, 4 points behind champions USV Holland. Meanwhile, RKSV Bilthoven finishes near the bottom in its first season in Afdeling Utrecht Sunday Division 2, thus being retrograded to the newly created Afdeling Utrecht Sunday Division 3.
1951 / Clinching the title in Afdeling Utrecht Sunday Division 3, RKSV Bilthoven manages a return to Afdeling Utrecht Sunday Division 2 after four seasons.
1952 / Moving away from Café Verhoef after six years, RKSV Bilthoven settles on a newly laid-out pitch, Terrein Heidepark, situated at Jan Steenlaan. In advance of the inaugural match against RKSV DSO (ending in a 3-5 defeat), the pitch is blessed by the village priest, Fr Popma.
1954 / After spending the previous 22 years in the Sunday divisions of the UPVB and Afdeling Utrecht, SV FAK now manages to win promotion from Afdeling Utrecht Sunday Division 1 to District West I’s Sunday League 4 for the first time. That same year, RKSV Bilthoven clinches the title in Afdeling Utrecht Sunday Division 2, with the decisive points being clinched in a 4-3 home win over RKSV DSO (two goals by Bertus Brinkmann, one each by Gerard ter Laak and Ruud Degenaar). Following the title win, RKSV Bilthoven has to play a championship play-off against KVVA, with the away match ending in a 4-1 defeat, and the home match in a 2-0 win. Given that goal difference does not play a part in determining the winner, a tie-break match is organised at a neutral ground, SV Zeist’s Terrein De Koeburg, where RKSV Bilthoven manages a second 2-0 win (goals by Gerard ter Laak & Bertus Brinkmann). As such, the club accedes to Afdeling Utrecht’s Sunday Division 1 for the first time. The successful player-coach is Leo ten Bokum.
1955 / Clinching the title in its first season in Afdeling Utrecht’s Sunday Division 1, RKSV Bilthoven wins promotion to District West I’s Sunday League 4 for the first time. The decisive points are obtained in a 4-1 home win against IJFC.
1956 / In the best season in club history, RKSV Bilthoven finishes in sixth place in District West I’s Sunday League 4H, one place ahead of SV FAK. Incidentally, this also ranks as FAK’s best-ever result – an achievement repeated in Sunday League 4G in 1960.
1958 / Finishing in last place in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, BVC drops back into Sunday League 4, where it meets local rivals SV FAK and RKSV Bilthoven.
1961 / BVC finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4H, 3 points behind SV Saestum. Meanwhile, SV FAK and RKSV Bilthoven finish in the two bottom positions in that same division, both dropping back into the ranks of Afdeling Utrecht – and never managing a return to Sunday League 4 in the remainder of their existence.
1962 / Runaway champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4H, 12 points ahead of closest followers RKVV Fortitudo, BVC manages a return to Sunday League 3 after an absence of four years.
1963 / In its first season back in League 3, BVC finishes in joint first place in District West I’s Sunday League 3D with SC Ultrajectum. However, losing the tie-break match for the title (2-1), the club misses out on promotion to Sunday League 2.
1964 / Runaway champions in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, 15 points ahead of runners-up CVV Vriendenschaar, BVC accedes to Sunday League 2 for the first time.
1965 / As BVC moves away from Sportpark Brandenburg after forty years, the club settles at a newly laid-out ground, Sportpark Larenstein, where it has the luxury of a covered stand as well as a clubhouse. The three pitches at Sportpark Brandenburg are occupied forthwith by SV FAK and RKSV Bilthoven, with those clubs’ previous grounds, Terrein Leyenseweg and Terrein Heidepark, being abandoned. At Sportpark Brandenburg, SV FAK and RKSV Bilthoven each dispose of their own main pitch, with the remaining pitch being shared as training facility. FAK moves into BVC’s old clubhouse, while RKSV Bilthoven gathers the means to construct its own clubhouse. The wooden main stand at Sportpark Brandenburg is consumed in a fire not long after the departure of BVC.
1966 / Dropping the reference to its Roman-Catholic origins, RKSV Bilthoven abbreviates its prefix, officially becoming SV (Sportvereniging) Bilthoven as off January 1st, 1966. That same year, BVC clinches the title in District West I’s Sunday League 2B, 4 points ahead of closest rivals AVV Zeeburgia, thus managing a historic promotion to Sunday League 1, the top division of non-league in the Netherlands. One of the club’s players, defender Arno Wellerdieck, earns himself a professional league contract with vv DOS, going on to have spells with FC Utrecht, WVV Wageningen, and Telstar, eventually ending his career there in 1978.
1967 / In the best season in club history, BVC finishes in seventh place in Sunday League 1A. Meanwhile, SV Bilthoven drops back from Afdeling Utrecht Sunday Division 1 to Division 2. In the remaining years of its existence, the club alternates spells in Sunday Divisions 2 & 3.
1969 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 1A, BVC drops back into Sunday League 2 after three years. That same year, SV Bilthoven’s new clubhouse at Sportpark Brandenburg is inaugurated.
1971 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 2B, BVC drops back into Sunday League 3.
1972 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, BVC drops back into Sunday League 3, thus suffering its second relegation in a row and its third relegation in four seasons.
1974 / BVC finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4H, 3 points behind champions DWSV.
1975 / Runaway champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4G, 12 points ahead of closest followers vv Scherpenzeel, BVC manages a return to Sunday League 3. That same year, former SV FAK youth academy midfielder Wim Flight makes his professional league debut at FC Utrecht, going on to have a spell in Breda at NAC as well before hanging up his boots in 1987.
1976 / Champions in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, 2 points ahead of former professional league club UA&VV Velox, BVC wins promotion to Sunday League 2. That same year, two former BVC youth players make their professional league debut; firstly, defender Koos van Tamelen (who also had a spell at SV FAK) plays his first match at FC Utrecht at the age of nineteen, going on to wear the red-and-white for eight years, capping off his professional league career with three seasons at FC Wageningen, eventually hanging up his boots in 1987. Also in 1976, goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen, who had joined FC Utrecht’s youth academy from BVC only one year previously, makes his debut in FC Utrecht’s flagship team at the age of twenty. Van Breukelen goes on to have spells at Nottingham Forest FC (1982-84) and PSV (1984-94), while also winning 73 caps for the Netherlands’ national team – being the goalkeeper of the legendary team which won the 1988 European Championships in West Germany.
1978 / Suffering from insufficient training facilities at Sportpark Brandenburg, SV Bilthoven is allowed to lay out an extra training pitch on a piece of future building ground elsewhere in De Bilt, Terrein De Leyen.
1980 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 2B, BVC drops back into Sunday League 3.
1983 / Moving away from its groundshare with SV Bilthoven at Sportpark Brandenburg after fifteen years, SV FAK moves to the newly laid-out Sportpark Weltevreden.
1984 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, BVC descends into Sunday League 4 along with the club finishing in second-last place, vv Midlandia. That same year, as Sportpark Brandenburg is being laid out anew, SV Bilthoven temporarily moves all its activities to Terrein De Leyen, the club’s training ground since 1978.
1985 / As the renovated Sportpark Brandenburg is inaugurated, SV Bilthoven moves back all its activities to this park in the summer of 1985. Terrein De Leyen is abandoned.
1987 / Champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4H, 2 points ahead of closest rivals vv Brederodes, BVC manages a return to Sunday League 3 after three years. Also in 1987, former SV FAK youth academy winger Edwin de Kruyff makes his professional league debut at FC Utrecht at the age of seventeen. De Kruyff goes on to have spells at BV De Graafschap, BVO Emmen, FC Groningen, and BV Veendam, eventually hanging up his boots in 2001.
1988 / SV Bilthoven absorbs the small Saturday league club vv Dolderse Boys, with all activities moving to Sportpark Brandenburg. From that time on, the club has two flagship teams in Afdeling Utrecht, one in the Sunday pyramid, the other in the Saturday divisions. Also in 1988, BVC winger Ronald Hoop, aged 21, signs a professional league contract with FC Utrecht. Failing to achieve his breakthrough, Hoop returns to BVC in 1989, moving on to FC Hilversum one year later – and eventually commencing a second spell as a professional league player at Telstar in 1991. He goes on to have spells at Dordrecht ’90, USC Palermo, FC Baden, SV Waldhof Mannheim, FC Schaffhausen, SV Darmstadt 98, and SV Sandhausen 1916 before withdrawing into non-league in 2002.
1989 / BVC finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, 1 point behind champions vv Nijenrodes.
1990 / Former SV FAK youth academy defender Eddy Vierklau makes his professional league debut at FC Utrecht, where he has a short two-year spell as a professional league player.
1991 / Ferdi Vierklau, Eddy Vierklau’s younger brother, who also made his first steps on a football pitch at SV FAK, makes his professional league debut at FC Utrecht, going on to have spells at SBV Vitesse, CD Tenerife, and AFC Ajax, eventually hanging up his boots in 2003. The defender also won two caps for the Netherlands in 1996-97.
1992 / SV Bilthoven’s Saturday team wins promotion from Afdeling Utrecht Saturday Division 3 to Division 2 via the promotion play-offs, with the decisive win being booked against FCMM. That same year, the club withdraws its first team from the Sunday divisions – going as far as to dissolve its Sunday branch one year later.
1994 / SV Bilthoven receives notice from De Bilt’s municipal authorities that the club has to vacate Sportpark Brandenburg by the end of 1996. Thereupon, in a membership meeting, approval is given to hold merger talks with BVC and SV FAK.
1996 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, BVC drops back into Sunday League 4 along with the club in second-last place, vv Brederodes. Following the 1995-96 season, with BVC agreeing to a merger in principle but wanting to wait until the club’s 75th anniversary in 1997, SV Bilthoven allows itself to be absorbed into SV FAK. As such, Sportpark Brandenburg is abandoned in the summer of 1996.
1997 / In their last seasons as independent clubs, BVC finishes as runners-up in the Central District’s Sunday League 4H, 1 point behind champions vv Maarssen, while SV FAK manages a sixth place in Sunday League 5B. Following the 1996-97 season, the merger between BVC and SV FAK is concluded, resulting in the foundation of Fusieclub (FC) De Bilt. As BVC’s Sportpark Larenstein is abandoned, all activities move to SV FAK’s Sportpark Weltevreden, where a covered stand has been erected alongside the main pitch – in fact, this was a condition brought in by BVC which the club wanted to see fulfilled before agreeing to the merger. The new club starts its life in Sunday League 4, where it takes BVC’s place. Also in 1997, former FAK youth academy defender Joost Broerse makes his professional league debut at FC Groningen. Broerse goes on to have spells at FC Utrecht, APOEL (Nicosia), SBV Excelsior, and PEC Zwolle, eventually hanging up his boots in 2015.
1998 / Champions in the Central District’s Sunday League 4G in its first season, 5 points ahead of closest followers vv Brederodes, FC De Bilt wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
1999 / FC De Bilt finishes as runners-up in the Central District’s Sunday League 3D, 3 points behind champions RKVV SDO. For the 1999-2000 season, the club also enters a Saturday first team, which starts its life in the bottom division of the Central District’s league pyramid, Saturday League 6.
2000 / Champions in the Central District’s Saturday League 6B, 8 points ahead of vv Brederodes, FC De Bilt (za) wins promotion to Saturday League 5.
2001 / Champions in the Central District’s Sunday League 3D, 5 points ahead of runners-up LVV Roda ’46, FC De Bilt (zo) wins promotion to Sunday League 2. The successful coach is Jan Verkaik. Meanwhile, the club’s Saturday team, coached by Gerrit van der Laan, finishes as runners-up in Saturday League 5B, 6 points behind champions HFC Bloemenkwartier 1921, going on to win promotion to Saturday League 4 in the subsequent play-off rounds.
2003 / Runners-up in District West I’s Saturday League 4H, 13 points behind runaway champions VVJ, FC De Bilt (za) accedes to Saturday League 3 for the first time. The successful coach is Peter van Boeijen.
2005 / Coached by Jacko Stuivenberg, FC De Bilt’s Saturday team finishes in second-last place in District West I’s Saturday League 3D, thus being retrograded into Saturday League 4 along with bottom club vv Altius.
2006 / Former professional league midfielder Rob Alflen becomes the head coach of FC De Bilt’s Sunday team, which is still playing in Sunday League 2. Between 1985 and 2000, Alflen defended the colours of FC Utrecht, AFC Ajax, SBV Vitesse, Sparta Rotterdam, SC Heracles ’74, Heracles Almelo, and Cambuur-Leeuwarden.
2007 / Coached by Rob Alflen, FC De Bilt (zo) finishes in second-last place in Sunday League 2B, thus descending into Sunday League 3 along with bottom club Koninklijke HFC. Alflen would stay on for one more season, eventually leaving FC De Bilt in 2008.
2008 / The main pitch at Sportpark Weltevreden is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2010 / Finishing in third place in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, FC De Bilt (zo) qualifies for the play-offs. Edging past SV Concordia in R1 (3-3 aggr. & away goals), the club is knocked out in the semis by RKSV DCG (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out). Nevertheless, due to several additional promotion places being available, the club is placed in Sunday League 2 for the new season. The successful coach is Ingmar de Jong.
2011 / Still coached by Ingmar de Jong, FC De Bilt’s Sunday squad finishes in eleventh place in Sunday League 2B, failing to save its skin in the promotion-relegation play-offs against vv Legmeervogels (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out). As such, the team suffers relegation to Sunday League 3 along with vv Sporting Martinus, RKSV DCG, and bottom club SV Kampong.
2012 / After finishing in ninth place in District West I’s Sunday League 3D, FC De Bilt withdraws from regular first team football on Sundays, continuing with just their Saturday team in Saturday League 4. Underlining their ambitions, the club signs Gerrit Plomp, former professional league defender at FC Utrecht, VfL Bochum, Feyenoord Rotterdam, and Fortuna Sittard, as its new trainer.
2013 / Runaway champions in District West I’s Saturday League 4E, 20 points ahead of closest followers vv Bunnik ’73 and without suffering a single defeat all season, FC De Bilt accedes to Saturday League 3. The successful coach is Gerrit Plomp.
2014 / Still coached by Gerrit Plomp, FC De Bilt clinches its second title in a row, finishing 7 points ahead of runners-up IJFC in District West I’s Saturday League 3D, and thus acceding to Saturday League 2.
2015 / Gerrit Plomp leaves FC De Bilt after three seasons.
2016 / Finishing in fourth place in Saturday League 2B, FC De Bilt qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which FC De Bilt stumbles over the first hurdle, AMVJ (3-1 aggr.).
2017 / Finishing in third place in Saturday League 2B, FC De Bilt qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which FC De Bilt stumbles over the first hurdle, CSV BOL (5-3 aggr.).
2019 / Runaway champions in Saturday League 2B, 11 points ahead of runners-up FC Delta Sports ’95, FC De Bilt accedes to Saturday League 1 for the first time – marking a return of League 1 football to De Bilt after exactly fifty years. The successful coach is Alain Hijman.
2020 / Finding itself bottom of the table in Saturday League 1A in March 2020, FC De Bilt only stays up due to the 2019-20 season being abandoned in the spring of 2020 following the first COVID lockdown.
2023 / Coached by Joël Titaley, FC De Bilt finishes in tenth place in Saturday League 1A, having to save its skin in the promotion-relegation play-offs. Defeating their first opponents, vv De Merino’s (3-1), the club is knocked out in the semis by CSV Jong Holland (2-2 & penalty shoot-out). As such, FC De Bilt drops back into Saturday League 2 along with vv Nunspeet, HBOK, GC&FC Olympia, and bottom club vv Monnickendam.
2024 / Reaching the semifinals of District West I’s Regional Cup (Districtsbeker), in which the club is eliminated by SV Huizen (0-2, att. 1,800), FC De Bilt qualifies for the Netherlands’ Cup (KNVB-Beker) for the first time, suffering elimination in the first qualifying round against vv Eemdijk (2-4).

Note – Apart from various open sources, I had the benefit of a booklet released on the occasion of SV Bilthoven’s fiftieth anniversary in 1996, ‘50 jaar SV Bilthoven’, written by Rens Kersten. Thanks to BVC and FC De Bilt clubman Dirk Catoen for handing me a copy of this valuable source, as well as for answering several additional questions on my part.