Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv Hilversumsche Boys (1979-????) / vv OSO (1997-2024) / HC&FC Victoria (B) (2024-2025)

Sportpark Loosdrecht "Midden", Nieuw-Loosdrecht (formerly vv Hilversumsche Boys / vv OSO)

Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland

March 2025 / no match visited

Timeline

1934 / Foundation of a football club in Hilversum, which takes on the name WIK (Willen Is Kunnen).
1936 / WIK joins the UPVB (Utrechtse Provinciale Voetbalbond), a sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (KNVB) organising football below the level of League 4 in Utrecht and ‘t Gooi – renamed Afdeling Utrecht in 1940, but usually referred to as UVB.
1937 / WIK changes its name to become vv Hilversumsche Boys (or vv Hilversumse Boys). It is unclear if there is any connection to the short-lived UPVB member club vv Hilversumsche Boys, which folded after an existence of five years in 1922; and with a second vv Hilversumsche Boys, which was knocked out in R5 of the Netherlands’ Cup (Holdertbeker) in the 1931-32 season by PSV (3-6). In fact, most of the history of this third incarnation of vv Hilversumsche Boys is shrouded in clouds, as the club never made it out of the U(P)VB divisions. For a start, it is unclear where the club’s ground was situated prior to the move to Sportpark Loosdrecht in 1979.
1946 / Foundation of a football club in Hilversum, which is given the name Voetbalvereniging (vv) Omroep Sport- en Ontspanningsvereniging (OSO). vv OSO is the football club of the combined Netherlands’ radio broadcasting services, all based in Hilversum. The first chairman of the club is broadcasting heavyweight Siebe van der Zee, with one of the other founding fathers being Kees Kranenburg (1902-1975), the drummer of the legendary radio big band The Ramblers. A club without a youth academy, vv OSO plays its first team football on Saturdays, becoming groundsharers of HVV ‘t Gooi and FC Hilversum at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Soestdijkerstraatweg in Hilversum, where, at some point, the club acquires the luxury of its own clubhouse, referred to as De Kit. Occasional first team matches are played on the main pitch of the park.
1949 / Winning promotion from Saturday Division 1 of the U(P)VB, vv OSO accedes to KNVB District West I’s Saturday League 4 for the first time.
1951 / vv OSO finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Saturday League 4B, 1 point behind champions vv SIZO.
1952 / vv Oso finishes as runners-up in District West I’s Saturday League 4B, 2 points behind champions CSV De Geuzen.
1953 / Ultimate vv OSO club man Henk van der Straaten joins the club, going on to defend the OSO colours in more than 500 official matches.
1954 / Champions in District West I’s Saturday League 4B, 2 points ahead of closest rivals CJVV, vv OSO goes on to win the championship play-offs, thus acceding to Saturday League 3 – the top division of Saturday league football at that time.
1963 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Saturday League 3, vv OSO drops back into Saturday League 4.
1965 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Saturday League 4C, vv OSO drops back into U(P)VB Saturday Division 1.
1979 / Two years after HC&FC Victoria made the move to the southern part of the newly laid-out Sportpark Loosdrecht at Jagerspaadje in Nieuw-Loosdrecht, vv Hilversumsche Boys also moves to this park, occupying its middle part – with the two northernmost pitches being occupied by HFC Bloemenkwartier 1921. The newly built two-tiered clubhouse at Sportpark Loosdrecht (Midden) is inaugurated by vv Hilversumsche Boys’ youngest member, 4-year-old Raymond van Maanen.
1996 / Upon the abolition of all KNVB sub-branches, including the U(P)VB / Afdeling Utrecht, vv OSO is placed in the short-lived Central District’s I’s Saturday League 7.
1997 / Moving away from Gemeentelijk Sportpark Soestdijkerstraatweg after 51 years, vv OSO settles at Sportpark Loosdrecht (Midden), concluding a groundsharing agreement with vv Hilversumsche Boys. vv OSO is the last club to abandon the historic Gemeentelijk Sportpark, which is taken over by shoe manufacturer Nike. By this time, vv Hilversumsche Boys no longer engaged in first team football. A club with an extremely poorly documented history, vv Hilversumsche Boys must have wound up shortly after the arrival of vv OSO – but no information is available on the matter.
1999 / Another minor club from Hilversum, RKVV Actif (founded in 1927), is absorbed into vv OSO after Actif’s merger talks with FC Hilversum came to naught.
2000 / Runaway champions in the Central District’s Saturday League 7A, 12 points ahead of closest followers UVV (za), vv OSO manages to win promotion to Saturday League 6. The successful coach is Wilko Ploeg. One of the squad players is former AFC Ajax, FC Utrecht, NAC, and K Berchem Sport professional league winger Patrick Dik.
2001 / Runners-up in the Central District’s Saturday League 6A, 4 points behind champions SVVM, vv OSO manages to win its second promotion in a row via the play-offs. The successful coach is Wilko Ploeg.
2004 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Saturday League 5C, vv OSO withdraws from first team football for the 2004-05 season.
2005 / vv OSO wages a restart in Saturday League 5, staying put at that level in the following years. That same year, as the club ceases to be aligned with the national broadcasting service, it changes its name to become vv Onverzettelijk-Sportiviteit-Onoverwinnelijk – in other words, retaining its acronym OSO.
2014 / In spite of finishing second from bottom in District West I’s Saturday League 5C, vv OSO is placed in Saturday League 4 for the new season due to the abolition of Saturday League 5 in District West I. In the 2014-15 season, former player Patrick Dik is head coach at vv OSO.
2017 / Runners-up in District West I’s Saturday League 4, 5 points behind champions vv Cobu Boys, vv OSO qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out vv Sporting Martinus (za) in R1 (7-3 aggr.) before being eliminated in R2 by SV Olympia ’25 (5-3 aggr.).
2022 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Saturday League 4F, vv OSO descends into the newly created Saturday League 5 along with FC Weesp (za) and Zuidoost United. Also in 2022, former vv OSO player and coach Patrick Dik passes away at the age of 57.
2024 / vv OSO’s first team withdraws from District West I’s Saturday League 5C in April 2024. With the remaining players moving away to BZC ’13 and SC ‘t Gooi, the club’s chairman Martin Post sees no other option but dissolving the club in September 2024. The two pitches of vv OSO are taken over by HC&FC Victoria.
2025 (projected) / The main pitch at Sportpark Loosdrecht (Midden) as well as the clubhouse are removed to make way for two 3G pitches.