Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: DVV Go-Ahead (1973-)

Sportpark Rielerenk veld 4, Deventer (DVV Go-Ahead)

Netherlands, province: Overijssel

4 V 2025 / DVV Go-Ahead - vv Lettele 3-1 / District East, Sunday League 5G (= NL level 10)

Timeline

1902 / Foundation of a football club in Deventer, which takes on the name Be Quick. Founding fathers of the club are Leo zur Kleinsmiede – also Be Quick’s first chairman – and Karel Hollander. One of the first members of the club is Karel’s younger brother Han, later to acquire fame in the Netherlands as a football reporter on nationwide radio. Not disposing of a pitch of its own, Be Quick is given the opportunity to groundshare with DC&FC UD (‘Utile Dulci’) at Terrein Ossenweerd, on the floodplains of the River IJssel. Whereas UD is an elitist club, only open to Deventer’s upper classes, Be Quick’s credentials are firmly working-class.
1905 / Be Quick applies for NVB membership after having managed a second place in the Zutphensche Voetbalbond. The club is admitted only after changing its name from Be Quick to Deventer Voetbalvereeniging (DVV) Go-Ahead – due to the fact that the name ‘Be Quick’ had been adopted by several other NVB member clubs, most notably GV&QV Be Quick (from Groningen) and ZVV Be Quick (from Zutphen). For the 1905-06 season, DVV Go-Ahead is placed in NVB District East’s (Sunday) League 2.
1906 / Moving away from its groundshare with DC&FC UD at Terrein Ossenweerd, DVV Go-Ahead moves to Terrein De Halve Maan in Diepenveen, a village on the outskirts of Deventer. The pitch is laid out at the back of the eponymous café at Boxbergerweg.
1908 / Abandoning Terrein De Halve Maan in Diepenveen after two seasons, DVV Go-Ahead returns to Deventer, being given the luxury of its own pitch at Terrein Ossenweerd, where it had groundshared with DC&FC UD between 1902 and 1906. From now on, whereas UD continues to play its football on the ground to the south of the railway bridge, Go Ahead’s new pitch is situated to the north of it. Go-Ahead’s ground is occasionally referred to locally as Terrein De Zes Veldjes.
1911 / Runners-up in District East’s League 2A, 4 points behind champions HVV Tubantia, DVV Go-Ahead qualifies for the championship play-offs, in which it meets the aforementioned club as well as ZAC and ODO. Going on to top the play-offs along with ZAC, DVV Go-Ahead accedes to League 1 for the first time.
1916 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its first-ever title in District East’s League 1, finishing 1 point ahead of closest followers SC Enschede.
1917 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its second consecutive title in District East League 1, finishing 3 points ahead of runners-up NC&VC Quick. Subsequently, Go-Ahead goes on to win its first-ever nationwide title by defeating all three other regional champions handsomely, UVV (which finishes as runners-up in the group at 4 points distance), Willem II, and GV&QV Be Quick.
1918 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its third consecutive title in District East League 1, finishing 7 points ahead of closest followers ZVV Be Quick.
1919 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its fourth consecutive title in District East League 1, finishing 1 point ahead of closest rivals SC Enschede.
1920 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its fifth consecutive title in District East League 1, finishing 2 points ahead of runners-up HVV Tubantia. That same year, moving away from their pitch De Zes Veldjes, Go-Ahead settles at Terrein aan den Brinkgreven at Veenweg in Deventer’s town centre – the future Stadion De Adelaarshorst.
1921 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its sixth consecutive title in District East League 1, finishing 3 points ahead of closest followers SC Enschede.
1922 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its seventh consecutive title in District East League 1, finishing 6 points ahead of runners-up AVC Heracles and HVV Tubantia. In the championship play-offs, Go-Ahead stays ahead of NAC and GV&QV Be Quick, in joint first place with ASV Blauw-Wit – going on to defeat the last-mentioned club in a play-off at Hilversum’s Gemeentelijk Sportpark (1-0 A.E.T.). As a result, Go-Ahead clinches its second nationwide title.
1923 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its eighth consecutive title in District East League 1, finishing 9 points ahead of runners-up AVC Heracles.
1925 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its ninth title in District East League 1, finishing an impressive 11 points ahead of closest followers SC Enschede.
1929 / DVV Go-Ahead conquers its tenth District East League 1 title, finishing 2 points ahead of runners-up ZAC.
1930 / DVV Go-Ahead manages its eleventh District East League 1 title, finishing 7 points ahead of closest followers SC Enschede. Subsequently, the club goes on to conquer its third nationwide title, winning the championship play-offs, 1 point ahead of AFC Ajax, with GVV Velocitas and ASV Blauw-Wit being the other participants.
1931 / DVV Go-Ahead obtains its twelfth District East League 1 title, finishing with an equal number of points as PEC, but going on to win a tie-break match.
1933 / DVV Go-Ahead manages its thirteenth District East League 1 title, finishing 1 point ahead of closest followers PEC. Following that, the club goes on to conquer its fourth (and last) nationwide title, winning the championship play-offs, 1 point ahead of RVV Feijenoord, with IJVV Stormvogels, PSV, and GVV Velocitas being the other participants.
1935 / DVV Go-Ahead manages its fourteenth District East League 1 title, finishing 6 points ahead of closest followers AVC Heracles.
1937 / DVV Go-Ahead manages its fifteenth District East League 1 title, 4 points ahead of closest rivals AVC Heracles.
1943 / Han Hollander, one of the founding members of DVV Go-Ahead as well as the Netherlands’ single-most famous radio sports reporter, dies in the Sobibor extermination camp, one year after having been arrested by German occupation authorities for his Jewish lineage. Han Hollander was 56 years old. Also in 1943, DVV Go-Ahead moves its lower team football and training sessions to a newly laid-out ground on the southern outskirts of Deventer, Terrein Bergweide at Zutphenseweg, which it shares with DC&FC UD.
1948 / Coached by Fred Fitton, DVV Go-Ahead manages its sixteenth (and last-ever) District East’s Sunday League 1 title, 1 point ahead of closest followers NC&VC Quick.
1954 / In spite of DVV Go-Ahead having only narrowly staved off relegation in District East’s Sunday League 1 in the previous two seasons, the club’s presidency takes the decision to take the leap to the Netherlands’ newly formed professional league pyramid, in which the club would win promotion to the top-flight Eredivisie in 1963.
1963 / With DC&FC UD abandoning Terrein Bergweide for its newly laid-out Sportpark Koerhuisbelt, DVV Go-Ahead remains as the sole users of the two pitches at Zutphenseweg, which it uses for lower team football and training purposes.
± 1966 / As Terrein Bergweide proves unable to accommodate all of DVV Go-Ahead’s lower team football and training sessions, the club inaugurates a new, third ground, Terrein Brinkgreve.
1971 / DVV Go-Ahead withdraws into non-league, passing its professional league licence to a newly formed entity, Go Ahead Eagles – with the addition ‘Eagles’ being an idea of the club’s Welsh coach Barry Hughes. With DVV Go-Ahead withdrawing to the club’s training ground, Terrein Bergweide, at Zutphenseweg, Go Ahead Eagles takes over that club’s place in the stadium, which is renamed Adelaarshorst to mirror the name change of the club itself (adelaar being the Dutch word for ‘eagle’). Being placed in District East’s Sunday League 4 for its first season in non-league, DVV Go-Ahead – coached by legendary former Go-Ahead goalkeeper Leo Halle – plays its first match in the 1971-72 season against its old foe DC&FC UD at Terrein Bergweide, going on to win the encounter 2-0 (goals by Harry Lammers and Hans ten Voorde).
1972 / DVV Go-Ahead finishes as runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 4H, 6 points behind champions (and fellow former professional league club) SV Zwolsche Boys.
1973 / Moving away from Terrein Bergweide at Zutphenseweg, DVV Go-Ahead settles at the newly laid-out Sportpark Rielerenk, which is officially inaugurated by Deventer’s mayor Nico Bolkestein. On the new park, the club is neighboured by fellow non-league clubs DVV Davo and VV De Gazelle, with each disposing of their proper pitches. This also heralds the end of Go-Ahead’s temporary pitch at Brinkgreve, which had been in use for some seven years.
1974 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 4H, 6 points ahead of runners-up DVV RODA, DVV Go-Ahead wins promotion to Sunday League 3. The decisive points are clinched in a 3-1 home win over the aforementioned club, with Go-Ahead’s goals being scored by Joop Fuchs, Dennis Bolt, and Hans ten Voorde. The successful coach is Rinus Hondelink.
1975 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 3B, 1 point ahead of closest rivals vv Victoria Boys, DVV Go-Ahead, still coached by Rinus Hondelink, manages its second promotion in a row, acceding to Sunday League 2. The decisive points are clinched in a 4-1 home win against SV Zwolle. Two of the four goals in this match were scored by promising youth players, midfielder Henk Veldmate and defender Jan van Dijk. Both players were signed by FC Groningen in the summer of 1975, with Veldmate going on to have subsequent spells at SC Cambuur, Go Ahead Eagles, and SC Veendam; and Van Dijk spending almost his entire career at FC Groningen, interrupted by a short spell at Go Ahead Eagles in 1979. In fact, Jan van Dijk earned himself the nickname Mister FC Groningen, representing the club in no fewer than 485 official matches.
1976 / In the best season in club history following its withdrawal into non-league, DVV Go-Ahead manages a sixth place in District East’s Sunday League 2B.
1978 / Finishing in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 2B, DVV Go-Ahead drops back into Sunday League 3 along with bottom side – and derby rivals – SV Helios.
1980 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 3B, DVV Go-Ahead drops back into Sunday League 4 along with the club in second-last place, vv Emst.
1984 / DVV Go-Ahead finishes as runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 4G, 2 points behind champions ASV Apeldoornse Boys.
1986 / 16-year-old former DVV Go-Ahead youth striker Harry Decheiver makes his debut as a professional league player with Go Ahead Eagles. In his thirteen years as a professional league player, Decheiver would also have spells at SC Heerenveen, RKC, SC Freiburg, FC Utrecht, and Borussia Dortmund.
1989 / Formr DVV Go-Ahead academy defender Dennis Hulshoff makes his professional debut at Go Ahead Eagles, going on to have a spell at FC Twente before ultimately returning to Go Ahead Eagles, where he ended his eighteen-year-long professional league career.
1990 / Finishing in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 4H, DVV Go-Ahead suffers the humiliation of being relegated to Afdeling Gelderland for the first time, along with bottom side SV Broekland. That same year, former DVV Go-Ahead player Erik ten Voorde made his professional league debut with SC Heerenveen. The midfielder would go on to have spells at FC Zwolle and SC Heracles ’74 before hanging up his boots in 1995.
1992 / DVV Go-Ahead manages a return to Sunday League 4 after winning promotion from Afdeling Gelderland’s Zondag Hoofdklasse.
2000 / Coached by Ruud Geestman, DVV Go-Ahead finishes in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 4G, thus descending into Sunday League 5 along with bottom club ASV Alexandria.
2002 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 5G, 3 points ahead of runners-up SV Wilp, DVV Go-Ahead manages a return to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Ruud Geestman.
2003 / Still coached by Ruud Geestman, DVV Go-Ahead finishes in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 4H, thus dropping back into Sunday League 5 along with OVC ’21 and bottom club SV Broekland.
2004 / Finishing in fourth place in District East’s Sunday League 5G, DVV Go-Ahead goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is John van Dijk.
2006 / Coached by Dave Kok, DVV Go-Ahead finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 4G, thus dropping back into Sunday League 5.
2008 / Runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 5H, 1 point behind champions DVV Sallandia, DVV Go-Ahead fails to win promotion in the subsequent round of play-offs.
2009 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 5G, 3 points ahead of derby rivals DVV Davo, DVV Go-Ahead manages a return to Sunday League 4 after an absence of three seasons. The successful coach is Peter Beltman.
2011 / Coached by Peter Beltman, DVV Go-Ahead finishes bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 4H, thus dropping back into Sunday League 5 along with SV Dalfsen, which had finished in second-last place.
2012 / Coached by Ben Hulshoff, an uncle of the aforementioned Dennis Hulshoff and himself a former professional league player at AVC Vitesse, NEC, SC Amersfoort, and BV De Graafschap, DVV Go-Ahead finishes in last place in District East’s Sunday League 5G, thus descending into Sunday League 6 for the first time in club history.
2013 / Finishing in fifth place in District East’s Sunday League 6C with coach Ben Hulshoff, DVV Go-Ahead is placed in Sunday League 5 for the new season due to League 6 being abolished.
2022 / Finishing in fourth place in District East’s Sunday League 5E, DVV Go-Ahead qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by DVV Davo (1-0).
2023 / Finishing in sixth place in District East’s Sunday League 5E, DVV Go-Ahead qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out SC EDS in R1 (4-5) before bowing out against vv Voorst in R2 (4-3).
2025 / Runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 5G, 13 points behind runaway champions SV Broekland, DVV Go-Ahead qualifies for a promotion play-off final against SV Terwolde, played at Sportpark Gerstlo in Gorssel, with Terwolde winning the encounter 3-1.

Note – Parts of the information in the above have been derived from a book published on the occasion of DVV Go-Ahead's & Go Ahead Eagles’ 100th anniversary: “Go Ahead 100 jaar. Van volksclub tot voetbalbolwerk”, by Harry Oltheten (Arko Sports Media: Deventer/Nieuwegein 2002). Heartfelt thanks to DVV Go-Ahead’s board member Theo Ellenbroek for handing me a copy of this important piece of source material.