Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKVVD (1966-1975) / RKVV Doenrade (1975-2019)

Sportpark De Vouwer, Doenrade (formerly RKVVD & RKVV Doenrade)

Netherlands, province: Limburg

June 2025 / no match visited

Timeline

1942 / Foundation of a football club in Doenrade, a village situated halfway between Sittard and Brunssum in the southeastern part of the Province of Limburg in the Netherlands, a country suffering under the yoke of German occupation at that time. The club is given the name RKVVD, a short for Rooms-Katholieke Voetbalvereniging Doenrade. L. Olislagers is elected as the neophyte club’s first chairman. For the time being, RKVVD’s activities are limited to playing friendly matches against teams from surrounding villages.
1945 / Joining the Netherlands’ Football Association (KNVB) right after the liberation of the Netherlands, RKVVD starts its life as a competitive club in the bottom division of KNVB’s Limburg sub-branch, Afdeling Limburg, an association organising all league football in the Province of Limburg below the level of District South II’s (Sunday) League 4. Home matches are played at Terrein Vielderweg. As no dressing rooms are available in situ, players change clothes at Café Dormans, situated nearby.
1965 / After two decades in the ranks of Afdeling Limburg, RKVVD now wins promotion to District South II’s (Sunday) League 4 for the first time.
1966 / Moving away from Terrein Vielderweg, RKVVD moves to a newly laid-out pitch at Valderensweg, where a modest wooden clubhouse offers players the opportunity to change clothes in situ.
1967 / In the best season in club history, RKVVD manages a fifth place in District South II’s Sunday League 4D.
1970 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South II’s Sunday League 4D with just 4 points obtained in the entire season, RKVVD drops back into Afdeling Limburg Division 1 after five seasons.
1974 / A new clubhouse, erected in stone, is inaugurated at Terrein Valderensweg.
1975 / Clinching the title in Afdeling Limburg Division 1, RKVVD wins promotion to Sunday League 4 after an absence of five years. That summer, the club changes its name to become Rooms-Katholieke Voetbalvereniging (RKVV) Doenrade.
1978 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South II’s Sunday League 4D, RKVVD drops back into Afdeling Limburg Division 1 after three seasons.
± 1985 / A second pitch is laid out at Terrein Valderensweg.
1989 / RKVV Doenrade merges its youth academy with neighbouring clubs BVC ’28 and vv Jabeek.
1990 / After twelve seasons in Afdeling Limburg Division 1, RKVV Doenrade’s first team now drops back into Division 2 of the said league system. Due to the club’s second and third teams winning promotion to the same level in 1990, the club now finds itself with three teams at the same level – an unprecedented situation.
1992 / RKVV Doenrade wins promotion to Afdeling Limburg Division 1 after an absence of two years.
1993 / RKVV Doenrade finishes as runners-up in Afdeling Limburg Division 1 behind champions RKVV ADVEO.
1995 / RKVV Doenrade suffers relegation to Afdeling Limburg Division 2. That same year, following the completion of works which commenced in 1994, Terrein Valderensweg is renamed Sportpark De Vouwer. The renovations include an extension of the clubhouse with two extra dressing rooms as well as the addition of a gable roof.
1996 / As Afdeling Limburg and all other KNVB sub-branches are abolished in a reorganisation of the football pyramid, RKVV Doenrade is placed in the newly created Sunday League 6 of District South II.
2001 / Coached by Thaddy Brassé, RKVV Doenrade narrowly misses out on the title in District South II’s Sunday League 6B, 1 point behind champions BVC ’28. Around the same time, the combined youth academies of vv Jabeek, RKVV Doenrade, and BVC ’28 are joined by a fourth club, vv Puth.
2008 / Finishing in third place in District South II’s Sunday League 6B, RKVV Doenrade wins promotion to Sunday League 5 via the promotion play-offs. The successful coach is Ger Gouw.
2013 / Finishing in fifth place in District South II’s Sunday League 5C, RKVV Doenrade qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Being drawn in a group with vv Centrum Boys and vv SVM, the club goes on to win its away match at the former (0-4) as well as the home match against vv SVM (2-1). As such, RKVV Doenrade tops the group, resulting in the club gaining promotion to Sunday League 4 after an absence of 35 years at that level.
2015 / Equalling the club’s best-ever result in 1967, RKVV Doenrade finishes in fifth place in District South II’s Sunday League 4C.
2016 / Finishing in twelfth place in District South II’s Sunday League 4C with coach Ger Gouw, RKVV Doenrade fails to save its skin in the subsequent round of promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by SPV (5-2 aggr.). As such, RKVV Doenrade drops back into Sunday League 5 along with HBC ’09, RKVV Havantia, and bottom club RKVV Schinnen. Also in 2016, vv Puth leaves the combined youth academy arrangement with vv Jabeek, RKVV Doenrade, and BVC ’28, as this club is absorbed into a merger with RKVV ADVEO and RKVV Schinnen, resulting in the foundation of vv Alfa Sport. Replacing vv Puth, RKDFC (Rooms-Katholieke Douvergenhouter Football Club, founded in 1933) from Merkelbeek is admitted to the youth combination, which is renamed DMJ ’16.
2018 / In its last season as an independent club, RKVV Doenrade finishes in ninth place in District South II’s Sunday League 5B. Following the 2017-18 season, the club concludes a partnership deal with RKDFC, resulting in the creation of a so-called SSA (Samenwerking Seniorenafdeling, i.e. Combined Senior Branch) – in this case SSA RKDFC-Doenrade. The combined first team is placed in Sunday League 4, the level of RKDFC. First team football moves to RKDFC’s Sportpark De Steenakker in Merkelbeek, with Doenrade’s Sportpark De Vouwer being retained for lower team football and training sessions.
2019 / One year after their partnership deal, RKVV Doenrade and RKDFC conclude a fully-fledged merger, resulting in the foundation of Woander Forest, named after the Waanderbos, a forest in the vicinity of the two villages. Following the merger, all activities move to Sportpark De Steenakker in Merkelbeek, with Doenrade’s Sportpark De Vouwer being abandoned altogether.