Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKVV Heijen (1980-±1986) / vv Heijen (±1986-)

Sportpark De Heikamp, Heijen (vv Heijen, formerly RKVV Heijen)

Netherlands. province: Limburg

1 VI 2025 / vv Heijen - FC Schadewijk 3-1 A.E.T. / District South II, Sunday League 4 - promotion play-off R1 (= NL level 9)

Timeline

1928 / A first football match is played in Heijen, a hamlet halfway between Bergen and Gennep in the far north of the Dutch part of Limburg, as a makeshift team of village inhabitants takes on a rival team from Hommersum, across the border in Germany, on June 28th, 1928, on an improvised pitch at the Spoare moorland, right on the German border. The event was made possible thanks to Heijen resident Eduard Ingenhou having purchased a leather football.
1929 / In the fall of 1929, a football club is formed in Heijen, Zwart-Wit, which is accepted as a member of the Roman Catholic Football Association RKF (Roomsch-Katholieke Federatie) on October 29th of the same year. P. Hollman is the new club’s first chairman.
1930 / Zwart-Wit takes part in Division 1 of the so-called RKLVB (Roomsch-Katholieke Limburgsche Voetbalbond), the Limburg RKF sub-branch, for the first time. Home matches are played at Terrein Spoare. For some reason, decades later – possibly also due to the fact that the club archives were destroyed during World War II – 1930 was chosen as the year of the club’s foundation.
1931 / After just one season in the ranks of the RKLVB, Zwart-Wit ceases its activities.
1935 / Refoundation of Zwart-Wit as Concordia – a name chosen by the local chaplain, Fr Verhaegen. A new pitch is laid out for the club, Terrein Schonenberg. Concordia joins the RKF (RKLVB), just like its predecessor had done.
1936 / Moving away from Terrein Schonenberg, Concordia settles at a newly laid-out pitch on a plot of farmland, Terrein Spikmans.
1938 / Moving away from Terrein Spikmans after two seasons, Concordia settles on a newly laid-out pitch at the back of Café Deenen.
1940 / After the German occupation of the Netherlands, all football associations except the official Netherlands' FA (Nederlandsche Voetbalbond, KNVB – renamed NVB for the duration of the war) are abolished, upon which Concordia makes the leap to this association, being accepted with the new name Rooms-Katholieke Voetbalvereniging (RKVV) Heijen due to the name Concordia already having been taken by several other older clubs. Nevertheless, the old name Concordia would remain in use colloquially in the following decade. In spite of being located in the Province of Limburg, RKVV Heijen is placed in the lower divisions of Afdeling Noord-Brabant (often referred to by its pre-war name NBVB, Noord-Brabantse Voetbalbond), due to the vicinity to the border with the Province of North Brabant. Afdeling Noord-Brabant organises league football in North Brabant and some parts of Limburg and Guelders below the level of (K)NVB (Sunday) League 4.
± 1941 / Moving away from Terrein Deenen, RKVV Heijen settles on a plot of farmland owned by Mr Van Elk, referred to locally as Terrein Hoogveld.
1943 / With footballing activities grinding to a halt due to the hardships of German occupation, RKVV Heijen abandons Terrein Hoogveld.
1944 / After the liberation of the southern half of the Netherlands, a new pitch is laid out for RKVV Heijen, known as Terrein Slangenrat, to the north of the village (currently occupied by the Groote Heeze industrial area).
1945 / Resuming its activities as a competitive club, RKVV Heijen is placed in Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 2.
± 1946 / Moving away from Terrein Slangenrat, RKVV Heijen retraces its steps, returning to Terrein Hoogveld, where the club had spent part of the war years as well.
1957 / Moving away from Terrein Hoogveld, RKVV Heijen settles at the newly laid-out Gemeentelijk Sportpark Slangenrat, located on the exact location of the former main pitch of the 1944-46 years. The park is inaugurated officially on May 27th, 1957.
1959 / RKVV Heijen finishes as runners-up in Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 2, 1 point behind RKVV Holthees-Smakt.
1963 / Dressing rooms are added to the set-up at Gemeentelijk Sportpark Slangenrat.
1964 / Clinching the title in Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 2, 2 points ahead of closest rivals RKVV Sambeek, RKVV Heijen wins promotion to Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 1 for the first time.
1968 / RKVV Heijen suffers relegation from Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 1 to Division 2.
1970 / RKVV Heijen suffers relegation from Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 2 to Division 3, the bottom level of the NBVB pyramid.
1978 / With Gennep’s municipal authorities purchasing the farmstead of Grad Koenen upon the smallholder reaching the pensionable age, works get underway in October 1978 to rebuild the stables as a clubhouse and dressing rooms for the projected new park of RKVV Heijen, Sportpark De Heikamp, following a design by the club’s board member Dennis Goossens.
1980 / After about a year and a half of works, the newly laid-out Sportpark De Heikamp, situated on the eastern outskirts of the village, is inaugurated on April 6, 1980. The facilities include two full pitches as well as a practice pitch. Later that year, the priest of Heijen’s parish, Fr Mathieu Pijpers, who had been RKVV Heijen’s spiritual advisor for many years, passes away at the age of 67. His successor, Fr Jaspers, makes it clear from the outset that he thoroughly loathes football, refusing to take on the role as the club’s spiritual advisor.
1985 / Clinching the title in Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 3, RKVV Heijen manages a return to Division 2 of the aforementioned league system after fifteen years.
± 1986 / In 1985 or 1986, after five or six years without a spiritual advisor, the board of RKVV Heijen decides to drop the reference to its Roman Catholic origins, officially changing the club’s name to simply vv Heijen. It is no more than the officialisation of an already existing situation, given that hardly any local had been referring to the club as RKVV Heijen any longer in the past decade and a half – so much so, that the booklet published on the occasion of the club’s fiftieth anniversary in 1980, i.e. five or six years before the official name change, bore the title ‘vv Heijen 50’.
1989 / Winning a tie-break match against RKSV Odiliapeel, vv Heijen wins promotion from Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 2 to Division 1, 21 years after last having played at that level. In the following seasons, however, the club proves unable to hold its position, dropping back not one, but two divisions, all the way down into Division 3, the bottom tier of Afdeling Noord-Brabant’s league system.
1993 / vv Heijen wins promotion from Afdeling Noord-Brabant Sunday Division 3 to Division 2.
1994 / Winning a set of tie-break matches against vv De Zwaluw, vv Heijen wins promotion from Afdeling Noord Brabant Sunday Division 2 to Division 1.
1995 / Following a thorough renovation of the clubhouse at Sportpark De Heikamp, the facilities are reinaugurated by the former owner of the farmstead, Grad Koenen, with the construction being officially renamed De Deel on that occasion.
1996 / As Afdeling Noord-Brabant and all other KNVB sub-branches are abolished, vv Heijen is placed in District South II’s Sunday League 5.
1998 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 5D, vv Heijen accedes to Sunday League 4 for the first time in club history.
1999 / A renovation of the dressing rooms at Sportpark De Heikamp is carried out.
2000 / vv Heijen finishes as runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 4H, 4 points behind champions RKDEV.
2003 / Finishing in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 4G with coach John Verpoort, vv Heijen drops back into Sunday League 5 along with bottom club and derby rivals RKVV HRC ’27.
2006 / Finishing in fifth place in District South II’s Sunday League 5G, vv Heijen qualifies for the promotion play-offs, being drawn in a group with RKSV Odiliapeel and Hapse Boys, proceeding to win the away match in Odiliapeel comprehensively (1-5), only to suffer defeat in the home tie against Hapse Boys (1-3). However, thanks to RKSV Odiliapeel managing a small-margin win in Haps in the last match, vv Heijen finds itself top of the group – with promotion to Sunday League 4 being the reward. The successful coach is Fred Seeger.
2007 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South II’s Sunday League 4G, vv Heijen drops back into Sunday League 5 after just one season, along with the club in second-last position, vv Excellent. After the 2007-08 season, coach Fred Seegers leaves the club, being succeeded by Eus van Vijfeijken, former professional league footballer at SC NEC, WVV Wageningen, and FC Wageningen. Van Vijfeijken would stay with vv Heijen for five seasons, leaving the club in 2012.
2011 / An extra set of dressing rooms is added to the set-up at Sportpark De Heikamp.
2014 / Runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 5H, 2 points behind champions RKVV Vianen Vooruit, vv Heijen qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club draws both of its group matches, away at vv Ravenstein (2-2) and at home against SV Estria (1-1). Due to the two other clubs also drawing their tie, vv Heijen is declared group winner thanks to having managed the best league finish of the three. As such, the club earns promotion to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is John Janssen.
2016 / Finishing in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 4G with coach John Janssen, vv Heijen drops back into Sunday League 5 along with bottom club SV Merselo.
2017 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 5G, 2 points ahead of closest rivals SVOC ’01, vv Heijen manages an immediate return to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Henny Queens.
2018 / Finishing in twelfth place in District South II’s Sunday League 4G, vv Heijen manages to save its skin in a spectacular promotion-relegation play-off against vv Gassel (9-7 aggr.).
2023 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 4F, 1 point ahead of closest followers SV DSV, vv Heijen manages a historic promotion to Sunday League 3.
2024 / Finishing in twelfth place in District South II’s Sunday League 3D, vv Heijen has to stave off relegation in a set of promotion-relegation play-offs. Knocking out FC RIA (3-2) and SV Melderslo (1-2) in the first two rounds, the club eventually suffers defeat in the final against HBSV (1-0). As a result, vv Heijen drops back into Sunday League 4 after one season, along with vv Krayenhoff, Hapse Boys, SC NEC, and bottom club RKVV Vorstenbossche Boys.
2025 / Finishing in third place in District South II’s Sunday League 4H, vv Heijen qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club knocks out FC Schadewijk in R1 (3-1 A.E.T.), only to suffer defeat in R2 at the hands of RKSV Juliana (2-0).

Note – Important parts of the information above have been derived from a set of publications put at my disposal by vv Heijen’s board: ‘RKVV Heijen 40 jaar 1930-1970’ (40th anniversary: 1970), ‘vv Heijen 50 1930-1980’ (50th anniversary: 1980), and ‘vv Heijen 75 jaar jong 1930-2005’ (75th anniversary: 2005). Thanks to the club’s chairman Frank Stoffelen for digging out this source material for me.