Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv VRC

Sportpark Spitsbergen, Veenendaal (vv VRC)

Netherlands, province: Utrecht

4 X 2025 / vv VRC - BFC 0-1 / Combined Sunday & Saturday League 1E (= NL level 6)

Timeline

1952 / Foundation of a new football club in Veenendaal, a town in the far southeast of the Province of Utrecht. The new club is a breakaway of vv Veenendaal, which had just abolished its Saturday branch. Following that, a group of former members of the Protestant faith get together to found Voetbalvereniging (vv) Geel Blauw, with Ries van Kooten taking on the role as chairman. The club concludes a groundsharing agreement with the small Sunday club vv Triangel Boys, being allowed to use its ground in the Kostervloren neighbourhood on Saturdays. For the 1952-53 season, vv Geel Blauw is placed in District East’s Saturday League 4.
1953 / After protests by other clubs about the name of the new club, vv Geel Blauw takes on the name Voetbalvereniging ‘Veenendaalse Racing Club’ (vv VRC).
1954 / vv VRC finishes as runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4A, 3 points behind champions VVOG.
1955 / Finishing in joint first place in District East’s Saturday League 4A with CSV Oranje Blauw, vv VRC meets the club from Nijmegen in a tie-break match, played on the pitch of Triangel Boys. Going on to win the match comfortably (4-0, two goals each by Jansen & Davelaar), vv VRC clinches the title, but the club fails to capitalise on it in the championship play-offs, in which promotion to Saturday League 3 eludes the club.
1956 / vv VRC finishes as runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4A, 1 point behind champions DTS ’35. Also in or around 1956, the club moves to Terrein Brinkersteeg, a pitch laid out on a plot of farmland. In subsequent years, the club acquires the luxury of a training pitch at Rooie Marie-pad, and later nearby at Middellaan – where the facilities are shared with baseball club Blue Socks.
1957 / Runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 4A, 3 points behind champions DTS ’35, vv VRC wins promotion to Saturday League 3 due to an extension of the number of clubs allowed into that division. The successful coach is M. van Kooten.
1966 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Saturday League 3, vv VRC drops back into Saturday League 4 after nine seasons, along with the club in second-last place, CSV ’28.
1967 / Champions in District East’s Saturday League 4A, 1 point ahead of runners-up DTS ’35, vv VRC manages an immediate return to Saturday League 3.
1969 / Finishing in joint first place in District East’s Saturday League 3B with vv HHC, vv VRC goes on to defeat the club from Hardenberg in a tie-break match. As such, VRC accedes to Saturday League 2, the top level of the Saturday pyramid at that time.
1970 / Finishing in fifth place in District East’s Saturday League 2C, vv VRC only falls 1 point short of vv IJsselmeervogels and promotion to the newly introduced Saturday League 1.
1975 / Finishing in second-last place in District East’s Saturday League 2C, vv VRC drops back into Saturday League 3 after six years, along with bottom club SV Excelsior ’31.
1976 / Finishing in joint first place in District East’s Saturday League 3B with SDCP, vv VRC goes on to suffer defeat in a tie-break match against the club from Putten, thus missing out on promotion.
1978 / Moving away from Terrein Brinkersteeg, vv VRC settles on the newly laid-out Sportpark Spitsbergen in the new neighbourhood Veenendaal-Oost. The first stone of the clubhouse is laid on April 4th, 1978, by founding member Johan van de Kerkhof. The main stand has been part of the set-up from the outset. The move to this purpose-built park heralds the start of an increase in the club’s membership.
1981 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Saturday League 3B, vv VRC descends into Saturday League 4 along with the club in second-last place, UCS EDO.
1987 / Champions in District West I’s Saturday League 4D, 2 points ahead of derby rivals vv De Merino’s, vv VRC manages a return to Saturday League 3 after an absence of six seasons.
1988 / Finishing in joint first place in District East’s Saturday League 3B with SDCP, vv VRC goes on to suffer defeat in a tie-break match for the title against the club from Putten, thus missing out on promotion.
1990 / Finishing in third place in District West I’s Saturday League 3B, vv VRC accedes to Saturday League 2 following a win against HSV ODIN ’59 in a play-off match.
1996 / Finishing in fifth place in District West I’s Saturday League 2C, vv VRC qualifies for Saturday League 1 for the first time – and automatically, due to a Zaterdag Hoofdklasse being introduced as the new top tier of the Saturday pyramid.
1998 / In the best season in club history, vv VRC manages a fourth place in Saturday League 1A. The successful coach is Pieter de Jongh.
1999 / Former vv VRC goalkeeper Barry Diteweg, who had made his debut in the club’s first team at the age of 17 in 1994, subsequently making the move to the youth academy of Feyenoord Rotterdam, makes his professional league debut at SC Heerenveen. Ditewig goes on to have spells at FC Emmen, BV Veendam, and ADO Den Haag before withdrawing into non-league in 2010.
2000 / In a repeat of the best performance in club history, vv VRC manages a fourth place in Saturday League 1A. The successful coach is Jeroen Peters.
2002 / Coached by Jan Ditewig, vv VRC finishes bottom of the table in Saturday League 1A, thus dropping back into Saturday League 2 after six years, along with the club in second-last place, VVZ ’49.
2003 / Former Willem II and TOP Oss professional league defender Dave Smits joins vv VRC. The defender stays with the club for three seasons, eventually having up his boots at the age of 36 in 2006.
2004 / Champions in Saturday League 2B, 4 points ahead of runners-up CSW and SV Veensche Boys, vv VRC manages a return to Saturday League 1. The successful coach is Steef van den Oosterkamp.
2007 / Coached by Ben Schinkel, vv VRC finishes in second-last place in Saturday League 1D, thus dropping back into Saturday League 2, along with bottom club ASV Dronten.
2009 / A round of renovations is carried out at the dressing rooms at Sportpark Spitsbergen.
2011 / Finishing in second-last place in Saturday League 2B with coach Henry Kalk, vv VRC descends into Saturday League 3 along with vv Jonathan, vv WDS, and bottom club vv Sterrenwijk.
2012 / Finishing in third place in District West I’s Saturday League 3D, vv VRC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out SV Loosdrecht in R1 (4-1 aggr.), going on to defeat vv ‘t Vliegdorp in the final (6-3 aggr.). As such, the club manages a return to Saturday League 2 after an absence of five years. The successful coach is Arjan Kleton.
2013 / Coached by Pieterkees Bom, vv VRC finishes in third-last place in Saturday League 2B, thus dropping back into Saturday League 3 along with IJFC, SC Hoevelaken, and bottom club DESTO.
2014 / Renovation works get underway on the clubhouse and the adjacent patio, with those works being completed by 2015.
2015 / Finishing in third place in District East’s Saturday League 3A, vv VRC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club edges past DSV ’61 in R1 (3-3 aggr. & penalty shoot-out), only to be wiped out in the final by VVOP (5-1 aggr.), thus missing out on a return to Saturday League 2.
2016 / Runners-up in District East’s Saturday League 3A, 3 points behind champions SV CDW, vv VRC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out BAS Voetbal in R1 (2-0 aggr.), going on to defeat vv Terschuurse Boys in the final (2-1). As such, the club accedes to Saturday League 2 after an absence of three years. The successful coach is Kees van Rijswijk.
2017 / Coached by Kees van Rijswijk, vv VRC finishes in third-last place in Saturday League 2G, suffering relegation into Saturday League 3 along with vv Unicum, CSV VIOS Vaassen, and bottom club vv Dieren.
2018 / Champions in District East’s Saturday League 3A, 5 points ahead of derby rivals vv Veenendaal, vv VRC wins promotion to Saturday League 2. The successful coach, Kees van Rijswijk, is succeeded by Jan Gaasbeek, former professional league midfielder at AZ ’67 (1980-85), FC Twente (1989-94), and NAC (1994-2000). Gaasbeek would stay on as head coach for four seasons. Meanwhile, in the summer of 2018, the main pitch at Sportpark Spitsbergen is laid out anew with a synthetic surface, while the covered stand is refurbished and modernised.
2021 / Former VRC youth academy player Oussama El Azzouzi makes his professional league debut with FC Emmen, going on to have spells at R Union Saint-Gilloise, Bologna FC 1909, and AJ Auxerre. In 2023, the midfielder made his full international debut for Morocco.
2024 / Runners-up in Saturday League 2B, 11 points behind runaway champions SV Veensche Boys, vv VRC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by SV Hoofddorp (1-2).
2025 / Champions in Saturday League 2G, 8 points ahead of closest followers LVV Roda ’46, vv VRC manages a return to Saturday League 1 after an absence of eighteen years. The successful coach is Niels ten Have.