Netherlands, province: Flevoland
6 XII 2025 / Jong Almere City FC (U23) - Excelsior Maassluis 1-1 / Tweede Divisie (= NL level 3)
Timeline
- 2001 / FC Omniworld, a club hailing from Amsterdam – originally named vv De Zwarte Schapen, but having been renamed AZS, FC De Sloterplas, back to vv De Zwarte Schapen, and Sporting Flevoland – which had settled in Almere in 1995, winning promotion to Zondag Hoofdklasse, the top non-league level, in 1997, moves from Sportpark Bok de Korver at Havendreef to the newly laid-out Sportpark Fanny Blankers-Koen, where several football pitches are laid out in the early months of 2001. The pitch pictured below is not the main pitch, where a small covered stand is erected, but the pitch directly to its western side – officially pitch 4 – which is used for lower team football and training sessions.
- 2005 / After several botched attempts, FC Omniworld finally realises its ambition to join the professional leagues, being placed in the so-called Eerste Divisie, the second and lowest tier of the league pyramid. In a sponsorship deal, the main pitch of Sportpark Fanny Blankers-Koen, which is upgraded to a small stadium with a capacity of just under 3,000, is renamed Mitsubishi Forklift-Stadion.
- 2010 / FC Omniworld changes its name to become Almere City FC.
- 2013 / As the sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi is terminated, Almere City FC renames its stadium from Mitsubishi Forklift-Stadion to simply Almere City-Stadion.
- 2015 / Almere City FC concludes a new sponsorship deal, causing its stadium to be officially renamed Yanmar-Stadion.
- 2016 / The U23 team of Almere City FC, mostly referred to as Jong Almere City FC, is allowed into the regular football pyramid, taking its place in Saturday Division 3A, the fourth tier of the national league system. Home matches are played on the (main) pitch of the Yanmar-Stadion.
- 2018 / Finishing in fourth place in Saturday Division 3A, Jong Almere City FC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out vv UNA in R1 (2-2 aggr. & penalties) and JVC Cuijk in R2 (5-2 aggr.), resulting in the team gaining promotion to National Division 2 (Tweede Divisie), the top non-league level and third tier of the national league pyramid as a whole. Also in 2018, the synthetic surface of the playing field in the stadium is replaced with a natural grass pitch. The old 3G is laid out anew on the first side pitch of the ground, pitch 4, which has been the venue for home matches of Jong Almere City FC since. The club refers to pitch 4 as the ‘Academy-veld’, i.e. Academy Pitch. A small open all-seater (prefab) stand is erected on the eastern touchline of this pitch.
- 2019 / Finishing in third-last place in the Tweede Divisie, Jong Almere City FC descends into National Division 3 (Derde Divisie) along with VVSB, FC Lienden, and bottom club vv Barendrecht.
- 2020 / In spite of finishing in a safe mid-table position in National Division 3A, Jong Almere City FC is taken out of the regular divisions due to a reorganisation of the non-league pyramid, which involves a reduction of the number of academy teams being allowed into the competition. Also in 2020, the main pitch of Sportpark Fanny Blankers-Koen, i.e. the Yanmar-Stadion, is thoroughly renovated and extended. In that same renovation, the small open stand alongside pitch 4 is equipped with a roof construction.
- 2021 / Coached by former FC Omniworld youth academy player Hedwiges Maduro, a former Netherlands’ international midfielder, Jong Almere City FC wins the nationwide U21 title, seeing off Feyenoord Rotterdam U21 in the final. Subsequently, the team gets to play a promotion-relegation play-off against Tweede Divisie team Jong FC Volendam for one place in the top non-league division. However, suffering a 3-1 (aggr.) defeat, Jong Almere City FC misses out on promotion to the regular non-league level.
- 2023 / Conquering the title in the nationwide U21 competition with coach Anoush Dastgir, Jong Almere City FC is placed in the Tweede Divisie for the 2023-24 season.
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