Netherlands, province: Guelders = Gelderland
May 2026 / no match visited
Timeline
- 1919 / Foundation of a football club in the Klarendal neighbourhood in the city of Arnhem, with the new club taking on the rather curious name Moderne Voetbalvereeniging, abbreviated as MVV; the founding fathers of the club are Piet Schmidt and Anton Spork. However, already by December 2019, the club has to change its name at the behest of the Arnhemsche Voetbalbond, the local sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, later renamed KNVB); thereupon, the new name vv Arnhemsche Boys is adopted – later spelled as vv Arnhemse Boys following the 1934 spelling reform. The foundation of the club coincides with the laying out of a new sports facility in the Platte Stuk area to the north of Park Sonsbeek on the northern outskirts of Arnhem. Various football clubs settle here around the same time or in the following years, including – among others – AV Wilhelmina (AVW), AV&AC Hertog Hendrik (HH), and RKVV Swift, with each of these clubs disposing of its own pitch in the park, which is initially referred to locally as the Volkssportpark or Gemeentelijk Sportpark, but later officially renamed Sportpark ‘t Cranevelt. Although source material is far from specific, it is clear vv Arnhemse Boys played in the Cranevelt area from the outset, with the exact date of the club settling at the southwestern end of the park – modern day Pitch/Veld 1 – being unknown.
- 1921 / Changing its allegiance, vv Arnhemsche Boys leaves the Arnhemsche Voetbalbond to join the Geldersche Voetbalbond (GVB).
- 1922 / vv Arnhemsche Boys wins promotion from GVB (Sunday) Division 1 to NVB District East’s (Sunday) League 3.
- 1923 / Champions in District East’s League 3D, vv Arnhemsche Boys fails to win promotion to League 2 in the ensuing round of championship play-offs.
- 1925 / vv Arnhemsche Boys crowns itself champions in District East’s League 3D for the second time in three seasons, finishing 1 point ahead of closest rivals OBIOD, but the club fails to win promotion in the championship play-offs yet again.
- 1926 / vv Arnhemsche Boys finishes as runner-up in District East’s League 3D, 2 points behind champions VV&AC Gelria.
- 1927 / Champions in District East’s League 3D, 3 points ahead of closest followers TEC VV, vv Arnhemsche Boys goes on to crown its season with a successful round of championship play-offs, thus finally gaining promotion to League 2.
- 1935 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 2B, vv Arnhemse Boys drops back into League 3 after eight seasons.
- 1937 / vv Arnhemse Boys finishes as runner-up in District East’s Sunday League 3C, 5 points behind champions TEC VV.
- 1938 / vv Arnhemse Boys finishes as runner-up in District East’s Sunday League 3D, 4 points behind champions vv SML-Spatram.
- 1944 / vv Arnhemse Boys finishes as runner-up in District East’s Sunday League 3F, 5 points behind champions WAVV.
- 1947 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 3E, 5 points ahead of closest followers CHRC, vv Arnhemse Boys fails to win promotion in the ensuing round of championship play-offs.
- 1948 / In an exact repeat of the events of the previous season, vv Arnhemse Boys finishes as champions in District East’s Sunday League 3E, 5 points ahead of runner-up CHRC. However, this time around, the club has a successful round of championship play-offs, thus managing a return to Sunday League 2 after thirteen years.
- 1955 / Finishing in third place in District East’s Sunday League 2B, vv Arnhemse Boys wins promotion to Sunday League 1 – with extra promotion places being available due to many clubs leaving the ranks of the amateurs to join the newly formed professional league pyramid – along with champions vv Rheden and runner-up AV&CV Robur et Velocitas.
- 1956 / vv Arnhemse Boys manages an impressive sixth place in Sunday League 1B.
- 1957 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 1B, vv Arnhemse Boys drops back into Sunday League 2 after two seasons, alongside the club in second-last place, WAVV.
- 1958 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 2B, vv Arnhemse Boys suffers its second relegation in a row, descending into Sunday League 3. Meanwhile, with the pitch of neighbour club RKSV VDZ falling victim to the building plans of Arnhem’s municipal authorities – the location is occupied by a block of flats at Eduard van Beinumlaan nowadays – the club concludes a groundsharing agreement with vv Arnhemse Boys.
- 1959 / At the ground of vv Arnhemse Boys, RKSV VDZ experiences one of the highlights in its history, conquering the title in District East’s Sunday League 2A, 1 point ahead of closest rivals SV Leones. In the decisive match, played at its ‘home’ ground in front of a crowd of over 2,500, the club has the better of Sportclub Silvolde (4-1). In the subsequent round of championship play-offs, the club finishes in first place in a group with DOS ’19, vv Rood Geel, and vv Hoogezand. As such, VDZ wins promotion to Sunday League 1 for the first – and so far only – time in its history. With still no solution for its lack of a ground of its own in sight and in view of the larger crowds expected for home matches in League 1, VDZ is allowed by Arnhem’s municipal authorities to move into a groundshare with professional league side AVC Vitesse at Stadion Nieuw-Monnikenhuize.
- 1961 / Finishing in joint last place in Sunday League 1A with WVC, RKSV VDZ goes on to meet the club from Winterswijk in a tie-break match, played in Doetinchem. Suffering a clear-cut defeat (5-2), VDZ drops back into Sunday League 2 after two years. With VDZ’s spell in League 1 thus coming to an end, first team football is moved back to the pitch of vv Arnhemse Boys at Sportpark ‘t Cranevelt.
- 1964 / After the 1963-64 season, one of the neighbour clubs of vv Arnhemse Boys, AV&AC Eendracht, abandons Sportpark ‘t Cranevelt after some 45 years, moving into the newly laid-out Sportpark Over het Lange Water (West) in the Presikhaaf neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Arnhem – a move which had been in the pipeline for some years. That summer, after six years of groundsharing with vv Arnhemse Boys and AVC Vitesse, RKSV VDZ moves into the part of Sportpark ‘t Cranevelt abandoned by Eendracht, notably the main pitch with the covered stand dating back to 1923 (modern-day Pitch/Veld 8); and a training pitch at the other side of the grandstand, to the south of the main pitch (Pitch/Veld 10). Also in 1964, former Arnhemse Boys youth academy striker Bennie Hofs makes his professional league debut at AVC Vitesse, going on to wear the yellow-and-white shirt 426 times (64 goals) in the following fifteen seasons. Bennie Hofs, whose brother Henk would also play at Vitesse for two years (1970-72), passed away at the age of 70 in 2017.
- 1965 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 3D, vv Arnhemse Boys descends into Sunday League 4 for the first time in club history, alongside the club in second-last place, vv Victoria ’25.
- 1966 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 4F, 1 point ahead of closest rivals vv Oosterbeek, vv Arnhemse Boys manages an immediate return to Sunday League 3.
- 1974 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 3C, 1 point ahead of runner-up SC Dieren, vv Arnhemse Boys wins promotion to Sunday League 2, entailing a return to that level after an absence of sixteen years.
- 1975 / vv Arnhemse Boys finishes as runner-up in District East’s Sunday League 2A, 2 points behind champions SV TEC.
- 1977 / vv Arnhemse Boys finishes as joint runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 2A with SV Blauw Wit (Nijmegen), 5 points behind champions vv DVC ’26.
- 1981 / Finishing in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 2A, vv Arnhemse Boys is retrograded into Sunday League 3 alongside bottom club vv Erica ’76.
- 1982 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 3D, 4 points ahead of closest followers AV&AC VIJDO, vv Arnhemse Boys wins promotion to Sunday League 2.
- 1983 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 2A, 2 points ahead of closest rivals SV AWC, vv Arnhemse Boys manages a return to Sunday League 1 after an absence of 26 years.
- 1985 / No fewer than three former vv Arnhemse Boys players make their professional league debut. First, there is Toon Hartemink, who joins AVC Vitesse at the age of 25, staying with that club for two seasons before returning to Arnhemse Boys. Then, there is defender Rini Coolen, who makes his debut at Go Ahead Eagles, going on to have spells at SC Heracles ’74, BV De Graafschap, and AZ, hanging up his boots in 1996 to pursue a coaching career at clubs such as FC Twente, AGOVV Apeldoorn, RBC Roosendaal, and Adelaide United FC. The third youth academy talent is midfielder Martin Laamers, who signs a deal with FC Wageningen at the age of 18. Laamers would go on to have a successful period at SBV Vitesse, leading to his call-up for the Netherlands’ national team (2 caps in 1989-90), followed by several seasons in Belgium at KRC Harelbeke, KAA Gent, and FC Nieuwkerken. Laamers, who ended his professional league career in 2003, passed away at the tragically young age of 58 in 2025.
- 1988 / Former Arnhemse Boys youth academy player Marlon Keizer makes his professional league debut at SBV Vitesse at the age of nineteen, going on to have a short spell at NEC before bowing out into non-league in 1991.
- 1989 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 1D, vv Arnhemse Boys drops back into Sunday League 2 after six years, along with the club in second-last place, SV Zwolsche Boys.
- 1990 / vv Arnhemse Boys signs Frans de Munck as its head coach. De Munck is a former professional league goalkeeper, who had spells at vv GOES, RKVV Sittardse Boys, 1. FC Köln, Fortuna ’54, vv DOS, SC Veendam, SC Cambuur, and AVC Vitesse – moreover also winning 31 caps for the Netherlands (1949-60).
- 1991 / Trainer Frans de Munck leaves vv Arnhemse Boys after only one season.
- 1993 / vv Arnhemse Boys finishes as runner-up in District East’s Sunday League 2A, 3 points behind champions vv De Bataven.
- 1996 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 2A, 7 points ahead of closest rivals vv DVC ’26, vv Arnhemse Boys manages a return to Sunday League 1 after a seven-year absence. The successful coach is Hans Bleijenberg.
- 1997 / In the best season in club history, vv Arnhemse Boys finishes in third place in Sunday League 1E, finishing only 4 points behind champions AGOVV.
- 2001 / Coached by Gerard Brussen, vv Arnhemse Boys finishes bottom of the table in Sunday League 1E, thus descending into Sunday League 2 alongside the club in second-last place, DOS ’19. Also in 2001, former Arnhemse Boys youth academy player Nicky Hofs makes his professional league debut for SBV Vitesse. The midfielder would go on to have further spells at Feyenoord Rotterdam, AEL Limassol, and Willem II, eventually hanging up his boots in 2013. Moreover, Hofs also won 1 cap for the Netherlands (2006).
- 2003 / Coached by former first team player Toon Hartemink, vv Arnhemse Boys finishes bottom of the table in Sunday League 2I, thus descending into Sunday League 3, along with the club in second-last place, SV Leones.
- 2004 / Finishing bottom of the table in District East’s Sunday League 3C with coach Toon Hartemink, vv Arnhemse Boys suffers its second relegation in a row, dropping back into Sunday League 4, alongside the club in second-last place, SC Rijnland.
- 2005 / Runaway champions in District East’s Sunday League 4D, 14 points ahead of closest followers SV Concordia-Wehl, vv Arnhemse Boys finally breaks the downward trend, gaining promotion to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Toon Hartemink.
- 2007 / Coached by Stefan Reijnen, vv Arnhemse Boys finishes in third-last place in District East’s Sunday League 3D, going on to suffer defeat in the relegation play-offs – and thus descending into Sunday League 4 after two years, alongside vv SML and bottom club RKSV VDZ. Also in 2007, twelve years after the merger between AV Wilhelmina (AVW) and AV&AC VIJDO, AV Cranevelt is absorbed into neighbour club vv Arnhemse Boys. Pitch/Veld 5 of Sportpark ‘t Cranevelt is removed to make way for a parking lot subsequently.
- 2009 / vv Arnhemse Boys leaves Sportpark ‘t Cranevelt after ninety years, starting a new existence with the adapted name vv Arnhemse Boys Schuytgraaf at the newly laid-out Sportpark Schuytgraaf in the eponymous neighbourhood on the far western outskirts of Arnhem.
- 2010 / Moving away from their old location at Sportpark Valkenhuizen, American football club Arnhem Falcons moves into the part of Sportpark ‘t Cranevelt abandoned by vv Arnhemse Boys the previous year, i.e Pitch/Veld 1. This pitch has remained in use for lower team football and training sessions by RKSV VDZ as well, probably from 2009 onwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment