Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: GV Bato (1921-1946) / vv Upright (1921-1930, 1933-1938) / WVV (1921-1923) / vv Winschoten (1921-1925) / SBA (1921-1933) / vv OLTO (1921-1922?) / GHBS (1921-1922?) / vv De Adelaar (1922-1923) / vv Winschoter Boys (1926-1928) / NSAB Afd. Winschoten (1930-1934) / SSS (1931-1933) / De Raven (1934-1935?) / SV Rawi (1937-1959?) / SV Bato (1946-1999) / CVW (1946-1960) / vv Bato (1999-±2018) / vv Bato (B) (±2018-)

Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan het Sint Vitusholt “Sportpark Sint Vitusholt” terr. 1, Winschoten (B pitch of vv Bato, formerly A pitch of GV Bato / vv Upright / WVV / vv Winschoten / SBA / vv OLTO / GHBS / vv De Adelaar / vv Winschoter Boys / NSAB Afd. Winschoten / SSS / De Raven / SV Rawi / SV Bato / CVW / vv Bato)

Netherlands, province: Groningen

31 X 2026 / vv Bato Reserves - vv BNC Reserves 1-0 / District North, Reserves' Saturday League 5 - group 12

Timeline

1883 / In Winschoten, a town in the eastern half of the Province of Groningen, a gymnastics club sees the daylight. The club is given the name Gymnastiekvereeniging (GV) Bato – Bato being a reference to Baeto, a character in a play by 17th century Dutch playwright P.C. Hooft. Baeto, legendary chief of the Batavian tribe which settled in the Netherlands around the beginning of the Common Era, was chosen as club name to evoke the (alleged) primordial strength of the Dutch. The founding meeting is held at Hotel Tivoli under the aegis of Jan Jansonius, a teacher at the local primary school.
1896 / A first football club sees the daylight in Winschoten, WVV (Winschoter Voetbalvereeniging).
1910 / With various short-lived clubs having co-existed in Winschoten with WVV in the preceding years, a new club is now formed which takes on the name vv Upright. It is unclear where this club played its home matches in the first decade of its existence.
1912 / vv Upright joins the so-called Groninger Voetbalbond (GVB), the Groningen sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, later renamed KNVB).
1914 / In its second competitive season, vv Upright manages to win promotion from GVB (Sunday) Division 1 to District North’s (Sunday) League 3 – the second-highest level of the District North pyramid, with no League 1 having been formed yet.
1915 / As so many other clubs in the Netherlands in the course of World War I, in which the country remained neutral, but kept its army mobilised for years, vv Upright has to cease its activities due to a lack of available players.
1918 / After a pause of three years, vv Upright resumes its activities.
1919 / One year after resuming its activities, vv Upright manages to win promotion from GVB Division 1 to District North’s League 2 – with no League 3 being organised in the 1919-20 season. That same year, a new football club is formed in Winschoten, with the club taking on the name Wit Blauw Winschoten. It is unclear where the pitch of this club in the first two years of its existence was situated.
1920 / vv Upright finishes as runner-up in District North’s League 2, 1 point behind champions GVV (Groningen). Also in 1920, one year after its foundation, Wit Blauw Wit Winschoten takes on the new name vv Winschoten upon joining the GVB. That same year, a football branch is added to GV Bato, with Cor Hoekstra becoming the chairman of this section of the club, which joins the GVB. One source claims the football branch of GV Bato was formed by breakaway members of WVV. Football being included in the myriad of activities of GV Bato coincides with a veritable boom of football clubs being founded in the town of Winschoten. The year 1920 alone sees the establishment of no fewer than five other clubs; OLTO (meaning abbreviation unknown), Fortuna (renamed SBA in 1921), SDO (Sterk Door Oefening, a club which may not have outlived 1920, as no further information is available beyond its foundation), HBS (Houdt Braaf Stand, renamed GHBS – Groninger Houdt Braaf Stand? – in 1921), and SSS (Sport Staalt Spieren, renamed The Swallows in 1921). All of these clubs join the GVB or the short-lived OGVB, Oost-Groninger Voetbalbond (which would fold in 1925). The explanation for the sudden growth in the number of clubs in Winschoten is not difficult to find; in the fall of 1920, local authorities announced their plans to lay out a municipal sports ground with football pitches and facilities for other sports in the Sint Vitusholt neighbourhood, on the southern outskirts of the town. All clubs interested to make use of the projected facilities were invited to report to the townhouse.
1921 / Champions in District North’s League 2B, vv Upright wins promotion to League 1, the top division of the Netherlands’ football pyramid at that time. That same year – specifically on May 15th, 1921 – the newly laid-out Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan de Garst (renamed Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan het Sint Vitusholt not long after) is inaugurated in the presence of Winschoten’s mayor, H.I. Schönfeld. The sports ground comprises three football pitches laid out end to end as well as facilities for other sports. Although no specific buildings in situ are mentioned in the available sources, these mention municipal architect D. Bolhuis as the designer of the ground as a whole. With athletics and netball events being staged on the inaugural day, the highlight is a football match between an East Groningen XI and a Groningen City XI, including several players of League 1 club GV&QV Be Quick, with the surprise result being a 1-0 win for the East Groningen squad. Apart from two tennis clubs, the gymnastics branch of Bato, and the local scouts movement, the inaugural activities are attended by officials of no fewer than six football clubs which are due to settle at the new location: WVV (meanwhile one of the football powerhouses in the north of the Netherlands, playing in District North’s League 1), GV Bato, vv Winschoten, OLTO, Fortuna, and GHBS; strikingly, vv Upright is not mentioned in this list, although it is clear this club was one of the clubs using the facilities from their inauguration onwards – with the central of the three pitches most probably having been the ‘main’ pitch from the inauguration onwards – with Terrein 2 / B, closest to the entrance gate, being the first of the two side-pitches (Terrein 3 / C, at the westernmost end of the ground, was used mainly as a training pitch even in pre-war years). I suspect that the footballers of GV Bato, as well as the majority of the other clubs founded in 1920, had been formed in advance, with their activities only commencing once they were able to make use of the new football ground. The aforementioned OLTO as well as two other clubs formed in 1920, may have folded in 1921 or shortly thereafter; GHBS and The Swallows. The year 1921 also saw the foundation of a new club, Albatros, which joins the GVB in December of that year with a different name, De Adelaar. This club most probably took its place at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein upon the start of the new season, in the summer of 1922.
1922 / vv Winschoten wins promotion from GVB (Sunday) Division 1 to NVB District North’s (Sunday) League 3 (with no League 4 level having been formed in District North yet) for the first time, going on to manage a runner-up finish at that level in the following season.
1923 / In the best season in club history, vv Upright finishes in seventh place in District North’s League 1. That same year, gaining promotion from GVB (Sunday) Division 1, GV Bato wins promotion to NVB District North’s (Sunday) League 3 for the first time. That same year, unhappy with the arrangement of having to share the pitches of the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein with so many other clubs, the oldest – and slightly elitist – club in Winschoten, WVV, moves away to a newly laid-out new park elsewhere in Sint Vitusholt, across the street from the Jewish cemetery (with the entrance being situated at a street later given the name Kastanjelaan). Also in 1923, after an existence of a competitive club of no more than one season, De Adelaar folds, ceasing all activities.
1924 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s League 1 after a fierce relegation battle with WVV, vv Upright drops back into League 2 after three years. That same year, crowning themselves champions in District North’s League 3A, 6 points ahead of closest followers – and groundsharers – vv Winschoten, GV Bato wins promotion to League 2.
1925 / GV Bato finishes as runner-up in District North’s League 2A, 1 point behind champions vv HSC. Meanwhile, vv Winschoten finishes as runner-up in League 3A for the third year running – with this club sadly folding following the 1924-25 season, after an existence of six years.
1926 / Finishing in joint first place in District North’s League 2B with GVAV, GV Bato meets the club from Groningen in a tie-break match, played at HSC’s Terrein Achter Hommes in Sappemeer. Suffering defeat in this encounter (2-1), the club has to leave the title as well as the ticket for the championship play-offs to GVAV. The year 1926 also sees the foundation of a new football club, vv Winschoter Boys, which joins the ranks of the GVB – most probably settling at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein.
1928 / After finishing bottom of the table in District North’s League 2B, vv Upright saves its skin in the relegation play-offs, thus staying up at this level. Also in 1928, after an existence of barely two years, vv Winschoter Boys folds, ceasing all activities.
1929 / In the best achievement in club history, GV Bato wins the title in District North’s League 2B, 5 points ahead of closest followers vv HSC and vv Noordster. However, Bato fails to win promotion to League 1 in the ensuing round of championship play-offs against GVV and LAC Frisia 1883, having to leave the honours to the club from Leeuwarden.
1930 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s League 2B, vv Upright goes on to suffer defeat in a promotion-relegation play-off against the champions in League 3C, vv Zuidbroek. As a result, Upright descends into Sunday League 3. However, in October 1930, Upright sees its membership of the GVB and KNVB terminated due to outstanding debts, with the club folding as a result. The year 1930 also saw a new club being founded, simply called ‘Winschoten’ – with this club joining the socialist football federation NSAB (Nederlandse Socialistische Arbeidersbond) and occasionally being referred to as NSAB Afd. (Afdeeling) Winschoten to avoid confusion with other clubs; this club settled on the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein.
1931 / A new football club sees the daylight in Winschoten, SSS (Sport Staalt Spieren), not to be confused with the eponymous club formed in 1920 and renamed The Swallows subsequently. SSS is a club with a Protestant (Evangelical) membership – and instead of seeking membership of the non-confessional GVB (KNVB), this club joins the Christian football federation CNVB (Christelijke Nederlandsche Voetbalbond).
1933 / After a gap of three years, vv Upright is re-established in January 1933, with the club taking its place at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein again while being placed in the GVB divisions in the 1933-34 season. Also in 1933, after an existence of thirteen years, all of them spent in the GVB divisions, SBA folds, ceasing all activities, as does SSS, barely two years after its foundation.
1934 / NSAB club ‘Winschoten’ (NSAB Afd. Winschoten) changes its name to become De Raven – with 1935 being the last year in which a trace of this club can be found in local media. Possibly, the only socialist football club in Winschoten folded that year or shortly thereafter.
1936 / Champions in GVB (Sunday) Division 1, vv Upright goes on to finish as runner-up in the championship play-offs behind vv Wildervank, but ahead of GVAV III, vv ten Post, and vv Eenrum – sufficient to win promotion to District North’s (Sunday) League 3. That same year, a covered grandstand, partly built in wood, is constructed at Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan het Sint Vitusholt. A gala match is held to mark the occasion on June 7th, 1936, with a combined team of GV Bato and vv Upright players taking on vv Veendam (2-2).
1937 / Foundation of a new football club in Winschoten, Sportvereniging (SV) Rawi, a company sports team of the local Rawi mattress and bedding factory. SV Rawi joins the GVB, taking its place at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein. That same year, a new Protestant (Evangelical) football club is formed in Winschoten, Vitesse, but this short-lived club – which folded in 1938 – did not play its football on the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein.
1938 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s League 3B, vv Upright descends into the ranks of the GVB again after two seasons. However, in August 1938, the club folds, with some of its players joining SV Rawi.
1944 / Finishing in joint first place in District North’s Sunday League 2B with vv Emmen, GV Bato goes on to meet this club in a tie-break match for the title. With the first encounter finishing in a 3-3 draw, a second match has to be staged – with the ground of vv Achilles in Assen being the chosen venue – in which vv Emmen proves too strong (4-1).
1946 / With GV Bato meanwhile sporting various other sections – including walking sports and handball – the club is officially renamed Sportvereniging (SV) Bato. That same year, Bato and SV Rawi are joined at Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan het Sint Vitusholt by a newly founded club, CVW (Christelijke Voetbalclub Winschoten), a club with an integrally Protestant (Evangelical) membership dedicated to playing football on Saturdays rather than on Sundays for religious reasons. The new club takes its place in the fledgling Saturday pyramid of the GVB.
1948 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 2B, SV Bato drops back into Sunday League 3 after 24 years. That same year, only two years after its foundation, CVW wins promotion from GVB Saturday Division 1 to Saturday League 4 – the top division of the Saturday pyramid in District North at that time.
1949 / CVW crowns itself champions in District North’s Saturday League 4B, 1 point ahead of closest rivals CVV Oranje Nassau (1918). The club does not win promotion, as no Saturday League 3 would be added to the league pyramid in District North until 1954.
1951 / CVW finishes as runner-up in District North’s Saturday League 4B alongside SV De Heracliden, 4 points behind champions vv Poolster. The year 1951 also marks the last trace of SV Rawi as a GVB club; this club must have abandoned the GVB in one of the following years, as we find it featuring as a club in a recreational league of corporate teams in a newspaper article in 1958. It is unclear when SV Rawi folded.
1955 / In spite of finishing second from bottom in District North’s Saturday League 4C – no relegation place in normal circumstances – CVW does not feature at League 4 level in the new year, with the two clubs below them in the 1954-55 season, vv Eems Boys and VVS Scheemda having retained their place. Possibly, CVW withdrew into the ranks of the GVB voluntarily.
1960 / After an existence of fourteen years, CVW allows itself to be absorbed into WVV, with a first team of that club taking part in the Saturday divisions of the GVB from the new season onwards in parallel with the WVV flagship team in the Sunday pyramid. The departure of CVW meant that SV Bato – with the possible exception of company team SV Rawi, which may have prolonged its existence into the 1960s – remained behind as the sole users of the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan het Sint Vitusholt.
1968 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3D, SV Bato descends into Sunday League 4 for the first time, alongside the club in second-last place, vv PJC.
1974 / A first clubhouse at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan het Sint Vitusholt is constructed, with the inaugural ceremony being held on May 18th, 1974. The facility has been built to the eastern side of the grandstand.
1976 / Finishing in joint first place in District North’s Sunday League 4G with vv Musselkanaal, SV Bato goes on to suffer defeat in a tie-break match for the title against that club (2-0) at Sportpark De Goorns in Gieten.
1980 / SV Bato finishes as runner-up in District North’s Sunday League 4G, 2 points behind champions vv PJC.
1982 / The clubhouse at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan het Sint Vitusholt is further extended with a boardroom.
1984 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 4G, 4 points ahead of closest rivals SV THOS, SV Bato manages a return to Sunday League 3 after an absence of sixteen years.
1985 / SV Bato striker Jan Redmeijer signs a professional league contract with SC Veendam.
1986 / Jan Redmeijer is part of the squad of SC Veendam which wins a historic first-ever promotion to the top tier of the Netherlands’ football pyramid, the Eredivisie, via the play-offs.
1987 / After two years with SC Veendam, ending in relegation from the Eredivisie, Jan Redmeijer returns SV Bato.
1989 / SV Bato reaches the final of the WCNO-Cup, in which the club suffers a heavy (5-1) defeat against SC Stadskanaal.
1990 / Reaching the final of the WCNO-Cup for the second year in a row, SV Bato manages to take home the trophy this time around, defeating vv ZNC in the final (3-2), played at Sportpark aan de Langeleegte Noord of vv Veendam 1894. The club goes on to defeat vv LTC from Assen in the so-called DGP Supercup, played at Sportpark Pagedal in Stadskanaal (3-1).
1993 / Finishing in third-last place in District North’s Sunday League 3D, SV Bato drops back into Sunday League 4, along with FC Amboina and bottom club vv HSC.
1995 / Finishing bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 4G, SV Bato has to suffer the ignominy of descending into GVB Sunday Division 1, a level at which the club had last featured 72 years before, along with the club in second-last place, vv Pekelder Boys.
1998 / With GVB Sunday Division 1 having been reformed to become Sunday League 5 in 1996, SV Bato wins promotion from that level via the play-offs after finishing in fourth place in District North’s Sunday League 5E. The successful coach is Henk Drenth.
1999 / Coached by Henk Drenth, SV Bato finishes in second-last place in District North’s Sunday League 4D, resulting in the club dropping back into Sunday League 5 after one year only, along with bottom club vv Farmsum. That same year, Sportvereniging (SV) Bato is wound up, with the three remaining branches continuing independently as GV Bato (gymnastics), WV Bato (walking sports), and vv Bato (football).
2001 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 5E, 5 points ahead of closest followers vv Bareveld, vv Bato wins promotion to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Thomas Bronsema.
2002 / In a particularly tense title race, vv Bato eventually crown themselves champions in District North’s Sunday League 4E, 1 point ahead of three clubs; vv Pekelder Boys, vv Wildervank, and vv Meeden. As a result, the club achieves back-to-back promotions, acceding to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Thomas Bronsema. Also in 2002, a thorough renovation of Gemeentelijk Sportterrein is undertaken, involving the development of a new clubhouse, designed by architect Chiel Dijkhuis, as well as a new dressing rooms with a covered stand (much smaller than its pre-war predecessor which sadly has to make way) with its whimsically-shaped construction being built on top of one of the dressing rooms.
2003 / Coached by Thomas Bronsema, vv Bato finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3C, thus descending into Sunday League 4, along with the club in second-last place, vv Bedum.
2007 / Runner-up in District North’s Sunday League 4E, 4 points behind champions vv Siddeburen, vv Bato goes on to win the promotion play-offs, resulting in the club winning promotion to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Geert Meijer.
2008 / Coached by Geert Meijer, vv Bato finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3D, thus dropping back into Sunday League 4 after one year only, alongside the club in second-last place, vv Hoogezand.
2009 / Coached by Geert Meijer, vv Bato finishes in third-last place in District North’s Sunday League 4D, with the club thus suffering back-to-back relegations, descending into Sunday League 5 along with FVV and bottom club vv Borgercompagnie.
2010 / Finishing in sixth place in District North’s Sunday League 5F, vv Bato qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out SV Hoogersmilde in R1 (5-3 aggr.), going on to defeat SC Boornbergum ’80 in the final (4-2). As a result, the team of coach Henk Tuin wins promotion to Sunday League 4.
2011 / Runner-up in District North’s Sunday League 4C, 11 points behind runaway champions vv Groninger Boys, vv Bato qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out by vv Veelerveen (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out). In a lucky loser competition for one extra promotion place, the club eliminates vv Muntendam in R1 (1-0), but stumbles over RKVV MKV ’29 in R2 (0-3).
2013 / Champions in District North’s Sunday League 4D, 1 point ahead of closest rivals vv Alteveer, vv Bato wins promotion to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Gerrie Drenth.
2014 / Coached by Gerrie Drenth, vv Bato finishes bottom of the table in District North’s Sunday League 3C, thus descending into Sunday League 4 after one season only, alongside vv ASVB and vv Gruno.
2017 / vv Bato withdraws its flagship team from District North’s Sunday League 4C midway through the season, in December 2017.
2018 / vv Bato returns to first team football, but not in the Sunday pyramid, as the club chooses to turn to Saturday football, starting in Saturday League 5 at the bottom of the league pyramid. Also in or around 2018, vv Bato moved its first team football to the easternmost pitch of Gemeentelijk Sportterrein aan het Sint Vitusholt, with the former main pitch remaining in use for lower team football and training sessions.
2026 / In the latter stages of 2026, having fallen into disuse many years before, the covered stand alongside Terrein 1 of Gemeentelijk Sportpark aan het Sint Vitusholt, dating back to 2002, is knocked down.

Note – Thanks to vv Bato chairman Wim Boven and club archivist Ferdy Bos for their hospitality during my visit and for their help in finding the information for the article above. Further data have been derived from a book published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of WVV, Henk Mulder’s “Onze dierbaarste kleuren. Honderd jaar WVV, een geschiedenis in rood en zwart”, ed. WVV: Winschoten 1996.