Netherlands, province: Groningen
31 X 2026 / vv Bato - vv Onstwedder Boys 1-3 / District North, Saturday League 4G (= NL level 9)
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.
- 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.
- 1919 / 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 / Wit Blauw Wit Winschoten takes on the new name vv Winschoten. 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 Groninger Voetbalbond (GVB), the Groningen sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, later renamed KNVB). 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, Fortuna (renamed SBA in 1921), SDO (a club which may not have outlived 1920), HBS (renamed GHBS in 1921), and SSS (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 / 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. 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, 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. 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, renamed De Adelaar before the end of the year. This club most probably took its place at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein upon the start of the new season, in the summer of 1922.
- 1923 / 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.
- 1925 / vv Winschoten folds following the 1924-25 season, after an existence of six years.
- 1926 / A new football club is established, vv Winschoter Boys, which most probably settled at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein.
- 1928 / After an existence of barely two years, vv Winschoter Boys folds, ceasing all activities.
- 1930 / vv 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, 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. Also in 1933, after an existence of thirteen years, 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.
- 1937 / Foundation of a new football club in Winschoten, Sportvereniging (SV) Rawi, a company sports team of the local Rawi mattress and bedding factory, which takes its place at the Gemeentelijk Sportterrein.
- 1938 / The second incarnation of vv Upright folds, with some of its players joining SV Rawi.
- 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.
- 1951 / The year 1951 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.
- 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.
- 1999 / 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).
- 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 predecessor dating back to 1936) with its whimsically-shaped construction being built on top of one of the dressing rooms.
- 2018 / After withdrawing its first team from Sunday League 4 midway through the 2017-18 season, 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.
- 2023 / Finishing in sixth place in District North’s Saturday League 5F, vv Bato qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by vv Bargeres (2-1).
- 2026 / Champions in District North’s Saturday League 5G, 6 points ahead of closest followers vv Pekela, vv Bato wins promotion to Saturday League 4. The successful coach is Martijn Drent. 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.
All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author
No comments:
Post a Comment