Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: vv BKC (1996-2012) / vv Kleine Sluis (2012-)

Sportpark Kleine Sluis, Anna Paulowna (vv Kleine Sluis, formerly vv BKC)

Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland

17 X 2026 / vv Kleine Sluis - vv ZOB 2-6 / District West I, Regional Cup - knock-out stage R1

Timeline

1914 / In Anna Paulowna, a polder village in the far north of the Province of North Holland, a first football club sees the daylight, vv Hollandia, which joins the so-called Noord-Hollandsche Voetbalbond (NHVB), the North Holland sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, later renamed KNVB), but under a different name, vv Anna Paulowna, due to the name Hollandia already being in use by HVV Hollandia from Hoorn.
1916 / vv Anna Paulowna folds due to a lack of players and spectators.
1922 / Foundation of a football club in Kleine Sluis, a hamlet to the east of Anna Paulowna; the new club, which is non-confessional, takes on the name vv Excelsior, joining the so-called West-Friesche Voetbalbond (WFVB), a local league association. The founding fathers of the new club are P. Crum Snr., G. de Leeuw, D. Stellingwerff, and B. Visser, with C. van Oorschot becoming the club’s first chairman. A pitch is laid out on a plot of land owned by Mr Zwart, near the Spoorput pond at the crossing of the railway near Molenvaart.
1923 / Foundation of a football club in Spoorbuurt, a hamlet situated halfway between Anna Paulowna and the village of Breezand, with Jan van den Berg and Kees Wildenburg being the founding fathers of vv Concordia, which draws its membership from the Roman Catholic communities in the municipality of Anna Pauwlona. The new club joins the WFVB, settling on Terrein Willem Komen, a plot of farmland in Spoorbuurt. Also in 1923, a new club is formed in Breezand proper, BFC, Breezandsche Football Club. The founding fathers of BFC are two gentlemen, Mr Onderwater and Mr Weijers, with the former taking on the role of chairman. The new club settles on a plot of farmland owned by the widow of farmer J. Cornelissen, at the back of Café Borst, situated at the crossroads of Zandvaart and Koningsweg in Breezand. Like its local rivals vv Excelsior and vv Concordia, BFC joins the WFVB. Also in or around 1923, vv Excelsior moves away from its initial ground near the Spoorput pond, settling at Terrein Volder near Café Slikker on Molenvaart, on the eastern outskirts of Kleine Sluis.
1925 / Abandoning the WFVB, which folds in 1926, vv Excelsior, vv Concordia, and BFC all join the NHVB, with each of them taking on new names; vv Excelsior becomes Voetbalvereeniging Anna Paulowna (VAP), while vv Concordia changes its name to become Roomsch-Katholieke Voetbalvereeniging (RKVV) Anna Paulowna and BFC takes on the name vv Breezand; as per usual, the name changes are brought about due to older NHVB member clubs already having taken on those denominations. In the case of BFC, the old name proves sticky, remaining in use locally. All three clubs are placed in NHVB Sunday Division 3.
1926 / Clinching the title in NHVB (Sunday) Division 3D, RKVV Anna Paulowna wins promotion to NHVB Division 2. That same year, VVAP changes its name to become vv Kleine Sluis. Also in or around 1926, vv Breezand (BFC) leaves its ground at the back of Café Borst, which is turned into a flower bulb field, to settle on a plot of farmland owned by chairman C. van der Linden on Middenweg.
1928 / Moving away from Terrein Volder, vv Kleine Sluis settles on a plot of land only a stone’s throw further down the road, at the back of Café Slikker on Molenvaart in Kleine Sluis. Mr Slikker has meanwhile also taken over the chairmanship of the club.
1929 / A merger is concluded between vv Breezand (BFC) and vv Kleine Sluis, resulting in the foundation of Breezand-Kleine Sluis Combinatie, vv BKC. The merger is brought about in part due to the pitch of vv Breezand on Middenweg being swallowed up by the ever extending flower bulb fields; with vv Kleine Sluis having a lack of members while disposing of a pitch, a merger proves a mutually beneficial arrangement. As such, all activities move to the pitch at the back of Café Slikker in Kleine Sluis.
1930 / Being picked for promotion by other clubs, a usual way of going about in those years, vv BKC, playing in NHVB Sunday Division 2, is placed in Division 1 in the 1930-31 season. Meanwhile, being expelled from the NHVB membership list after five years due to debts incurred to the association, RKVV Anna Paulowna is re-established under a new name, RKVV Zwaluwen Anna Paulowna (ZAP), joining Roman Catholic league association RKF (Roomsch-Katholieke Federatie) – more specifically its sub-branch in the northwest of the Netherlands, the so-called Diocesane Haarlemsche Voetbalbond (DHVB). The pitch of RKVV ZAP is a plot of land owned by Willem Komen in Spoorbuurt.
1932 / Foundation of a club in Breezand proper, RKVV Racing Club Breezand (RCB), which settles on a pitch laid out at Zwarteweg (modern-day Burgemeester Lovinkstraat). Like RKVV ZAP, RKVV RCB joins the DHVB league association.
1933 / Foundation of a new football club in Anna Paulowna, simply named Anna Paulowna, although also referred to as Voetbalgroep Rooie Rakkers, which joins the small socialist football federation NASB (Nederlandsche Arbeiderssportbond, formed in 1926). It is unclear where the ground of this club was situated.
1934 / Clinching the title in NHVB Sunday Division 1 following a 3-1 home win over SV Petten, vv BKC wins promotion to KNVB District West I’s Sunday League 4. Following the promotion, Mr Slikker, who owns the ground, has a covered stand erected alongside the pitch at the back of his pub.
1935 / RKVV ZAP absorbs RKVV RCB, without changing its name as a result and with all activities moving to Terrein Willem Komen in Spoorbuurt.
1936 / The last trace of NSAB club Anna Paulowna is its being placed in the 1936-37 NSAB competition; the club must have folded in 1936 or 1937.
1937 / vv BKC finishes as runner-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 7 points behind champions SV Texel.
1939 / Coached by H. van Pelt, vv BKC crown themselves as runaway champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 9 points ahead of closest followers SV Schagen; the decisive points are clinched in a 3-1 win over vv Atlas. In the ensuing round of championship play-offs against KVV (Krommenie) and vv Assendelft, first place eludes the club from Kleine Sluis, with the promotion ticket going to KVV.
1941 / vv BKC finishes as runner-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 2 points behind champions SV DTS.
1942 / vv BKC finishes as runner-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 5 points behind champions SV Schagen. Also in 1942, as the ongoing German occupation authorities make life harder and harder for the Catholic column in the Netherlands, RKVV ZAP in Breezand sees no other option but to fold, ceasing all activities. Much of the membership temporarily leaves for BKC in Kleine Sluis (Anna Paulowna) until ZAP is re-established in 1944.
1943 / With HRC being evicted from its ground in Den Helder in November 1943, this club moves in with vv BKC until February 1944.
1947 / Runaway champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 11 points ahead of closest followers SV Texel and without experiencing a single defeat all season, vv BKC goes on to win the championship play-offs against VC Ahrends (two wins: 1-5 and 3-0) and FC Purmerend (0-0 and 1-1), sufficient for first place and a ticket to Sunday League 3.
1948 / In the best performance in club history prior to the 2012 merger, vv BKC finishes in third place in District West I’s Sunday League 3C with coach Wil Zuidema.
1949 / Coached by Wil Zuidema, vv BKC finishes in second-last place in District West I’s Sunday League 3A, resulting in the club being retrograded into Sunday League 4 after two years, alongside bottom club vv Succes. Later that same year, the covered stand, constructed in 1934, collapses.
1950 / Following the collapse of the old stand in November of the previous year, a new construction is erected in stone and inaugurated in May 1950.
1951 / Runaway champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 11 points ahead of closest followers RKHSV, vv BKC goes on to win the championship play-offs, acceding to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is H.G. Untied.
1953 / Coached by Wil Zuidema, vv BKC finishes bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 3C, thus dropping back into Sunday League 4.
1954 / Municipal authorities in Anna Paulowna purchase the pitch of vv BKC from its owner, pub holder Mr Slikker, turning it into a municipal sports park in the following years – with the address being changed from Molenvaart to the newly laid-out Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat later on.
1955 / 23-year-old defender Kees Kuijs, who had briefly joined vv BKC as a youth player from RKVV ZAP between 1942 and 1944, makes his international debut for the Netherlands, going on to win 43 caps (1955-62), while enjoying a professional league career at HFC Haarlem and NAC – ultimately hanging up his boots in 1963.
1957 / vv BKC finishes as runner-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 1 point behind champions vv Succes.
1960 / Coached by G. de Vries, vv BKC crown themselves champions in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 5 points ahead of closest rivals LSVV. In the ensuing championship play-offs against vv SEW, vv Energia, and RCZ, the club fails to win promotion. That same year, vv BKC also plays a cup match against professional league side, Alkmaar ’54, suffering a modest 3-0 defeat.
1961 / vv BKC finishes as runner-up in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, 5 points behind champions HFC Helder.
1962 / A second pitch is added to the set-up at Complex aan de Molenvaart / Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat.
1966 / Coached by Wil Zuidema, vv BKC finishes bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, thus descending into the ranks of the NHVB after an uninterrupted spell in Sunday Leagues 3 and 4 of 32 years.
1967 / A canteen is added to the set-up at Complex aan de Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat.
1969 / Champions in NVHB Sunday Division 1A, vv BKC wins promotion to the newly created NHVB Zondag Hoofdklasse. The successful coach is Jaits Bremer.
1970 / Finishing in third place in NHVB Zondag Hoofdklasse, vv BKC wins promotion to Sunday League 4, along with derby rivals SV ZAP. The successful coach is Jaits Bremer. Also in 1970, vv BKC is joined at Complex aan de Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat by vv Breezandse Boys. In the preceding decade, this Saturday club, founded in 1958, had groundshared with SV ZAP at Sportpark aan het Ceresplein in Breezand.
1974 / After four years of groundsharing at Complex aan de Mijnlieffstraat, Saturday club vv Breezandse Boys, which has meanwhile been renamed SVAP ’74 (Sportvereniging Anna Paulowna 1974) following a merger with netball club KV TOG, moves to its newly laid-out park at the back of the Veerburg indoor sports hall at Sportlaan.
1975 / Finishing bottom of the table in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, vv BKC drops back into NHVB Zondag Hoofdklasse.
1976 / Finishing in second-last place in NHVB Zondag Hoofdklasse, vv BKC descends into NHVB Sunday Division 1, alongside bottom club vv Zaanstad.
1977 / vv BKC absorbs a local handball club, which had been founded in 1970; following the merger, the omnisports club is now officially called Sportvereniging (SV) BKC, with vv BKC remaining the name of the football branch. In the early 1980s, branches for softball, baseball, and recreation sports (i.e. pétanque) are added to the myriad of activities of SV BKC.
1983 / vv BKC finishes as runner-up in NHVB Sunday Division 1A, 4 points behind champions SV Schagen. In the following decade, however, as a result of two relegations, the club descends into NHVB Sunday Division 3.
1986 / In a thorough renovation of Complex aan de Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat, a new clubhouse and dressing rooms are constructed.
1996 / With the NHVB and all other KNVB sub-branches being abolished, vv BKC is placed in District West I’s Sunday League 7A. That same year, with the club’s ground at Burgemeester Mijnlieffstraat having to make way for a retail park, vv BKC moves to a newly laid-out ground at Grasweg, officially called Sportpark Kleine Sluis and informally referred to as Complex West, given that preparations are underway to give SVAP ’74 a new park as well on the eastern part of the new location. At Sportpark Kleine Sluis, vv BKC has the luxury of a covered stand alongside the main pitch.
1999 / vv BKC wins promotion from District West I’s Sunday League 7 to Sunday League 6 with coach Koos Hidden.
2000 / After five years of preparations, Anna Paulowna’s Saturday football club, SVAP ’74, moves into the newly laid-out eastern half of Sportpark Kleine Sluis, colloquially referred to as Complex Oost, along with athletics club Dokev. That club’s old ground on Sportlaan is replaced by housing.
2001 / In spite of finishing in a modest tenth place in District West I’s Sunday League 6A, vv BKC is placed in Sunday League 5 in the new season following a reorganisation of the pyramid. That summer, professional league sides AZ and R Antwerp FC play a pre-season friendly at Sportpark Kleine Sluis. In the following years, AZ would regularly return to the park during its pre-season build-up.
2004 / Runner-up in District West I’s Sunday League 5A, 1 point behind champions vv Alkmaarsche Boys, vv BKC goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus managing a return to Sunday League 4 after an absence of 29 years at that level. The successful coach is Gosse Bosma.
2005 / Coached by Gosse Bosma, vv BKC finishes in second-last place in District West I’s Sunday League 4A, the result being relegation into Sunday League 5 along with bottom club vv Texel ’94.
2009 / Tying for first place in District West I’s Sunday League 5A with vv JVC, vv BKC meets the club from Julianadorp in a tie-break match for the title, played at Sportpark De Zwaluw in Breezand. Going on to win the match thanks to a goal by Geert Weel (1-0), BKC wins promotion to Sunday League 4. The successful coach is Ton Korevaar.
2010 / Tying for first place in District West I’s Sunday League 4A with vv Schagen, vv BKC meets that club in a tie-break match for the title, played at Sportpark De Zwaluw in Breezand. Going on to win the match 2-0 – both goals scored by Mitchel Jansen – BKC wins back-to-back promotions, acceding to Sunday League 3, not having featured at that level in the past 61 years. The successful coach is Ton Korevaar.
2012 / In its last season as an independent club, vv BKC manages a fifth place in District West I’s Sunday League 3A, narrowly missing out on the play-offs. Following the 2011-12 season, a merger is concluded between SV BKC and SVAP ’74, resulting in the foundation of Sportvereniging (SV) Kleine Sluis; apart from football, there are branches for handball, pétanque, netball, and indoor football. First team football moves to ‘Complex West’, the main pitch of the former vv BKC, with the main pitch of SVAP ’74 remaining in use for lower team football and training sessions as Terrein 6. With BKC chairman Dick Schenk staying on in that capacity at vv Kleine Sluis, the football branch of SV Kleine Sluis, the new football club fields two first teams, one taking the place of vv BKC in Sunday League 3, the other replacing SVAP ’74 in Saturday League 4.
2015 / Runner-up in District West I’s Sunday League 3A, 6 points behind champions FC Den Helder, vv Kleine Sluis (zo) qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the team bows out in R1 against vv Kolping Boys (2-1 aggr.).
2016 / Finishing in fifth place in District West I’s Sunday League 3A, vv Kleine Sluis (zo) qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the team is knocked out in R1 by SV Wijk aan Zee (6-2 aggr.).
2018 / After six relatively anonymous years in Saturday League 4, the Saturday team of vv Kleine Sluis is withdrawn from regular league football. Since, the club has competed only with a first team in the Sunday divisions.
2019 / Champions in District West I’s Sunday League 3A, 8 points ahead of closest followers vv SEW and vv VIOS-W, vv Kleine Sluis accedes to Sunday League 2 for the first time in the history of football in Anna Paulowna. The decisive points are clinched in a convincing away win at vv Texel ’94 (0-5). The successful coach is Remy Zoer.
2022 / In the best season in club history so far, vv Kleine Sluis manages a sixth place in Sunday League 2A, narrowly missing out on the promotion play-offs.
2023 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 2A, vv Kleine Sluis drops back into Sunday League 3 after four years, alongside SC Spirit ’30 and vv SEW.
2025 / Finishing in eleventh place in Sunday League 3A, vv Kleine Sluis goes on to suffer defeat in R1 of the promotion-relegation play-offs against vv Texel 94 (2-3 A.E.T.), thus descending into Sunday League 4 along with vv Dirkshorn, VVW, and bottom club vv DWOW.

Note 1 – Much of the information above has been derived from a book published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of vv Excelsior, the oldest predecessor club of vv Kleine Sluis: “100 jaar vv Kleine Sluis. Een eeuw voetbal in de polder”, by Gerard Wit, Piet Jan Muntjewerf, Jan Beets, Pieter van Wijngaarden, Kees Keppel, Peter Tijsen & Franz Hansen (ed. SV Kleine Sluis: Anna Paulowna, 2022).

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-3 = non-matchday visit, June 2026 / pictures 4-16 = match visit, October 2026.