Note that this list includes all clubs mentioned in this document,
but is not necessarily exhaustive.
The short versions of the names on the left hand side are used in this
document; an additional indication of the home town is only included if
a homonymous club from another town appears in the document as well.
The full names on the right hand side appeared at least once in contemporary
publications (usually the "Nederlandsche Sport") but for most clubs other
versions appeared as well: in particular, the words "voetbal" and "football"
as well as "vereeniging" and "club" were often interchanged, sometimes
apparently at random, and while nearly all early Dutch football clubs
originated from an older cricket club, the "cricket" part was not always
included in the name.
Additional information is most welcome.
Amsterdam
R.A.P. = Amsterdamsche Footballclub "R.U.N. Amstels Progress" [1]
V.V.A. = Voetbal Vereeniging "Amsterdam" [2]
Apeldoorn
Apeldoornsche F.C. = Apeldoornsche Footballclub [3]
Enschede (usually spelled Enschedé at the time)
E.F.C. = Enschedesche Footballclub
Prinses Wilhelmina = Enschedesche Voetbal Vereeniging "Prinses Wilhelmina"
Den Haag (official name: 's-Gravenhage)
Concordia DH = Haagsche Cricket- en Voetbal-Club "Concordia"
Olympia DH = Haagsche Cricket- en Football-Vereeniging "Olympia"
Thor = Haagsche Cricket- en Voetbalvereeniging "Thor"
Haarlem
Excelsior = Haarlemsche Football Club "Excelsior"
H.F.C. = Haarlemsche Football-Club
Rotterdam
Concordia R. = Rotterdamsche Cricket- en Voetbal-Club "Concordia"
Olympia R. = Rotterdamsche Cricket- en Football-Club "Olympia"
Sparta = Rotterdamsche Cricket- en Football-Club "Sparta" [4]
Wageningen
Go Ahead = Wageningsche Cricket- en Football-Club "Go-Ahead" [5]
W.C.C. = Wageningsche Cricket-Club
[1] Founded on Nov 14, 1887 as merger of the football teams of three cricket clubs:
C.C. R.U.N., Amstels C.C., and A.C.C. Progress; the name of the club was only
determined in January 1888; note that the constituent clubs remained separate
entities as cricket clubs; R.U.N. had been founded on Mar 20, 1882 by, among
others, Herman Gorter.
[2] Founded on Sep 6, 1887.
[3] Founded on Oct 23, 1887.
[4] Founded on Apr 1, 1888.
[5] Founded on Dec 4, 1886 as split-off from W.C.C.
In the Jan 14, 1888 issue of the "Nederlandsche Sport", D.C. Noppen, captain of V.V.A., published a translation into Dutch of the "Laws of the Game", according to which V.V.A. was playing, inviting other clubs to submit any amendments in order to establish a general set of rules for the Netherlands. Four weeks later, on Feb 11, 1888, C.C. Zeverijn, captain of R.A.P., then published a translation used by his club.
NB: includes matches by reserve sides, but not those involving "adspiranten";
additional information is welcome.
[Sep 26, 1887; landgoed Het Amelink, Enschede]
E.F.C. 1-0 Prinses Wilhelmina
[Nov 6, 1887; Wageningen (two matches played)]
W.C.C. 2-0 Go Ahead
W.C.C. 1-0 Go Ahead
[Nov 13, 1887; Malieveld, Den Haag]
Olympia DH 0-1 H.F.C.
[both teams fielded 12 players; see below for match details]
[Nov 19, 1887; Koekamp, Haarlem]
H.F.C. II 0-0 Excelsior
[Nov 27, 1887; Feijenoord, Rotterdam]
Concordia R. 1-1 V.V.A.
[A. Schuld 1-0, Aug. W. Schols 1-1; half-time: 1-1]
[first ever match between club teams from Amsterdam and Rotterdam;
see below for match details]
[Dec 4, 1887; Koekamp, Haarlem]
Excelsior 1-1 H.F.C. II
[Dec 11, 1887; Haarlem]
H.F.C. 5-0 Olympia DH
[Olympia fielded 12 players; see below for match details]
[Dec 26, 1887; achter het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam]
V.V.A. 1-0 Concordia R.
[see below for match details]
[Jan 22, 1888; Haarlem]
Excelsior 1-0 H.F.C. II
[Feb 12, 1888; Koekamp, Haarlem]
H.F.C. 4-0 R.A.P.
[F. Ypey 1-0, C.M. Pleyte 2-0, F. Ypey 3-0, "rush in" 4-0]
[both teams fielded 12 players; see below for match details]
[Feb 19, 1888; Rotterdam]
Concordia R. 1-0 Concordia DH/Thor
[Mar 11, 1888; Koekamp, Haarlem]
H.F.C. 0-0 V.V.A.
[see below for match details]
[Mar 18, 1888; achter het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam]
V.V.A. 4-0 E.F.C.
[half-time: 4-0]
[V.V.A.: D.C. Noppen (c); H. de Vries, J. Lissone; H.J.P. van Hilten,
Charley B. Timperley, C.F. Jibben; J.J.C. Hartogsveld, Henry H. Rust,
George Philip Rust jr., T.L.B. Spiller, George Hendrik Jurrjens;
E.F.C.: J. van Deinse; L. ten Kate, Jan Blijdenstein; Kets,
H. Blijdenstein, Van der Maesen; B. Romeny, B. Wennink,
B.J. ter Kuile (c), Jos. Hopink, B. Osterman;
red-white shirts, white trousers;
ref.: De Bordes;
first ever match between an "eastern" and a "western" club team]
[Mar 18, 1888; Rotterdam]
Concordia R. II 2-1 Olympia R.
[Mar 25, 1888; Sport-Club Amsterdam, Amsterdam]
R.A.P. 0-0 H.F.C.
[both teams fielded 12 players; see below for match details]
[Apr 1, 1888; achter het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam]
V.V.A. 0-0 H.F.C.
[see below for match details;
according to the reporter in the Apr 21 issue of "Nederlandsche Sport", the
outcome of this match would decide which of the two clubs would obtain the
distinction of being named the "Champions Voetbal-Vereeniging voor Nederland",
presumably because V.V.A. had a positive head-to-head record w.r.t. Concordia
(Rotterdam) and H.F.C. w.r.t. Olympia (Den Haag) and R.A.P., while neither
had lost a single match all season; however, as this second encounter between
the two clubs produced as many goals (none) as the first three weeks before,
the reporter was forced to conclude that "geen der beider Vereenigingen als
Champion Voetbal Vereeniging kan aangemerkt worden"; needless to say that
there was no official competition]
Matches that did not take place included:
Sport (Amsterdam), the apparently strongest (western) club side in 1886/87,
declined an invitation by H.F.C. to play in Haarlem on Dec 18; two of its
players in 1886, Avent and Spiller, represented V.V.A. in the "championship
decider" on Apr 1.
Olympia (Den Haag) declined to play Concordia (Rotterdam) on Mar 11 at the
Malieveld in Den Haag, not wishing to play any further matches that winter;
Concordia then arranged to instead play their namesakes Concordia (Den Haag)
at the same day and venue, but only four players of the hosts showed up.
NB: only for clubs to have met home and away. Concordia/V.V.A. 1.V.V.A. (Amsterdam) 2 1 1 0 2- 1 3 2.Concordia (Rotterdam) 2 0 1 1 1- 2 1 Excelsior/H.F.C. II 1.Excelsior (Haarlem) 3 1 2 0 2- 1 4 2.H.F.C. II (Haarlem) 3 0 2 1 1- 2 2 H.F.C./Olympia 1.H.F.C. (Haarlem) 2 2 0 0 6- 0 4 2.Olympia (Den Haag) 2 0 0 2 0- 6 0 H.F.C./R.A.P. 1.H.F.C. (Haarlem) 2 1 1 0 4- 0 3 2.R.A.P. (Amsterdam) 2 0 1 1 0- 4 1 H.F.C./V.V.A. 1.H.F.C. (Haarlem) 2 0 2 0 0- 0 2 V.V.A. (Amsterdam) 2 0 2 0 0- 0 2
This was the first season in which a "Dutch football champion" might have been crowned by the press, at the occasion of the return match between H.F.C. and V.V.A. on Apr 1, 1888. Styling that match as a title decider ("Beide vereenigingen hadden zich in den laatsten tijd sterk geoefend en dit is niet te verwonderen, daar deze wedstrijd al of niet zoude beslissen, welke vereeniging de eer toekwam als Champions Voetbal-Vereeniging voor Nederland genoemd te worden.") was based on the following results, which may be construed as a knock-out tournament.
Preliminary Round
First Leg [Nov 13, 1887; Malieveld, Den Haag]
Olympia DH 0-1 H.F.C.
[goal scored when Piepers, holding the ball, was pushed over the goal-line
by Pleyte and Mulier; half-time: 0-1]
[Olympia: A. Piepers (c); J. van Rhede van der Kloot, Kloos; C. Cramer, Gisolf,
B. Verhulst; Rh. Feith, C. Nolet, H.B. Semmelink, J.R. van Geuns,
W. Paramor, H. Thomas;
H.F.C.: Harry Westerveld; J. van den Broeke, H. Arriëns, Schuit; Neep,
A. Muller, F. Ypey; Menten, J. Bok, C.M. Pleyte, A. van Walchren,
Willem J.H. Mulier (c);
note both teams fielded twelve players]
Second Leg [Dec 11, 1887; Haarlem]
H.F.C. 5-0 Olympia DH
[Peltenburg 1-0, N.N. 2-0, Kloos (og) 3-0, N.N. 4-0, N.N. 5-0; half-time: 2-0]
[H.F.C.: Willekens; J. van den Broeke, H. Westerveld, H. Arriëns; A. Muller,
F. Ypey; De Haas, A. van Walchren, C.M. Pleyte, T. Peltenburg,
Willem J.H. Mulier (c);
Olympia: A. Piepers; J. van Rhede van der Kloot, H. Thomas, Van Aken; C. Cramer,
Kloos, Gisolf; H.B. Semmelink, Rh. Feith, J.R. van Geuns, H. Isbrücker,
W. Paramor (c);
note Olympia fielded twelve players]
Semifinals
First Legs
[Nov 27, 1887; Feijenoord, Rotterdam]
Concordia R. 1-1 V.V.A.
[A. Schuld 1-0, Aug. W. Schols 1-1; half-time: 1-1]
[Concordia: C.A. Schuld; M. Weinthal, H. Wilton; H. v.d. Linden, H. Rothzand,
P. v.d. Schuijt; H. Bijstra, Johs. J. Meijer (c), L. Weinthal,
T. van Goor, A. Schuld;
white shirts, black trousers, red-black caps;
V.V.A.: D.C. Noppen (c); Charley Timperley, J. Lissone;
George Philip Rust jr., H.J.P. van Hilten, Henry H. Rust;
H. de Vries, Aug. W. Schols, C.F. Jibben, George Hendrik Jurrjens,
H.Ph.L.K. Fleur;
dark-blue shirts, socks and caps, white shorts;
ref: K. Moenen; att: between 500 and 600;
first ever match between club teams from Amsterdam and Rotterdam]
[Feb 12, 1888; Koekamp, Haarlem]
H.F.C. 4-0 R.A.P.
[F. Ypey 1-0, C.M. Pleyte 2-0, F. Ypey 3-0, "rush in" 4-0]
[H.F.C.: Willekens; Van den Broeke, H. Westerveld, H. Arriëns, F. Ypey,
A. Muller, W. Bok, A. van Walchren, R. van Hemert,
A. Cnoop Koopmans, C.M. Pleyte, Willem J.H. Mulier (c);
R.A.P.: Wiardi Beckmann; Rouffaer, Blijdenstein, Oldeboom, J. van der Waarde,
Rinkhuijzen, Weijerman, Schreuder, Van Hasselt, O. de Bordes,
Gorter, Strengnaerts (c);
note both teams fielded twelve players]
Second Legs
[Dec 26, 1887; achter het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam]
V.V.A. 1-0 Concordia R.
[Bijstra (og) 1-0; half-time: 1-0]
[V.V.A.: D.C. Noppen (c); Charley Timperley, J. Lissone; H.J.P. van Hilten,
H.Ph.L.K. Fleur, Henry H. Rust; George Hendrik Jurrjens, Aug. W. Schols,
T. Spiller jr., H. de Vries, George Philip Rust jr.;
Concordia: C.A. Schuld; L. v.d. Schuijt, L. 't Hoen, L. Weinthal,
M. Weinthal, H. v.d. Linden, H. Bijstra, Johs. J. Meijer (c),
A. Schuld, P. van Goor, A Boëseken;
ref: F. Avent (England; had played for Sport against H.F.C. on Nov 21, 1886)]
[Mar 25, 1888; Sport-Club Amsterdam, Amsterdam]
R.A.P. 0-0 H.F.C.
[R.A.P.: Wiardi Beckmann; Oldeboom, Lanschot; Van Hasselt, J. van der Waarde,
Weijerman; O. de Bordes, Van Gilse, Gorter, Strengnaerts,
Schreuder, F. Suermondt;
H.F.C.: Willekens; Van den Broeke, H. Arriëns, H. Westerveld; Tuymelaar,
A. Muller; A. Cnoop Koopmans, Neep, Willem J.H. Mulier (c),
C.M. Pleyte, A. van Walchren, R. van Hemert;
note both teams fielded twelve players]
Final
First Leg [Mar 11, 1888; Koekamp, Haarlem]
H.F.C. 0-0 V.V.A.
[H.F.C.: Willekens; H. Westerveld, H. Arriëns; A. Muller, F. Ypey,
Schuit; W. Bok, Willem J.H. Mulier (c), C.M. Pleyte,
A. van Walchren, R. van Hemert;
V.V.A.: D.C. Noppen (c); J. Lissone, H. de Vries; H.J.P. van Hilten,
C.F. Jibben, Henry H. Rust; J.J.C. Hartogsveld, Aug. W. Schols,
George Philip Rust jr., George Hendrik Jurrjens, J.E. Stokmans]
Second Leg [Apr 1, 1888; achter het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam]
V.V.A. 0-0 H.F.C.
[V.V.A.: D.C. Noppen (c); J. Lissone, Aug. W. Schols; F. Avent,
H.J.P. van Hilten, C.F. Jibben; George Philip Rust jr.,
H.Ph.L.K. Fleur, H. de Vries, George Hendrik Jurrjens, T.L.B. Spiller;
H.F.C.: Willekens; Van den Broeke, H. Arriëns, H. Westerveld; Ypey,
A. Muller; A. Cnoop Koopmans, Willem J.H. Mulier (c), C.M. Pleyte,
A. van Walchren, R. van Hemert;
note that H.F.C. used a 3-2-5 formation (rather than 2-3-5);
att: several hundred]
Of course, there was no official competition or federation; the first official
football championship of the Netherlands was contested in the 1890/91 season.
The "Nederlandsche Sport" of Jan 7, 1888 reported that the captain of V.V.A. (D.C. Noppen) was in contact with the secretary of the Lancashire Football Association, R.P. (Richard Philip, "Dick") Gregson in Blackburn, in a first ever attempt to arrange a Dutch tour of an English football eleven. Two weeks later, they still were corresponding, but eventually no such tour took place.
list of first class champions.
Main source: "Nederlandsche Sport" (available through Delpher)
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
(karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 9 Apr 2025
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2023/25
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.