Netherlands First Class North Champions 1917-1950

NB: prior to the elevation of the second class of what was originally called
    "Afdeeling 3" (encompassing the clubs from the three northern provinces
    Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe) to first class status in 1916, the
    winners of the Tweede Klasse Noord can be considered northern champions;
    before that was first contested in 1896/97, there had been a regional
    league called Noordelĳke competitie for two seasons.

Noordelĳke competitie
1894/95 Z.A.C.
1895/96 Be Quick (G)
Tweede Klasse Noord
1896/97 Be Quick (G)
1897/98 Achilles (A)
1898/99 Achilles (A)
1899/00 Achilles (A)
1900/01 Achilles (A)
1901/02 Achilles (A)
1902/03 Achilles (A)
1903/04 Frisia
1904/05 Achilles (A)
1905/06 Be Quick (G)
1906/07 Achilles (A)
1907/08 Frisia
1908/09 Frisia
1909/10 W.V.V.
1910/11 Frisia
1911/12 Achilles (A)
1912/13 Forward
1913/14 Achilles (A)
1914/15 Be Quick (G)              [emergency competition; unofficial title]
1915/16 Be Quick (G)

Eerste Klasse Noord
1916/17 Be Quick (G)
1917/18 Be Quick (G)
1918/19 Be Quick (G)
1919/20  Be Quick (G)
1920/21 Be Quick (G)
1921/22 Be Quick (G)
1922/23 Be Quick (G)
1923/24 Be Quick (G)
1924/25 Frisia
1925/26 Be Quick (G)
1926/27 Velocitas (G)
1927/28 Velocitas (G)
1928/29 Velocitas (G)
1929/30 Velocitas (G)
1930/31 Velocitas (G)
1931/32 Veendam
1932/33 Velocitas (G)
1933/34 Velocitas (G)
1934/35 Velocitas (G)
1935/36 Be Quick (G)
1936/37 Be Quick (G)
1937/38 Be Quick (G)
1938/39 Achilles (A)
1939/40 G.V.A.V.
1940/41 Be Quick (G)
1941/42 Heerenveen
1942/43 Heerenveen
1943/44 Heerenveen
1944/45   no competition
1945/46 Heerenveen
1946/47 Heerenveen
1947/48 Heerenveen
1948/49 Heerenveen
1949/50 Heerenveen

Top Champions (33 titles; does not include 20 "Tweede Klasse" seasons 1896-1916)

13 Be Quick (Groningen)       [also won 4 championships of the "Tweede Klasse" up to 1916, of which one unofficial]

 8 Heerenveen
 8 Velocitas (Groningen)

 1 Achilles (Assen)           [also won 10 championships of the "Tweede Klasse" up to 1916]
 1 Frisia (Leeuwarden)        [also won 4 championships of the "Tweede Klasse" up to 1916]
 1 G.V.A.V. (Groningen) 
 1 Veendam

NB: Forward (Groningen) and W.V.V. (Winschoten) both won the "Tweede Klasse" once before 1916.

Notes and Trivia:

Present in all 33 seasons were: Be Quick, Velocitas, and Achilles. Next on the list are Veendam (31 seasons), Leeuwarden (26, and never relegated), Frisia and G.V.A.V. (both 23, G.V.A.V. never relegated), H.S.C. (Hoogezand, 20), Friesland (Leeuwarden) and Sneek (both 17, Sneek never relegated), W.V.V. (Winschoten, 15), Alcides (Meppel, 14), and Heerenveen (12, never relegated).

Over the years, the city of Groningen had 5 eerste klasse teams (apart from those already named, Forward and G.V.V.), Leeuwarden 3 (all mentioned above), and Hoogezand (H.S.C. and Hoogezand), Meppel (Alcides and M.S.C.), Sneek (L.S.C. and Sneek), and Winschoten (W.V.V. and Upright) 2 each. All these towns enjoyed at least one season with an "eerste klasse derby".

Be Quick and Heerenveen both won 8 consecutive titles. Velocitas finished in the top-3 for 16 consecutive seasons (1920/21-1935/36); they did not finish lower than 4th until 1937/38, in their 22nd season in the Eerste Klasse. Be Quick, in 1919/20, was the only club from the North ever to win the Dutch championship. Both Be Quick and Heerenveen twice finished as runners-up in the national playoff.

In the four seasons of redistributed eerste klasses before the introduction of professionalism, only Be Quick, G.V.A.V., Heerenveen, Leeuwarden and Sneek managed to retain eerste klasse status for all four seasons; Sneek were relegated at the end of the last. The city of Groningen did earn a 6th team to play in the Eerste Klasse, Oosterparkers (relegated in both seasons they played).

About this document

Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Author: Karel Stokkermans (karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 29 Nov 2025