On October 1st, 1920, a new organisation called S.V.B. (Surinaamsche
Voetbalbond) was founded, the organisation still in charge of
football in Surinam. It started a league competition in spring 1921,
involving six clubs (Blauw-Wit, Excelsior, Olympia, U.D.I.,
Voorwaarts and Zwaluw) to play a double round robin, but this
was halted after four matches due to a financial conflict. A new
attempt was made in the fall of 1921, by the same six clubs, but this
competition also came to a premature end, for much the same reasons,
and the S.V.B. board resigned in December 1921.
After this double failure, two league competitions were completed
under the supervision of the R.K.S.C. (Roomsch Katholiek Sport Comité)
in 1922 (at the occasion of the festivities
surrounding the Queen's Birthday; it involved only three clubs and lasted
just one week) and 1923 (with six clubs), both won by Olympia; as
the S.V.B. were not involved, these are not considered official titles.
Upon the completion of a new ground, at the Cultuurtuin, a resurrected
S.V.B. finally completed a league competition in the 1923/24 season,
played as a double round robin and alongside a second class competition
involving five clubs. Olympia won its third successive title, but then
decided to join a new federation, the K.V.B. (Katholieke Voetbalbond),
founded on 10 August 1924; because of this, second class winners
Transvaal, who had lost the playoff for promotion against Zwaluw,
the bottom club of the top level, were promoted after all, and
promptly won the 1925 league.
Until the second World War, the S.V.B. and the K.V.B. (renamed
N.G.V.B., Nederlandsch Guyana Voetbalbond, on January 1st, 1930)
organised separate leagues and friendlies with visiting teams
(in particular from Curaçao, Aruba, Demerara (British
Guiana) and Trinidad). However, only the S.V.B. obtained real
international recognition when it was granted affiliation to
the F.I.F.A. on 17 May 1929 at the congress in Madrid, five
years after the Dutch East Indies association
N.I.V.B.
Afterwards, the N.G.V.B. had to settle for meetings with the
B.G.F.A., the federation of British Guiana (usually referred
to as Demerara), with which it contested both the
Walcott Cup (1925-1938)
and the Amo Amateur Cup (1929-1948).
In February 1932, a third football federation was founded in
Paramaribo (then a town with about 50,000 inhabitants), the
U.V.V. (Unie van Voetbal Vereenigingen). This organisation
included former S.V.B. champions Ajax and Blauw-Wit-Excelsior
and organised a league competition in 1932/33 won by Ajax; among
the other participants was a club called N.A.K.S. – a homonymous
but probably unrelated club later won the N.G.V.B. league in 1953/54
and played at the top level of the S.V.B. in the early sixties.
The U.V.V. was dissolved in August 1934.
Until (long after) World War II, the league was restricted to clubs from the capital Paramaribo, but local or regional football federations were set up in other parts of the country, with Moengo, Nickerie and Coronie leading the way. The S.V.B. organised a "Championship of the Colony" between five of these district federations in Paramaribo in 1934. Moengo and Paramaribo irregularly competed for the Lewis Cup.
During the second World War football was interrupted; in 1942
the M.V.O. (Militaire Voetbal Organisatie) temporarily took over
the tasks of the S.V.B., but organised a competition with
military teams only, the
Koningin Wilhelminabeker.
In 1944, the M.V.O. and S.V.B. merged.
The N.G.V.B. had been dissolved at the start of the war, and some of
its member clubs entered the S.V.B. However, after the N.G.V.B. was
refounded in July 1947, most of these joined that federation again,
until the merger of S.V.B. and N.G.V.B. in 1955. The N.G.V.B., now
abbreviating Nieuwe Generatie Voetbalbond, still exists as a member
federation (lidbond) of the S.V.B.
At the occasion of its golden jubilee,
on 3 October 1970 the S.V.B. was granted the privilege to add
"Koninklijke" to its name by Koningin Juliana,
and until Surinam became independent at the end of 1975 the federation
was called K.S.V.B.
Season Champions Runners-Up
NB: seasons are indicated by the year they actually started and (if different)
finished, as far as it has been possible to recover those dates from
contemporary newspapers; these do not necessarily correspond with the
official denominations of the seasons by the S.V.B.;
if a result is indicated between the champions and runners-up, they
finished equal on points and played off for the championship.
S.V.B. (1914-1917)
1914/15 not finished
S.S.B.
1919 not finished
S.V.B.
1921 two competitions started, neither finished
R.K.S.C.
1922 Olympia Excelsior
1923 Olympia Ajax
S.V.B.
1923/24 Olympia Blauw-Wit
1925 Transvaal [*] Excelsior
1926 Ajax M.V.V.
1927 not held
1928 Ajax
1929 not finished
1930/31 Blauw-Wit-Excelsior [+] not defined
1932 Cicerone Voorwaarts
1933 Cicerone Voorwaarts
1934 Cicerone Voorwaarts
1935 Cicerone not defined
1936/37 Voorwaarts Cicerone
1937 Transvaal 3-1 Voorwaarts
1938 not held
1939/40 Arsenal not defined
1940/41 Voorwaarts 2-1 Transvaal
1941/42 not finished
1942-45 no competition
1946 M.V.V.
1947-50 M.V.V. Robinhood
1950/51 Transvaal Robinhood
1952 Voorwaarts Robinhood
1953 Robinhood M.V.V.
1954/55 Robinhood Voorwaarts
1955 S.V.B. competition abandoned after merger with N.G.V.B.
1955/56 Robinhood Voorwaarts
1956 Robinhood
1957/58 Voorwaarts Robinhood
1958 not awarded [!]
1959 Robinhood Sonny Boys
1960 annulled
1961 Leo Victor 2-1 Transvaal
1962 Transvaal Leo Victor
1963/64 Leo Victor 1-0 Robinhood
1964 Robinhood Transvaal
1965 Transvaal Robinhood
1966 Transvaal
1967 Transvaal M.V.V.
1968 Transvaal Robinhood
1969 Transvaal M.V.V.
1970 Transvaal 5-1 0-2 Robinhood
K.S.V.B.
1971 Robinhood Transvaal
1972 no competition due to renovation work on Suriname stadion
1973/74 Transvaal Robinhood
1974 Transvaal Robinhood
1975/76 Robinhood Voorwaarts
S.V.B.
1976/77 Robinhood Voorwaarts
1977/78 Voorwaarts 2-1 1-0 Transvaal
1978 Leo Victor 3-2 Robinhood [aet]
1979/80 Robinhood Transvaal
1980/81 Robinhood Transvaal
1981/82 Robinhood Transvaal
1982/83 Leo Victor 1-1 Robinhood [aet, 4-3 pen]
1983/84 Robinhood Transvaal
1984 Robinhood Transvaal
1985/86 Robinhood Transvaal
1986 Robinhood Paloeloe
1987/88 Robinhood Leo Victor
1988 Robinhood Transvaal
1989/90 Robinhood Transvaal
1990/91 Transvaal 0-0 Robinhood [aet, 4-3 pen]
1991/92 Transvaal Robinhood
1992/93 Leo Victor Robinhood
1993/94 Robinhood 4-3 Leo Victor
1994/95 Robinhood Corona Boys
1995/96 Transvaal Prekash
1997 Transvaal Robinhood
1998/99 S.N.L. Robinhood
1999/00 Transvaal S.N.L.
2000/01 no competition
2001/02 Voorwaarts S.N.L.
2002/03 FCS Nacional Robinhood
2003/04 Walking Bout Company Inter Moengotapoe
2004/05 Robinhood Royal'95
2005/06 Walking Bout Company Robinhood
2006/07 Inter Moengotapoe Leo Victor
2007/08 Inter Moengotapoe Robinhood
2008/09 Walking Bout Company Leo Victor
2009/10 Inter Moengotapoe Walking Bout Company
2010/11 Inter Moengotapoe Walking Bout Company
2011/12 Robinhood Inter Moengotapoe
2012/13 Inter Moengotapoe Notch
2013/14 Inter Moengotapoe Excelsior (Meerzorg)
2014/15 Inter Moengotapoe Notch
2015/16 Inter Moengotapoe Transvaal
2016/17 Inter Moengotapoe 2-1 Leo Victor
2017/18 Robinhood Notch
2018/19 Inter Moengotapoe Robinhood
2019/20 not finished
2020/21 not held
2022 Robinhood Inter Moengotapoe
2023 Robinhood Inter Moengotapoe
2024 Robinhood 2-0 Transvaal
2025 Inter Moengotapoe 2-1 PVV
[*] Transvaal had won the 1924 Tweede Klasse (first ever season).
[+] Blauw-Wit-Excelsior were formed on 3 Dec 1929 when Blauw-Wit and Excelsior merged.
[!] Some sources credit the 1958 title to Transvaal; they were to play a championship
decider replay against Robinhood which the latter refused to honour; according to
contemporary papers the title was not awarded.
Number of Titles (82)
27 Robinhood (Paramaribo) [1]
17 Transvaal (Paramaribo) [2]
11 Inter Moengotapoe (Moengo)
6 Voorwaarts (Paramaribo)
5 Leo Victor (Paramaribo)
4 Cicerone (Paramaribo) [3]
3 Walking Bout Company (Paramaribo)
2 Ajax (Paramaribo) [4]
M.V.V. (Paramaribo)
1 Arsenal (Paramaribo) [5]
Blauw-Wit-Excelsior (Paramaribo)
FCS Nacional (Paramaribo)
Olympia (Paramaribo) [does not include 1922 and 1923 R.K.S.C. titles]
S.N.L. (Paramaribo)
[1] according to some sources, Robinhood won 28 league titles; in addition to the 27
listed above, it is claimed they won a title in 1961. This is incorrect.
The 1960 league championship, in which Robinhood were sharing the lead with
Leo Victor, was abandoned in August 1960 and not resumed; no title was awarded.
In the 1961 season, won by Leo Victor after a championship playoff against
Transvaal on Dec 29, Robinhood finished 4th.
[2] according to some sources, Transvaal won 20 league titles; in addition to the 17
listed above, they are incorrectly credited with titles in 1938 (when no league
was held), 1950 (but no league was held between 1947-50 edition won by M.V.V.
in January 1950 and the 1950/51 edition which started in June 1950) and 1958
(see remark [!]).
[3] Cicerone won their four titles in the four seasons following their promotion to
the Eerste Klasse in 1931.
[4] Ajax are sometimes credited with four consecutive titles between 1926 and 1929,
but no league was played in 1927 and the 1929 season was not finished.
[5] Arsenal are sometimes credited with two titles, in 1939 and 1940, but in fact
they won only one league title, in a season which started in March 1939 and
finished in April 1940.
Sources: [FIF 31], [Sam 53], [Stu 90], many Paramaribo newspapers (available through Delpher (formerly site of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek))
Thanks to Allard Doesburg and Hans Schöggl for an earlier version of this file
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans (karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 14 Jul 2025
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 1998/2025
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.