Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly in The Netherlands known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion. The club was founded on 23 July 1902 and was formerly known as "Rotterdamse Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging Excelsior". Excelsior's home stadium is the Stadion Woudestein – for sponsorship reasons known as the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion – which has a capacity of about 4,500, one of the smallest stadiums hosting professional football in the Netherlands.
The Eredivisie is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. As of the 2023–24 season, it is ranked the 6th-best league in Europe by UEFA.
Willem "Wim" van Hanegem is a Dutch former football player and coach who played as a midfielder. In a playing career spanning over 20 years, he won several domestic honours in the Netherlands, as well as both the European Cup and UEFA Cup with Feyenoord. He was also part of the Dutch national team that were runners-up in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. As a manager, he won the league and cup with Feyenoord and spent a period as the Dutch national team's assistant coach. His most recent job as manager was for FC Utrecht, from 2007 to 2008.
József Kiprich is a Hungarian football coach and scout and former player. He made his debut for the Hungarian national team in 1984, and got 70 caps and 28 goals until 1995. He was a participant at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, where Hungary failed to progress from the group stage. During his career he won two national championships, five national cups, two super cups and he became top goalscorer in a league twice.
Wilhelmus "Wim" Gerardus Rijsbergen is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a defender. He was last the manager of Solomon Islands' national team.
Marinus "Rinus" David Israël is a Dutch former professional football player and manager who is currently a scout. Nicknamed "Iron Rinus", he formed a solid defence line at Feyenoord with Theo Laseroms.
Peter Helmut Ressel is a retired football winger from the Netherlands, who obtained three caps for the Netherlands national team. He won the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord Rotterdam in 1974 by defeating Tottenham Hotspur, scoring the second goal in the 84th minute of the second leg to make the score 2–0, which secured Feyenoord's win. He also won the 1976 Cup-Winners Cup, 1976 European Super Cup and 1978 Cup-Winners Cup with RSC Anderlecht.
Wim van Til is a Dutch former footballer who was active as a midfielder. Van Til made his professional debut at Feijenoord and also played for FC Dordrecht, Excelsior Rotterdam and Heracles Almelo.
The 2008–09 Eredivisie was the 53rd season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. PSV were the reigning champions. The season began on 29 August 2008 with a game between Vitesse Arnhem and FC Groningen and ended on 10 May 2009. A total of 18 teams take part in the league, consisting of 16 who competed in the previous season and two promoted from the Eerste Divisie. The teams promoted from the Eerste Divisie at the end of the previous season were champions FC Volendam, and play-off winners ADO Den Haag. AZ clinched their second title, their first coming in 1981.
The Dutch Eredivisie in the 1973–74 season was contested by 18 teams. Feyenoord won the championship.
In Dutch sports, The Big Three or The Three Top Clubs ) are the nicknames for the three most successful rivalling football clubs in the Netherlands: Ajax from Amsterdam, Feyenoord from Rotterdam and PSV from Eindhoven. Collectively they amounted to 77 of the 134 Dutch Football Championships ever played, and 62 of a possible 70 championships since the introduction of professional football in 1954. The three clubs generally end up sharing the top three positions and contending for the title. None of them has been relegated from the Eredivisie either, having been participants in all editions since Dutch football was merged into a single top-level competition in the 1956–57 season.
The 2014–15 Eredivisie season was the 59th season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. On 18 April 2015, PSV were confirmed as champions of the season, thus ending the four-year reign of Ajax.
The 2015–16 season was Feyenoord's 108th season of play, it marked its 60th season in the Eredivisie and its 94th consecutive season in the top flight of Dutch football. It was the first season with manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, a former player who played seven seasons for Feyenoord and who played 106 times for Dutch national team. The club started the season relatively well alternating between the second and third place until the halfway point of the season. They then hit a seven-game losing streak among a nine-game stretch without a win and dropped to seventh place. They followed this up with a six-game winning streak to get back to the third position for the final stretch of the season. They ended the season third in the league. Feyenoord entered the KNVB Cup in the second round. They started their campaign by beating both finalist of the 2013–14 edition. They were coupled to past cup winners in all their cup matches and beat FC Utrecht 2–1 in the final. The cup win qualified them to the group stage of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.
The 2015–16 KNVB Cup tournament was the 98th edition of the Dutch national football annual knockout tournament to determine the winner of the KNVB Cup.
Jan Jeuring is a Dutch former professional football player. He played his entire career in the Eredivisie for FC Twente.
The 2018–19 season was Feyenoord's 111th season of play, the club's 63rd season in the Eredivisie and its 97th consecutive season in the top flight of Dutch football. It was the fourth season with manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Feyenoord entered the 2018–19 KNVB Cup in the first round and the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League in the third preliminary round.
The 2020–21 season was Feyenoord's 113th season of play, the club's 65th season in the Eredivisie and its 99th consecutive season in the top flight of Dutch football. Feyenoord entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League in the group stage.
The 2021–22 Eredivisie was the 66th season of Eredivisie, the premier football competition in the Netherlands. It began on 14 August 2021 and concluded on 15 May 2022.
The 2021–22 season was the 114th season in the existence of Feyenoord and the club's 100th consecutive season in the top flight of Dutch football. In addition to the domestic league, Feyenoord participated in this season's editions of the KNVB Cup and the Europa Conference League.
