Current season, competition or edition:![]() | |
Sport | Handball |
---|---|
Founded | 1954 |
No. of teams | 16 (+6) |
Country | Netherlands |
Confederation | EHF |
Most recent champion(s) | HV Aalsmeer |
Most titles | Sittardia (18 titles) |
International cup(s) | European League European Cup |
Official website | Official website |
The Nederlandse Handbal Eredivisie is the top Dutch professional handball league. The winners of the Eredivisie are recognised as the Dutch handball champions.
In the first phase of the season, the top 6 teams of the previous season participate in the BENE-League competition. They are joined by the top 6 teams from Belgium. At the same time, the remaining 12 teams, participate in a national competition. In the second phase, the 4 best ranking Dutch teams of the BENE-League, who automatically qualified for next season's BENE-League, compete in a 2-round system for the national title. The first round is a full competition among those 4. In the second round the 2 teams which ended on top, decide in a best-of-three who wins the title. In the final ranking, these teams end up on ranks 1 to 4. The 2 lowest ranking Dutch teams of the BENE-League, together with the 2 best ranking teams of the national competition, compete in full competition, for 2 spots in next season's BENE-League. In the final ranking, these teams end up on ranks 5 to 8. The teams which ended 3 to 10 in the national competition play a 3-round system to decide their final ranking (ranks 9 to 16). Something like a knock-out system with the major difference that losing a match doesn't mean you get eliminated but you continue for the lower ranks, where winning means you continue for the better ranks. So the teams winning in the first round continue for the final ranks 9 to 12 and those losing for the ranks 13 to 16. The same principle is repeated in the second round and final ranks are decided in the third round. Last but not least, the 2 teams who ended at the bottom of the national competition, together with 4-period winners of the Eerste Divisie compete in a 2-round system for 1 spot in next season's Eredivisie. In the first round, the 6 teams are split into 2 groups of 3 in such a way that the 2 Eredivisie teams are never in the same group. In each group, the 3 teams play a full competition. The winners of both groups decide in a best-of-two who plays next season in the Eredivisie. The final spot in the Eredivisie is taken by the champions of the Eerste Divisie.
The following 16 clubs compete in the Eredivisie during the 2020–21 season.
Team | City | Arena | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Green Park/Aalsmeer | Aalsmeer | Sporthal De Bloemhof | Club playing in BENE-League |
Herpertz Bevo HC | Panningen | SportArena De Heuf | |
JD Techniek/Hurry-Up | Zwartemeer | Succes Holidayparcs Arena | |
Quintus | Kwintsheul | Eekhout Hal | |
KEMBIT-LIONS | Sittard-Geleen | Stadssporthal Sittard | |
KRAS/Volendam | Volendam | Sporthal de Opperdam | |
Green Park/Aalsmeer II | Aalsmeer | Sporthal De Bloemhof | |
Herpertz Bevo HC II | Panningen | SportArena De Heuf | |
BFC | Beek | Sportlandgoed De Haamen | |
DFS Arnhem | Arnhem | Rijkerswoerd | |
Dynamico | Oss | Sporthal Rusheuvel | |
Oosting/E&O | Emmen | Sporthal Angelslo | |
EHC | Leidschendam-Voorburg | European Sports Dome | |
Feyenoord | Rotterdam | Wielewaal | |
GHV | Goirle | Sporthal De Wissel | |
Havas | Almere | Sporthal Stedenwijk | |
IMTO Benelux/Hellas | The Hague | Hellashal | |
The Dome/Handbal Houten | Houten | Sportcentrum The Dome | |
V&L-Sittardia Combibatie | Sittard-Geleen | LACO Glanerbrook | |
RED-RAG/Tachos | Waalwijk | Topsporthal De Slagen | |
KRAS/Volendam II | Volendam | Sporthal De Opperdam | |
WHC-Herclues | The Hague | Loosduinen |
Club | Titles | Year | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | Sittardia | 18 | 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999 |
2. | Aalsmeer | 13 | 1954, 1959, 1985, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 |
3. | Volendam | 7 | 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
4. | E&O | 5 | 1989, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998 |
Vlug en Lenig | 5 | 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 2002 | |
6. | Operatie '55 | 4 | 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 |
Limburg Lions | 4 | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023 | |
7. | Olympia Hengelo | 3 | 1956, 1957, 1958 |
Blauw-Wit Neerbeek | 3 | 1980, 1981, 1988 | |
10. | NILOC Amsterdam | 2 | 1960, 1961 |
11. | PSV Handbal | 1 | 1955 |
ESCA Arnhem | 1 | 1967 | |
Hermes Den Haag | 1 | 1978 | |
Hellas Den Haag | 1 | 2008 | |
Bevo HC | 1 | 2014 |
For season 2017/2018, see footnote [1]
The Eerste Divisie is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while previously it was known as Jupiler League for the same reason.
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 1967–68 season was contested by 18 teams. Ajax won the championship. This season, no teams relegated, due to bankruptcy of Xerxes/DHC and a merger between Fortuna '54 and Sittardia into Fortuna Sittardia Combinatie.
The 2008–09 KNVB Cup was the 91st season of the Dutch national football knockout tournament. The defending champions were Feyenoord. The competition started on 30 August 2008 and ended with sc Heerenveen winning the Final in Rotterdam on 17 May 2009.
The Dutch Eerste Divisie in the 1964–65 season was contested by 16 teams. Willem II won the championship for the second time.
The Dutch Eerste Divisie in the 1972–73 season was contested by 20 teams, one less than in the previous year. This was due to the merger of Blauw-Wit Amsterdam with eredivisie-club DWS to form FC Amsterdam. Roda JC won the championship.
The Eerste Divisie 2009–10 was the 54th season of the Eerste Divisie since its establishment in 1956. The previous year's winners were VVV-Venlo; they, with runner-up RKC Waalwijk, after a promotion/relegation playoff win over De Graafschap, were promoted to the Eredivisie. Twenty teams took part: eighteen from the 2008–2009 season and relegated teams FC Volendam and De Graafschap. The season's champion was promoted to the Eredivisie, while eight other teams, the second- through fifth-place finishers and period winners, faced the Eredivisie's sixteenth- and seventeenth-place finishers in promotion/relegation playoffs. For the first time since 1971, Eerste Divisie clubs also faced relegation; the last- and second-to-last-place teams were relegated to the new Topklasse, in which the best teams from Dutch amateur football play. The 2009–10 Eerste Divisie was sponsored by the Belgian beer brand Jupiler and so the official name of the league was Jupiler League.
Theodorus Maria "Dick" Tol was a Dutch footballer who spent his entire career with Volendam. Nicknamed "De Knoest", Tol played as a striker and was the top goalscorer in the Eredivisie in the 1961–62 season, scoring 27 goals. He is also the all-time top goalscorer of Volendam.
The Netherlands Football League Championship 1950–1951 was contested by 60 teams participating in five divisions. The national champion would be determined by a play-off featuring the winners of each division of the Netherlands. PSV Eindhoven won this year's championship by beating DWS, Willem II, Blauw-Wit Amsterdam and sc Heerenveen.
Robert Mühren is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Eredivisie club Volendam.
Limburg Lions is a handball team from Sittard-Geleen, Limburg. The club was founded in 2008 by a merger of the men's teams of HV Sittardia from Sittard, V&L from Geleen and HV BFC from Beek. The Lions took the place of HV Sittardia in the NHV Eredivisie after the merger. The first team plays its home games at Stadssporthal (Sittard).
RKHV Volendam or KRAS/Volendam is a Dutch handball team located in Volendam. Their home matches are played at the Sporthal Opperdam. They compete in NHV Eredivisie and Beneliga.
HV Aalsmeer, also known as HV Greenpark Tigers Aalsmeer due to sponsorship reasons is a men's handball club from Aalsmeer, Netherlands, that plays in the NHV Eredivisie and BENE-League
Blauw-Wit was a handball club from Neerbeek, Limburg. Blauw-Wit played together with its rival HV Caesar in sports hall De Haamen. The men's team of Blauw-Wit won three national titles, two times the national cup and one time the Super Cup. In 1998, Blauw-Wit merged with Caesar and became Beeker Fusie Club.
Vlug en Lenig is a Dutch handball club in Geleen. The club was founded on 1 September 1949.
Maurice Canton is a Dutch handball coach. Since 2019, Canton has been the head coach of the men's team of HV BFC.
The BENE-League is a multinational handball competition for men's teams from Belgium and the Netherlands, which started in January 2008 under the name BENE-LIGA. Between 2010 and 2014, Luxembourg teams also participated in the tournament that was then called Benelux League.
The 2022–23 KNVB Cup, for sponsoring reasons officially called the TOTO KNVB Beker, was the 105th season of the annual Dutch national football cup competition. It began in August with the first of two preliminary rounds, and concluded in April 2023 with the final played at De Kuip in Rotterdam.
The 2023–24 KNVB Cup, for sponsoring reasons officially called the TOTO KNVB Beker, was the 106th season of the annual Dutch national football cup competition. It began in August with the first of two preliminary rounds, and concluded in April 2024 with the final played at De Kuip in Rotterdam. The winners qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League league stage. PSV were the two-time defending champions, having defeated Ajax 3–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the previous season's final.