Eredivisie
Encyclopedia : E : ER : ERE : Eredivisie
From 1990 to 1999, the official name of the league was PTT Telecompetitie (after the sponsor, PTT Telecom), which was changed to KPN Telecompetitie in 1999 and to KPN Eredivisie in 2000. From 2002 to 2005, the league was called the Holland Casino Eredivisie. From the 2005-06 season onwards, the league will be sponsored by the Sponsorloterij lottery, but for legal reasons, its name cannot be attached to the league.
The top division consists of 18 clubs. Each club faces every other club twice during the season, once at home and once away. Like several other leagues in continental Europe, the Eredivisie takes a month-long winter break, covering the Christmas and New Year's holiday season. At the end of each season, the bottom club is automatically relegated to the second level of the Dutch league system, the Eerste Divisie (First Division), with the champion of the Eerste Divisie automatically promoted to the Eredivisie. The next two clubs from the bottom of the Eredivisie go to separate promotion/relegation playoffs. The playoffs are played in two groups. Each group has one Eredivisie club and four high-placed clubs from the Eerste Divisie. In both promotion/relegation playoff groups, each club plays a home-and-away series with the other clubs. The winner of each playoff group plays in the following season's Eredivisie, with the other teams going to the Eerste Divisie.
Ajax Amsterdam has won the most titles, 29. PSV Eindhoven is next with 19, and Feyenoord Rotterdam follows with 14. Since 1965, these three giants have won all but one title (the 1980/81 title going to AZ '67).
Current Teams (2006-2007)
Champions
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Number of titles
| Club | # |
|---|---|
| Ajax | 29 |
| PSV | 19 |
| Feyenoord | 14 |
| kon. H.V.V. | 8 |
| Sparta | 6 |
| Go Ahead Eagles | 4 |
| kon. H.B.S., Willem II | 3 |
| ADO Den Haag, Heracles, R.A.P., R.C.H. | 2 |
| AZ, Be Quick Groningen, D.O.S., D.W.S., FC Eindhoven, SC Enschede, Haarlem, Limburgia, NAC Breda, Quick, Rapid JC, S.V.V., De Volewijckers | 1 |
Positions
European competition
As of 2005-06, the champion of the Eredivisie automatically advances to the group phase of the UEFA Champions League. The KNVB introduced a playoff system in 2005-06 for the second to ninth placed clubs. One place in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, as well as three UEFA Cup spots are available for the best performing clubs in the playoffs. The remaining UEFA Cup place is awarded to the winner of the KNVB Cup. If this club is in the top 5 of teams a different schedule will be played, where numbers 2 to 5 are all guaranteed no worse than a UEFA Cup spot. This was the case in the first season playoffs were held, 2005-2006.The playoffs consist of knockout (home and away) matches, according to a complex schedule:
In these matches, the lowest ranked team gets the first home match. The return will be held at the opponent's venue.
The playoff system has been criticized by clubs, players and fans as the number of matches will increase. The system also makes it theoretically possible, though unlikely, that the second-place team could miss out entirely on European play (except through the Intertoto Cup). Supporters say these playoffs add an extra competive element to the competition, and extra revenue for the clubs.
Relegation
The club at the bottom of the league (18th) is automatically relegated to the Eerste Divisie. The next-lowest two teams (16th and 17th) play in a promotion/relegation knock-out playoff known as the Nacompetitie, in which they will face eight teams from the Eerste Divisie (before the 2005-06 season, six Eerste Divisie teams were involved). Usually, the Eerste Divisie teams that play in the Nacompetitie are the 2nd- through 9th-place teams in that league. (The actual qualification rules are more complex; more detail is provided in the Eerste Divisie page.) Teams finishing above 16th automatically stay in the Eredivisie.Attendance
Since the beginning of the league, there are three clubs with an attendance much higher than the others: Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. These clubs are followed by Utrecht, Twente, Heerenveen and Vitesse, clubs that also have a fairly large fanbase. The average league attendance was just over 7,000 in 1990, but the league has seen a large rise in attendance since. Last season the average attendance was 17,000, with Ajax having the largest (51,859) and RBC having the smallest (4,000). This was also the last club to be relegated, in the season 2005-2006, leaving an open spot for the eerste divisie champion Excelsior Rotterdam.
See also
- Sports attendances – the Eredivisie in a global context
External links
- () [Official Eredivisie Site]
- () [Official KNVB Site]
- () [Voetbal International] (Dutch and international football news)
| Dutch Eredivisie |
|---|
| ADO Den Haag > Ajax | AZ | Excelsior | Feyenoord | Groningen | Heerenveen | Heracles NAC | NEC | PSV | RKC | Roda JC | Sparta | Twente | Utrecht | Vitesse | Willem II |
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