By Samindra Kunti
August 4 – The KNVB, the Dutch FA, is implementing a structural reform of its domestic club football. From the 2016/17 season onwards professional and amateur football in the Netherlands will be integrated through a mandatory system of promotion and relegation.
The reform was approved by the KNVB’s general assembly in December 2014 and will have a profound impact on the machinations of Dutch domestic football.
Currently Dutch professional football consists of two top divisions the Eredivisie and the Eerste divisie. Below these Dutch football turns amateur with the Topklasse, Hoofdklasse and Eerste Klasse.
The KNVB has added a new nationwide league, the Landelijke divisie, that will function as a go-between professional and amateur football with a system of promotion and relegation. 18 clubs, 14 Topklasse teams and four professional reserve teams, will make up this hybrid league that is set to kick off in the 2016/17 season.
Almere City FC, Brabant United, De Graafschap, FC Groningen, Sparta Rotterdam, FC Twente, FC Utrecht, Vitesse, FC Volendam, AZ and Achilles ’29 will have their professional reserve teams play in the Eerste divisie (1), Landelijke divisie (4) and in the Topklassen (6). The KNVB is copy-catting Spain, Germany and Portugal, where professional reserve teams are part and parcel of the domestic leagues.
Ajax and PSV have their youth teams in the Eerste Divisie. This season two players of the A-squad will be allowed to play at the same time in the Eerste Divisie. Achilles ’29, an amateur club from Groesbeek, was phased into the Eerste Divisie as a pilot project and its continuous growth in the past two seasons is transforming Achilles ’29 into a full-blown professional club. Next season Achilles ’29 wants to become a full member of the professional elite.
The reforms are another seminal moment in Dutch football, as, since 1954, the concept of promotion and relegation between professional and amateur football survives, with the aim of creating a stimulus for clubs and improving the overall quality of Dutch football.
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