By Samindra Kunti
March 7 – The Dutch FA, the KNVB, is further fine-tuning 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. In a latest reform the ‘Topklasse’ has been rebranded as ‘Derde Divisie’ (Third Division).
The new reform aims to streamline and unify the pyramid of Dutch football. Currently Dutch professional football consists of two top divisions the Eredivisie and the Eerste divisie. Below these leagues Dutch football turns amateur with the Tweede divisie, two rebranded Derde divisies and four Hoofdklassen.
The Topklasse clubs did reject the proposal of a northern and southern conference in the new ‘Derde Divisie’.
“We think that a change can be good, but of course we listen to the wishes of the clubs themselves,” said KNVB director of amateur football Jan Dirk van der Zee. “With a regional breakdown, you create a greater number of derbies, thus more spectators and the [traveling] distances become smaller. We continue to see this as an interesting option for the future.”
In December 2014 the Dutch FA passed a general reform of Dutch domestic football. The KNVB introduced a new nationwide league, the ‘Landelijke Divisie,’ which will function as a go-between professional and amateur football with a system of promotion and relegation: 18 clubs, 14 ‘Derde Divisie’ teams and four professional reserve teams, will make up this hybrid league, which is set to kick off in the 2016/17 season.
The reforms will have a profound impact on the machinations of Dutch football as the KNVB wants to stimulate promotion and relegation between professional and amateur football to improve the overall quality of Dutch football.
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