Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (English: Honorary Division) is the highest football league in the Netherlands.
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. 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 three 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.
AFC Ajax has won the most titles, 29. PSV Eindhoven is next with 21, and Feyenoord follows with 14. Since 1965, these three giants have won all except for one title (the 1980/81 title went to AZ '67).
Current teams (2008-2009)
Champions
Number of titles
| Club | AFC Ajax | 29 |
|---|---|---|
| PSV | 21 | |
| Feyenoord | 14 | |
| HVV Den Haag | 8 | |
| Sparta | 6 | |
| Go Ahead Eagles | 4 | |
| HBS Den Haag, Willem II | 3 | |
| ADO Den Haag, Heracles, RAP, RCH | 2 | |
| AZ, Be Quick 1887, D.O.S., BVV Den Bosch, D.W.S., FC Eindhoven, SC Enschede, Haarlem, Limburgia, NAC Breda, Quick Den Haag, Rapid JC,SVV, De Volewijckers | 1 |
Positions
European competition
Playoff system 2005/06 - 2007/08
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 two seasons the playoffs were held, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.Also the teams finishing 10 to 13 enter the playoffs, with the 10th ranked team facing the 13th ranked team, while the 11th ranked team faces the 12th ranked team. Both winners meet each other in the next round and finally challenge the loser of match G for a special situation spot. If the KNVB Cup winner finishes in the top 5, the team winning this match will qualify for the UEFA Intertoto Cup.
If the KNVB Cup winner finishes outside the top 5, they will not compete in the playoffs. Four teams will then compete in the playoffs for the UEFA Intertoto Cup ticket. The teams ranked 11th, 12th and 13th will not compete in the playoffs in that case.
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 possible that the second-place team is forced the enter the UEFA Cup while a lower placed team enters the qualifying round of the Champions League. This happened in 2005-06; AZ, 2nd in competition, had to play for the UEFA Cup, while Ajax, 4th in competition, went into the Champions League qualifying round, the same thing happened at the end of the 2007-8 season when Ajax, ranked 2nd in regular season, lost the playoff final match to FC Twente, meaning Twente went into the Champions League and Ajax the UEFA Cup.
Playoff system 2008/09 - now
From the 2008-2009 season a new playoff system is introduced.
| Pos after round 34 | playoff | next season |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | none | 1st round CL |
| 2 | none | Q2 CL |
| 3 | none | Q4 UC |
| 4 | none | Q3 UC |
| 5 | UC Playoff | 5 - 8 and 6 - 7; two winners advance to second round; winner of round two: Q2 UC |
| 6 | ||
| 7 | ||
| 8 |
| Cup | post season playoff | next season |
|---|---|---|
| winner | none | Q4 UC |
| Runner Up | none | Q4 UC ONLY if Cup Winner finishes 1st-4th in competition |
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 FC Utrecht, FC Groningen, 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 with the building of many new stadiums and the expansion of several existing stadiums nationwide. Current season average attendance is 17,893, with AFC Ajax having the largest (48,124) and Excelsior having the smallest (3,100). Although Ajax' figures are off because the club always counts all their season ticket holders while in actuality they might not be attending. This explains the differences in Ajax' figures and the ArenA's figures which with some matches show an attendance difference of over 10,000 people.Season 2006-2007 average attendance
| Club | Attendance |
|---|---|
| Ajax | 48.124 |
| Feyenoord | 40.184 |
| PSV | 33.875 |
| Heerenveen | 25.771 |
| FC Utrecht | 19.707 |
| FC Groningen | 19.075 |
| Vitesse | 19.033 |
| AZ | 16.128 |
| NAC Breda | 14.849 |
| Roda JC | 14.571 |
| FC Twente | 13.250 |
| Willem II | 11.950 |
| N.E.C. | 11.875 |
| Sparta Rotterdam | 9.522 |
| Heracles Almelo | 8.416 |
| ADO Den Haag | 7.026 |
| RKC Waalwijk | 5.714 |
| Excelsior | 3.100 |
| Average | 17.893 |
All-Time Ranking
- Last updated following the 2007-08 season
| Rank | Club | Seasons | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points | Goals for | Goals against | Goal difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 53 | 1753 | 1155 | 310 | 288 | 3775 | 4460 | 1844 | 2616 |
| 2 | PSV | 53 | 1753 | 1047 | 386 | 320 | 3527 | 4009 | 1852 | 2157 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 53 | 1753 | 1004 | 411 | 338 | 3423 | 3817 | 2010 | 1807 |
| 4 | FC Twente | 52 | 1719 | 732 | 463 | 524 | 2659 | 2779 | 2305 | 474 |
| 5 | Sparta R'dam | 50 | 1651 | 588 | 469 | 594 | 2233 | 2525 | 2535 | -10 |
| 6 | Roda JC | 42 | 1395 | 550 | 362 | 483 | 2012 | 2157 | 2008 | 149 |
| 7 | FC Groningen | 42 | 1379 | 448 | 396 | 535 | 1740 | 1927 | 2148 | -221 |
| 8 | FC Utrecht | 39 | 1293 | 466 | 329 | 498 | 1727 | 1805 | 1964 | -159 |
| 9 | NAC Breda | 42 | 1383 | 444 | 367 | 572 | 1699 | 1875 | 2289 | -414 |
| 10 | AZ/Alkmaar'67 | 32 | 1055 | 414 | 280 | 361 | 1522 | 1694 | 1497 | 197 |
| 11 | ADO Den Haag | 34 | 1140 | 386 | 291 | 463 | 1449 | 1666 | 1843 | -177 |
| 12 | MVV | 36 | 1208 | 350 | 357 | 501 | 1407 | 1527 | 1990 | -463 |
| 13 | Willem II | 35 | 1149 | 367 | 270 | 512 | 1371 | 1668 | 2024 | -356 |
| 14 | NEC | 33 | 1089 | 302 | 304 | 483 | 1210 | 1224 | 1684 | -460 |
| 15 | Go Ahead Eagles | 28 | 940 | 302 | 249 | 389 | 1155 | 1293 | 1500 | -207 |
| 16 | Vitesse | 24 | 783 | 299 | 231 | 253 | 1128 | 1152 | 1082 | 70 |
| 17 | FC Volendam | 24 | 808 | 221 | 207 | 380 | 870 | 956 | 1446 | -490 |
| 18 | sc Heerenveen | 17 | 545 | 232 | 134 | 179 | 830 | 910 | 795 | 115 |
| 19 | RKC Waalwijk | 19 | 646 | 206 | 170 | 270 | 788 | 861 | 1028 | -167 |
| 20 | Fortuna Sittard | 19 | 646 | 179 | 193 | 274 | 730 | 756 | 1005 | -249 |
| 21 | HFC Haarlem | 18 | 612 | 172 | 178 | 262 | 694 | 695 | 978 | -283 |
| 22 | Door Wilskracht Sterk | 15 | 498 | 167 | 137 | 194 | 638 | 691 | 774 | -83 |
| 23 | VVV-Venlo | 17 | 545 | 160 | 148 | 237 | 628 | 734 | 981 | -247 |
| 24 | DOS | 14 | 460 | 168 | 109 | 183 | 613 | 790 | 848 | -58 |
| 25 | FC Den Bosch | 15 | 510 | 132 | 133 | 245 | 529 | 617 | 928 | -311 |
| 26 | Fortuna '54 | 12 | 392 | 141 | 99 | 152 | 522 | 635 | 700 | -65 |
| 27 | De Graafschap | 17 | 545 | 122 | 136 | 287 | 502 | 606 | 1052 | -446 |
| 28 | Stormvogels Telstar | 14 | 464 | 117 | 141 | 210 | 492 | 528 | 754 | -226 |
| 29 | Excelsior | 16 | 511 | 112 | 128 | 271 | 463 | 546 | 941 | -395 |
| 30 | FC Zwolle | 12 | 408 | 99 | 120 | 189 | 417 | 496 | 745 | -249 |
| 31 | Heracles Almelo | 9 | 257 | 62 | 63 | 132 | 249 | 293 | 525 | -232 |
| 32 | USV Elinkwijk | 7 | 234 | 65 | 50 | 119 | 245 | 306 | 483 | -177 |
| 33 | FC Amsterdam | 6 | 204 | 61 | 56 | 87 | 239 | 263 | 321 | -58 |
| 34 | Blauw-Wit Amsterdam | 6 | 196 | 65 | 42 | 89 | 237 | 334 | 401 | -67 |
| 35 | Holland Sport | 4 | 136 | 37 | 34 | 65 | 138 | 168 | 279 | -101 |
| 36 | RBC Roosendaal | 5 | 170 | 35 | 26 | 109 | 131 | 164 | 358 | -194 |
| 37 | NOAD | 4 | 136 | 33 | 30 | 73 | 129 | 187 | 311 | -124 |
| 38 | Sittardia | 4 | 132 | 32 | 29 | 71 | 125 | 148 | 256 | -108 |
| 39 | FC Dordrecht | 5 | 170 | 27 | 38 | 105 | 119 | 184 | 387 | -203 |
| 40 | Cambuur Leeuwarden | 4 | 136 | 25 | 38 | 73 | 113 | 139 | 252 | -113 |
| 41 | Xerxes Rotterdam | 2 | 68 | 26 | 17 | 25 | 95 | 92 | 95 | -3 |
| 42 | FC Eindhoven | 3 | 102 | 23 | 25 | 54 | 94 | 107 | 209 | -102 |
| 43 | BV Veendam | 2 | 68 | 12 | 23 | 33 | 59 | 74 | 127 | -53 |
| 44 | FC Wageningen | 2 | 68 | 13 | 18 | 37 | 57 | 72 | 137 | -65 |
| 45 | De Volewijckers | 2 | 64 | 15 | 10 | 39 | 55 | 99 | 189 | -90 |
| 46 | Helmond Sport | 2 | 68 | 12 | 18 | 38 | 54 | 93 | 162 | -69 |
| 47 | SVV | 2 | 68 | 13 | 13 | 42 | 52 | 62 | 142 | -80 |
The clubs highlighted in green play in the Eredivisie in the 2008/09 season. The clubs highlighted in red play in the Eerste Divisie in the 2008/09 season. The clubs highlighted in grey no longer exist because they have been disestablished or have been merged into another club. Remaining clubs play in lower competitions. For this year's Eredivisie clubs, the 2007/08 season is already counted in the 'seasons' column.
UEFA Ranking
Current National League Ranking- 01 Premier League
- 02 La Liga
- 03 Serie A
- 04 Ligue 1
- 05 Bundesliga
- 06 Russian Premier League
- 07 Liga I
- 08 Portuguese Liga
- 09 Eredivisie
(see UEFA coefficients full list for more information)
Topscorers
Media coverage
In The Netherlands, the NOS has recently acquired the broadcasting rights for the Eredivisie, it will air on Nederland 1.References
See also
- Eredivisie 2006/2007
- Eerste Divisie
- List of sports attendance figures – the Eredivisie in a global context
External links
- Eredivisie.nl - Official website Eredivisie
- KNVB.nl - Official website KNVB /
- All Eredivisie statistics 1889-present
- Soccerway.com - Eredivisie
- Voetbal International - Dutch and international football news
- Eredivisie Table, Fixtures & Results
- Eredivisie betting Previews and News
- Eredivisie Stats, Results, Fixtures and Team Info
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday October 10, 2008 at 09:53:41 PDT (GMT -0700)
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