The history of Feyenoord, a Dutch football club formed in 1908, is among the longest and most successful in Dutch football. The club won their first national championship in 1924 and over nearly a century have won thirty major trophies. Feyenoord is based in the city of Rotterdam.
1908–1939
The football club Wilhelmina was founded in the pub De Vereeniging (pub owner was Jac. Keizer) on 19 July 1908 and played in blue-sleeved red shirts and white shorts. The club changed its name to Hillesluise Football Club in 1909 and joined the Rotterdamse Voetbalbond (Rotterdam Football Association). As the league already included a team known as HFC (present-day Koninklijke HFC, based in Haarlem) Hillesluise underwent another name change to become RVV Celeritas.
The renamed club took new colours, playing in yellow and black striped shirts and white shorts. Celeritas earned promotion to the National football association in 1912, leading to another name change as another, different Celeritas already played there. The team then took the name SC Feijenoord, after the city district in which the team was founded and again changed uniform; the club adopted the red and white shirts, black shorts and black socks they still wear today. In 1917 Feijenoord were promoted to the 1e klasse (1st division) and moved to the ground Kromme Zandweg.
Sixteen years after the formation of the club and a mere three years after they were promoted for the second time to the highest level of Dutch football Feijenoord earned their first honours by capturing the national league championship in 1924. The team enjoyed a string of successes in the latter half of the decade, taking divisional titles in 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1929, and winning their second national championship in 1928.
Feijenoord won their first Dutch Cup in 1930 by scoring the only goal in a derby final against Excelsior Rotterdam. They continued to dominate their division with three consecutive titles, but were winless in subsequent championship finals. Five years after their first cup win, Feijenoord took the prize for a second time in 1935 by beating Helmond Sport.
Feijenoord started to attract more fans to their stadium at Kromme Zandweg, so in 1933 a decision to build a new facility was taken. With the help of businessman Daniël George van Beuningen property was purchased next to the Kreekweg for the construction of a new ground. Rotterdam architect L.C. van der Vlugt designed a stadium that was unique in Europe at that time, an oval stadium comprising two platforms where the second platform overhung the first. Fans visiting the stadium were close to the pitch, but their views were obstructed by poles. Construction of the stadium started on 23 July 1935 and Feijenoord's first match in the new Feijenoord Stadion (nicknamed "De Kuip" or "the Tub") was played on 27 March 1937. Leen Vente became the first player to score a goal in the new stadium in a 5–2 victory over Belgian club Beerschot. A few months later the first international match was played between the national teams of the Netherlands and Belgium, won 1–0 by the Dutch.
During this period Feijenoord won three consecutive division titles from 1936 to 1938, with their third and fourth national championships coming in 1936 and 1938.
1940–1969
During World War II Feijenoord played their matches at Sparta Rotterdam's Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel, as the Nazis had occupied De Kuip. When Het Kasteel was unavailable due to clashes with Sparta fixtures, Feijenoord played at their former ground, the Kromme Zandweg.
Feijenoord's again won a division title with a national championship in 1940, their fifth Dutch title. During the German occupation of the Netherlands from 1940 to 1945 play continued in Dutch football leagues, though the 1945 championship was cancelled as the war came to its conclusion. During this period Feijenoord did not win any trophies other than a divisional championship in 1943. After the war Feijenoord did not perform as well as they had in previous decades, not seriously challenging in their division and so missing the national playoff rounds. More generally, the war had a devastating effect on the city and its citizens and there seemed to be less enthusiasm for football.
With the city of Rotterdam still rebuilding after the war the club was unable to compete for trophies. Feijenoord's chairman Cor Kieboom organised a meeting on 30 June 1954 in Utrecht together with the chairman of the other Rotterdam teams, Jos Coler (Sparta) and Henk van Zon (Excelsior). At the meeting several chairmen of other clubs showed up as well as a delegation of the KNVB to discuss the start of professional football in the Netherlands. Despite the presence of several sceptics, Kieboon pushed the idea of professionalism through, resulting in the first Eredivisie season in 1954/1955. Feijenoord was one of the clubs participating in the inaugural Eredivisie and have never been relegated. One of the most memorable matches in these first years of professional football was the clash between Feijenoord and De Volewijckers at 2 April 1956, which Feijenoord won 11–4 with nine goals by Henk Schouten. He even scored a tenth time, but this goal was disallowed. The first memorable Klassieker from a Feijenoord point of view took place at 11 November 1956 when Daan den Bleijker scored four times to give Feijenoord a 7–3 win over their arch rivals. On 27 November 1957 46,000 supporters travelled to De Kuip for the first match at night in the stadium. In a match against Bolton Wanderers FC, which was lost 3–0 Feijenoord introduced their newly built floodlight system.
Feijenoord claimed their first professional Eredivisie Championship and their sixth Dutch Championship in history in 1961. On the road to the title Ajax were beaten 9–5 in De Kuip, four of Feijenoord's goals were scored by Henk Schouten. The following season, they played their first European Cup match facing IFK Göteborg. The Swedes were beaten 0–3 in Gothenburg and 8–2 in Rotterdam. Feijenoord were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur in the following round. In 1962 Feijenoord successfully defended their Dutch Championship title and reached the final of the Intertoto Cup 1961-62 by beating SK Hradec Králové and FC Baník Ostrava in the quarter and semi-finals. Feijenoord faced arch-rivals Ajax in the final, which was won by the Amsterdam team 4–2.
On 12 December 1962 Feyenoord played a decisive match versus Vasas SC in the second round of the European Cup 1962-63. The first two legs, in Rotterdam and Budapest both ended in 1–0 home victories, and a replay on a neutral ground took place. The match was played in Antwerp, Belgium and 30,000 Feijenoord fans travelled by bus to see their team play. For the third time the final score was 1–0, with the only goal scored by Rinus Bennaars who was immediately nicknamed "The hero of Deurne" (the neighbourhood in Antwerp where the match was played). The events in Antwerp resulted in an enduring friendly relationship between the fans of Feyenoord and Royal Antwerp FC.
In 1963 hundreds of thousands of people stood ashore by the Nieuwe Maas and the Nieuwe Waterweg to wave two ships, the and the Waterman goodbye. The ships transported thousands of Feijenoord fans to Lisbon where the club faced S.L. Benfica on 8 May 1963 in the European Cup semi-finals. The first leg, held in Rotterdam a month earlier, finished 0–0. Feijenoord eventually lost the match against Benfica 3–1, but this turned out to be the start of the most successful period in the club's history. Feijenoord won the double for the first time in their history in 1965 and managed to win another double a few years later in 1969. The 1965 title secured Feijenoord a spot in the European Cup 1965-66 where they faced multiple cup champions Real Madrid on 8 September 1965 in the preliminaries. During the match Hans Kraay had to leave the pitch injured after 31 minutes, without being substituted. He returned at the start of the second half and scored the goal which resulted in a 2–1 win. Later during the match fans' favourite Coen Moulijn was attacked roughly by a Spanish defender. Moulijn then chased the defender all over the pitch. Several other players did the same, as did some fans who entered the pitch. The referee could do nothing but suspend the match at 2–1 in Feijenoord's favour. Two weeks later Real comfortably beat Feyenoord 5–0, and eventually won the European Cup that season.
1970–1999 As the 1969 Dutch champions Feijenoord participated in the European Cup 1969-70. After thrashing Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur 16–2 on aggregate in the first round the team faced AC Milan. Feijenoord lost the first leg 1–0 in Italy, but overcame the deficit in their own stadium following a 2–0 win, securing a place in the quarter-finals where they faced Vorwärts Berlin.
The tie followed the same pattern as the previous round, Feijenoord losing the first match 1–0 away, then winning 2–0 at home. In the semi-finals Legia Warszawa were beaten 2–0 on aggregate, earning Feijenoord their first European final. Ajax had reached the same final in 1969 but were not able to win. Feijenoord faced Celtic in the final, held in the San Siro stadium in Milan. Goals by Tommy Gemmell and Rinus Israël resulted in a 1–1 draw after 90 minutes. Three minutes before the end of the extra time Ove Kindvall scored Feijenoord's winning goal to make them the first Dutch team to claim a major European trophy.
As the cup holders Feijenoord participated in the European Cup 1970-71 despite relinquishing the Dutch title, which was won by Ajax. Feijenoord were eliminated in the first round following a surprise defeat by Romanian team UT Arad. However, as reigning European champions Feijenoord faced Estudiantes La Plata in the Intercontinental Cup. The first match in Buenos Aires' La Bombonera finished in a 2–2 draw. Back in Rotterdam Feijenoord managed a 1–0 victory (winning goal by Joop van Daele) to win the world club crown, the first Dutch team to do so. Estudiantes player Oscar Malbernat got frustrated and grabbed Van Daele's glasses and trampled on it. "You are not allowed to play with glasses." was his excuse, "At least not in South America." In 1971 Feijenoord won their 10th Dutch Championship.
In 1973 the club decided to change their name to Feyenoord, as people from outside the Netherlands found it difficult to pronounce the "ij" in Feijenoord. Under their new name they played in the UEFA Cup 1973-74, reaching the final following a 4–3 aggregate win over VfB Stuttgart in the semi-finals. The opponent in the final was Tottenham Hotspur. In the first leg at White Hart Lane Spurs took a 2–1 lead, but Theo de Jong equalised after 85 minutes and the match ended in a 2–2 draw. Feyenoord then won their match in Rotterdam 2–0 thanks to goals by Wim Rijsbergen and Peter Ressel, and became the first Dutch team to win the UEFA Cup. As a result, Spurs fans started to riot, introducing Dutch football to the spectre of hooliganism in the process. In the remainder of the decade Feyenoord won only one more honour, the Dutch Championship in 1974. In 1978 the club divided their professional and amateur sides to form two separate teams, Feyenoord for professionals and Sportclub Feyenoord for amateurs.
Feyenoord won their fifth Dutch Cup in 1980 by beating Ajax 3–1 in the final.