Sportvereniging Spakenburg is a football club based in Bunschoten-Spakenburg, Netherlands, which competes in the Tweede Divisie, the third tier of the Dutch football league system. The club was founded on 15 August 1931, and is regarded as one of the most successful amateur clubs in the Netherlands, having won three championships of the top tier in amateur football. In the 2022–23 season, the club reached the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup by eliminating two Eredivisie clubs.

Spakenburg plays its home matches at Sportpark De Westmaat. Their colours are blue and white stripes. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Bunschoten-Spakenburg neighbours IJsselmeervogels.

History Foundation and early years (1931–1947) On Saturday, 15 August 1931, a group of enthusiasts founded the football club, initially named Stormvogels. At that time, several local football clubs were also established, such as Strandvogels, Noordster, and Spakenburgse Boys. However, there was no formal competition structure as we know it today, and the clubs mainly engaged in friendly matches and tournaments.

After a few years, the club changed its name to Windvogels. In 1935 the club participated in an organised league for the first time, joining the third division of the Utrecht Provincial Football Association (UPVB). Remarkably, in its inaugural year in the league, the team achieved the title of undefeated champions.

As the club continued to grow rapidly, reaching a membership of 200, it underwent another name change. In 1947, the club merged with local gymnastics team Lycurgus, leading to the renaming of the club to Sport Vereniging Spakenburg. This was also the year when SV Spakenburg achieved promotion to the highest possible amateur division for a Saturday club.

Located in the heart of the Dutch Bible Belt of Reformed Protestantism, playing football on Sundays was forbidden due to religious beliefs. As a result, both SV Spakenburg and their town rivals IJsselmeervogels explicitly stated in its statutes that it does not participate in Sunday football. Consequently, the clubs have historically played matches exclusively on Saturdays. To ensure the continuation of this tradition, SV Spakenburg signed a covenant with the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) and the Association for Saturday Football (BZV).

Saturday titles and national recognition (1947–1971) Spakenburg emerged as a leading Saturday amateur club after the Second World War, winning section titles in 1947, 1950 and 1952 and the Saturday amateur championship in 1947, 1950, 1952 and 1963. In August 1949, the club twice faced a Soestdijk Palace XI during anniversary festivities; Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard attended both fixtures, and captain Jan van der Goot received a medal from the Prince after a 4–2 win in Spakenburg. Hoofdklasse contenders (1971–2010) With the KNVB's introduction of a national Eerste Klasse in 1971–72, Spakenburg qualified for the top tier under coach Joop van Basten and, after consolidation, won the Eerste Klasse B in 1973–74. The club's most successful season of the period came in 1984–85: Spakenburg regained the section title, won a play-off for the Saturday championship against Kozakken Boys and GVVV, captured the West I district cup, and were declared overall Dutch amateur champions after the deciding home match against Sunday champions DHC was abandoned shortly after Joop van de Groep's late penalty put Spakenburg 1–0 ahead (the first leg in Delft ended 2–2).

Further section titles followed in the 1986–87 and 1999–2000 seasons, the latter under coach Tijs Schipper, with Spakenburg finishing runners-up in the Saturday championship to Katwijk. In the 2007–08 season, Spakenburg won the Hoofdklasse B on the final day before finishing second in the subsequent play-off for the Saturday title behind Lisse.

The club remained a regular contender at Hoofdklasse level through 2010, ahead of the KNVB's reorganisation that created the national Topklasse (from 2010–11), which replaced the Hoofdklasse as the highest amateur division.

Topklasse (2010–2016) Spakenburg were among the founder members of the Topklasse, created as the highest amateur division in 2010, and established themselves as one of its stronger Saturday clubs. They won the Saturday section in 2011–12 under André Paus, and again in 2013–14, when a decider was needed to separate them from GVVV. Victory over Sunday champions AFC in the subsequent play-off brought the overall Dutch amateur championship, the club's first since 1985. The club remained in the Topklasse until it was superseded in 2016, when the KNVB introduced the national Tweede Divisie and renamed the Topklasse the Derde Divisie.

Tweede Divisie (2016–present) Placed in the Tweede Divisie when the division was formed in 2016, Spakenburg were relegated after a single season, but won the Saturday section of the Derde Divisie at the first attempt under John de Wolf and returned in 2018.

The club attracted national attention in 2022–23, when away wins over the Eredivisie clubs Groningen and Utrecht made Spakenburg only the third amateur side to reach the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup. PSV ended the run with a 2–1 win at De Westmaat, in which Dwayne Green became the first amateur player to score in a semi-final of the competition.

Spakenburg won the Tweede Divisie in 2023–24 under Chris de Graaf, finishing with a record points total for the division. The title brought no promotion, as the KNVB allowed no sporting promotion of first teams from the Tweede Divisie to the professional Eerste Divisie and the club's board ruled out taking up professional status.

Selected matches v professional clubs + Spakenburg v professional opponents in the KNVB Cup (selected) Date Round Home/away Opponent Score Notes 5 October 1974 – A PEC Zwolle 0–2 – 8 October 1983 – H FC Groningen 1–4 – 20 October 1984 – H Cambuur 1–1 Replay system 31 October 1984 Replay A Cambuur 1–3 – 27 November 1985 – H ADO Den Haag 1–1 Replay system 8 February 1986 Replay A ADO Den Haag 0–2 – 7 October 1987 – H MVV 0–1 After extra time 1 October 1988 – H Dordrecht 3–2 – 18 November 1988 – H AZ 1–4 – 2 September 1989 – H Heracles Almelo 2–0 – 4 October 1989 – H De Graafschap 3–2 – 13 December 1989 – N Feyenoord 0–4 Played at De Kuip 12 October 1991 – A TOP Oss 1–2 – 18 August 1999 Group A Utrecht 1–6 – 23 September 1999 Group A NEC 0–3 – 11 August 2000 Group H Volendam 1–4 – 30 August 2000 Group H Cambuur 2–8 – 11 August 2001 Group H NEC 0–0 – 19 September 2001 – H Veendam 1–2 – 10 August 2002 Group H PEC Zwolle 0–3 – 9 August 2003 – H Volendam 0–2 – 7 August 2004 – H Vitesse 0–1 – 25 September 2007 – H Roda JC 0–2 – 24 September 2008 – H Telstar 0–1 – 22 September 2009 – H MVV 3–1 – 28 October 2009 – A AZ 2–2 Lost 2–5 on pens 21 September 2010 – H RBC Roosendaal 0–0 Won on pens 10 November 2010 – A PSV 0–3 – 23 September 2014 – H NAC Breda 3–4 – 21 September 2016 – H Fortuna Sittard 2–1 – 31 October 2018 – A Willem II 0–5 – 22 January 2020 – A Ajax 0–7 – 26 October 2021 – H Dordrecht 3–0 – 14 December 2021 – A Telstar 3–3 Lost 3–5 on pens 12 January 2023 – A Groningen 3–2 – 28 February 2023 Quarter-final A Utrecht 4–1 – 4 April 2023 Semi-final H PSV 1–2 – 31 October 2023 – H Helmond Sport 3–1 – 19 December 2023 – H Excelsior 2–2 Lost 2–3 on pens

Key: H = home; A = away; N = neutral; "Group" = League Cup group phase; "Replay" = second match under former replay rules; "pens" = penalty shoot-out.

Current squad

IJsselmeervogels–Spakenburg rivalry IJsselmeervogels and SV Spakenburg have competed at the same level for much of their histories. The derby is widely regarded as one of the most intense fixtures in Dutch amateur football, often framed locally as a meeting between IJsselmeervogels' "Reds" — traditionally associated with "the people and the fishermen" — and Spakenburg's "Blues", linked to "farmers and clerks".

The rivalry escalated in 1987 when a homemade explosive device, thrown from the crowd, injured an assistant referee during the penultimate league match between the sides; in the years that followed, measures were taken to separate the clubs on matchdays. Tensions resurfaced in 1999 when Spakenburg signed Gérard van der Nooij and Pascal de Bruijn from IJsselmeervogels' title-winning team, prompting a municipal ban on the derby for several seasons before fixtures resumed in 2002. The match continues to attract large crowds and regular national and regional media coverage.

League derbies since the national Eerste Klasse (1971–) The tables below list league meetings between Spakenburg and IJsselmeervogels since the KNVB introduced the national Eerste Klasse in 1971–72. Dates are in DMY format. Only league fixtures are included.

+ IJsselmeervogels v Spakenburg Season Date Home team Score Away team 1972–73 2 September 1972 IJsselmeervogels 2–1 Spakenburg 1982–83 8 January 1983 IJsselmeervogels 1–1 Spakenburg 1985–86 16 November 1985 IJsselmeervogels 1–1 Spakenburg 1986–87 1 November 1986 IJsselmeervogels 0–0 Spakenburg 1989–90 24 February 1990 IJsselmeervogels 2–4 Spakenburg 1992–93 12 December 1992 IJsselmeervogels 1–0 Spakenburg 1993–94 19 March 1994 IJsselmeervogels 3–1 Spakenburg 1994–95 5 November 1994 IJsselmeervogels 0–0 Spakenburg 2002–03 28 September 2002 IJsselmeervogels 1–2 Spakenburg 2003–04 25 October 2003 IJsselmeervogels 0–2 Spakenburg 2004–05 12 March 2005 IJsselmeervogels 1–0 Spakenburg 2005–06 1 April 2006 IJsselmeervogels 0–0 Spakenburg 2006–07 21 April 2007 IJsselmeervogels 2–1 Spakenburg 2007–08 17 November 2007 IJsselmeervogels 1–5 Spakenburg 2008–09 9 May 2009 IJsselmeervogels 1–1 Spakenburg 2009–10 7 November 2009 IJsselmeervogels 0–2 Spakenburg 2010–11 16 April 2011 IJsselmeervogels 3–2 Spakenburg 2011–12 8 October 2011 IJsselmeervogels 2–2 Spakenburg 2012–13 9 March 2013 IJsselmeervogels 1–0 Spakenburg

IJsselmeervogels wins Draws Spakenburg wins 7 7 5+ Spakenburg v IJsselmeervogels Season Date Home team Score Away team 1972–73 2 December 1972 Spakenburg 2–1 IJsselmeervogels 1982–83 4 April 1983 Spakenburg 1–1 IJsselmeervogels 1985–86 17 May 1986 Spakenburg 2–2 IJsselmeervogels 1986–87 9 May 1987 Spakenburg 1–0 IJsselmeervogels 1989–90 9 September 1989 Spakenburg 0–0 IJsselmeervogels 1992–93 20 March 1993 Spakenburg 2–1 IJsselmeervogels 1993–94 25 September 1993 Spakenburg 1–0 IJsselmeervogels 1994–95 22 April 1995 Spakenburg 1–1 IJsselmeervogels 2002–03 12 April 2003 Spakenburg 3–0 IJsselmeervogels 2003–04 13 March 2004 Spakenburg 4–1 IJsselmeervogels 2004–05 23 October 2004 Spakenburg 2–3 IJsselmeervogels 2005–06 5 November 2005 Spakenburg 0–2 IJsselmeervogels 2006–07 11 November 2006 Spakenburg 1–2 IJsselmeervogels 2007–08 26 April 2008 Spakenburg 7–1 IJsselmeervogels 2008–09 13 December 2008 Spakenburg 1–3 IJsselmeervogels 2009–10 10 April 2010 Spakenburg 2–3 IJsselmeervogels 2010–11 6 November 2010 Spakenburg 2–3 IJsselmeervogels 2011–12 24 March 2012 Spakenburg 2–1 IJsselmeervogels 2012–13 22 September 2012 Spakenburg 2–1 IJsselmeervogels

Spakenburg wins Draws IJsselmeervogels wins 9 4 6

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