Derby of the North

The Derby of the North () is a match between the Dutch football clubs FC Groningen and SC Heerenveen. Since the dissolution of SC Veendam in 2013, there are only four professional football clubs in the three northern provinces of the Netherlands (Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe): FC Groningen, SC Heerenveen (Friesland), SC Cambuur (Friesland) and FC Emmen (Drenthe). Although Heerenveen have an older and fiercer rivalry with Cambuur, the only game referred to as the Derby of the North is Groningen versus Heerenveen. This is due to Groningen and Heerenveen being seen as representing the provinces of Groningen and Friesland, whereas Cambuur is only regarded as the team of the city of Leeuwarden.

Groningen and Heerenveen have the biggest following of the four northern teams and are regulars in the first-tier Eredivisie. Cambuur have played in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier, for most of their existence. Emmen, Drenthe's only professional football team, made their debut in the Eredivisie in 2018–19. FC Groningen draws a lot of support from the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe.

History Although FC Groningen and SC Heerenveen played each other for the first time in 1974, the rivalry did not commence until the mid-1990s. In the 1970s and 1980s, Groningen were the biggest and most successful football team in the northern provinces. They were a regular in the first-tier Eredivisie, qualified several times for European football, beat Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup, and had the largest attendances in the Netherlands besides Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV. Only SC Veendam joined FC Groningen in the Eredivisie in two discontinuous seasons the 1980s, but went straight back down on both occasions. Heerenveen would not play in the Eredivisie until 1990–91; during that season, Groningen competed for the league title, ultimately finishing in third place. As Groningen had been the only Northern representative in the top flight, the Dutch media referred to the club as the "Pride of the North". Groningen's club anthem, written in the 1970s, mentions the people from the three northern provinces Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe being united in their support for Groningen.

During the early 1990s, however, Groningen began to decline and were relegated from the Eredivisie in 1997–98. Heerenveen won promotion to the Eredivisie in 1992–93 and started to climb up the Eredivisie table in the following years. The side finished second in the 1999–2000 Eredivisie and qualified for the Champions League. Groningen won promotion back to the top tier the same season.

Heerenveen, under the guidance of chairman Riemer van der Velde, were referred by the Dutch media as a "family club", embracing its Frisian identity; Heerenveen have modelled their kit after the Frisian flag and play the Frisian provincial anthem before every home match. In the early 2000s, the Dutch media referred to Heerenveen as "everybody's second favorite team". During the same era, Groningen's supporters clashed several times with fans of other clubs. Heerenveen began to brand itself as the "Pride of the North", which is Groningen's nickname, as the club had surpassed Groningen in domestic performance. The rivalry intensified, particularly from Groningen's side, whose supporters named themselves the "people's club" with a passionate following, while they regarded Heerenveen fans as "fairweather supporters" with the worst atmosphere in the league.

In early 2006, Groningen left their outdated Oosterparkstadion for Euroborg. In their new stadium, Groningen began to close the gap and climbed up the league table. Around the same time, Heerenveen's "friendly image" began to attenuate.

List of results Heerenveen have won the derby 32 times and Groningen have been victorious on 21 occasions. From a Groningen perspective it can be argued that the record balances in Heerenveen's favour because the two sides did not meet during Groningen's heyday in the 1980s, due to Heerenveen being in the second tier Eerste Divisie.

Both Groningen and Heerenveen celebrated the opening of their current stadium with a 2–0 victory. Heerenveen did so in the Abe Lenstra Stadion on 26 August 1994; Groningen played their first official match in the Euroborg against Heerenveen on 13 January 2006. Groningen and Heerenveen have never met in the KNVB Cup or in the play-offs.

DateLeagueVenueResultGoal scorers FC Groningen Goal scorers sc HeerenveenAttendanceNotes17 Nov 1974 Eerste Divisie Sportpark NoordBloembergZimic 2', Golijanin 23', Toornstra 66' (pen.), Wierts 76'10,00020 Apr 1975 Eerste Divisie Oosterpark StadionGritter, Hovenkamp13,0002 Nov 1975 Eerste Divisie Oosterpark StadionHoekstra, Molendijk, Van der Heide6,00016 May 1976 Eerste Divisie Sportpark NoordOosterwold2,5003 Sep 1976 Eerste Divisie Oosterpark StadionBakker5,0003 Apr 1977 Eerste Divisie Sportpark NoordJ. van Dijk3,00021 Aug 1977 Eerste Divisie Sportpark Noord6,50029 Jan 1978 Eerste Divisie Oosterpark StadionOosterwold8,50012 Nov 1978 Eerste Divisie Sportpark NoordBakker2,50020 May 1979 Eerste Divisie Oosterpark StadionSwanenburg7,00011 Nov 1979 Eerste Divisie Oosterpark StadionHoutman 13', 46', 67', 90', Mulder7,00027 Apr 1980 Eerste Divisie Sportpark NoordHoutman (2)11,00027 Jan 1991 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionVeenhof 1', Huizingh 20', Djurovski 85'15,00016 Jun 1991 Eredivisie Sportpark NoordHuizingh 26', Djurovski 31'Cămătaru 52', Van der Gijp 62', 88', Dijk 86'12,312The last match of a season in which Groningen had competed for the league title, while Heerenveen was fighting against relegation. It is widely believed that in these pre-rivalry days, Groningen allowed Heerenveen to grab the victory in order to have a chance of survival. It was to no avail as Heerenveen fell one goal short to stay up.31 Oct 1993 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionTer Avest 40', Hamming 48'Tammer 82', Alberda 86'14,1005 Apr 1994 Eredivisie Sportpark NoordHellinga 9', Tammer 52'13,50026 Aug 1994 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionSier 41', Regtop 71'13,200The first match in Abe Lenstra Stadion15 Jan 1995 Eredivisie Oosterpark Stadion15,01029 Aug 1995 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionStraal 88'13,30012 Mar 1996 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionBombarda 57'Tomasson 64'13,5006 Sep 1996 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionGorré 83'Hansma 33', Wouden 48', 60', Tomasson 54', Talan 69'12,3201 Jun 1997 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionMagno 16', 28', Gorré 64'Nygaard 49'13,5002 Dec 1997 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionElkhattabi 73'15,0008 Apr 1998 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionMagno 41'Van Nistelrooy 73'13,70021 Dec 2000 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionHugo 34', G. van Dijk 80' (pen.)De Nooijer 15'13,0002 Mar 2001 Eredivisie Oosterpark Stadion14,35021 Oct 2001 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionBoussaboun 38'Nurmela 32'13,00024 Apr 2002 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionHakansson 48', 69'14,4001 Dec 2002 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionSalmon 60'Samaras 79'12,5009 May 2003 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionSalmon 72'Sibon 45', J. De Jong 89'14,40013 Sep 2003 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionHansson 38'14,60019 Mar 2004 Eredivisie Oosterpark Stadion12,50010 Dec 2004 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionVäyrynen 66'17,86315 May 2005 Eredivisie Oosterpark StadionBuijs 75'Berg Hestad 27', Nilsson 60'12,5006 Nov 2005 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionHuntelaar 5', 47', Bosvelt 43', Samaras 74'21,20013 Jan 2006 Eredivisie EuroborgNevland 24', Buijs 53' 19,710The first official match in Euroborg22 Oct 2006 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionLevchenko 81', 82'Alves 14', 74', 79', Friend 67'26,0002 Feb 2007 Eredivisie EuroborgVan der Linden 62'Alves 70'19,8469 Dec 2007 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionNevland 9', 14'Lovre 2' (o.g.), Bradley 7', 22', 41'25,60014 Mar 2008 Eredivisie EuroborgSulejmani 86'19,71928 Dec 2008 Eredivisie EuroborgGarcía García 54', Granqvist 90'Pranjić 13' (pen.), Smárason 77', Paulo Henrique 90+5'22,3117 Mar 2009 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionHolla 68'Grindheim 59', Elm 90+3'26,100Record attendance for the derby game12 Sep 2009 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionNordstrand 61'26,10020 Jan 2010 Eredivisie EuroborgMatavž 13', Granqvist 59' 22,44017 Oct 2010 Eredivisie EuroborgGranqvist 46' 22,42730 Jan 2011 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionIvens 13', Matavž 25', Tadić 56', 90+4'Đuričić 68'26,10011 Sep 2011 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionDost 45+1', Assaidi 61', Đuričić 84'26,10031 Mar 2012 Eredivisie EuroborgTadić 36'Dost 24', 41', Elm 86'22,42321 Oct 2012 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionVan la Parra 61', 83', Finnbogason 65'26,1007 Apr 2013 Eredivisie EuroborgRaitala 3' (o.g.), Bacuna 42' (pen.), De Leeuw 87'Mareček 70'22,50515 Sep 2013 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionVan der Velden 31' (pen.), Kappelhof 56'Wildschut 52', Otigba 55', Finnbogason 72' (pen.), 90'24,1509 Feb 2013 Eredivisie EuroborgDe Leeuw 86' (pen.)Van La Parra 33', Ziyech 36', Finnbogason 40' (pen.) 20,1937 Dec 2014 Eredivisie EuroborgDe Leeuw 7'Uth 25' 20,70522 Feb 2015 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionDe Leeuw 50'Thern 35', Van Aken 59', Veerman 90+2'24,89413 Sep 2015 Eredivisie EuroborgHoesen 1', Linssen 16', Mahi 82' Thern 69' 21,0011 May 2016 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionIdrissi 26', Rusnák 52' Larsson 21' 25,38515 October 2016 Eredivisie Euroborg Zeneli 7', Larsson 73', Ghoochannejhad 82'21,15529 January 2017 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra Stadion 21,75013 August 2017 Eredivisie EuroborgVeldwijk 53', Mahi 82' (pen.), 88' (pen.) Thorsby 6', 86', Ghoochannejhad 40'19,4228 April 2018 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionVan Weert 55'Vlap 31' 23,15011 November 2018 Eredivisie EuroborgWarmerdam 27', Doan 38'20,73114 April 2019 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionGladon 61'Van Amersfoort 38'21,05627 October 2019 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionBenschop 73' (pen.)Faik 45+3' (pen.)22,42820 April 2020 Eredivisie Euroborg The game, and the 2019–20 Eredivisie season, were abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.21 February 2021 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionSuslov 82'S. De Jong 43'011 April 2021 Eredivisie EuroborgVeerman 71' (pen.), Halilović 86'012 September 2021 Eredivisie EuroborgNgonge 68'Halilović 19'15,00010 April 2022 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionKasanwirjo 29'Van Hooijdonk 7', 53', Van Beek 80'22,50022 January 2023 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionKrüger 40'Sarr 5', 82', Van Amersfoort 81'19,02919 March 2023 Eredivisie EuroborgVan Hooijdonk 27', 40'21,24722 September 2024 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionValente 9'Trenskow 12', Nicolaescu 69'23,72925 January 2025 Eredivisie EuroborgValente 63'22,52516 August 2025 Eredivisie EuroborgWillumsson 29', 90+4'Trenskow 15'22,52518 January 2026 Eredivisie Abe Lenstra StadionKlaverboer (o.g.) 58', Blokzijl 79'24,105

References