The 2021–22 Eerste Divisie, known as Keuken Kampioen Divisie for sponsorship reasons, was the 66th season of Eerste Divisie since its establishment in 1956.
It began on 6 August 2021, and ended with the promotion/relegation playoffs on 29 May 2022.
Relegation for reserve teams On 1 August 2020, the KNVB detailed on its website in what scenarios will the reserve teams in the league be relegated from the Eerste Divisie.
Relegation to the Tweede Divisie
No reserve team from the Eerste Divisie can be relegated to the Tweede Divisie if the lowest classified reserves team in the Eerste Divisie is in the top 10. If the lowest classified reserve team in the Eerste Divisie finishes between 11th through 18th and the highest classified reserve team in the Tweede Divisie finishes first, the two teams play each other in a two-legged tie to decide which team will play in the Eerste Divisie the next season and which team will also play in the Tweede Divisie. If the lowest classified reserves in the Eerste Divisie finish 19th or 20th and the highest classified reserves in the Tweede Divisie finish first or second, the lowest classified team from the Eerste Divisie is relegated to the Tweede Divisie while the highest classified reserves in the Tweede Divisie are promoted to the Eerste Divisie. If a reserve team plays in the Eerste Divisie and the first team is relegated from the Eredivisie to the Eerste Divisie, the reserves are automatically relegated to the Tweede Divisie. In case this reserve team finished between first through third in the final ranking of reserves, the fourth-placed team is not relegated.
Teams
Team changes Promoted from 2020–21 Tweede DivisieRelegated from 2020–21 EredivisiePromoted to 2021–22 EredivisieRelegated to 2021–22 Tweede DivisieNoneFC EmmenVVV-VenloADO Den HaagSC CambuurGo Ahead EaglesN.E.C.None A total of 20 teams will take part in the league: 17 teams from the 2020–21 Eerste Divisie and 3 teams relegated from the 2020–21 Eredivisie.
Stadiums and locations Club Location Venue Capacity ADO Den Haag The Hague Cars Jeans Stadion 15,000 Almere City FC Almere Yanmar Stadion 4,501 FC Den Bosch 's-Hertogenbosch Stadion De Vliert 8,713 FC Dordrecht Dordrecht Riwal Hoogwerkers Stadion 4,235 FC Eindhoven Eindhoven Jan Louwers Stadion 4,600 FC Emmen Emmen De Oude Meerdijk 8,600 Excelsior Rotterdam Van Donge & De Roo Stadion 4,500 De Graafschap Doetinchem Stadion De Vijverberg 12,600 Helmond Sport Helmond SolarUnie Stadion 12,600 Jong Ajax Amsterdam Sportpark De Toekomst 2,050 Jong AZ Alkmaar AFAS Trainingscomplex 200 Jong PSV Eindhoven PSV Campus De Herdgang 2,500 Jong FC Utrecht Utrecht Sportcomplex Zoudenbalch 550 MVV Maastricht Maastricht Stadion De Geusselt 10,000 NAC Breda Breda Rat Verlegh Stadion 19,000 Roda JC Kerkrade Kerkrade Parkstad Limburg Stadion 19,979 Telstar Velsen Rabobank IJmond Stadion 3,060 TOP Oss Oss Frans Heesenstadion 4,560 FC Volendam Volendam Kras Stadion 7,384 VVV-Venlo Venlo Covebo Stadion - De Koel 8,000
Number of teams by provinces Number of teams Province Team(s)6FC Den Bosch, FC Eindhoven, Helmond Sport, Jong PSV, NAC Breda, TOP Oss4Jong Ajax, Jong AZ, Telstar, FC Volendam3MVV Maastricht, Roda JC Kerkrade, VVV-VenloADO Den Haag, FC Dordrecht, Excelsior1FC EmmenAlmere City FCDe GraafschapJong FC Utrecht
Personnel
Team Manager Captain Shirt sponsor ADO Den Haag Giovanni Franken Boy Kemper Cars Jeans Almere City FC Alex Pastoor Tim Receveur SenS Online Solutions FC Den Bosch Jack de Gier Wouter van der Steen Timmermans Infra FC Dordrecht Michele Santoni Jari Schuurman Keukenwarenhuis.nl FC Eindhoven Rob Penders Mawouna Amevor VDL Groep FC Emmen Dick Lukkien Jeroen Veldmate EasyToys Excelsior Marinus Dijkhuizen Redouan El Yaakoubi DSW Zorgverzekeraar De Graafschap Jan Vreman (a.i.) Ted van de Pavert AgriBioSource Helmond Sport Sven Winnen Robin van der Meer Vescom Jong Ajax John Heitinga Youri Regeer Ziggo Jong AZ Maarten Martens Joey Jacobs AFAS Software Jong PSV Ruud van Nistelrooy Shurandy Sambo Metropoolregio Brainport Eindhoven Jong FC Utrecht Darije Kalezić Nick Venema T-Mobile MVV Maastricht Klaas Wels Sven Blummel SuperGame NAC Breda Edwin de Graaf Nick Olij OK tankstations Roda JC Kerkrade Jurgen Streppel Richard Jensen Flow Traders Foundation Telstar Andries Jonker Glynor Plet BUKO TOP Oss Bob Peeters Rick Stuy van den Herik Hendriks Bouw en Ontwikkeling FC Volendam Wim Jonk Damon Mirani HSB VVV-Venlo Jos Luhukay Kristopher Da Graca Seacon
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment De Graafschap Mike Snoei Sacked 19 May 2021 Pre season Reinier Robbemond 1 July 2021 FC Eindhoven Ernie Brandts Mutual consent 21 May 2021 Rob Penders NAC Breda Maurice Steijn Resigned 19 June 2021 Edwin de Graaf 14 July 2021 Almere City FC Jeroen Rijsdijk End of interim spell 30 June 2021 Gertjan Verbeek 1 July 2021 FC Dordrecht Jan Zoutman End of contract Michele Santoni Jong Ajax Mitchell van der Gaag Signed by Ajax John Heitinga Jong AZ Michel Vonk End of contract Maarten Martens Jong PSV Peter Uneken End of contract Ruud van Nistelrooy Jong FC Utrecht Ab Plugboer End of interim spell Darije Kalezić MVV Maastricht Darije Kalezić End of contract Klaas Wels TOP Oss Klaas Wels End of contract Bob Peeters Almere City FC Gertjan Verbeek Mutual consent 23 November 2021 18th Tim Bakens (a.i.) 23 November 2021 Tim Bakens (a.i.) End of interim spell 19 December 2021 19th Alex Pastoor 19 December 2021 Helmond Sport Wil Boessen Sacked 14 February 2022 19th Sven Winnen 14 February 2022 ADO Den Haag Ruud Brood 28 February 2022 6th Giovanni Franken 28 February 2022 De Graafschap Reinier Robbemond 16 March 2022 9th Jan Vreman (a.i.) 16 March 2022
Standings League table
Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after completion of each round.
Period tables
Period 1
Period 2
Period 3
Period 4
Results Fixtures and results
Results by round
Promotion/relegation play-offs The seeds are assigned based on the final ranking after the regular season. The best ranked team will get the highest seed (lowest number). Eredivisie teams are considered to be better ranked than eerste divisie teams.
In the second leg, if a match is leveled at the end of the normal playing time, extra time will be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.
Seven teams, six from the Eerste Divisie and one from the Eredivisie, will play for a spot in the 2022–23 Eredivisie. The remaining six teams will play in the 2022–23 Eerste Divisie. The highest seeded team or the team from the Eredivisie will always host the second leg.
Qualified teams Team Rank seed Heracles Almelo 16 1 FC Eindhoven 3 2 ADO Den Haag 4 3 Roda JC Kerkrade 5 4 Excelsior 6 5 NAC Breda 8 6 De Graafschap 9 7
Bracket
First round First legs
Second legs
Semifinals First legs
Second legs
Final First leg
Second leg
Statistics
Top scorers Flashscore RankPlayerClubGoals1 Thijs DallingaExcelsior322 Thomas VerheydtADO Den Haag303 Robert MührenFC Volendam294 Dylan VenteRoda JC Kerkrade235 Joey SleegersFC Eindhoven216 Reuven NiemeijerExcelsior17 Johan BakayokoJong PSV8 Naci ÜnüvarJong Ajax169 Rui MendesFC Emmen15 Sem SteijnADO Den Haag Nick VenemaVVV-Venlo
Top assists NOS RankPlayerClubAssists1 Daryl van MieghemFC Volendam142 Naci ÜnüvarJong Ajax12 Patrick PflückeRoda JC Kerkrade4 Amar ĆatićADO Den Haag11 Joey SleegersFC Eindhoven Lance DuijvestijnAlmere City FC Robert MührenFC Volendam Reuven NiemeijerExcelsior9 Johan BakayokoJong PSV1010 Ralf SeuntjensNAC Breda9
Clean sheets NOS RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Michael BrouwerFC Emmen172 Nigel BertramsFC Eindhoven14 Hidde JurjusDe Graafschap Nick OlijNAC Breda4 Rody de BoerRoda JC Kerkrade125 Stijn van GasselExcelsior10 Wouter van der SteenFC Den Bosch7 Mike HavekotteHelmond Sport88 Delano van CrooijVVV-Venlo7 Luuk KoopmansADO Den Haag Filip StankovićFC Volendam
Discipline
Player Most yellow cards: 9 Yuya Ikeshita (Jong FC Utrecht) Alessio Miceli (FC Dordrecht) Brian Koglin (VVV-Venlo) Most red cards: 1 20 players
Club Most yellow cards: 87 FC Dordrecht Most red cards: 4 Jong PSV
References