The Vierde Divisie (, "Fourth Division"), known until 2022 as the Hoofdklasse (), is the fifth tier of football in the Netherlands and the third-highest level of the amateur game. It is administered by the KNVB and is contested by 64 clubs in four regional groups of sixteen, lettered A to D.

The competition was founded in 1974 as the highest amateur division in the country, sitting immediately below the professional Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie. It has been displaced downwards twice, by the creation of the Topklasse in 2010 and by the reintroduction of the Tweede Divisie in 2016, and was renamed in 2022.

For most of its history the division was split into separate Saturday and Sunday competitions, a survival of the pillarisation of Dutch society. That separation was abolished before the 2023–24 season, since when clubs have been grouped by region instead.

History Foundation and the Saturday–Sunday divide The Hoofdklasse was established in 1974 as the top amateur competition of the KNVB, drawing the 42 strongest sides from the six sections of the Eerste Klasse. It was created for Sunday clubs only. Saturday clubs continued to decide their champion within the Eerste Klasse until a Saturday Hoofdklasse was added in 1996.

The split reflected pillarisation (), the segregation of Dutch social life along confessional lines. Saturday clubs were predominantly Protestant and did not play on Sundays; Sunday clubs were generally Catholic or working-class, their players being at work on Saturdays. Pillarisation itself faded during the 1960s and 1970s, but the football structure it produced outlasted it by half a century.

From 1974 each section ran three national groups, whose winners played off for a Saturday and a Sunday title. The two national champions then met to decide the overall Hoofdklasse championship. That final round was superseded in 2010, when the Topklasse became the amateur championship, and the overall title was abolished altogether in 2016.

Displacement, 2010 and 2016 The introduction of the Topklasse in 2010 inserted a division above the Hoofdklasse, making it the second amateur level and the fourth tier. From 2010–11 the winners of the three groups in each section were promoted into the two Topklasse groups.

The reintroduction of the Tweede Divisie in 2016 pushed it down again, to the third amateur level and the fifth tier, the Topklasse being renamed the Derde Divisie at the same time. Groups were enlarged from fourteen clubs to sixteen and reduced from three per section to two, giving four groups and four promoted champions. The transitional 2015–16 season used play-offs, with period winners meeting the fifteenth-placed club of the Topklasse, and the twelfth and thirteenth placed meeting the period winners of the Eerste Klasse.

Renaming and the end of the split The KNVB members' council voted in June 2022 to rename the competition the Vierde Divisie and to abolish the Saturday–Sunday separation from 2023–24. Since then all 64 clubs have been allocated regionally rather than by matchday. Clubs indicate before the season whether they wish to play at home on a Saturday or a Sunday; clubs that observe Sunday on principle retain the right to play on Saturdays in all cases. In practice most fixtures are played on Saturday afternoons, with matches between two Sunday clubs usually taking place on the Sunday.

Before the current system, Hoofdklasse clubs could only reach professional football by applying for a licence for the Eerste Divisie. The last to do so were AGOVV Apeldoorn in 2003 and FC Omniworld in 2005.

Format Each of the four groups plays a 30-match season. The four group champions are promoted to the Derde Divisie. The three period champions of each group enter play-offs alongside the fifteenth and sixteenth-placed clubs of Derde Divisie A and B, contesting two further places at the higher level. Clubs finishing fifteenth and sixteenth are relegated directly to the Eerste Klasse, while those finishing thirteenth and fourteenth play off against Eerste Klasse period champions to retain their places.

Hoofdklasse champions since 1975 SeasonSaturday championSunday championNational champion1974–75SpijkenisseFC EmmenSpijkenisse1975–76IJsselmeervogelsLimburgiaIJsselmeervogels1976–77IJsselmeervogelsRhedenIJsselmeervogels1977–78ACVHoogeveenACV1978–79DOVORohda RaalteRohda Raalte1979–80NoordwijkXerxesNoordwijk1980–81DOS KampenRKC WaalwijkRKC Waalwijk1981–82IJsselmeervogelsRKC WaalwijkRKC Waalwijk1982–83IJsselmeervogelsDHC DelftIJsselmeervogels1983–84IJsselmeervogelsGeldropGeldrop1984–85SpakenburgDHC DelftSpakenburg1985–86ACVSV TOPACV1986–87ACVGeldropGeldrop1987–88DOS KampenDe TreffersDOS Kampen1988–89HeerjansdamRCHRCH1989–90Rijnsburgse BoysGeldropGeldrop1990–91Quick BoysDe TreffersDe Treffers1991–92Quick BoysRhedenQuick Boys1992–93KatwijkHollandKatwijk1993–94KatwijkSTEVOKatwijk1994–95IJsselmeervogelsHollandIJsselmeervogels1995–96ScheveningenBaronieScheveningen1996–97VVOGBaronieBaronie1997–98IJsselmeervogelsDe TreffersDe Treffers1998–99IJsselmeervogelsHSC '21HSC '211999–2000KatwijkAchilles 1894Katwijk2000–01LisseBaronieBaronie2001–02HuizenAGOVVAGOVV2002–03HuizenTürkiyemsporHuizen2003–04Quick BoysHSC '21Quick Boys2004–05ASWHArgonASWH2005–06IJsselmeervogelsTürkiyemsporIJsselmeervogels2006–07IJsselmeervogelsArgonArgon2007–08LisseHollandiaLisse2008–09Rijnsburgse BoysWKEWKE2009–10IJsselmeervogelsGemertIJsselmeervogels2010–11Noordwijk, GVVV, SVZWHBS Craeyenhout, UNA, HSC '21Contested in the Topklasseuntil 20162011–12Jodan Boys, Scheveningen, DETOADO '20, Gemert, Sneek Wit Zwart2012–13Ter Leede, Excelsior Maassluis, ONS SneekLeonidas, UNA, Be Quick 18872013–14Sparta Nijkerk, Hoek, Genemuiden Koninklijke HFC, Rosmalen, Hercules2014–15SteDoCo, Katwijk, DVS '33Magreb '90, TEC, Sneek Wit Zwart2015–16ODIN '59, Quick Boys, Harkemase BoysWestlandia, Dongen, Juliana '31

SeasonSaturday championSunday champion2016–17Spijkenisse, ACVADO '20, Blauw Geel '382017–18Noordwijk, EemdijkSJC, Oss '202018–19Ter Leede, Excelsior '31DEM, Groene Ster2019–20 No champions2020–212021–22FC Rijnvogels, UrkTOGB, Baronie2022–23Kloetinge, EemdijkHoogeveen, Meerssen

Since 2023–24 Following the abolition of the Saturday–Sunday split, four regional groups are contested. Season A B C D 2023–24 Ajax ASWH GOES Excelsior '31 2024–25 Scherpenzeel Zwaluwen UDI '19 Hoogeveen 2025–26 Purmersteijn Poortugaal Achilles Veen SVZW Wierden

Saturday titles since 1975 # Clubs11 IJsselmeervogels4 ACV, Quick Boys, Katwijk3 Noordwijk2 Spijkenisse, DOS Kampen, Rijnsburgse Boys, Scheveningen, Lisse, Huizen, Ter Leede, Eemdijk 1 DOVO, Spakenburg, Heerjansdam, VVOG, ASWH, GVVV, SVZW, Jodan Boys, DETO,Excelsior Maassluis, ONS Sneek, Sparta Nijkerk, Hoek, Genemuiden,SteDoCo, DVS '33, ODIN '59, Harkemase Boys, Excelsior '31, FC Rijnvogels, Urk, Kloetinge

Sunday titles since 1975 # Clubs4 Baronie3 Geldrop, De Treffers, HSC '212 Rheden, RKC Waalwijk, DHC Delft, Holland, Türkiyemspor, Argon, Gemert, UNA, ADO '20, Sneek Wit Zwart, Hoogeveen1 FC Emmen, Limburgia, Rohda Raalte, Xerxes, SV TOP, RCH, STEVO, Achilles 1894,AGOVV, Hollandia, WKE, HBS Craeyenhout, Leonidas, Be Quick 1887, Koninklijke HFC, Rosmalen,Hercules, Magreb '90, TEC, Westlandia, Dongen, Juliana '31, Blauw Geel '38, DEM, Groene Ster, Oss '20, SJC, TOGB, Meerssen

National titles 1975–2010 By club # Clubs6 IJsselmeervogels3 Geldrop, Katwijk2 ACV, RKC Waalwijk, De Treffers, Quick Boys, Baronie1 Spijkenisse, Rohda Raalte, Noordwijk, Spakenburg, DOS Kampen, RCH, Scheveningen,HSC '21, AGOVV, Huizen, ASWH, Argon, Lisse WKE

By day Day Number of titles TitlesSaturday 21 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1993,1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010Sunday 15 1979, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1998, 1999,2001, 2002, 2007, 2009

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