Koninklijke HFC

Koninklijke HFC
Full name Koninklijke Haarlemsche Football Club
Founded September 15, 1879 (1879-09-15)
Ground Complex Koninklijke HFC
Haarlem
Ground Capacity 1,000
Chairman Netherlands Gert-Jan Pruijn
Manager Netherlands Pieter Mulders
League Topklasse
Tweede Divisie 3rd, Sunday Topklasse (2015-16)

Koninklijke HFC (Royal Haarlemsche Football Club) is a football club in Haarlem, Netherlands. It is the oldest club in Dutch history, founded by Pim Mulier in 1879. During the first years the only team played rugby but due to financial problems they switched to association football. The first official football match in the Netherlands was played in 1886 between HFC and Amsterdam Sport.

They currently play in the "Tweede Divisie" (Second Division), a semi-professional tier re-established for the 2016-17 season. It's the third tier of the Dutch football pyramid.

History

Koninklijke HFC was the first Dutch Rugby club, established on September 15, 1879 by the 14-year-old Pim Mulier, who first encountered the sport in 1870. However HFC switched to association football in 1883. (The Delftsche Studenten Rugby Club was the first official rugby club on September 24, 1918.)

In 1899 they moved from their home ground "De Koekamp" to the "Spanjaardslaan" where until today they still play their matches. In that period the Spanjaardslaan (Spaniard's lane), the east-west road at the southern edge of the oldest public park of the Netherlands was part of Heemstede, but switched back to Haarlem in 1927.

The beginning of football in the Netherlands

The Netherlands national football team played two of their international matches at the Spanjaardslaan. Both matches were versus Belgium, resulting in a 1-2 loss and a 7-0 win. In the past HFC contributed several players to the Netherlands national football team. Of those players goalkeeper Gejus van der Meulen obtained the most caps, 54. At present his grandson still plays for HFC.

Before the Dutch championship was officially established HFC won three unofficial national titles:

Three times in the club's history they won the KNVB Cup (1904, 1913 and 1915). In the cup competition of 1903-1904 HFC beat VVV from Amsterdam with 25-0, still a record in Dutch cup competition.

The club was named Koninklijk (Royal) in 1959, 80 years after the club was founded. Since 1923 the first team of HFC plays the opening match of a new year versus a selection of former Dutch international players on January 1.

Current squad

As of 1 February 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Netherlands GK Gerard van Rossum
2 Netherlands DF Tuncay Yener
3 Netherlands DF Kevin Keij
4 Netherlands DF Carlos Opoku (captain)
5 Netherlands DF Vincent Volkert
6 Netherlands MF Donny Verdam
7 Netherlands FW Reggie Schaap
8 Netherlands MF Jeffrey Sam-Sin
9 Netherlands FW Pieter Bas den Hartigh
10 Netherlands FW Mike van den Ban
11 Netherlands FW Wouter Haarmans
12 Netherlands DF Mathieu Christianen
13 Netherlands MF Jeroen de Bruijn
14 Netherlands MF Jochem Lindenhovius
No. Position Player
15 Netherlands MF Nigel Castien
16 Netherlands DF Danny Hols
17 Netherlands FW Rachid el Yaakoubi
18 Netherlands MF Wessel Boer
19 Netherlands FW Koen Beeren
20 Netherlands FW Tim van Soest
21 Netherlands DF Hidde Prijs
23 Netherlands FW Gertjan Tamerus
24 Netherlands GK Bram Verhage
26 Netherlands FW Diego Sedoc
39 Netherlands FW Vince de Kwant
43 Netherlands GK Tom Boks
71 Netherlands GK Reinier Mutsaerts

External links

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