Eerste Divisie

The Eerste Divisie (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈeːrstə diˈvizi]; English: First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via a promotion/relegation system. It is also known as the Jupiler League [ʒypiˈleː ˈlik] due to sponsorship, which is the same name as the top league in Belgium. It is now named after Jupiler Pils; previously, it was most recently known as the Gouden Gids Divisie [ˈɣʌu̯də(n) ˈɣɪdz diˈvizi] after a five-year sponsorship deal with the Dutch Yellow Pages.

History

The Eerste Divisie consists of 19 clubs, who play each other in a double round-robin league, with each club playing the other club home and away. Each club plays every other club once in the first half of the season before the league takes a winter break around the Christmas and New Year's holiday season. The second half of the season sees the same fixtures as the first half, with the stadiums changed, although the two halves are not played in the same order.

FC Dordrecht

Football Club Dordrecht is a football club from the city of Dordrecht in the Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie.

History

Founded on 16 August 1883 as Dordrechtsche Football Club (DFC), it became a professional club in 1954 upon the introduction of professional football to the Netherlands. The next significant event was in 1972, at which time the professional and amateur branches of DFC Dordrecht severed their ties. The amateur branch remained DFC Dordrecht, while its professional counterpart became simply FC Dordrecht. Following their reorganisation in 1979 (which led to a change in name to Drechtsteden'79 (DS'79) - referring to the region Drechtsteden), the club was promoted to the Eredivisie in 1983. This however was not to last and was immediately followed by a relegation back to the Eerste Divisie. They went back up to the Eredivisie in 1988/1989 season.

In 1990, another investor gave the club its third name of Dordrecht'90. The club just missed promotion to the Eredivisie in 1991, but was finally admitted when Dordrecht'90 surprisingly merged with neighbouring Schiedamse Voetbal Vereniging (SVV) of Schiedam. The club used the name of SVV/Dordrecht'90 for two seasons, but in 1993, the 'SVV' was dropped and the club was renamed Dordrecht'90. Finally in 2002, the club was again renamed, to the name it bore from 1972 to 1979: FC Dordrecht and that is how the name stands today. For a number of years it was one of the clubs with the lowest average attendance of all Dutch professional teams. Undoubtedly the most famous player to wear a Dordrecht shirt was Johan Cruijff, who played 3 friendly matches for the club in January 1981.

Jong Ajax

Jong Ajax (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɔŋ ˈaːjɑks]) (English: Young Ajax), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 are the reserve team of AFC Ajax, based in Amsterdam, and competing in the Dutch Eerste Divisie.

History

Jong Ajax (formerly more commonly known as Ajax 2) is the reserve team of AFC Ajax. The team is composed mostly of professional footballers, who are often recent graduates from the highest youth level (Ajax A1) serving their first professional contract as a reserve, or players who are otherwise unable to play in the first team.

Since 1992 Jong Ajax have competed in the Beloften Eredivisie, competing against other reserve teams such as Jong PSV, Jong FC Groningen or Jong AZ. They have won the Beloften Eredivisie title a record eight times, as well as the KNVB Reserve Cup three times, making them the most successful reserve squad in the Netherlands. By winning the Beloften Eredivisie title, Jong Ajax were able to qualify for the actual KNVB Cup, even advancing to the semi-finals on three occasions. Their best result in the Dutch Cup was under manager Jan Olde Riekerink in 2001–02, when a semi-final loss to FC Utrecht in a Penalty shoot-out after extra time, which saw Utrecht advance, and thus preventing an Ajax vs. Jong Ajax Dutch Cup final.