FC Groningen

Football Club Groningen (Dutch pronunciation: [ɛfˈseː ˈɣroːnɪŋə(n)]) is a Dutch professional football club based in Groningen. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest football league of the Netherlands.

The club was founded in 1971 when GVAV changed its name to FC Groningen. Their home stadium was the Oosterpark Stadion from 1971 to 2005, while they currently play at the Euroborg (2006–present).

History

The origins of football in Groningen

The origins of football in Groningen are dated back to 1887, when students of the city gymnasium established the cricket and football club Be Quick. Initially, cricket was the club's main activity with football being a mere winter pastime, but in the mid-1890s football gained a more prominent status within the club. In 1895, Be Quick became a founder member of the first football league in the northern Netherlands (comprising the provinces Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe), which initially consisted of mere three clubs (LAC Frisia from Leeuwarden and Achilles 1894 from Assen being the others). The league was named Tweede Klasse Noord (Second Northern Division, or literary: Second Class North). There was no First Northern Division, but the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) regarded the level of play in the northern league to be too low to be rewarded with First Class status. This meant that the northern champion could not participate in the nationwide championship in which the winners of the other Dutch regional leagues competed for the national title.

Groningen

Groningen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣroːnɪŋə(n)]; Gronings: Grunnen; West Frisian: Grins) is the main municipality as well as the capital city of the eponymous province in the Netherlands. With a population of 197,823 (in 2014), it is the largest city in the north of the Netherlands. An old city, Groningen was the regional power of the northern Netherlands, a semi-independent city-state and member of the German Hanseatic League. Groningen is a university city: it houses the University of Groningen (about 28,000 students) and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (about 25,000 students).

History

The city was founded on the northernmost point of the Hondsrug area. The oldest document referring to Groningen's existence dates from 1040. However, the city already existed long before then: the oldest archaeological traces found are believed to stem from the years 3950–3720 BC, although the first major settlement in Groningen has been traced back to the 3rd century AD.

In the 13th century, when Groningen was an important trade centre, its inhabitants built a city wall to underline its authority. The city had a strong influence on the surrounding lands and made its dialect a common tongue. The most influential period of the city was the end of the 15th century, when the nearby province of Friesland was administered from Groningen. During these years, the Martinitoren was built, which loomed over the city at (then) 127 metres tall.The city's independence came to an end when in 1536, it chose to accept Emperor Charles V, the Habsburg ruler of the other Netherlands, as its overlord. It later joined the Republic of the Seven United Provinces.