Eredivisie#Relegation

From the foundation of the Dutch national football championship in 1898 until 1954, the title was decided through play-offs by a handful of clubs who had previously won their regional league.{{cite web | title = Netherlands – Regional Analysis | website = RSSSF | url = https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/region-netherlands.html | access-date = 12 October 2013 | archive-date = 8 August 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220808190910/https://rsssf.org/miscellaneous/region-netherlands.html | url-status = live }} The competition was purely an amateur one; the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) rejected any form of payment and suspended players who were caught receiving salary or transfer fees.{{cite web | title = Eredivisie – ontstaan | url = http://www.vakq.eu/van_q_tot_q/e3s895/item | publisher = Vak Q | access-date = 13 October 2013 | language = nl | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304033700/http://www.vakq.eu/van_q_tot_q/e3s895/item | url-status = dead }} The call for professional football grew in the early fifties after many national team members left to play abroad in search for financial benefits.{{cite web | title = Professionalism and European Games | url = http://www.timerime.com/es/periodos/71504/Professionalism+and+European+Games/ | publisher = TimeRime | access-date = 12 October 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131021091404/http://www.timerime.com/es/periodos/71504/Professionalism+and+European+Games/ | archive-date = 21 October 2013 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }} The KNVB would usually suspend these players, preventing them from appearing for the Dutch national team. After the North Sea flood of 1953, the Dutch players abroad (mainly playing in the French league) organised a charity match against the France national team in Paris. The match was boycotted by the KNVB, but after the assembled Dutch players defeated the French (2–1), the Dutch public witnessed the heights that could be achieved through professional football.{{cite web | title = De Watersnoodwedstrijd van Cor van der Hart | url = http://www.sportgeschiedenis.nl/2006/12/13/de-watersnoodwedstrijd-van-cor-van-der-hart.aspx | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071021030600/http://www.sportgeschiedenis.nl/2006/12/13/de-watersnoodwedstrijd-van-cor-van-der-hart.aspx | url-status = dead | archive-date = 21 October 2007 | publisher = Sportgeschiedenis | access-date = 13 October 2013 | language = nl }} To serve the growing interest, a dissident professional football association (the NBVB) and league were founded for the 1954–55 season.{{cite web | title = Netherlands Final Tables 1950–1954 | website = RSSSF | url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nedamahist.html | access-date = 12 October 2013 | archive-date = 19 August 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220819144401/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nedamahist.html | url-status = live }} On 3 July 1954, the KNVB met with a group of concerned amateur club chairmen, who feared the best players would join the professional teams. The meeting, dubbed the slaapkamerconferentie ('bedroom conference'), led to the Association reluctantly accepting semi-professionalism.

Meanwhile, both the KNVB and the NBVB started their separate competition. The first professional football match was contested between Alkmaar and Venlo. The leagues went on for eleven rounds, before a merger was negotiated between the two federations in November. Both leagues were cancelled and a new, combined competition emerged immediately. De Graafschap, Amsterdam, Alkmaar and Fortuna '54 from the NBVB were accepted to the new league. Other clubs merged, which led to new names like Rapid J.C., Holland Sport and Roda Sport. The first (semi-)professional league was won by Willem II.{{cite web | title = Netherlands 1954/55 | website = RSSSF | url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/ned55.html | access-date = 12 October 2013 | archive-date = 26 July 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220726064352/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/ned55.html | url-status = live }} For the 1956–57 season, the KNVB abandoned the regional league system. The Eredivisie was founded, in which the eighteen best clubs nationwide directly played for the league title without play-offs. The inaugural members of the Eredivisie in 1956 were Ajax, BVC, BVV, DOS, EVV, Elinkwijk, SC Enschede, Feijenoord, Fortuna '54, GVAV, MVV, NAC, NOAD, PSV, Rapid J.C., Sparta, VVV '03 and Willem II.{{cite web | title = Netherlands 1956/57 | website = RSSSF | url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/ned57.html | access-date = 12 October 2013 | archive-date = 26 July 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220726064352/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/ned57.html | url-status = live }} Ajax was the first team to claim the title that season. Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history;

• 18 clubs: 1956–1962
• 16 clubs: 1962–1966
• 18 clubs: 1966–present

{{small|^* Willem II finished first and FC Groningen finished second in the 2023–24 Eerste Divisie. NAC finished 8th and defeated Excelsior in the playoff final.}}

{{small|^a Founding member of the Eredivisie}}
{{small|^b Never been relegated from the Eredivisie}}
{{small|^c Founding member of the Eredivisie (as Sportclub Enschede)}}
{{small|^d Founding member of the Eredivisie (as VV DOS and USV Elinkwijk)}}

{{Location map+|Netherlands|width=400|float=left|caption=Locations of the 2024–25 Eredivisie teams|places=

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.314310|long=4.942687|label=Ajax|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.394353|long=5.240487|label=Almere C|position=right}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.612473|long=4.742358|label=AZ|position=right}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=51.921|long=4.47|label=Feyenoord
Sparta|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=50.99827 |long=5.86333 |label=Fortuna|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=53.20611 |long=6.59139 |label=Groningen|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.25558 |long=6.16173 |label=GA Eagles|position=bottom

}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.958434|long=5.935991|label=Heerenveen|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.338767|long=6.650555|label=Heracles|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=51.595|long=4.750278|label=NAC|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=51.822451|long=5.837236|label=NEC|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.50863 |long=6.09289 |label=PEC|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=51.441664|long=5.467563|label=PSV|position=bottom}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=51.68659 |long=5.08911 |label=RKC|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.236539|long=6.837715|label=Twente|position=bottom}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=52.078362|long=5.145917|label=Utrecht|position=bottom}}

{{Location map~|Netherlands|lat=51.54262|long=5.066709|label=Willem II|position=right}}

}}

{{clear}}

{{main|List of Dutch football champions}}

Please note that the table below totals all winners of the Dutch top division, which included the Netherlands Football League Championship that preceded the Eredivisie. The Eredivisie was only founded in 1956 so many of these teams did not win the Eredivisie title.

^* As Rapid JC.

Since the beginning of the league, there have been three clubs with an attendance much higher than the others: Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. Clubs like Heerenveen, Utrecht and Groningen also have fairly large fanbases. The regular season average league attendance was just over 7,000 in 1990, but this figure has risen sharply over the years thanks to the opening of new stadiums and the expansion of existing ones nationwide. Average attendance for the 2018–19 season was 18,010, with Ajax having the largest (52,987) and Excelsior having the smallest (4,223). Ajax's figures however differ from those provided by the Johan Cruyff Arena, since the club counts all tickets sold instead of the number of people going through the turnstiles.

{{clear}}

:Last updated following the 2018–19 season

{{main|List of Eredivisie top scorers}}

{{see also|List of Eredivisie hat-tricks}}

The top goalscorer of the league season is awarded the Willy van der Kuijlen Trophy.

:Last updated following the 2023–24 season.[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nedtops.html Eredivisie Top Scorers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027130054/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nedtops.html |date=27 October 2022 }} - rsssf

The following sixteen international tournaments were won by Eredivisie teams:

• 1970 European Cup Final – Feyenoord
• 1970 Intercontinental Cup – Feyenoord
• 1971 European Cup Final – Ajax
• 1972 European Cup Final – Ajax
• 1972 Intercontinental Cup – Ajax
• 1973 European Cup Final – Ajax
• 1973 European Super Cup – Ajax
• 1974 UEFA Cup Final – Feyenoord
• 1978 UEFA Cup Final – PSV
• 1987 European Cup Winners' Cup Final – Ajax
• 1988 European Cup Final – PSV
• 1992 UEFA Cup Final – Ajax
• 1995 UEFA Champions League Final – Ajax
• 1995 UEFA Super Cup – Ajax
• 1995 Intercontinental Cup – Ajax
• 2002 UEFA Cup Final – Feyenoord

The UEFA Super Cup was founded by a Dutch reporter named Anton Witkamp and Ajax's 1973 win was the first time the tournament was contested officially.{{Cite web |last=UEFA.com |date=2023-08-16 |title=UEFA Super Cup history |url=https://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/news/0250-0c50f3ffee57-f213f5abbd58-1000--uefa-super-cup-history/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=UEFA |language=en}}

• Eredivisie (1956–1990)
• PTT-Telecompetitie (1990–1999)
• KPN-Telecompetitie (1999–2000)
• KPN Eredivisie (2000–2002)
• Holland Casino Eredivisie (2002–2005)
• Eredivisie (2005–present)

{{portal|Association football|Netherlands}}

• Eerste Divisie
• KNVB Cup
• Johan Cruyff Shield
• List of Dutch football champions
• List of foreign players in the Eredivisie
• List of sports attendance figures – Eredivisie in a global context

• [https://footballscore.com/leagues-netherlands-eredivisie/vl7oqdeheyr510j Eredivisie Football Score] – Alles over Eredivisie resultaten,uitslagen en standen

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• {{official website|http://www.eredivisie.nl/}} {{in lang|nl}}

{{Eredivisie}}

{{Football in the Netherlands}}

{{Top sport leagues in the Netherlands}}

{{UEFA leagues}}

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Netherlands

Category:Sports leagues established in 1956

Category:1956 establishments in the Netherlands

Category:Professional sports leagues in the Netherlands