Sunday 8 February 2015

NETHERLANDS: vv Presikhaaf (1951-1995) / vv IJsseloord (1995-2005) / FC Presikhaaf (2005-2014) / AFC Arnhem (2014-2016)

Sportpark Over Het Lange Water Oost, Arnhem (formerly vv Presikhaaf / vv IJsseloord / FC Presikhaaf / AFC Arnhem)

Netherlands, province: Guelders = Gelderland

8 II 2015 / AFC Arnhem - KVV Quick '20 2-5 / Zondag Hoofdklasse C (= NL level 4)

Timeline
  • 1951 / Foundation of vv Presikhaaf. It is unclear if the club played its football at Sportpark Over Het Lange Water (Oost) from the outset. In the first 43 years of the club’s existence, vv Presikhaaf plays its football in the competitions organised by the so-called Gelderse Voetbalbond (GVB), the league association of clubs from the province of Guelders playing their football below the level of KNVB League 4.
  • 1994 / After 43 seasons in GVB, vv Presikhaaf accedes to KNVB District East’s Sunday League 4 for the first time.
  • 1995 / Finishing in ninth place in District East’s Sunday League 4F, vv Presikhaaf concludes a merger with vv OAB (Oost-Arnhemse Boys) to form vv IJsseloord. With vv OAB abandoning Sportpark De Del, all activities of the new merger club are centred at Sportpark Over Het Lange Water (Oost).
  • 1998 / vv IJsseloord finishes in first place in Sunday League 4F, but loses a tie-break match for the title in that league, thus missing out on promotion to League 3. In the following years, the club drops back to League 5 and even League 6.
  • 2005 / vv IJsseloord wins the title in Sunday League 6G in its last season as an independent club. Following the 2004-05 season, the club concludes a merger with SV Rozendaal to form FC (Fusieclub) Presikhaaf. With SV Rozendaal – which in itself was a 1999 merger of SV Sempre Avanti and SVD ’98, formerly vv WCA, formed in 1999 – abandoning Sportpark De Del, all activities of the new merger club are centred at Sportpark Over Het Lange Water (Oost). FC Presikhaaf starts its life in Sunday League 4, the level at which SV Rozendaal had played in its last seasons as an independent club.
  • 2008 / Winning the title in Sunday League 4F with coach Dennis van Beukering, FC Presikhaaf accedes to Sunday League 3.
  • 2010 / Finishing in third place in Sunday League 3D, FC Presikhaaf, coached by Dennis van Beukering, wins the subsequent round of promotion play-offs to accede to Sunday League 2. Moreover, the club also conquers the Arnhem Cup.
  • 2011 / The main pitch at Sportpark Over Het Lange Water (Oost) is equipped with a synthetic surface in January 2011.
  • 2012 / Champions in Sunday League 2I with a 21-point gap separating the club from runners-up Sportclub Bemmel, FC Presikhaaf, still coached by Dennis van Beukering wins promotion to Sunday League 1.
  • 2013 / Dennis van Beukering’s younger brother Jhonny, former professional league player at SBV Vitesse, NEC, Go Ahead Eagles, Feyenoord, and various other clubs, joins FC Presikhaaf as player and assistant-coach. Also in 2013, FC Presikhaaf is joined at Sportpark Het Lange Water (Oost) by ESCA (Enka Sportclub Arnhem), a club founded in 1927, which had conquered the title in Sunday League 1 – the highest non-league level in the Netherlands at the time – in 1959 and 1965. ESCA, which had had to abandon its Sportcomplex Valkenhuizen to make way for other sports clubs, also proceeded to merge its youth academy with FC Presikhaaf’s, leading to the foundation of SJO (Samenwerking Jeugdopleidingen) FC Presikhaaf/ESCA. In the 2013-14 season, following a successful round of promotion play-offs in 2013, ESCA played in Sunday League 4 for the first time in 17 years. 
  • 2014 / Conquering the title in Sunday League 1E under the guidance of coach Dennis van Beukering – finishing 12 points ahead of closest followers vv Hoogland – FC Presikhaaf accedes to Zondag Hoofdklasse, the fourth tier of the Netherlands’ football pyramid. At the end of the 2013-14 season, the club merges with its groundsharers, ESCA, to become AFC (Arnhemse Fusieclub) Arnhem. 
  • 2015 / Finishing in twelfth place in Zondag Hoofdklasse C, just 1 point ahead of vv Germania which suffered direct relegation along with bottom club FVC, AFC Arnhem had to save its skin in a round of play-offs. Reaching the final, the club bowed out against League 1 club vv Rigtersbleek in the most dramatic of fashions; have won the away tie at Terrein Gerrit Jan van Heekstraat in Enschede (1-2), AFC Arnhem lost the subsequent home leg 0-1 – as well as the penalty shoot-out (14-15!). As such, the club dropped back into Sunday League 1. Following the 2014-15 season, Jhonny van Beukering hangs up his boots (although he would take up playing again for Sportclub Silvolde one year later).
  • 2016 / Suffering from a money shortage caused, among others, by members not paying their dues, AFC Arnhem is constrained to cease all activities in January 2016 due to extensive debts to the Arnhem town council and the Netherlands' FA. After the club is wound up, the synthetic pitch at Sportpark Over Het Lange Water (Oost) is made a publicly accessible facility. At some point, half of the pitch, as well as the entire training pitch, was removed by Arnhem’s municipal authorities.
Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-11 = match visit, February 2015 / picture 12 = non-matchday (public park) visit, December 2023











All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

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