SC Helmondia is an amateur football club, originally formed on October 16th 1916 in the town of Helmond, located between Eindhoven and the German border in the east of The Netherlands.
In 1955 a merger took place with another local club SDW Kolping who had been established in 1927 to become RKSV Helmondia '55 who began life in Eerste klasse C, the second level of Dutch football, in their first season with Piet van der Sluijs as coach at Stadion De Braak.
The forward partnership of Hennie Hollink and André Roosenburg scored the goals as the team finished runners-up to ensure that the club retained their status in the streamlined division.
The team gradually slipped down the final standings in Eerste klasse B before they were relegated in 1960-61. Toon van Beek was coach when Helmondia finished third in the 1961-62 Tweede Divisie prior to the competition being extended to two sections.
Frans de Rooij and then Frans Overzier were the next coaches before the appointment of Joep Brandes who took his team to the play-offs in second place thanks in part to the goals of Leo van der Linden and Lambert Kreekels before the professional era ended at the end of the 1966-67 season.
The club separated, with the professional arm becoming Helmond Sport, with the amateur section dropping down to Zondag, Sunday amateur regional football. They were forced to start low down in Vierde Klasse 4C before being relegated to local competition.
The club returned as SC Helmondia '55 to win the 4C title in 1985-86 before a runners-up place was accrued the following season before being relegated in 1987-88. Again, the club recovered to be crowned as Vierde Klasse 4C champions in 1990-91 before eventually winning promotion through the play-offs in 1995-96.
After a couple of seasons in Derde Klasse 3D the team was relegated before dropping down a further level in 2000-01 as the ’55 suffix was dropped from the club name. Helmondia bounced back from the Vijfde klasse at the first attempt.
The team continued to improve their final standings before finishing as 4E runners-up in 2010-11 and then champions the following season. However, promotion was a step too far as Helmondia’s spell in Derde Klasse 3D lasted just twelve months.
Their return to previous status followed the pattern of before with gradual progress, a second place and then the championship in 2011-12. This time the team adapted to Derde klasse football, winning promotion through the play-offs in 2013-14.
Helmondia retained their position in Tweede Klasse 2H for three seasons before dropping back down at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. The team finished third in 3C in 2018-19 before switching to 3D for the aborted 2019-20 campaign.
SC Helmondia will play in the Zondag Derde Klasse 3D Zuid 2 in the 2020-21 season.
My visit
Tuesday 21st January 2014
My final few hours on my epic travels on a long weekend in Holland, gave me the opportunity to visit Helmond from my base in Eindhoven. My intended target was the Eerste Divisie club; Helmond Sport, but to be pleasant surprise I also came across another couple of venues at Sportpark De Braak.
One of these was behind the main entrance to the home of Sport. The SC clubhouse was in the corner of the ground along with the changing rooms. The pitch was surrounded by hard standing and grass and had a fine small seated stand on the halfway line on the far side.
As ever, it was good to come across a club I’d no previous knowledge of; especially one who formed a vital part of another larger clubs’ history.
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