SC Oranje Zwart Helmond (Holland)

SC Oranje Zwart Helmond, or Sportclub Oranje Zwart Helmond was an amateur football club from the small city of Helmond in the south east of The Netherlands. The club were formed on August 1st 1970, joining regional Sunday football before closing down in October 2018.

The club initially played on one of the pitches at De Warande, a large park in the north west of the town before securing their own Sportpark Dierdonk before the land was required for local development.

Relocated at Sportpark de Braak in 2010-11 the club found themselves playing in Zesde 6E klasse D in the West 2 region of Dutch football, finishing bottom of the table in 2011-12. The club would undergo a huge transformation, which would eventually cost them.

Transferred to klasse C, the team waltzed to the league title before finishing as runners-up in Vijfde 5E Klasse E in 2013-14 to win a successive promotion. The Vierde 4E Klasse F title was won at the first attempt in 2014-15

The momentum continued with Oranje Zwart finishing as runners-up of Derde 3E klasse C in 2015-16 to make it four promotions in four seasons. Their reward was promotion to the seventh tier Tweede 2E klasse H which ended in a lowly finish and relegation.

Debts had been accrued to the Dutch FA, KNVB and local authorities as the side ended 2017-18 in eighth place 3E klasse C. Despite appeals and some repayments the club folded in October 2018.

My visit

Tuesday 21st January 2014

My visit to see the stadium of Helmond Sport was paying dividends. I noted that the Stadion De Braak had other pitches around it from my research on Google Maps, but I presumed that they were just training pitches for the club. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that at least a couple were homes to other amateur outfits.

I’d already come across SC Helmondia and the main stadium and was heading back to the railway station, when I found the final pitch at the Sportpark De Braak complex.

The grass pitch was railed and had hard standing down the side, where the changing rooms and clubhouse were also located. A sign on the outside of the building revealed it was the home of Oranje Zwart, which translated is orange and black to reveal the clubs colours.

Most satisfied with my visit I decided to try and take a short cut and maybe see the city centre. Instead I found lots of newish low cost identical housing in what to be honest, was a pretty uninspiring place.