VV Germania (Netherlands)

VV Germania is an amateur football club from the town of Groesbeek, which is located a few miles southeast of the city of Nijmegen, close to the German border. The club was formed on May 1st, 1936, in the Stekkenberg part of town, playing at a ground called ‘het Vlak’.

Within a year, Germania had won the Nijmegen Tweede Klasse, winning promotion to the first division. In 1947, the club was crowned as Nijmegen champions and progressed into the eastern department of the national setup. 

Over the following seventeen years, a couple of championships and promotion were collected, but by 1964, they found themselves in the Vierde, fourth Klasse, as Germania relocated a few hundred metres to Sportpark Noord.

The move was celebrated a year later with a championship win in 1964-65, with Germania going on to lift Districtsbeker Oost, East District Cup in 1966-67. A further championship and promotion was celebrated in 1973-74 when the 3E Klasse D title was won.

Further success followed in 1975-76. The team finished top of 2E Tweede Klasse A before going on to win the final of the playoff against AWS, Germania, to secure promotion to the Eerste Klasse.

Germania played eight consecutive seasons of first-level Sunday amateur football in 1E Klasse with a best finish of third place in 1980-81 and again in 1982-83. However, the team was relegated the following season after failing to build.

In 1987, the club collected its second Districtsbeker Oost, although form in the league continued to dip, ending in relegation from 2E Klasse A in 1988-89 before a further demotion from 3E Klasse D the following season.

The team recovered to lift the 4E Klasse E title at the first attempt to spark a tremendous upturn which saw title wins of 3E Klasse D in 1991-92 and 2E Klasse A in 1992-93 as the club returned to Eerste Klasse football.

The undulating nature of form continued as Germania were relegated in 1994-95 and 1996-97 back down to 3E Klasse D from where they won promotion as champions in 1999-00. The 2E Klasse I league title followed in 2001-02.

In 2003-04, Germania won 1E Klasse E to rise to the heights of the fourth-tier Zondag Hoofdklasse C, where they finished sixth in their debut season before being relegated in bottom place in 2005-06. After a runners-up spot, Germania claimed the 1 E Klasse E championship in 2007-08. 

The team dropped back down a year later after defeat in the relegation play-offs. Back in Eerste E1 Klasse E, the side finished as runners-up in 2010-11, under the eye of trainer Willie Willems, before a third place and then a successful play-off in 2013-14 won the club another promotion.

Once again, Hoofdklasse football was too tough for Germania, who were relegated in their first season, before another demotion came in 2016-17. The 2017-18 campaign was even worse, with the side dropping down to eighth-tier Derde Klasse football.

The team stabilised to finish seventh before the appointment of coach Jeffrey Kooistra. The team was relegated again in 2021-22, finishing third and then runners-up with Henny Queens and then Tonnie Heijmans training the side in Vierde Klasse D before the promotion was won in 2024-25 under the returning trainer Willems to return eighth-tier football to the club.

VV Germania will play in the Zondag Derde Klasse J in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Monday 20th January 2014

My weekend sojourn was down to its last full day, and I was keen to see as many clubs as possible while heading to Eindhoven for the evening’s match. It was a typical January day, with a grey sky and low temperatures. 

After a fine breakfast at the Prince B&B in Nijmegen, I wandered around to the railway station to drop my bag in a locker before going next door to the bus station to jump onboard the no.5 to take me to the Stekkenberg stop.

Having already passed Sportpark Noord, I was able to soon locate the ground up the lane behind Nijmeegsebaan. I arrived at the grounds entrance past another pitch to find the small railed gate locked, so I hopped over.

The venue was much like many others at the Hoofdklasse level. Three sides had a small bit of hard standing, with banked grass behind, backed by high advertising hoardings and a scoreboard. 

The final side had some open terracing on either side of a fine, raised seated stand. The club offices and clubhouse were just outside the ground. It was very neat and tidy, and everything required was without entering the ridiculous regulations imposed on clubs of a similar standard by the English FA.

I saw a gap in the hedge in the corner and tried to get over the fence at that side to no avail. Cars were arriving, and I felt a bit embarrassed at being inside. I walked all the way round to find a gate open by the stand and spoke to some friendly club officials. 

I followed one out as he walked down the bank and to the advertising board on the main road to change the fixture information for the following week’s game. I continued heading downhill and then along for over a mile to my next port of call, the home of Achilles ’29.