SBV Excelsior (Netherlands)

SBV Excelsior is a professional football club from the Dutch city of Rotterdam, who were formed on the 23rd July 1902 as Rotterdamse Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging Excelsior, translated as Rotterdam Football and Athletics Union Excelsior.

A close group of friends from the Kralingen district of the city had been playing football on the fields of Woudestein for many years. The city municipality gave them official permission to use the land as Excelsior was formed, as they became one of the first working-class clubs in the country.

The club played in regional football for their first few decades, reaching the final of the KNVB Beker, the Dutch FA Cup, in 1929-30, when they were defeated 1-0 by near neighbours Feyenoord. During this period, the team had spells playing at Afrikaanderplein and then Toepad before returning to Woudestein.

In 1945-46, Excelsior won promotion to the Eerste klasse, which was the highest level of football in the country before professionalism was introduced in 1954, following a deciding match against VUC, which attracted a crowd of 52,000 to De Kuip.

Excelsior was the main club behind the beginning of payments to players. As the smallest club in the city, they were required to be innovative to survive. Professionalism would allow them to compete, argued chairman Henk Zon.

The KNVB agreed, and professional football was introduced to the Netherlands in August 1954. They missed out on a place in the Eredivisie when it was introduced for the 1956-57 season, continuing in one of the two second-tier Eerste Divisie’s. In 1958, the club once again became pioneers by covering the stands at their Woudestein stadium.

In 1962-63, the Eerste Divisie was halved in size, with just one division. Excelsior remained in the second tier. However, they went down to Tweede Divisie in 1964-65. After three mid-table finishes, they returned to Eerste Divisie at the conclusion of the 1968-69 campaign.

Better news was still to come for Excelsior as they were promoted to the Eredivisie on their first attempt to enjoy top-flight football. After flirting with relegation for two seasons, ‘The Old Paper Club’ as Excelsior were often known as because of chairman Zon’s business empire, went back down in 1972-73.

The resilient team won promotion at the first attempt after claiming the Eerste Divisie title. It was at this point that Zon attempted to introduce shirt sponsorship. An ‘A’ was placed on the front of playing shirts, which the chairman claimed signified the ‘A Team’. The KNVB disagreed and realised it was a plug for sponsors Akai.

The Eredivisie spell lasted two seasons. In 1978-79, Excelsior once again lifted the championship of the Eerste Divisie to return to the top level, as a relationship with Feyenoord was formed. Once again, they remained there for just two years, returning to the highest level the following season through the playoffs.

The assistance of Feyenoord aided Excelsior to remain in the top division until 1986-87, when they finished bottom of the table. The team would remain in the second tier until 2001-02, when promotion was won through the playoffs. They made an immediate return back down through the relegation playoffs.

In 2005-06, Excelsior once again lifted the Eerste Divisie crown, before returning to compete for it once again a couple of seasons later. The next flirtation with top-flight football came at the end of the 2009-10 season following a win in the playoffs.

In 2012-13, Leon Vlemmings' side went back down in last place. Marinus Dijkhuizen took the side straight back up, once again through the playoff rounds. After averting relegation by one spot in 2014-15, Dijkhuizen departed to take up the Brentford manager’s job. He was replaced by Fons Groenendijk, as the connection with Feyenoord was ended.

Mitchell van der Gaag took over as coach for the 2016-17 campaign, which ended as a second successive narrow squeak with relegation. 2017-18 saw Excelsior finish comfortably in mid-table. Adrie Poldervaart was appointed as coach in the summer of 2018, but didn’t see the season out as he was replaced by André Hoekstra. 

He couldn’t save the side as they were relegated in the play-offs. Dijkhuizen returned for a second spell for the 2019-20 season. The playoffs were reached in 2021-22, which saw victory in the final on penalties against ADO Den Haag. The side did enough to stay up on their return to the Eredivisie.

However, it wasn't to be in 2023-24. NAC Breda won the playoff game on aggregate as Excelsior returned to the Eerste Divisie. Ruben den Uil was appointed as trainer, taking the side to promotion as Lance Duijvestijn played a starring role.

S.B.V. Excelsior will play in the Eredivisie in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Thursday 28th January 2016

The only previous times that I’d been to Rotterdam were when I used the city to access the North Sea Ferry with my brother Nick when going and coming home from the World Cup in Italy in 1990. I was looking forward to having a proper look, and of course, there was no better way of doing that than visiting city-wide football clubs.

Once I’d deposited my bag in the lockers at the station, I soon found the correct stop for the number 24 tram towards De Esch. The ten stops took me through the rather sterile city centre. In fairness, it wasn’t really Rotterdam’s fault that it had to be built virtually from scratch from 1945, as my barman friend in Arnhem had pointed out.

The area between Blaak station and Oostplein looked decent enough bar-wise and offered an option for later in the evening. After around twenty minutes, I got out at the Woudestein stop, which was conveniently located right outside the stadium.

After a walk behind the Main Stand and taking a couple of limited photos, I walked around the back of the goal nearest the tram. Fortunately enough, there was a gate open and I was inside. There were a few people scattered around tidying up after the previous night’s match against PSV.

Stadion Woudestein had four raised seated stands, with one on each side around the artificial playing surface. The total capacity was just over 3,500, but all was neat and tidy. Flat open areas in each corner completed the scene. A supporter’s bar was in the corner where I stood. It was a perfect size for a club of Excelsior’s standing.

Once I’d taken all my photos, I travelled by tram and metro towards the home of Sparta to educate myself further.