WHC Wezep (Netherlands)

Wezep Hattemerbroek Combination, or WHC Wezep as they are most commonly known, is an amateur football club from Wezep-Hattemerbroek in the Gelderland region of central Netherlands, who were formed on the 1st October 1930, originally as Hattemerbroek Football Association (HVV).

HVV were soon successful, going on to be crowned champions of the North Central Football Association in 1937-38 and 1938-39. Unfortunately, World War Two intervened, but when peace was restored, a new club, HVV Wezeper Boys, took over the reins.

However, the KNVB, the Dutch FA, refused to recognise the new setup and forced them to merge with another local club, HVV Brandsma. From there, WHC was born. Placed in Saturday fourth-class amateur Dutch football, WHC reached the final of the competition in 1948-49, where they were defeated 2-1 by Amsterdam AMVJ.

Undaunted, WHC regrouped and won the championship the following season by beating Nunspeet in 't Harde in front of 5,000 fans at the final to win promotion to Derde Klasse football. After a couple of third places in Klasse 3A before the team finished as runners-up and then won the promotion playoffs.

The 1960s would bring the glory days to Sportpark Muldersingel as five championships at Tweede Klasse were won. In 1963-64 and 1965-66, the 2C title was won, sandwiching a second place in between. The club was moved geographically to play in Tweede Klasse 2D, where WHC were just at home with further title wins in 1966-67 and 1967-68. 

An amazing crowd of 11,500 witnessed the completion of the blue and white’s seventh club title for the final against local rivals Go Ahead Kampen Zwolle. 1969-70 saw the 2D championship return to the club. 

The following season saw WHC win the Saturday Amateur Cup following a victory over Black White '28. Throughout the 70’s, WHC played in the top tier of the amateur game, fluctuating between divisions 1A and 1B. A runners-up spot was achieved in 1971-72, which was followed by a series of mid-table finishes. 

WHC narrowly avoided relegation in 1979-80 following a 5-0 win over SDCP, with 5,000 fans attending the clash in Nunspeet. However, 1981-82 saw WHC relegated for the first time. Six years later, victory over FC Meppel in the final of the Tweede Klasse saw WHC propelled back to the first Eerste Klasse for the 1988-89 campaign.

The team competed in Klasse 1B and 1C for the following nine seasons, where the team finished third in 1992-93 before being crowned as champions of 1D in 1996-97 to take the club up to Hoofdklasse football, the highest amateur status of the day.

Probably WHC’s greatest claim to fame came when they were drawn against Ajax in the KNVB Cup. The match on the 23rd December 2009 was moved to the IJsseldelta Stadion, home of neighbours PEC Zwolle, and ended in a 14-1 win for the visitors in front of a sell-out 10,500 crowd. To see the action from the game, click here.

The turn of the millennium saw the club consolidate and then end with three third-place finishes in the league. Following the restructuring of the leagues in 2010-11, WHC failed to gain a place in the Topklasse as Hoofdklasse dropped to the second tier.

After three third-place finishes, WHC ended as runners-up of Zaterdag Hoofdklasse C in 2010-11 and 2011-12 before being relegated in 2014-15. The team recovered, finishing third in 2016-17 and again the following season, from where they won promotion through the play-offs under trainer Wiljan Mossing Holsteyn.

However, their Hoofdklasse stay lasted just twelve months. Richard Karrenbelt was appointed as trainer in July 2020, taking the side to runners-up in 2021-22 and then fourth the following season. Stephan Rahantoknam was given the trainer's job in July 2023.

A further restructuring of the Dutch league system saw WHC placed in the Saturday fifth-tier Vierde Divisie Group D for the 2024-25 season.

WHC Wezep will play in Zaterdag Vierde Divisie Group D in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

WHC Wezep 1 AZSV 0 (Saturday 18th January 2014) Zaterdag Hoofdklasse C (att: 300)

When I planned my long weekend around the Netherlands, one of the attractions was that the main Eredivisie games kicked off on the Saturday evening, offering me scope to delve into the non-league amateur game for the first time. 

As my match of choice at night was PEC Zwolle against Vitesse and to meet up with my old pal Guy Watson, who was going to FC Utrecht v Feyenoord the following day, I wanted a nearby game. The excellent Soccerway website was to prove to be my friend once again.

After some trekking around Enschede and Hengelo, the train took me to Zwolle at lunchtime. A strategic error on my part led me to book the excellent but remote Mercure Hotel on the outskirts of the town. I decided to splash out on a taxi from the station, but the rapid rate of the meter was putting me off further extravagance.

Freshened up after a shower, I planned to jump on the no.100 bus at the Oranje Nassaulaan stop. However, this required using the cycle paths going under the motorway and dual carriageway. I got lost and had to revert to the map app on my iPhone. 

Thankfully, I’d taken up the offer from 3 Phones of an unlimited twenty-four-hour internet pass for a fiver. I was soon on track, but time was pressing on. I was never going to make the stop, so instead I had to jog and then run further down the route to Katerveerdijk.

I beat the bus by a minute. The locals saw a very out-of-breath and perspiring visitor jump on board! Around ten minutes later, I was jumping off at Willem de Zwijgerkazerne. From there, it was a couple of minutes walk down Hoeloosweg to the entrance of Sportpark Muldersingel. I was encouraged that others were doing the same.

I immediately got the vibes that WHC was a thriving club. At least two other games had finished on adjoining pitches, and the women’s team was warming up before their match on the secondary pitch behind the goal of the main arena. 

I followed the crowds and found a temporary club shop. I was delighted to see that there was a match programme. I’m not sure how much I paid for it, as I let the friendly lady take some change from my hand, but she gave me four strips of raffle tickets as well.

Admission cost me €7. I was given a ticket at the booth that was then torn in half by the inspector a yard away! The entrance was in the corner of the ground, just past what looked like a decent clubhouse. Once inside, I liked what I saw. De Muldersingel was a typical non-league venue.

By the entrance, there was a food stall. Both ends had a little flat, hard standing. The far side had seven steps of open terracing. The near side had similar open terracing but a raised, roofed seated stand across the halfway line to accommodate 500 fans. 

There was a basic scoreboard in the far corner, but the feature that impressed me was the raised double level of advertising boards above the open ends and terracing, giving the ground a real enclosed feel and the impression that local businesses really supported their club.

I took up a position on the far terrace once I’d taken my photos to take in the action. Both sides went into the game in the bottom three in the league table, so I was expecting a tight clash. I wasn’t to be let down.

The visitors from Aalten began brightly without creating any real opportunities. The home centre back Tanju Sahin seemed to enjoy the theatrical side of the game. I quickly got the impression that he wasn’t quite as good as he thought he was. The match had moments of close skill and passing, but also plenty of long balls for good measure. 

WHC grew into the encounter and went ahead after twenty-eight minutes when Bunyamin Özkök latched on to a pass inside the area to go round the visiting custodian Ruud Kempers and slot home from a tight angle.

Just like being back at a game at home, the away keeper took some stick from a group of home youths. Kempers looked quite young himself with a head of flaming red hair. I’m not sure what was repeatedly shouted at him each time he cleared the ball, but I don’t suppose it was too complimentary. 

Shortly after the goal, the WHC centre forward Ibrahim Tuncer, who was built like a young Peter Crouch, missed a sitter and put the ball onto the women’s pitch over the fence. Leading up to half-time, I saw fans leaving the terrace and coming back from the food bars, eating something out of paper. 

This had to be investigated! It turned out to be a lightly battered fish that was then sprinkled with paprika pepper. It cost €2.20, and I have to say it was a very welcome treat as far as football food goes.

As the half-time whistle went, it was time to wash my snack down with a beer. Bottles of Amstel were an extremely reasonable €1.75 a go. The TVs were showing the teletext pages from the other games around the country, including the amateurs.

I decided to take up a seat in the stand for the second half, finding the day so much more relaxing after finding out that the Scarborough game at Bedworth had been postponed. Tuncer continued to have a nightmare up front before he was mercifully replaced, while Sahin looked to be the star while making his fair share of errors.

The action had reduced after the break and turned into a battle of attrition. AZSV pushed forward, trying to pierce the home defence, but they were holding firm and looking more likely to double their advantage. 

Özkök came close to claiming a brace with a decent chance. As the game entered its closing stages, I stood by the exit as Tjeerd Korf and then Rossi Dati both missed gilt-edged chances to seal the game.

I fully expected them to let it slip in the last minute. Judging from the reaction of their fans, I wasn't in a minority. However, they hung on to claim three vital points. I thought it was only right to have another bottle while waiting for my bus. 

The bar was packed with happy fans who then turned their attention to the TVs showing the Netherlands v New Zealand hockey match. My timing was perfect, having only to wait a minute or two for the bus to arrive and take me to Zwolle station and to meet up with Guy for the evening’s entertainment.