PSV (Netherlands)

Philips Sport Vereniging, or PSV, or even PSV Eindhoven, is one of the most prominent football clubs in the Netherlands. The club was formed on August 31st, 1913, originally as Philips Eftal until 1916. This was shortly after the team was relegated from Tweede, the second klasse football. 

They recovered in 1917-18 before winning promotion to Eerste Klasse Zuid in 1920-21 with Wout Buitenweg in charge of the team. Eerste Klasse Zuid was one of five top-tier regional divisions from where each winner played in a group to decide the Dutch champions. Despite being relegated in 1924-25, they regained their status at the first attempt. 

Frans Otten became chairman of the Philips sports organisation and set about setting high standards of play and facilities. In 1928-29, PSV reached the championship playoffs after finishing top of the Zuid table, with a win over Velocitas seeing them crowned as champions for the first time. 

A second success arrived at Philips Sportspark in 1934-35 following a championship victory over DWS. The first post-war triumph came in 1949-50 as the KNVB Beker, the Dutch FA Cup, was lifted for the first time as HFC Haarlem were beaten 4-3 under English trainer Sam Wadsworth. 

The following season saw a third championship title as Willem II were defeated in the deciding match, with Coen Dillen’s goals proving invaluable. Wadsworth departed in 1961, by which time Ben van Gelder had taken over the running of the organisation as players from nationwide joined the club for the first time, and the club embraced professionalism.

A 5-2 victory over Ajax in June 1963 sealed a fourth national title for PSV under the management of Bram Appel as head coach. After a couple of other coaches had spells at the helm, Kurt Linder arrived at Philips Stadion in 1968. His side lost two KNVB finals: to Feyenoord in 1968-69 and Ajax in 1969-70, as well as reaching a European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1970-71. 

Kees Rijvers was appointed as head coach in 1972 as he signed the brothers Willy and Rene van der Kerkhof and Ralf Edstrom to augment the likes of Jan van Beveren and Willy Van der Kuijlen. The team won the 1973-74 KNVB Beker with a 6-0 hammering of NAC Breda as van der Kuijlen netted a hat trick. 

PSV went on to win the Eredivisie title the following campaign, as well as reaching another Cup Winners' Cup semi-final. In 1975-76 PSV returned to De Kuip to lift the Beker once again; this time by courtesy of a 1-0 extra time win against Roda JC, thanks to an Edström goal to complete the double after securing the club's sixth league triumph.

The team narrowly missed out on a European Cup Final as they bowed out to St Etienne 1-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals. In 1977-78, PSV won the league and ended unbeaten, as well as claiming their first European trophy. After a Nick Deacy goal proved decisive against FC Barcelona in the semi-final, Bastia were beaten 3-0 on aggregate to lift the UEFA Cup. 

The goals were scored by Willy van de Kerkhof, Willy van der Kuijlen, and Gerrie Deijkers. After a few seasons without success, Hans Kraay was appointed as the new director of football. He immediately looked to sign players of flair such as Ruud Gullit, Soren Lerby, Gerald Vanenburg, and Eric Gerets. 

The Eredivisie was sealed in 1985-86 under trainer Jan Reker, with Hallvar Thoresen chipping in with his share of goals. Gullit departed during the following season to AC Milan as Guus Hiddink came in as head coach, signing Ronald Koeman and leading the side to another championship in 1987-88 with Wim Kieft finishing as Eredivisie top scorer.

The 1987-88 campaign proved to be the greatest in the club’s history. The Eredivisie was won with ease, and the KNVB Beker was lifted against Roda JC 3-2 as Gerets’ brace was added to by a Lerby goal. The icing on the cake was the European Cup campaign. Victories over Fenerbahce, Rapid Wien, Bordeaux, and Real Madrid set up a final against Benfica in Stuttgart. 

The game ended 0-0, but PSV lifted the trophy on penalties after Hans Van Breukelen proved to be the hero in goal. In 1989, PSV signed the Brazilian Romário, before going on to lift the 1989-90 KNVB Cup with a 1-0 victory against Vitesse thanks to a Stan Valckx penalty. Hiddink departed afterwards to be replaced by England boss Bobby Robson.

Robson’s reign lasted two seasons at the Philips Stadion, leading the team to the Eredivisie titles in 1990-91 and 1991-92 with Juul Ellerman and Kalusha Bwalya helping out with goals. Romário departed for FC Barcelona in 1993.

Dick Advocaat took over team affairs in the 1994-95 campaign, taking the team to another KNVB Beker win in 1995-96 with a 5-2 win against Sparta Rotterdam, with a young Ronaldo up front, before leaving for FC Barcelona. With the likes of Phillip Cocu, Jaap Stam, Boudewijn Zenden, and Wim Jonk in the team. 

Luuc Nillis led the scoring charts with assistance from strike partner Marcelo Silva Ramos. PSV won the Eredivisie title in the 1996-97 season. The players were sold on as Advocaat departed, as he was replaced by former playing hero Eric Gerets. 

A young Ruud van Nistelrooy broke onto the scene to provide the goals. A fifteenth Eredivisie was secured in 1999-00, with PSV retaining the crown the following season. Gerets departed with Hiddink returning, and Arjen Robben and Park Si-Jung arriving. The team won the league in 2002-03 with Hiddink’s squad adding another title in 2004-05.

From 2005, one specific seat in the stadium - Section D, Row 22, Seat 43 — was kept permanently empty. This was the seat occupied by former Philips chairman Frits Philips. During the latter part of his life, he chose not to use any of the stadium's hospitality facilities and instead took his place in the general crowd.

My drawing of Philips Stadion in 1990, along with some PSV kits.
Click on the image to enlarge it for a closer look.

After his death at the age of 100, the PSV administration chose to keep his seat empty as a tribute. In effect, the Philips Stadium was "his house". The first ever kick off at the stadium had been made by him, as an eight-year-old. The KNVB Beker was captured in 2004-05 with a 4-0 win against Willem II. 

A fine side, including the likes of Mark van Bommel, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Dennis Rommedahl, and Lee Young-Pyo, impressed. PSV came agonisingly close to reaching the Champions League final in 2005-06 but were thwarted in the semi-final by AC Milan. Solace came by way of yet another Eredivisie triumph that arrived at the club with Jefferson Farfán leading the scoring.

The league title was retained in 2006-07 before Ronald Koeman came in to replace Hiddink as the team went on to make it four Eredivisie titles in a row, with goals coming from Danny Koevermans and Kenneth Pérez. Koeman departed for Valencia in October 2008, to be replaced for a short spell by Huub Stevens, before Fred Rutten took over. 

Towards the end of Rutten’s reign, much money was spent on new signings without success, leading to the return of Advocaat after a caretaker spell from Cocu. The team went on to lift the KNVB Cup in 2012 with a 3-0 win over Heracles Almelo at De Kuip, with the goals being provided by Nils Toivonen, Dries Mertens, and Jeremain Lens. 

van Bommel returned to the club, but Advocaat’s team ended up as runners-up in both Eredivisie and then Beker after a 2-1 defeat to AZ. Cocu was named as permanent head trainer in the summer of 2013. At the same time, Jong PSV, the club's 23-team, was admitted into the Eerste Divisie to help raise the standards of the league and to help younger players develop in senior football.

Cocu took the team to the 2014-15 Eredivisie title, for the first time in seven years, to end the previous four-year dominance of Ajax with the trio of Memphis Depay, Luuk de Jong, and Georginio Wijnaldum putting away the chances created by Jetro Willems and Luciano Narsingh. The title was retained in 2015-16, aided by the creativity of Jürgen Locadia and Andrés Guardado and the goalkeeping of Jeroen Zoet. 

Cocu picked up a third Eredivisie title as coach in 2017-18 with the goals coming from Hirving Lozano and Marco van Ginkel. Former player Mark van Bommel took over as trainer with his team ending as league runners-up in 2018-19 before he was replaced by Ernest Faber during the Eredivisie winter break in 2019-20, before he was succeeded by Roger Schmidt.

Donyell Malen starred, before PSV lifted the KNVB Beker the following season with a 2-1 win against Ajax as Érick Gutiérrez and Cody Gakpo netted. The cup was retained twelve months later with a win on penalties against Ajax. Ruud van Nistelrooy was given the trainer's job in 2022-23, as PSV finished runners-up for a third consecutive season.

Peter Bosz was appointed in July 2023, taking the team to the Eredivisie title as Luuk de Jong led the scoring. The Dutch title was retained in 2024-25.

PSV will play in the Eredivisie in the 2025-26 season.

My visits

Friday 6th July 1990

I visited the Philips Stadion with my brother Nick after we had travelled to Italia '90 on the trains, and we were now returning home. On the train journey on the way to Cologne a couple of weeks earlier, we had noticed the proximity of the stadium to the railway station. 

We were due to change trains in Utrecht for our last ride on foreign soil to reach Rotterdam and our ferry back to Hull. I checked out the timetable, I was eventually mastering, and we realised we could kill some time in Eindhoven. It seemed a good idea to see where Bobby Robson would be working for the foreseeable future.

Unbelievably, we had one ticket for the World Cup Final with us. Nick had agreed to try and sell it for one of our pals we had met in Italy, but because there was only one, no travel firms were interested. Do they really think we’d have looked to sell it if there had been two of them?

We walked round to the stadium and saw an open gate. A club worker was standing nearby, so we approached him and explained where we’d been and asked if it was OK if we had a look inside. He said it was fine and seemed a friendly chap. It was a relief not to be asked if we were hooligans for the first time in twenty-four hours.

We went inside the ground behind a goal. The stadium was extremely smart and functional. There was bench seating on three sides, while the other was taken up by a large two-tiered stand divided by corporate boxes. There was a section of terracing which was heavily segregated for away fans in one corner. Philips heaters hung from the roof to keep the fans warm in the winter.

We continued on to Rotterdam to catch the ferry to take us back to Blighty. It had been a long, tiring trip, and I was glad to be returning!

Monday 20th January 2014

My planning and improvisation had been absolutely top-notch, even if I said so myself. The Philips Stadion was to stage PSV’s under-19 team, Jong PSV’s Eerste Divisie live TV game against De Graafschap on a cold Monday evening. My budget room at Broodje Smits was just a clearance or an England penalty kick away. 

I was looking forward to seeing a game in the magnificent arena, twenty-four years after my previous call. However, beforehand, I decided to visit the Jan Louwers Stadion on arrival in the city. This was the base of the city’s second club, FC Eindhoven, and dropping in would save me time before my flight the following morning.

I was very glad to make the decision, as when I went to the kind lady who let me inside to take photos that I was going to the game, she broke the news that it had been moved there. This was not what I wanted to hear. However, I had to call back at the Philips Stadion to collect my ticket anyway. 

With nothing left to lose, I decided I’d try and get inside for a look if nothing else. I couldn’t see any open gates at a place that had doubled in size since 1990. Seeing a groundsman, I attracted his attention. He said he couldn’t let me in, but he told me that a bar by gate 7 would offer me views inside.

After taking the lift, I entered the empty bar and restaurant. The kind lady showed me to the door at the front and told me to help myself with taking photos. I’m glad that I made the effort. On my previous visit, only one side was two-tiered. Now all four sides were, with boxes dividing the two levels. The corners were filled in a continuous rake downstairs. 

The latest addition was to complete the upper corners in 2001 with a window blind type arrangement with gaps between the rows, allowing air to flow inside to assist the pitch’s growth. The bright lamps were on the pitch and turned on, giving off a yellow glow.

I departed to collect my match ticket from the huge store on production of an email allowing me to obtain one as a non-member. I presumed that this indicated that the fixture would be categorised as high risk. How little I knew!