RKVV Brabantia (Netherlands)

Rooms-Katholieke Voetbal Vereniging Brabantia, or RKVV Brabantia as they are more commonly known, is an amateur football club from Eindhoven in the Netherlands. The club was registered on March 1st, 1922, as Olympia to give boys from the Strijpse district of the city a way to play, as street football was banned. 

The club established its home ground at Sportpark De Hurk. Once the club joined the Brabantse Voetbal Bond (BVB) in 1924, and had to change its name as there was already a club registered as Olympia. RKVV was eventually selected in 1929 to reflect the club's catholic links as they played in the RVK’s IVCB competition.

The 1930s saw great success for ‘d'n Brab’ as in 1936 and 1937, they were crowned IVCB national champions. At the time, Brabantia were great rivals with their city neighbours, PSV, as they battled for supremacy. The RKV merged with the KNVB soon afterwards. 1954 saw the advent of professional football in Holland, for which Brabantia tried for the first season. 

The board, under Chairman Paul van Loenhout, made the decision to revert to amateur status. The next thirty years saw d’n Brab win several promotions as well as suffer relegations, mainly in the Derde (third) and Tweede (second) Klasse divisions, with an occasional visit to the second tier of amateur football, the Eerste Klasse.

The club continued its ethos of social activity and equality when a women’s team was added in 1975. Meanwhile, the first team suffered a major downturn between 1987 and 1990 as they found themselves down in the Vierde (fourth) Klasse. Under the guidance of former Dutch international Jan Poortvliet, Brabantia climbed their way back all the way to Eerste Klasse football by 1999. 

However, following his departure, they dropped down to the Derde Klasse within six years.

Gradually, the team and club regrouped, leading to Brabantia reaching their highest level of football as they reached the Sunday, Zondag Hoofdklasse for the 2012-13 season.

Unfortunately, their spell lasted just one season as they finished second from bottom and were relegated back to the Eerste Klasse. Brabantia consolidated in mid-table on their return before improving to third place in 2016-17. The following season saw a drop to ninth while the team ended 2018-19 in eleventh.

The side was relegated after finishing bottom of the table in 2021-22, going down to the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse. Worse was to follow in 2023-24 as Brabantia dropped another level. The following season, they finished as Derde Klasse F champions.

RKVV Brabantia will play in Zondag Tweede Klasse D in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Tuesday 21st January 2014

My long weekend in Holland was just about to finish. It had been a brilliant trip, although I was now struggling as I’d done so much walking. My final call was to Brabantia after I’d been just outside Eindhoven, to Veldhoven, to visit the home of VV UNA. My planning once more did me a favour as I jumped off the bus at the Cederlaan stop.

A ten-minute walk through Brabantia’s traditional heartland saw me on Rijstenweg and walking through the gates to the Sportpark de Hurk.

A large car park stood behind the goal of the main pitch. The outstanding feature was what I considered a brilliant piece of modern architecture. The stand was raised with lots of facilities underneath. Its shape and make were not unlike the Media Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Some open seats were looking down on the pitch, as well as glassed-in areas. 

The other side of the structure looked down on the minor pitches. The rest of the main arena had hard standing all the way around the artificial pitch, with plentiful high fencing and advertising boards, as well as a scoreboard in the corner.

Some lads were having a kick around on the main pitch. They looked concerned when they saw me. I’m not sure if they were meant to be there, but a wave and a smile soon put everyone at ease. There lay the beauty of such pitches. Casual kickabouts would not ruin the surface. Surely that had to be good if more got involved in exercise?

I was delighted with my endeavours over the four or five days, and Brabantia was an excellent place to finish. I walked round the corner as the no.13 bus was due back into the city centre from the Zeelsterstraat stop.

After alighting to take photos of the ornamental gates of Philips Stadion, it was time for a quick snack from the vending machine at the station. The meat fritter was a lovely but belated find. I certainly marked that down for any revisit.

I was soon at the airport for my 3pm flight back to Stansted. It had been a great adventure. I would definitely not right off watching a game from that brilliant stand at Sportpark de Hurk, perhaps as a Sunday double header?