TSV LONGA (Holland)

Tilburgse Voetbalvereniging Lichaams Ontwikkeling Na Gedane Arbeid; or TSV LONGA as they were more commonly known was a football club from the Dutch city of Tilburg who were formed on the 8th April 1920 before they merged with other local clubs TSV NOAD and RKTVV to form FC Tilburg in July 2017.

The club originally had connections with the Hanseatic Bank, through their founder Harry van Loon, who was the deputy manager of the company. In 1921 they joined the Brabant Football Association, entering two teams. Both won their division.

This led to a promotion to the 3e klasse of the KNVB, which they won in 1922-23 after finishing as runners-up in their first season. In 1926 LONGA lifted the KNVB Beker, the national cup, after a 5-2 win over Amsterdam club, De Spartaan.

In 1927-28 LONGA were promoted to Eerste Klasse. When professional football was introduced in 1954, the club were placed in one of the four Eerste klasse divisions. The Dutch champions were decided by play-offs between the four champions.

The league was restructured further for the 1956-57 campaign, with LONGA being placed in Tweede divisie B. They finished in third position in the inaugural season, which was the highest ever finish for the club.

In 1963-64 and 1964-65 LONGA finished in bottom position before they returned to amateur football to play in the second tier of the competition in Tweede klasse 2A. Promotion was won in 1974-75 when a runners-up spot led to promotion to Eerste klasse 1E.

Twelve months later the club won the league title to move to Hoofdklasse C where the team competed to 1995-96 before dropping back down a level. Worse was to come for LONGA as the were relegated after a season to Tweede klasse 2E.

The team suffered another relegation in 2005-06 but recovered after just one season before being demoted again twelve months later. LONGA won the Tweede klasse 2E title in 2006-07 before going on to win the Erste klasse 1C title in 2007-08.

Promotion was won at the first attempt back to Tweede klasse, where they remained for just one season as yet another promotion was achieved with a second place finish. The run continued with Hoofdklasse status being recovered for the 2008-09 campaign.

Unfortunately, the higher level football only lasted one season at the Sportpark TSV LONGA before they were demoted again to Eerste klasse. The 2014-15 season ended in relegation meaning Tweede klasse football once again.

LONGA played the 2015-16 campaign in Tweede klasse 2E, before a final relegation to Derde klasse 3C where a fourth place ended their life as a solitary club before the three club merger to become FC Tilburg in July 2017. 

The club would still live on in the memory as the new club moved into LONGA’s Sportpark Spoordijk.

My visit

Friday 29^th January 2016

It was the final day of a four day trip to the Netherlands and I had one last venue to tick off before relaxing ahead that evening’s Eredivisie clash between Willem II and Heracles Almelo. After visiting city neighbours TSV NOAD I took a walk along the paths at the side of the Lovense canal.

I crossed over to the east bank at Kapitein Nemostraat and continued past the transporter bridge at Bosscheweg and under the railway bridge to find myself at the open gates of the Sportpark TSV LONGA complex.

Like several Dutch venues that I had previously called in at, the venue had several pitches. On this occasion there were at least five other pitches as well as the one for the first team. This had a fine raised seated stand called the Henk Pellikaan Tribune. 

Changing rooms were located past the stand towards the south goal. The final three sides were open flat standing, being backed by advertising boards to give the ground an enclosed feel.

Having completed my task it was now time to head into town for some well earned relaxation time. It certainly turned out to be an eventful end to my Dutch adventures. You can read about them here on the Willem II page.