Vitesse (Netherlands)

Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse, or simply Vitesse are they are more commonly known is a professional football club from the city of Arnhem in the Netherlands, who were formed on the 14th May 1892. Vitesse was originally formed as a cricket club, like several other sporting organisations in the country at the time. 

At the meeting to form the club on Parkstraat, the founder members, including Mr. Frits Couvée, had to decide on a name. They decided upon the French ‘Vitesse’, which read ‘Speed’ after translation. Before too long, it was decided to add football to the club’s portfolio. They played their games at Arnhemsche Rink, which offered opportunities all year round. 

Cricket was played in the summer, football in the winter, with skating taking over when the area flooded and froze. Willem Hesselink was amongst the team in the first-ever match against fellow cricket and football club Quick of Nijmegen. He would become the first Vitesse player to be capped by Holland, to capitalise on his cannonball shooting.

After playing friendly games, Vitesse joined the Dutch FA (KNVB) in 1894 to play in the Gelderland Championship. A new home ground was found at Paaschwei, with the team going on to lift the Gelderland title at the first attempt. After another title was added, Vitesse moved to the higher-ranked Eerste klasse. 

Further titles followed in 1896-97 and 1897-98. On both occasions, the team reached the Dutch championship decider, but were denied on both occasions by RAP Amsterdam. In 1896, the club moved to a new ground. Matches were played at the velodrome at Klarenbeek. At the turn of the century, Vitesse jettisoned their blue and white club colours and opted for yellow and black instead.

In 1902-03, Vitesse once again ended as Dutch runners-up, this time to HVV. More Gelderland titles followed, but the national title was proving a step too far. In 1912-13, it was Sparta Rotterdam who denied the club. HVV once again would deny Vitesse the following season before Sparta once again broke the hearts of the Arnhem club in 1914-15. 

The team also reached the KNVB Cup Final of 1912, but they lost out 2-0 to Haarlem. During the period, goalkeeper Just Göbel would prove to be one of Vitesse’s greatest servants, as well as winning twenty-two caps for the Dutch national side. The club left Klarenbeek for a new home at Oud Monnikenhuize in 1915. 

The new ground was opened on the 26th September with a game against Noordelijk Zwaluwen. Following a quiet period honours-wise, Vitesse reached the 1927 KNVB Cup Final, where they were defeated 2-0 by VUC Den Haag in Arnhem. From 1914 to 1927, Vitesse had relied on English trainers: John Sutcliffe, John MacPherson, Charles Griffith, and Robert Jefferson.

In 1927, the club turned to the German Heinrich Schwarz to lead the club for the next nine years. The team suffered a relegation, but an immediate return via a championship during the 1930s, before World War II broke out.

During the years of conflict, Vitesse lifted a league crown along with a record 11-0 victory over Aalten, where Nico Westdijk scored a triple hat trick! In 1942, the club celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a match against Ajax, while collecting another championship, but no promotion. During the terrible Battle of Arnhem in 1944, the clubhouse was destroyed, as well as sustaining other great damage to the pitches at Oud Monnikenhuize. 

The 1945-46 season saw promotion from Tweede klasse Oost to Eerste klasse, but the team was soon relegated once more. Coach Jan Zonnenberg led the team to another title in 1949-50. 1950 saw the club move across Monnikensteeg to a new stadium named Stadion Nieuw Monnikenhuize, which was opened on the 3rd September with a 2-1 victory over Feyenoord.

In 1952-53, the club lifted its first Eerste klasse championship for thirty-five years, before football turned professional in Holland. Many players departed to play for De Graafschap, while new trainer Pepi Gruber added many young players to the squad.

Vitesse embraced the semi-professional era and competed in the second-tier Erste Divisie. In 1962, the club dropped down a league, but they regained their spot in 1966. A merger of ADO and Holland Sport freed up a spare place in the top-flight Eredivisie for the 1971-72 season. Unfortunately, Cor Brom’s side finished bottom and were relegated back to the Erste Divisie.

Henk Wullems took the side back to Eredivisie in 1976-77, where they remained for three seasons. It would be the 1988-89 campaign that saw Vitesse return to the elite league under Bert Jacobs.

The team remained in the top flight and reached the 1989-90 KNVB Cup Final before going down to a solitary goal against PSV at De Kuip, with the goals of John van den Brom propelling the side forward. Some quality players appeared for Vitesse over the next few years.

They included Hans Gillhaus, Roy Makaay, Nikos Machlas, Sander Westerveld, Philip Cocu, and Pierre van Hooijdonk, as several trainers took control of team affairs. Nieuw Monnikenhuize saw its last action on the 21st of December 1997, as Vitesse defeated FC Twente 2-1. 

The land was used for new housing while the club moved to the newly built revolutionary GelreDome with its sliding roof and removable pitch. The stadium was the brainchild of club President Karel Aalbers, who had been appointed in 1984 to transform Vitesse from a second-tier Dutch club into one of the top forty in Europe. 

The GelreDome was able to stage concerts and other events, while attendances rocketed. Aalbers remained in his position until 2000, when the main sponsors Nuon threatened to withdraw their support if he didn’t resign because they were a public utility company owned by the local authorities. 

They claimed that they were struggling to justify their support for Aalber's ambitious plans. 

Within a couple of years, the club began to show a financial deficit. By 2008, Vitesse was threatened with bankruptcy, such was the downturn. Help was at hand when Georgian businessman Merab Jordania bought Vitesse in 2010.

Jordania was a close friend of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, which led to a partnership between the two clubs. Ronald Koeman was appointed as coach, and he had the benefit of loaning Nemanja Matić from Chelsea.

Future trainers Fred Rutten and then Peter Bosz, from his appointment in July 2013, had the benefit of further Chelsea loan signings, Gaël Kakuta, Patrick van Aanholt, and Bertrand Traoré, while Wilfried Bony scored the goals between 2011 and 2013 before moving on to Swansea City.

Rob Maas took over as trainer in January 2016, before the arrival of Henk Fraser a few months later. The new man would lead Vitesse to glory in the KNVB Beker as two late goals from Ricky van Wolfswinkel were enough to defeat AZ.

Edward Sturing was appointed as the new trainer towards the end of the 2017-18 season, in which Vitesse finished fifth as the partnership of Bryan Linssen and Tim Matavž scored the goals supplied by Chelsea loanee Mason Mount.

Leonid Slutsky arrived as trainer in July 2018, as the creative skills of Martin Ødegaard ensured another fifth place. The outbreak of Coronavirus ended the 2019-20 season early, with the team in seventh after Slutsky resigned. Thomas Letsch became the trainer, taking the side to fourth position in the Eredivisie table.

Loïs Openda scored the goals in the 2021-22 season, as the side ended in sixth. Phillip Cocu was appointed as trainer in September 2022, before he was replaced fourteenth months later by Edward Sturing. 2023-24 was a disastrous season for the club, who were deducted eighteen points for breaking the license requirements.

The team ended on six points and was relegated. John van den Brom was put in charge of the side, which then finished bottom of the Erste Divisie in 2024-25. This time, they deducted twenty-seven points for failing to file accounts and comply with the information obligation.

While being spared from relegation, the team began the 2025-26 season on minus thirteen points, as Rüdiger Rehm was given the role of trainer to try and salvage something from the sorry mess.

Vitesse will play in the Erste Divisie in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Vitesse 1 PEC Zwolle 1 (Wednesday 27th January 2016) Eredivisie (att: 14,876)

I arrived in the historic city of Arnhem around 2pm, feeling tired and needing some rest after the previous Australia Day shenanigans back in Amsterdam in the excellent company of Dave Kenwery. Fortunately for me, the Hotel Arnhem Central was just that, being only a couple of hundred yards from the railway station.

Following a decent siesta, it was time to have a look around. The night was drawing in rapidly, so seeing too much wasn’t really an option. I’d hear many good things about the welcome offered to Britons because of events in the War. I would have liked to pay proper respect to the past, but time was simply against me.

A pleasant walk took me through the narrow streets of the old centre, passing the Pegasus pub that my mate Guy Watson had recommended to me. It was empty at the time, and I wasn’t quite ready for beer until I’d had some food. I’m afraid that chicken at Burger King was as adventurous as it got before I searched out the Koren Markt area for some refreshment.

Initially, I tentatively got back on the horse in Café de Schoof. They seemed a strange all-male crowd in there, and I felt like I was being stared at. The piped music was average and too loud. I opted for a change after a couple, and I’m glad I did. Café t’Huys proved to be a far better choice. The fine Jan Hertog beer was only €2.50 a go, and it hit the spot, as did some AC/DC on the speakers. 

TVs were showing the early kick-off between Vitesse’s local rivals, NEC, who were playing Twente. Several Vitesse fans were amongst the vibrant crowd in the bar. It was soon time to walk over to the railway station, where the bus terminus was attached. I followed the crowd of football fans round to the far side and purchased a €4.50 return ticket on the special match buses as the GelreDome was quite some way out of town. 

The bus only took around ten minutes before it dropped us off outside the Main Stand. My €18 ticket was for the far corner, which normally would mean a little walk. However, because of the design of the arena, it was twice as long. The area behind the South Stand was where the pitch is rolled out when not in use and was fenced off. 

The bonus came when I got the opportunity to have a quick look inside the supporters' clubhouse around that side. It was nice to see reminders of the Allied War effort adorning a wall. It was also good to pick up a free match programme. My seat was high up towards the corner of the stand. It gave me a great view of what was a really cleverly designed arena. 

Three stands were virtually identical, save for the East, where pillars held up the roof at the rear. The final Business Main Stand had rows of corporate boxes at the rear and a section of seating in front. The corners were blocked off with high white walls. With the permanent roof, it seemed quite strange, but a perfect template for a club of such a size.

Once I discovered that I could walk around to the Business Stand along the concourse, I needed no second invitation. The arena was by no means full, so I had a pick of seats. The stewards didn’t seem bothered. One design feature that I wasn’t keen on was that when sitting towards the goal, you had no idea of the atmosphere or crowd immediately to your right or left because of the corner walls.

Before kick off, the Arnhem eagle was let loose to show us its skills as it landed right back with its handler. Vitesse started off the game very positively. Nineteen-year-old forward Izzy Brown, who was on loan from Chelsea, looked like a fine prospect. Visiting keeper Mickey van der Hart pulled off a couple of stops. Brown was finding a willing ally in the Israeli Sheran Yeini.

Gradually, Zwolle began to get into the game. I’d been tipped off about their centre forward, Lars Veldwijk, who was on loan from Nottingham Forest. He’d called it right, as the big man purveyed some fine hold-up play. Around the half-hour mark, Veldwijk broke through to latch onto a pass. 

As he was about to shoot inside the area, he was unceremoniously hauled down by Vitesse stopper Maikel van der Werff, who formerly played for PEC. Everyone looked for referee Ed Jannsen to point to the penalty spot and produce a red card, but amazingly, he waved away all appeals and let play continue. It’s fair to say that Veldwijk was not impressed! 

A few minutes later, appeals for a penalty for handball at the other end also fell on deaf ears. It was refreshing when watching the highlights package back in the UK to hear that Mr Jannsen admitted to getting both decisions wrong. This was a shame, as apart from that, I thought he was pretty good.

At the break, I swapped seats to move to the other end of the stand, to where Zwolle hoped to be attacking. They were being backed by a couple of hundred fans. Strangely enough, when I went to a game at PEC, their opponents had been Vitesse. I didn’t bother with any refreshments as the munten token system was in operation.

PEC’s defender Dirk Marcellis had an effort punched away by the home custodian Eloy Room soon after the restart. Van der Hart stopped an effort from Vitesse’s Kōsuke Ōta. Although there hadn’t been a goal, the game was entertaining enough and light years ahead of the Ajax v Heracles game the previous evening.

As the volume grew, Vitesse took the lead in slightly fortuitous circumstances when Renato Ibarra fired in a low cross, which was diverted into his own net by the PEC left back Bram van Polen on sixty-five minutes.

It took Zwolle just three minutes to restore parity as Sheraldo Becker set up Dirk Marcellis to stab home into the corner. Both teams continued to try and win the game, but there would be no further scoring. A draw was about fair and I’d enjoyed the game, not least watching it in nice temperatures.

There was method in my seat selection for the second half. I was straight down the steps and across the car park to the first bus back to the station. Within twenty minutes of the game finishing, I was back in the Café t’Huys watching the goals from the evening’s other games.

While drinking, I could see that a customer was becoming quite anxious, looking for a jacket. Mine was hung up on the wall while I sat at the bar. The barman started to look too, and then he came to speak to me. I said that I was English, and it was like a new world opened up. 

The coat was eventually found while I had a good, friendly conversation with the barman. He seemed shocked that I wanted to visit Arnhem for a game. He thought that the GelreDome was too big for a club of Vitesse’s size. We both agreed that it seemed strange that no other medium-sized club around Europe had copied such a model. 

It was also nice to hear that many Britons visited the city in respect of former battles. After a few more glasses of beer, I went on my way. Arnhem seemed a sleepy type of town on a weeknight, and so it proved when I looked for a snack before bed. 

Nowhere was open. Instead, I had a good night's sleep and got up early for breakfast and then the train to Rotterdam for some more adventures.