VV Capelle (Netherlands)

Voetbalvereniging Capelle, or VV Capelle is a Dutch amateur football club who were formed on the 20th February 1930, who are located in the town of Capelle aan den Ijssel, which is on the Hollandse Ijssel river, on the eastern outskirts of Rotterdam.

In 1963, the club moved into Sportpark ‘t Slot with its three pitches. Capelle began to collect some titles in the late 80s, as it looked to encourage young players to come through the ranks. After four runner-up places in the Zaterdag, Saturday Hoofdklasse, the team was promoted via the play-offs in 2009-10 to the Topklasse, with trainer René Vermunt in charge of the team.

That same season, Capelle reached the third round of the KNVB Beker following victories over VV UNA and then RKVV Westlandia. Their reward was a tie away to FC Twente at De Grolsch Veste, which the home side won 4-0. Ronald Klinkenberg was appointed as the team trainer in 2011.

The team achieved three mid-table finishes, before becoming a bit too close for comfort from the relegation berths in 2013-14, before stabilising again the following campaign. Theo de Boon’s side finished the 2014-15 season in eighth place, as well as defeating EHC Hoensbroek in the KNVB Beker before going down to  FC Volendam at t’ Slot in round two.

Capelle managed to arrange several attractive, friendly games against professional neighbours Sparta, Excelsior, and Feyenoord. International sides Rangers, Galatasaray also sent teams, as well as a Newcastle United side with their manager, Sir Bobby Robson, with the money raised going to the New Breath Foundation charity.

Ton van Bremen was the trainer from 2014 to 2016, as the Topklasse became Derde Divisie in 2016-17, the fourth tier of Dutch football, by which time Edwin Top was in charge of the team. Capelle continued with safe finishes before drifting towards the wrong end of the table, which would end in relegation in 2017-18, as Winand van Loon was the trainer. 

Ron Timmers had a short spell in charge of team affairs before being replaced by the returning van Bremen. Ralph Kalkman was appointed in 2020, with 'Kasteelbewoners' finishing third in 2021-22 before René van Eck took charge of the team, who finished league runners-up, before the Dutch league system was tweaked.

Castelle were placed in the fifth-tier Vierde Divisie B, which was now weekend football rather than being able to choose a specific day. Kevin Vink was appointed trainer in 2024 to build on a third-place finish.

VV Capelle will play in the Vierde Divisie B in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Thursday 28th January 2016

My morning in Rotterdam had gone very well, having managed to get inside all three previous venues. I had taken the B Metro line from Nieuw Verlaat after calling in at XerxesDZB back to Capelseburg, where I changed to the C line for two stops down to Slotlaan.

It was just over a ten-minute walk down Slotlaan and then onto Da Costasingel for a few hundred yards before arriving at Sportpark ‘t Slot on the right-hand side. 

The initial signs were not good as the main driveway behind one goal, down to the clubhouse, was locked up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find access to any other way either. The small dikes surrounding the ground also stopped me from getting too close for photos. I did the best that I could.

‘t Slot looked like a smart enough place. There was a neat cantilevered stand on the far side with bench seating, and more club buildings towards the entrance end. A small TV gantry was opposite, with the rest of the ground made up of hard standing with a tall hedge enclosing the arena. 

Some open terracing was on the side of the seated stand. As was the case at many Dutch amateur grounds, raised advertising boards also surrounded the ground. Once I’d done the best that I could, I walked back to Slotlaan station as it was time for an interesting discussion over left luggage lockers and hotel check-ins, which can be found on the Feyenoord page.