XerxesDZB (Holland)

XerxesDZB is an amateur football club from Rotterdam in Holland who were formed on the 1st March 1904 as RFC Xerxes, going on to win their first regional championship three years later.

A second title arrived in 1911 along with promotion to Tweede klasse. In 1931 a further district title followed with Xerxes being elevated to the Erste klasse. The club regularly played fixtures against the likes of Feijenoord, Sparta, ADO, Ajax and Blauw Wit.

Semi-professional football arrived in the Netherlands in the 50’s with Xerxes becoming members of Erste Divisie for the 1956-57 season. The following season saw the team finish bottom of Group B and relegation back to the amateur ranks.

Promotion back to the Eerste Divisie was achieved in 1965, followed by a rise to the top flight Eredivisie a year later with Willem van Hanegem, Hans Dorjee, Rob Jacobs and Eddy Treytel playing starring roles on the pitch.

However, the club sponsor pulled out at the same time the stadium was lost for the building of a hospital leading Xerxes to merge with the pro section of DHC Delft to become Xerxex/DHC'66. It lasted just one year because of poor support from the public of Delft.

Meanwhile the Xerxes amateur section had continued in the fourth Vierde klasse. They won their league and promotion in 1969. Two further consecutive promotions saw Xerxes in the Erste klasse for the 1971-72 campaign. The remarkable run continued as the title was won at the first attempt.

The Hoofdklasse was introduced in 1974 as the highest ranked amateur divisions, with Saturday and Sunday football. Xerxes did not initially qualify but reached the Zondag (Sunday) Hoofdklasse in 1976.

In 1980 Xerxes were crowned as Zondag Hoofdklasse champions, but lost in the national championship final to Saturday champions Noordwijk. By the 1990’s the club were struggling financially, not helped by having to leave their ground once more for a railway to be built.

In 2000 the club merged with DZB Zevenkamp, to become XerxesDZB. The club fielded teams for Saturday and Sunday football. The Saturday section managed to achieve second tier Hoofdklasse football for the 2012-13 season, while the Sunday side played at the fourth Vierde klasse following an enforced relegation.

Concentrating on the Saturday team playing at the higher level, they missed out on promotion through the play-offs in 2012-13 prior to two mid table finishes. However, Xerxes were relegated through the play-offs in 2015-16.

Promotion came in Eerste klasse 1A in 2017-18 under coach Joop Hiele before he moved on to be replaced by Marco Jalink. The team found Hoofdklasse A football too steep a jump as they went straight back down in bottom place.

Xerxes were in fourth place in Eerste klasee B with Tom Rietberg in charge of the side when the 2019-20 season was abandoned early owing to the outbreak of COVID-19.

XerxesDZB will play in Zaterdag Eerste Klasse 1B West 2 in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Thursday 28^th January 2016

I’d already visited Excelsior and Sparta on a sunny but cool morning, before I took the B line Metro from Marconiplein all the way across the city for a forty minutes ride to Nieuw Verlaat.

My pre planning suggested that a walk along the side of the tram track and then going up the large path of Schout Bontenbalpad would take me to the entrance. I was about to learn differently.

Many areas of the Netherlands are protected by small dikes around land to prevent flooding. There was one right between Wollefoppenweg and the ground. There was nothing else for it but than to cut across half way down the path I’d already trod and cut through the housing to the actual entrance on Albert Rousselsingel.

It was a long way round but the gates were open, which was good news after such an effort! I found a decent ground with two practice pitches as I entered and a further three beyond the main pitch, which had an artificial surface. Wollefoppenpark had several club buildings including a decent sized clubhouse and an injury clinic.

The main pitch had an excellent raised seated stand on the far side. The near side had a few rows of open terracing. The rest of the arena had hard standing and was backed by raised advertisement boards. 

It was nice to see some youngsters getting the full benefit of the artificial pitch, by having an impromptu game into the near end goal.

Once done I cut through the housing area and past a small outdoor market on the main square of the area, before catching the train towards VV Capelle, my final destination of an enjoyable morning.