Helmond Sport (Netherlands)

Helmond Sport is a professional football club from the textile city of Helmond in the southeast of the Netherlands, located a few miles from Eindhoven. The club was formed on July 27th, 1967, to take on the professional license from SC Helmondia '55, who were bankrupt, and reverted to amateur status.

Frans Debruijn was the new club's first trainer in Tweede Divisie as he led the team to promotion to the second tier via the play-offs via a 5-1 win against SC Veendam in the decider. Braces from Gerrie van Berlo and Arie Meeuwsen were added to by George Voorjans.

Promotion was consolidated with sixth place under new trainer Jacques de Wit before dropping to the lower reaches of the table, before new team boss René van Eck took the side to fifth place in 1972-73. The 1974-75 season under Evert Mur saw an alarming drop in form as he was replaced by Englishman Ron Dellow. 

The goals of Louis Burhenne helped the team to a slight improvement before the appointment of Harrie van Tuel in the summer of 1977. The appointment didn’t really pay off, as de Wit returned for another season at the helm before being replaced by Jan Notermans, whose side went on to be crowned as Eerste Divisie champions in 1981-82.

After narrowly retaining their status, Helmond brought Jan Brouwer in as trainer. The goals of Peter Corbijn and Harry Lubse weren’t enough to save the side from relegation in 1983-84. However, there was cheer for the Stadion de Braak regulars. In 1984-85, the team went on a run in the KNVB Beker, Dutch Cup. 

René van Tilburg was among the goals as FC Den Haag, NAC, FC Den Bosch, and then FC Wageningen were defeated in a semi-final replay with goals from Jan Groeneweg and Perry van Weert. The final saw FC Utrecht win the trophy at Galgenwaard with a goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time as Jan van der Veen captained Sport. 

Brouwer departed twelve months later to be replaced by Jo Jansen. The team entered a series of low finishes in Eerste Divisie as trainers were hired and fired on a season-by-season basis. The appointment of Frans Körver offered some stability, which saw the team finish fifth in 1990-91.

However, things deteriorated on the pitch after that with more changes of head trainer before the appointment of Louis Coolen saw an improvement to tenth in 1997-98 before reaching the play-offs the following season as Peter Hofstede top scored.

Sport narrowly missed out on a play-off place in 2000-01 before a poor campaign under new boss Mario Verlijsdonk. In 2002-03, Jan van Dijk’s side played fine attacking football and finished in third place, to once more reach the playoffs. However, it was PEC Zwolle who proved too strong and went up.

In 2003-04, another play-off campaign ended in the group stage before Ruud Brood arrived as trainer. His side came second to Sparta Rotterdam in the play-off group in 2005-05. FC Volendam ended promotion hopes in the 2005-06 play-offs.

The former Dutch international Gerald Venenberg arrived at Stadion De Braak to try and clinch the elusive Eredivisie position. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and following a disappointing season, Vanenberg was replaced by another former international, Jan Poortvliet, in the summer of 2007.

His side defeated TOP Oss in the 2007-08 play-offs before further dreams were ended by De Graafschap. Jürgen Streppel arrived to replace Poortvliet, leading the team to a play-off win against FC Den Bosch before falling short against Sparta Rotterdam after Johan Voskamp netted regularly throughout the campaign.

In 2010-11, BV Veendam were dispatched in the play-offs before SBV Excelsior handed Helmond a lesson in the final. Hans de Koning was in charge of the team in another play-off campaign in 2011-12 with the help of goals from Erik Quekel.

FC Eindhoven were defeated before a final defeat on aggregate against VVV-Venlo. Once more, Sport fell short in 2012-13, again to Sparta Rotterdam under team trainer Eric Meijers, as Emrullah Güvenç scored the goals. 

Verlijsdonk returned as coach in September 2013, before being replaced towards the end of the season by a returning van Dijk as Helmond finished in thirteenth before a slightly worse finish the following season. Remond Strijbosch was appointed as trainer in February 2016 as the side finished lowly once again, which led to the summer change.

Roy Hendriksen took over team affairs. Despite a mid-table finish, Sport won a play-off spot owing to the forthcoming restructuring of the league system. Defeat to Roda JC Kerkrade, followed by a win against Almere City, meant the club would remain in Eerste Divisie when they finished second from bottom in 2017-18 before Rob Alflen arrived as the new trainer.

It was even worse in 2018-19, with the team finishing bottom of the table, which saw another new trainer, Wil Boessen, take over team affairs. Again, Helmond were bottom when the season ended early owing to the Coronavirus outbreak. Sven Swinnen was given the job as trainer in February 2022.

The side finished at the bottom of the table once again, while news broke that the club was to build a new stadium adjacent to Stadion De Braak. Bob Peeters was appointed as the trainer in December 2022, overseeing performance improvement. He took the side to eleventh place in 2023-24 before his departure. Kevin Hofland was the new man at the helm. 

GS Staalwerken Stadion

He was in charge on the 7th March 2025, when  Helmond Sport faced MVV Maastricht in the Eerste Divisie in the first game at the new GS Staalwerken Stadion. Anthony van den Hurk scored the first goal at the new stadium, helping Helmond Sport secure a 4–0 victory. Jürgen Seegers arrived as the new trainer a few months later.

Helmond Sport will play in Eerste Divisie in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Tuesday 21st January 2014

My Dutch long weekend adventure was drawing to a close, but I wanted to cram in a visit to a few last clubs before my afternoon flight from Eindhoven airport. Research had shown me that Helmond was not too far away and just over ten minutes on the train. It’s strange how Google Maps can create an image in the mind of how a town may look, yet it can be very wide of the mark. 

This was definitely the case in Helmond. My laptop had shown me avenues with canals side by side, and an oasis of green around the stadium. In fairness, the weather was dull and cold, almost making everything look as though it had been painted in black and white, but it was definitely not what I had in mind. 

The walk to the large sports complex took far longer than I thought it would from the railway station, which was in mid-redevelopment, and was along a dual carriageway and then up a wide road separating dull, low-cost housing. I must confess to not getting inside Stadion De Braak, but I was just a wire fence away. 

I got lots of excellent views of the players training on the artificial surface. It was an ideal venue for a club of Helmond’s stature. It had three raised seated stands, two facing each other across the pitch, with another behind the far goal. The final end had a wall topped by high fencing and advertising boards.

It was also nice to come across the home of SC Helmondia, just across the car park from the main stadium entrance, especially as that club formed such a vital part of Sport’s history. It was certainly a venue that I’d consider revisiting to watch a match.