VOSTA (Netherlands)

VOSTA

Ground: Sportpark Schreurserve

Capacity: 2,000

Club Founded: 1926

League: Pending (current level)

VOSTA, or Vooruit Omhoog Sportief Trots Alles, to give them their full title, is an amateur football club based in Enschede, with a proud history, although their league status is in abeyance as of June 2026.

The club was formed on 15th September 1926 by Mr A Moss at Cafe Oostburg. In 1931, VOSTA began playing at a ground on Steenweg, before moving to Sportpark Schreurserve at Minkmaatstraat four years later. 

The first playing record of the club points to them as members of Zondag, Sunday Tweede Klasse A, in which third place in 1943-44 was their best performance.

The team was relegated in 1950-51 before going on to win the Derde Klasse A three times, resulting in promotion. VOSTA’s momentum continued with a third place in Tweede Klasse B before securing the championship in 1961-62.

The opening of their first clubhouse coincided with the club winning promotion to Eerste Klasse football, the highest amateur level of the day. Their highest finish came in 1966-67 when the team finished sixth, before being relegated two seasons later.

The decline continued with a further demotion in 1970-71. VOSTA recovered with a couple of runners-up finishes in Derde Klasse A before taking the title in 1973-74. Two further second places ensued in Tweede Klasse B before the side was relegated in 1976-77.

The Derde Klasse A title was clinched the following season, with their Tweede Klasse spell lasting just two years before dropping back down again a few weeks after VOSTA opened a new clubhouse on March 15th, 1980.

A trio of third places ensued before the team was relegated to Vierde Klasse A. Its title was won a season later. Consecutive Derde klasse runners-up finishes were backed up with the title in 1993-94.

Tweede Klasse competition lasted two seasons before VOSTA dropped back down in 1995-96 and again twelve months later to Vierde Klasse 4A. Another third place would be as good as it got for the following decade before the team was relegated to Vijfde Klasse B.

Promotion through the play-offs was achieved in 2008-09, with VOSTA remaining in Vierde Klasse A until they went down in 2011-12. Further promotions and relegations followed.

Back in the tenth-tier Vijfde Klasse A, the lowest level of KNVB football, VOSTA finished bottom in 2016-17 before recovering to fourth place, before a couple of low-placed finishes under trainer Gerard Timmers, who would later be replaced by Marijn Winkelhuis. 

In the four seasons following the worldwide pandemic, VOSTA didn't finish outside the bottom three places in the table. Trainers Jeroen Heubach and Mario van Beek left abruptly in March 2025, with the club not fielding a team for the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Saturday 18th January 2014

To be perfectly honest, I had never heard of VOSTA until I came across their neat venue when visiting CVV Sparta Enschede, which occupied the rest of Sportpark Schreurserve. As I was taking photos of their venue, I saw another ground with separate facilities, so naturally I went to take a look.

VOSTA’s headquarters were suited to a higher grade of football. A decent seated stand was on the same side as the clubhouse and changing rooms. The grass pitch had a rail and hard standing all the way around it. 

At the Minkmaatstraat end, a sand volleyball court was set out. In front of the clubhouse was a concourse with chairs and tables, and a fenced playground in front. Football enthusiasts certainly had the best of both worlds with two impressive football clubs, playing on different days of the weekend to hold their attention.

My luck was definitely in. I had previously considered a bus ride up to Oldenzaal to visit Be Quick, but time was extremely tight. I stumbled across the Hyacintstraat bus stop outside the ground, and within minutes the number 6 service was taking me back to Enschede station in time to catch a waiting train back to Hengelo.