Young Lions/Jalan Besar Stadium (Singapore)

The Jalan Besar Stadium is the traditional home of Singapore football and home of the Singapore FA. The original stadium was built in 1929 and staged Malaya Cup games between 1932 and 1966 and then Malaysian Cup matches from 1967 until 1973 when the National Stadium at Kallang was opened.

Jalan Besar was closed in December 1999 for reconstruction, fifteen years after it had staged the National Day Parade.

In June 2003 the new stadium was open as part of a sports complex owned by the Singapore Sports Council, which also contained the Jalan Besar Swimming Complex. The pitch remained in exactly the same position. In 2006 the pitch was taken up and replaced by a new artificial surface. 

Burnley and Atletico Madrid visited to play friendlies in future years. The stadium became the home of Lions XII who joined the Malaysia Super League from 2012, going on to win the title in their second season.

Young Lions

S. League side Young Lions also took up residency. The team are the Under 23 side of the Singapore national side. The team entered the league in 2002 with the aim of exposing the players to senior competition. 

Lions suffered a couple of wooden spoon finishes, but ended in third place in 2004 as Agu Casmir led the scoring charts. The side was bolstered at this time by a couple of experienced overseas players to add strength.

 

The goals of Khairul Amri helped the team to third place in 2006, which was backed up with a fifth-place spot twelve months later. Some lower finishes eventually led to the team taking their full allocation of four foreign players. It did not see too much improvement in the final rankings.

Aide Iskandar became head coach in 2013 with Sahil Suhaimi making an impact as a forward the following season. Jürgen Raab replaced Iskander in July 2015 as his side finished ninth out of ten in the new streamlined S League prior to Patrick Hesse taking over team affairs for the 2016 campaign.

 

The head coaches continued to change with Vincent Subramaniam becoming the next incumbent. The team finished bottom for a second consecutive season in 2017. Fandi Ahmad, a Singaporean oversaw an improvement in 2018 as the club ceased signing overseas players in the newly restructured Singapore Premier League.

Nazri Nasir was employed as head coach from January 2020 prior to being replaced by Philippe Aw a year later. His team finished bottom of the eight-team league in 2021, a performance replicated in 2022 by the side under the returning Nasir as Ilhan Fandi topped his teams’ scoring charts.

 

Aw returned to lead the Lions in 2023 who signed foreign players once again to try to strengthen the club. It failed miserably as they finished sixteen points adrift in bottom place.

Courts Young Lions will play in the Singapore Premier League in the 2024 season.

My visit

Tampines Rovers 2 DPMM Brunei 1 (Friday 31st October 2014) S. League Championship Round (att: approx. 1,000)

My planning had been just about perfect with my final of four games on consecutive evenings could feasibly see me at the game where the title was to be won.

The day had been top class once again. After a lie in I left my bags at the hotel for later collection and enjoyed a great Friday lunchtime drink in the historic old rooms of the pavilion at Singapore Cricket Club in the company of my sixes cricket pal Sanjaya De Silva who had kindly taken time off to introduce me as a guest and to look after me. 

Unbelievably we ended up in the Officials Meeting for that weekend’s International Rugby 7s Tournament being held at The Padang. To be honest, it wasn't too much better organised than some amateur cricket meetings I'd attended in the past.

My free boat trip up the Singapore River on my great value three day tourist pass was thoroughly enjoyed. I paid $30 (£15) for three days unlimited travel on public transport and got the boat and bus tours with it.

Following a look at the Harbour Front across to Sentosa Island I caught a double decker bus back to my hotel, so I could sneak a power nap while sat upstairs. I later hailed a taxi which took me to the Jalan Basar Stadium for 6pm.

I’m not one to get to stadiums so early but I’d had a stroke of luck the night before on my way to the match at Woodlands Wellington, which I was definitely going to take advantage of.

I saw a young local lad sporting the shirt of Albirex Niigata and I commented on this as we waited to cross the busy Geylang Road. It turned out that he worked for the DPMM club in Singapore and he told me to be at the venue at my appointed hour so he could sort me out with an complimentary ticket for the game.

While the $6 ticket price wasn’t a problem, I’d hoped to pick his brain and learn a bit more about the S. League, as i am always eager to learn.

Unfortunately my pal hadn’t turned up, so I set about taking some snaps at the back of the Main Stand. I then received a tap on the shoulder from him with an apology and my ticket. What wonderful people live in Singapore!

The poor stewards were in a bit of a quandary when I approached the gate with my two large travelling bags. After some gentle persuasion I was let in without them emptying them out to see if I had any concealed food or drink.

I really liked the Jalan Besar. Only the Main Stand side was open. This had a large lower tier with offices dividing this from a steep upper tier and its curved roof. The far side was a fair sized block along the length of the pitch with open seating raised above the playing surface. Each S. League club had a board displaying their badge at the rear. 

Behind the King George’s Avenue End goal was a semi-permanent bank of open seating like the ones found around the greens at major golf tournaments. The other end had no spectator access. Just a large wall separated it from the Swimming Complex.

The lads doing the PA's and playing the music at the back of the lower tier kindly looked after my bags while I wandered around taking photos. I decided to push my luck and took a lift to the top floor and the corporate area as I was in jeans and a dress shirt. I was inside without any questions to be handed a team sheet and wander around as I liked before I decided to call it quits.

Back downstairs I took up a seat and watched the teams warm up while DPMM’s former Sunderland player, Roy O’Donovan looked on disconsolately. He had been sent off in the game I went to on Tuesday evening in stoppage time.

The live TV cameras were in attendance for the game. A Friday night game was played at the Jalan Besar each week as a neutral ground for the watching audience.

The teams came out and the national anthem was played as it was the final game of the season. Before kick-off Tampines retiring striker Aleksandar Đurić received the plaudits with presentations and a video on the screen showing his career highlights while on the island. The veteran started the match on the bench.

My friend from the night before, the Portsmouth and Whitley Bay supporting pal Richard joined me to view the action. I think he was favouring Tampines. I would have preferred to see a Brunei win and the league title with it.

The first half was a tense affair on the artificial surface, which wasn’t as giving as the more modern versions. Jozef Kapláň, the Stags Slovakian forward was causing plenty of problems for the DPMM defence, whose goalkeeper Azman Noor had to be at his best.

Richard and I had slightly misread the positions going into the game. We presumed a draw for Rovers would secure them the title, whereas DPMM had to win. It later transpired a Tampines win would get them a third place finish.

My pal re-joined me after his half time smoke, with the good news that the nearer south gate was open to enable me a quick exit at full time for my 11.05 flight back to Bangkok.

The very popular Đurić was introduced after the interval to try and force the breakthrough. Although he wasn’t the fastest, his first touch and awareness were exemplary. Meanwhile I saw a similar pattern emerging as in DPMM’s Tuesday night victory as Irishman Joe Gamble controlled play in a deep midfield role, as he never gave the ball away before making himself available again.

However the Brunei boys were missing someone to open Rovers up. Someone like the suspended O’Donovan perhaps? Out of nowhere Tampines took the lead as Kapláň beat Noor on his near post.

The goal knocked the stuffing out of Steve Kean’s side for a while. Just eight minutes later it was 2-0 as Đurić was denied a dream farewell but team mate Miljan Mrdaković fired home the rebound. DPMM had just seventeen minutes to salvage their title aspirations.

The big Brazilian Rodrigo gave the smattering of visiting fans hope by pulling one back on eighty one minutes. However, it was to be too little too late.

I said my farewell to Richard as the fourth official put up the board revealing that there would be four minutes stoppage time. I exited just before the final whistle and managed to pull up a taxi quicker than I had initially feared.

The driver knew exactly the quickest route as he deposited me at Changi Airport with over an hour to spare. Like everything else in Singapore, the airport was clean, spacious and ultra-proficient.

My trip to the island had gone like a dream. I’d possibly overdone it with the dashing around, but it was worth every bit of tiredness and pain at times. I was so glad I’d used up my time properly and got a proper insight both into life on the island and the S. League.

I recommend it to any traveller. I certainly slept well when I eventually reached my bed at the Chana Hotel in Minburi back in Bangkok.

RKVV Brabantia (Holland)

Rooms-Katholieke Voetbal Vereniging Brabantia, or RKVV Brabantia as they are more commonly known is an amateur football club from Eindhoven in The Netherlands. 

The club were registered on March 1st 1922 as Olympia to give boys from the Strijpse district of the city a way to play as street football was banned. The club established its home ground at Sportpark De Hurk.

Once the club joined the Brabantse Voetbal Bond (BVB) in 1924 and had to change their name as there was already a club registered as Olympia. RKVV was eventually selected in 1929 to reflect the clubs catholic links as they played in the RVK’s IVCB competition.

The 1930’s saw great success for ‘d'n Brab’ as in 1936 and 1937 they were crowned IVCB national champions. At the time Brabantia were great rivals with their city neighbours PSV as they battled for supremacy. The RKV merged with the KNVB soon afterwards.

1954 saw the advent of professional football in Holland, which Brabantia tried for the first season before the board under Chairman Paul van Loenhout took the decision to revert to amateur status. The next thirty years saw d’n Brab win several promotions as well as suffer relegations, mainly in the Derde (third) and Tweede (second) Klasse divisions, with an occasional visit to the second tier of amateur football, the Eerste Klasse.

The club continued its ethos of social activity and equality when a women’s team was added in 1975. Meanwhile, the first team suffered a major downturn between 1987 and 1990 as they found themselves down in the Vierde (fourth) Klasse.

Under the guidance of former Dutch international Jan Poortvliet, Brabantia climbed their way back all the way to Eerste Klasse football by 1999. However, following his departure they back down to Derde Klasse within six years.

Gradually the team and club regrouped leading to Brabantia reaching their highest level of football as they reached the Sunday, Zontag Hoofdklasse for the 2012-13 season. Unfortunately their spell lasted just one season as they finished second from bottom and were relegated back to the Eerste Klasse.

Brabantia consolidated in mid table on their return prior to improving to third place in 2016-17. The following season saw a drop to ninth while the team ended 2018-19 in eleventh. Brabantia were in second place when the 2019-20 season was abandoned owing to the outbreak of COVID-19.

RKVV Brabantia will play in Zondag Eerste Klasse 1E, Zuid I in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Tuesday 21st January 2014

My long weekend around Holland was just about to finish. It had been a brilliant trip, although I was now struggling as I’d done so much walking. My final call was to Brabantia after I’d been just outside Eindhoven to Veldhoven to visit the home of VV UNA. My planning once more did me a favour as I jumped out off the bus at the Cederlaan stop.

A ten minute walk through Brabantia’s traditional heartland saw me on Rijstenweg and walking through the gates to the Sportpark de Hurk.

A large car park stood behind the goal of the main pitch. The outstanding feature was what I considered a brilliant piece of modern architecture. The stand was raised with lots of facilities underneath. Its shape and make was not unlike the Media Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground. There were some open seats looking down on the pitch, as well as glassed in areas. 

The other side of the structure looked down on the minor pitches. The rest of the main arena had hard standing all the way around the artificial pitch, with plentiful high fencing and advertising boards, as well as a scoreboard in the corner.

Some lads were having a kick around on the main pitch. They looked concerned when they saw me. I’m not sure if they were meant to be there, but a wave and a smile soon put everyone at ease. There lied the beauty of such pitches. Casual kick abouts would not ruin the surface. Surely that had to be good if more got involved in exercise?

I was delighted with my endeavours over the four or five days and Brabantia was an excellent place to finish. I walked round the corner as the no.13 bus was due back into the city centre from the Zeelsterstraat stop.

After alighting to take photos of the ornamental gates of Philips Stadion it was time for a quick snack from the vending machine on the station. The meat fritter was a lovely but belated find. I certainly marked that down for any revisit.

I was soon at the airport for my 3pm flight back to Stansted. It had been a great adventure. I would definitely not right off watching a game from that brilliant stand at Sportpark de Hurk, perhaps as a Sunday double header?

VV UNA (Holland)

VV UNA, or Voetbalvereniging UNA, to give their full title are a semi professional football club from the Zeelst area of the town of Veldhoven, which is located close to the south west of Eindhoven in The Netherlands.

A previous club called de Kemphanen had been formed in 1924, but their existence was short lived. On November 7^th 1929 a new club was born, with UNA being chosen as the name as it was translated to ‘United’ from Latin. Jan Spelbrink became the clubs first chairman.

UNA joined the Eindhoven leagues and by the end of their first decade had reached the Eerste Klasse (first class) level. Players had to leave the club to work in Germany as Holland was occupied but tit didn’t stop UNA winning the league title following championship matches against Dosko of Duizel in the 1940-41 season to lift club to the KNVB Vierde (fourth) Klasse.

Promotion meant that the Hagendorenseweg ground was unsuitable, so the club managed to acquire land on Hoogstraat behind café De Kleine Man. The new ground was officially blessed by Father van Wely in 1948.

UNA won promotion in 1953 following victory over VV Gemert to reach the third tier of amateur football. The club appealed door to door to the local residents of Zeelst as the club struggled financially in July 1955. 

Further upheaval came when the land at Hoogstraat was required for new housing. The meant UNA moving once again, this time a hundred metres south, to the new Sportpark Zeelst on Sportlaan. The new ground was opened on August 24^th 1958 by Mayor Ras.

In 1962-63 the team under coach Harrie van Elderen won the championship and were promoted to the second level Tweede Klasse. The 1964-65 campaign was the clubs most successful yet, as not only did UNA’s first team win another title to join amateur football’s elite Eerste Klasse, their second and seventh teams also win their championships. 

In 1966 seating and standing areas were added to Sportpark Zeelst, while a year later the clubhouse was opened.

In 1969 the club suffered its first relegation as UNA went back down to the second tier. By 1974 the team won promotion once again to regain its status as membership grew to six hundred. Head coach Meeuwissen led the club to further glory in 1976 when victory over the Breda club Baronie took UNA up to the Hoofdklasse.

The team suffered relegation, but went back up in May 1981 under the coaching of Guus de Graef. However, their spell lasted just one season before being demoted back to the Eerste Klasse. It was agreed to re-organise the club in November 1982 to spread the responsibilities and to give its senior, junior and women’s sections given equal status.

The 1984-85 season saw UNA suffer another demotion back to the Tweede Klasse, third grade of the amateur game. By 1989 a new clubhouse was opened, and eight years after the grandstand was replaced with a new structure. Further developments arrived in the consequent years in the form of a new boardroom and sponsors facilities.

On the pitch UNA won promotion under Theo Raymakers in 1990, but were relegated once more to the third tier Tweede Klasse two years later. Victory over RKSV Neunan saw Piet Corstiaans’ side go back up at the first attempt. In 2000 coach Eus Marijnissen led UNA to another title to regain Eerste Klasse status before going on to the Hoodklasse soon after.

Having Hoofdklasse allowed UNA to enter the KNVB Cup. The 2002 season saw fine wins against Geldrop and FC Den Bosch in the group stages led to a first round home game against Eredivisie leaders RKC Waalwijk. The game was moved to the Jan Louwers Stadion in Eindhoven as Sportpark Zeelst didn’t have sufficient lighting. UNA put in a fine display before going out 2-0 in front of 1,500 fans.

UNA qualified twice more for the Cup without further success, in the following years. In 2007-08 the team ended the season as runners up in their Sunday Hoofdklasse division, before winning the title in 2010-11 and being promoted to Topklasse football for the first time.

Their spell lasted just one campaign at the new status before they were relegated back to the Hoofdklasse. However, this setback didn’t deter UNA who won back their place at the first attempt under the leadership of Mark Schenning.

Impressive runners-up spots came upon their return and again in 2014-15 before dropping down to seventh the following season which was enough to secure a play-off spot from where UNA won promotion following a 1-0 win against HSC '21.

Their reward was a place in the new third tier Tweede Divisie for 2016-17 from where the team went straight back down in the play-offs despite the goals of Niek van Boekel. A runners-up place in 2017-18 in Derde Divisie led to another shot at the play-offs which ended in a defeat on penalties to Jong Almere City.

Jeroen van Bezouwen took over as coach in the summer of 2018, leading his side to fifth place. Harrie Gommans was appointed in his place in January 2020 with UNA finishing the truncated season in sixth position.

VV UNA will play in Derde Divisie Zontag in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Tuesday 21^st January 2014

My adventure over a long weekend around matches and football clubs of Holland was coming to an end. My last bus ride out of Eindhoven saw me catch the no.15 service to Julianastraat in Veldhoven and then walk around the corner to Sportlaan.

The entrance to Sportpark Zeelst was unfortunately locked, but the views were still good of the impressive venue, which had hard standing all the way around as well as lots of raised advertising hoardings, which gave the impression of a well run club. The grandstand was a decent sized structure down the far side, with the clubhouse and facilities all behind the near goal.

With my task complete it was time to take the bus back from close to UNA’s former home, back towards Eindhoven and one last club before heading to the airport.

SC Oranje Zwart Helmond (Holland)

SC Oranje Zwart Helmond, or Sportclub Oranje Zwart Helmond was an amateur football club from the small city of Helmond in the south east of The Netherlands. The club were formed on August 1st 1970, joining regional Sunday football before closing down in October 2018.

The club initially played on one of the pitches at De Warande, a large park in the north west of the town before securing their own Sportpark Dierdonk before the land was required for local development.

Relocated at Sportpark de Braak in 2010-11 the club found themselves playing in Zesde 6E klasse D in the West 2 region of Dutch football, finishing bottom of the table in 2011-12. The club would undergo a huge transformation, which would eventually cost them.

Transferred to klasse C, the team waltzed to the league title before finishing as runners-up in Vijfde 5E Klasse E in 2013-14 to win a successive promotion. The Vierde 4E Klasse F title was won at the first attempt in 2014-15

The momentum continued with Oranje Zwart finishing as runners-up of Derde 3E klasse C in 2015-16 to make it four promotions in four seasons. Their reward was promotion to the seventh tier Tweede 2E klasse H which ended in a lowly finish and relegation.

Debts had been accrued to the Dutch FA, KNVB and local authorities as the side ended 2017-18 in eighth place 3E klasse C. Despite appeals and some repayments the club folded in October 2018.

My visit

Tuesday 21st January 2014

My visit to see the stadium of Helmond Sport was paying dividends. I noted that the Stadion De Braak had other pitches around it from my research on Google Maps, but I presumed that they were just training pitches for the club. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that at least a couple were homes to other amateur outfits.

I’d already come across SC Helmondia and the main stadium and was heading back to the railway station, when I found the final pitch at the Sportpark De Braak complex.

The grass pitch was railed and had hard standing down the side, where the changing rooms and clubhouse were also located. A sign on the outside of the building revealed it was the home of Oranje Zwart, which translated is orange and black to reveal the clubs colours.

Most satisfied with my visit I decided to try and take a short cut and maybe see the city centre. Instead I found lots of newish low cost identical housing in what to be honest, was a pretty uninspiring place.

SC Helmondia (Holland)

SC Helmondia is an amateur football club, originally formed on October 16th 1916 in the town of Helmond, located between Eindhoven and the German border in the east of The Netherlands.

In 1955 a merger took place with another local club SDW Kolping who had been established in 1927 to become RKSV Helmondia '55 who began life in Eerste klasse C, the second level of Dutch football, in their first season with Piet van der Sluijs as coach at Stadion De Braak.

The forward partnership of Hennie Hollink and André Roosenburg scored the goals as the team finished runners-up to ensure that the club retained their status in the streamlined division.

The team gradually slipped down the final standings in Eerste klasse B before they were relegated in 1960-61. Toon van Beek was coach when Helmondia finished third in the 1961-62 Tweede Divisie prior to the competition being extended to two sections.

Frans de Rooij and then Frans Overzier were the next coaches before the appointment of Joep Brandes who took his team to the play-offs in second place thanks in part to the goals of Leo van der Linden and Lambert Kreekels before the professional era ended at the end of the 1966-67 season.

The club separated, with the professional arm becoming Helmond Sport, with the amateur section dropping down to Zondag, Sunday amateur regional football. They were forced to start low down in Vierde Klasse 4C before being relegated to local competition.

The club returned as SC Helmondia '55 to win the 4C title in 1985-86 before a runners-up place was accrued the following season before being relegated in 1987-88. Again, the club recovered to be crowned as Vierde Klasse 4C champions in 1990-91 before eventually winning promotion through the play-offs in 1995-96.

After a couple of seasons in Derde Klasse 3D the team was relegated before dropping down a further level in 2000-01 as the ’55 suffix was dropped from the club name. Helmondia bounced back from the Vijfde klasse at the first attempt.

The team continued to improve their final standings before finishing as 4E runners-up in 2010-11 and then champions the following season. However, promotion was a step too far as Helmondia’s spell in Derde Klasse 3D lasted just twelve months.

Their return to previous status followed the pattern of before with gradual progress, a second place and then the championship in 2011-12. This time the team adapted to Derde klasse football, winning promotion through the play-offs in 2013-14.

Helmondia retained their position in Tweede Klasse 2H for three seasons before dropping back down at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. The team finished third in 3C in 2018-19 before switching to 3D for the aborted 2019-20 campaign.

SC Helmondia will play in the Zondag Derde Klasse 3D Zuid 2 in the 2020-21 season.

 

My visit

Tuesday 21st January 2014

My final few hours on my epic travels on a long weekend in Holland, gave me the opportunity to visit Helmond from my base in Eindhoven. My intended target was the Eerste Divisie club; Helmond Sport, but to be pleasant surprise I also came across another couple of venues at Sportpark De Braak.

One of these was behind the main entrance to the home of Sport. The SC clubhouse was in the corner of the ground along with the changing rooms. The pitch was surrounded by hard standing and grass and had a fine small seated stand on the halfway line on the far side.

As ever, it was good to come across a club I’d no previous knowledge of; especially one who formed a vital part of another larger clubs’ history.

sv Blauw Geel ’38 (Holland)

sv Blauw Geel ’38 is an amateur football club from the town of Veghel, near Eindhoven in the west of The Netherlands. The club, which translated means ‘Blue Yellow’ were formed on June 21st 1938.

The team first started competing in Vierde klasse, fourth level football before winning their division in 1948-49. Four seasons at Derde klasse level ended in relegation in 1953-54. The club had the 1957-58 season in hibernation before returning to the same level.

The rest seemed to do the club good as the 4E Klasse A title was won on their return, before the Klasse C championship was claimed in 1960-61 to herald a promotion. Blauw Geel fitted well in the higher level with a third place finish in 3E Klasse B coming in 1961-62.

That was as good as it would get over the next four seasons before the team was demoted again in 1965-66. The 4E Klasse A title win in 1968-69 clinched a return back to the third level before the club was crowned as 3E Klasse B champions in 1970-71.

However, Tweede klasse football proved too steep a jump as their spell lasted just one season. Worse was to come when after three seasons of Derde klasse, Blauw Geel were relegated a further level in 1974-75.

Back in 4E Klasse A, a runners-up place was won in 1977-78 before the league was won in 1980-81. Again, Derde klasse football found the team out as they went back down twelve months later.

Blauw Geel recovered, finishing runners-up in 1982-83 before lifting the 4E Klasse A title the following season. After a third place the 3E Klasse B championship was won in 1985-86 to win promotion to the Tweede klasse.

Third place in their first season could not be maintained with the team going down in 1991-92. The ups and downs continued with another relegation in 1994-95. Third place in 4E Klasse B ended in promotion the following season and an upturn in fortunes.

Over the next four seasons the finishing place improved each time, culminating in the winning of 3E Klasse C in the final season of the old millennium. The 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons saw second place finishes in 2E Klasse F and then Klasse H, which title was won in 2003-04.

In Eerste klasse Blauw Geel finished as runners-up of Klasse D before winning Klasse C in 2005-06 to reach Hoofdklasse football. The team went down through the play-offs from Zondag B twelve months later.

Two consecutive runners-up places in 1E Klasse D saw the team win promotion in 2009-10. They missed out in the Sunday section of the Hoodklasse play-offs for promotion in 2010-11. Play-off defeats also followed in 2011-12 and 2013-14 after finishing as runners-up.

With the locally based supermarket giant chain Jumbo as major sponsors the club continued their upward trajectory in the growing town of Veghel. Blauw Geel '38 won Hoofdklasse Zondag B in 2016-17 to climb to the Derde Divisie, the fourth level of Dutch football under coach Erwin van Breugel.

Following a season of consolidation Niels van Casteren arrived as the new coach with the team finishing in the bottom third before being placed in eighth when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the 2019-20 campaign.

Blauw Geel ’38 will play in Derde Divisie Zondag in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Monday 20^th January 2014 

My final call before relaxing in Eindhoven, my overnight terminus on my travels around the football clubs of Holland saw me arrive on the outskirts of Veghel at the Hintelstraat stop, after taking the no.160 service from Uden.

I was taking the full advantage of the excellent 9292 travel app and my £5 daily unlimited internet on my phone. It had paid real dividends throughout my trip in terms of walking and time. My route to my destination took me by the side of several canals and new housing developments. 

I must confess that it was further than I thought, but I did take one last short cut down a lane past several pitches and through some hazardous mud before finding the entrance to the Prins Willem Alexander Sportpark.

Although I was tired, weary and really struggling, the sight of a new ground of a decent standard added new enthusiasm to my body. The ground was naturally painted in blue and yellow and had a significant raised seated grandstand on the far side. The near touchline had a full length open terracing. 

A hard standing path went all the way around the pitch and grass beyond. The clubhouse and changing rooms were behind the goal at the entrance end, with pitches of grass and artificial surfaces beyond to cater for all the many teams that represented the club.

My map didn’t massively comfort me when I saw how far it was to the town centre. However, someone was looking down at me, because I found the Middlegaal bus stop with the hourly 158 service due in three minutes. Needless to say I took that option! Even further luck fell my way as on arrival at the bus station, the Eindhoven service arrived.

SV Orion (Holland)

  

SV Orion are an amateur football club from the city of Nijmegen in the east of The Netherlands, who were formed on September 19th 1938 by a group of boys of the Young Guard who wanted their own club, with Chaplain Tychon being one of their founders.

The club played at De Ark, but didn’t initially join any league as they struggled for players. By 1941 the players came of age and others joined up to enable entry into Nijmegen league football, playing home games at OBIOD on Kopse Hof. The following year the club moved to a ground on Groesbeekseweg.

Following World War Two, Orion moved to a new ground at Kwakkenberg in the south east of the city as Orion Boys. The club collected some championships and promotions in KNVB eastern competition. By 1960 Orion found themselves in Vierde (fourth) Klasse football, before reaching the Derde (third) Klasse in 1970-71, when the club’s name was changed to SV Orion.

Following World War Two, Orion moved to a new ground at Kwakkenberg in the south east of the city as Orion Boys. The club collected some championships and promotions in KNVB eastern competition. By 1960 Orion found themselves in Vierde (fourth) Klasse football, before reaching the Derde (third) Klasse in 1970-71, when the club’s name was changed to SV Orion.

By then a clubhouse had been built in 1968 at Dommer van Poldersveldtweg, but by the turn of the millennium the facilities at Kwakkenberg became too small because of the increase in membership, particularly at youth level. 

After three years away from football the team returned to action in 1996-97 in Vijfde klasse where the team as relegated to the sixth Zesde klasse where Orion were crowned as 6E Klasse H champions in 1998-99.

The team finished as runners-up in Vijfde klasse 5E Klasse E the following season to go up once again. Relegation followed in 2003-04 from 4E Klasse E at an important time in the clubs’ history.

Close neighbours vv Trekvogels were also growing and only had two pitches, so Orion moved to new premises on the corner of Nijmeegsebaan and d'Almarasweg with the agreement of the club’s General Assembly in 2003. Nijmegen City Council also gave the plans the go ahead the same year.

Orion won 5E Klasse E at the first attempt in 2004-05. A year later after many obstacles, Sportpark de Driehuizen was finally opened while the team ended as 3E Klasse D runners-up in 2005-06. The 2009-10 campaign saw the clinching of the league title.

At this point Orion had over one thousand members and around sixty youth sides. The club remained in Tweede klasse football before being relegated from 2E Klasse I in 2012-13. The team bounced back to win the 3E Klasse D title to win promotion twelve months later.

The momentum continued with Orion finishing third in 2E Klasse I in 2014-15. Eerste klasse football saw the team finish runners-up before being relegated in 2016-17. The 2E Klasse I title was won once again in 2018-19.

Orion were in second place in 1E Klasse E when the 2019-20 season was ended early owing to the outbreak of COVID-19

SV Orion will compete in Eerste Klasse E Zontag Oost in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Monday 20^th January 2014

Occasionally when I set out on a days groundhopping I come across somewhere totally unexpected. I was heading out to Groesbeek to visit three of the senior clubs in the football heavy town onboard the bus when I noticed a decent ground on the way out of Nijmegen,  noting where it was on the map app on my phone for later.

The no.5 bus dropped me at the Panovenlaan stop and crossed the road to investigate. I found the notice advising me that I was at Sportpark de Driehuizen and the home club was SV Orion. 

The gate was open in the corner of the ground, which had an artificial pitch and hard standing and high fencing hemming it in with adverts. The stand was a fine structure decked out in orange seats, to reflect the clubs colours. The site also had another couple of pitches and tennis courts.

I continued down d'Almarasweg as I saw further signs of other clubs across the railway level crossing, but they turned out to be the home of NMHC, Nijmegen Mixed Hockey Club and the Hortus Arcadië botanical garden.

Orion had been a bonus venue for me as I went to catch the no.5 back to Nijmegen station where I realised that I’d had a lucky escape. I thought that I’d secured my rucksack in a locker on the railway platform. The door pulled open, but all my belongings were still in tact. Thanking my lucky stars I went across to the buses to await the no.99 to Uden.