Hoofdklasse

The Hoofdklasse is the highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the third tier in general.

Background

The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of the traditional pillarisation ( _nl. verzuiling), the segregation of Dutch society. The "Saturday"-clubs are by and large Protestant Christian clubs, who were not allowed to play on Sunday. The "Sunday"-clubs were in general Catholic and working class clubs, whose players had to work on Saturday and therefore could only play on Sunday. Although the pillarisation ended in the 1960s and 1970s, the clubs and the league have maintained this division. The Saturday Hoofdklasse and the Sunday Hoofdklasse are divided into three leagues each:
* Clubs in the Saturday Hoofdklasse A and Sunday Hoofdklasse A are from the west of the Netherlands.
* Clubs in the Saturday Hoofdklasse B and Sunday Hoofdklasse B are from the central and southern parts of the Netherlands.
* Clubs in the Saturday Hoofdklasse C and Sunday Hoofdklasse C are from the northern and eastern part of the Netherlands.The champions of the Saturday Hoofdklasse A, B and C play against each other for the national Saturday championship, just like the champions of the Sunday Hoofdklasse A, B and C face each other for the national Sunday title. The winners of the Saturday and Sunday championships then face each other for the national amateur title.
Clubs can be relegated from the Hoofdklasse to the "1e Klasse" (First Class) and can be promoted from the "1e Klasse" to the Hoofdklasse. The Dutch football association is working on implementing promotion and relegation between the Eerste Divisie, currently the lowest tier of professional football, and the Hoofdklasse. From the 2008/2009 season onwards one team will be relegated from the Eerste Divisie to the Hoofdklasse, from the 2009/2010 season onwards promotion from the amateurs to the professional league will be possible. The exact structure for that promotion is not yet known.

Prior to this system, it was only possible for Hoofdklasse clubs to be admitted to the Eerste Divisie after application and licensing. The last clubs to have done so are FC Omniworld (2005) and AGOVV Apeldoorn (2003).

Hoofdklasse champions

National titles

By club

By day