ASWH

Football club infobox
clubname = ASWH

| fullname = Altijd Sterker Worden
Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht
nickname =
founded = 1929-08-01
ground = Schildman
Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht
capacity = N/A
chairman = flagicon|Netherlands John Middendorp
manager = flagicon|Netherlands Bill Tukker
league = Hoofdklasse
season = 2006-07
position = Saturday Hoofdklasse A,
4th
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_unknown|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

ASWH is a football club from Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands. The club is playing in the Saturday Hoofdklasse A, where it won the title in the 2004-05 season. The club would go on to win the national Saturday amateur football title and the national amateur football title. ASWH reached the third round of the KNVB Cup 2006-07, defeating professional side Cambuur in the second round.

History

The club was founded on August 1, 1929, as ASW, by five youths from Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht: Bas van Wingerden (born 1915), Johannes van Wingerden (born 1917), Jan van Nieuwenhuyzen (born 1917), Siem van der Wulp (born 1919) and Harmen Haksteeg (born 1920). The oldest of the five, 14-year old Bas van Wingerden, became the club's first chairman. He was succeeded by then 16-year old Harmen Haksteeg in 1936. Haksteeg would remain chairman of the club until 1971.

The origin of the club name is not clear. Some claim it stood for "Altijd Sporten Wij" (We Always Play Sports), others claim it meant "Altijd Sterker Worden" (Always Grow Stronger). The club eventually settled on the latter.

The club initially only played away matches, for lack of an own ground. This changed when a local farmer gave the club a pasture in 1936. The first home match was played on May 25, 1936, against ULO Groenendijk. The club sought admission to the Rotterdam district of the Christian Dutch Football Association.

The club was suspended from football competition during World War 2; the board had refused to sign an oath of loyalty to the Nazis. Club members had to go in hiding or were deported.

The club was re-established in 1945 in Oostendam. The first title, in the highest division of the Dordrecht district of the Royal Netherlands Football Association, was won in 1949, by winning all matches. This posed a problem: the pitch didn't meet the criteria for admission to the league system of the football association. A new ground was found in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, and the club was promoted. An H for Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht was added to the club name, to avoid confusion with another club called ASW. The club played in the Vierde Klasse, without much success. The club hovered between the Derde Klasse and Vierde Klasse throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Slowly but steadly, ASWH rose through the ranks, and in 1996 the club was promoted to the Hoofdklasse, the highest tier of amateur football in the Netherlands. The club was relegated two years later, followed by the title in the Eerste Klasse and automatic promotion back to the Hoofdklasse. The club was placed in the Saturday Hoofdklasse B, where it finished in third place. The next season brought the first Hoofdklasse title in the club's existence. The next season the club won the title, this time in the Saturday Hoofdklasse A. The third Hoofdklasse title was won in 2004-05, this time followed by the national title for Saturday amateurs (defeating IJsselmeervogels and Excelsior '31) and the national amateur title (defeating Argon).

External links

* [http://www.aswh.nl Official website]