HFC Haarlem (Netherlands)
Founded in 1889
and based in the city of Haarlem, H.F.C Haarlem began their life as a football
club, adopting the colours of blue and red, usually wearing the red on their
shorts, thus giving them the nickname ‘Roodbroeken’ which in English translates
to ‘Red Shorts’. The club played their matches at the Haarlem Stadium, which
had a small capacity of just under 3,500. The clubs first big success was
winning the Dutch cup final in 1902. They beat HBS Craeyenhout 2-1 in the final
to claim what is now known as the KNVB Cup. It wasn’t until 1910-11 season that
they would reach the final again, only to be beaten by Wuick den Haag, 1-0. The
following season saw the club reach consecutive, this time winning the famous
trophy, beating Vitesse 2-0 to lift the trophy for the second time in ten
years. They would continue to do well in the cup competition, reaching the
final once again in the 1913-14 season, only to lose 3-2 to FC Dordrecht.
Their first
league success came in the 1946-47 season when they won their only top flight
title. The league format back then was very different to what it is now. Back
then, the Netherlands Football League Championship as it was known, consisted
of 66 football clubs, split into six divisions across the country. HFC Haarlem
were in the Eerste Klasse West-II Division. It was not an easy division by any
means, with Dutch giants Feynoord, competing in it, although they would only
finish 6th out of the 11 clubs in the division. Haarlem finished top
of the division, finishing two points above, a club we already know a little
bit about, Blau-Wit Amsterdam (It’s funny how stories like this can be
connected). This qualified them for the Championship play-off with the winners
of the five other divisions all competing in one final group to see who would
be crowned over-all champion. Of course, AFC Ajax were one of the clubs
competing after they had won their division, the Eerste Klasse West-I, by a
single point. NEC Nijmegen won the Eerste Klasse East title, SC Heerenveen won
the Eerste Klasse North title, NAC qualified to the Championship play-off after
having to win a one off tie against BVV Den Bosch after both clubs finished on
33 points in the Eerste Klasse South-I. NAC won the play-off match 1-0. Limburgia completed the group after they won
the Eerste Klasse South-II title. After ten games, each club playing each other
home and away, Haarlem ran out easy winners, finishing on 21 points, five
points above second placed AFC Ajax. They won seven, drew two and lost only one
of their championship games and so were crowned for the first time and the only
time in their history as Dutch top flight champions.
With World War
II disrupting football all over Europe, the Dutch league didn’t resume until
the 1946-47 season. Haarlem were once again in the Eerste Klasse West-II
Division but could only finish 3rd, four points behind Blauw-Wit
Amsterdam. The club saw themselves transferred to the Eerste West -I division
for the next season. It proved to be a good move for Haarlem, who won their
division in the 1947-48 season, however, they finished a disappointing 5th
out of six teams in the Championship play-off division. The disappointment
continued into the 1948-49 season when they finished 6th out of
eleven teams, winning eight, drawing two and losing ten games that season. The
next season, 1949-50 saw the club make a return to the Dutch Cup final for the
first time in decades. They faced a strong PSV side and lost their third final,
4-3. Mediocracy really was all that Haarlem had to offer for the next few
decades, the Dutch league changing formats over the coming years, decreasing
the number of teams contesting and therefore decreasing the number of divisions
involved. The 1951-52 season saw Haarlem win the Eerste Klasse A Division, but
in the four team play-off division, they could only manage to finish third. The
club then saw themselves being relegated in the mid -50s and with a change of
format again, making it harder to reach the top-flight league, they remained in
the lower divisions until they gained promotion in the 1968-69 season to what
was now known as the Erdivisie. The club finished 13th in the
1969-70 season, winning six, drawing fifteen and losing thirteen in their
return to the top-flight. But that respectable finish was to be forgotten about
in the following 1970-71 season when the club finished 18th and
bottom of the Eredivise, winning only one game all season. It wasn’t long until
they were back-up to the topflight, and they won the second division the
following season to ensure they would be competing against the likes of Ajax
and Feynoord in the 1972-73 season. Finishing 11th that season,
winning 10, drawing nine and losing fifteen it was a respectable return to the
topflight. The next season was much of the same with the club only dropping one
place, finishing 12th, winning ten, drawing six and losing eighteen,
However the
1974-75 season saw the club relegated once again, finishing second from bottom
(17th) winning only seven games all season, drawing ten and losing
seventeen. They finished only a point behind 16th placed NAC. Their
stay in the Eerste didn’t last long and they gained promotion at the first time
of asking, finishing top , winning twenty-three games, drawing nine and only
losing four all season. They scored an impressive 78 goals that season, only
conceding 36. The1976-77 season saw the club finish 12th, then in
the 1977-78 season they finished 13th. The 1978-79 season saw the
club flirt with relegation, finishing 16th, just three points and
one place above the relegation zone. But their stay of execution only lasted a
season as they were once again resigned to relegation in the 1979-80 season,
finishing rock bottom (18th), winning just seven games, drawing ten
and losing seventeen. But just like the last time the club were relegated, they
won the Eerste Divisie at the first time of asking and won it with ease,
finishing eight points ahead of second place sc Heerenveen.
But unlike
previous seasons, where they would get promoted and just finish mid-table the
next season, HFC Haarlem proved to provide one of the shocks of the season in
finishing 4th and gaining qualification for the 1982-83 UEFA Cup. In
the first round they met Belgian side, Gent, beating them 2-1 in the home leg.
The away leg proved to be an exciting affair, finishing 3-3 which saw the Dutch
side progress to the second round where they met Soviet Union side Spartak
Moscow. This proved to be a bridge too far for the Dutch side, who lost 2-0 in
the first leg and 3-1 in the second, knocking them out 5-1 on aggregate, Their
European adventure didn’t effect their domestic form and in the 1982-83 season
they finished 7th, only two points outside of the UEFA cup
qualification places. 1983-84 saw the club once again finish 4th but
they were ten points off a European place, with the big three clubs, Ajax, PSV
and Feynoord finishing above them by some distance. (Feynoord were the league
champions that season). Mediocracy was the name of the game for HFC for years
after that, finishing 9th (1984-85), 11th (1985-86), 12th
(1986-87), 9th (1987-88), and finishing 10th (1988-89).
It wasn’t until the 1989-90 season when they were finally relegated once again,
finishing bottom of the pile, winning just four games all season, drawing seven
and losing twenty-three., scoring only twenty-four goals all season and
conceding a huge amount in 74 goals in total. But unlike previous relegations,
HFC Haarlem didn’t gain promotion straight away. In fact, they weren’t even
close, finishing a disappointing 14th out of 20. The 1991-92 season
saw a little improvement with the club finishing 10th, but they were
still nowhere near the promotion places. (That same year FC Wageningen went
bankrupt). The 1992-93 season saw another mediocre year, in which the club
finished mid-table in 10th place. With the promotion play-off system
changed, giving the top seven a chance to gain promotion, one would think HFC
Haarlem would be at least challenging for one of those places, however, the
1993-94 season saw the club drop down to 15th place. 16th
place followed the next season, with the club seemingly stuck in a rut and
struggling to find a way out of the Eerste Divisie. 1995-96 saw a 10th
place finish, 12 points behind Cambuur who finished in 6th place and
inside the promotion play-off places. And it got worse for HFC Haarlem the
following season in 1996-97, as they finished bottom of the Eereste Divisie,
(18th). 15th the 1997-98 and the 1998-99 season followed
as the club headed into the new millennium. But the new century didn’t bring
any new luck to Haalem, as they finished 16th in the 1999-00 season.
17th in the 2000-01 and 12th in the 2001-02 saw the club
still playing in the Eereste Divisie for more than a decade. The 2002-03 season
saw the club finish 14th and thirteenth the 2003-04 season.
The club
continued to finish at the wrong end of the table and never gained promotion
again to the topflight of Dutch football. In 2010, half way through the season, the club were
excluded from the professional football league due to them being bankrupt, The
club, HFC Haarlem, played their last ever professional match on the 10th
January in a 3-0 away loss to Excelsior, Three months later, HFC Haarlem
completed a merger with amateur side, Tweede Klasse club, HFC Kennemerland,
forming and renaming the new club Haarlem Kennemerland. The team play in the
amateur leagues.
HFC Haarlem
were a very interesting club to research, if not a very in-depth club, with one
of the longer histories I have read about for this book. They were a club with
moderate success and competed at the highest level, even coming within touching
distance of the big three, Ajax, Feynoord and PSV one season. To think, they
even played in European competition, and now, they are no longer a professional
side. It really can happen to any club in the world and it’s why I always say
to football fans to never take the club you support for granted, because you
never know when they could be the next ‘Forgotten Club’.