Football club VVS’46 in Spanbroek looks at the KNVB’s decision with displeasure. The association, whose first team traditionally plays on Sundays, does not recognize the problems outlined by the association. “We have enough Sunday clubs in our region. For a derby we simply get on our bikes here,” says chairman Ruud Loos.
In the new format, for the 2nd and 3rd division, the match day is determined by the home team. That’s where the problem lies, according to VVS’46, especially in confrontations with so-called principled Saturday clubs. They traditionally do not play on Sundays and play both their home and away games on Saturdays.
For Sunday clubs, this means in practice that they are forced to move their home games to Saturday against such opponents. That day is reserved for youth matches at many Sunday clubs. “That is unequal treatment, which actually creates new problems,” says Loos.
Infringement on club culture
The chairman of the Spanbroek association calls the system change an ‘infringement on club culture’. “The fact that in the future format we have to play some of our most popular home games on Saturdays has a greater impact than the KNVB can estimate.” He gives examples of the difficult logistics, the unavailability of players and the possible loss of supporters and income.
The Weekend Football core group, a collective of associations of which VVS’46 is a part, has been in discussions with the KNVB about an alternative solution for some time. Because, according to the Core Group, this came to nothing, the group feels compelled to submit the issue to the court.
