With seven of the twenty teams, Brabant is the main supplier in the Kitchen Champion Division. Willem II and RKC Waalwijk were relegated from the Eredivisie, but four clubs (Jong PSV is not allowed to promote) have had a subscription to the second level of the Netherlands for many years. Is there a Telstar scenario and therefore promotion possible for FC Den Bosch, TOP Oss, Helmond Sport or FC Eindhoven this season?
FC Den Bosch came closest to promotion last season. After a period championship, they lost to Telstar in the play-offs. The people of Den Bosch have also started well this season and are now in fifth place in the rankings.
Nick de Groot experiences this up close. The 24-year-old left back has been playing in blue and white since 2007. “My dream would be to play in the Eredivisie with FC Den Bosch, but I don’t know whether that is realistic. Our goal this season is to reach the play-offs, but who knows what else is possible. I think we have a good selection.”
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It is not self-evident that there will be a battle for the top spots in De Vliert Stadium. Before last season, no play-offs had been played in the Brabant capital since 2019. The last Eredivisie was twenty years ago. De Groot: “In the future, FC Den Bosch could be a worthy Eredivisie club. In terms of the city, but also in the stadium, it is becoming increasingly lively. But to achieve that, we still have to take many steps.”
TOP Oss has the lowest player budget and is the only Dutch professional club that has never played in the Eredivisie. Trainer Sjors Ultee (38) is in his second season and last year he met a club where a lot of work needed to be done. “Top sports climate is a buzzword, but it is very important. We worked hard within the club to achieve that in the first year.”
“The technical director or I regularly drove to the AH for extra bread.”
The changes included, for example, strength training, video analyzes and more trainers. “Football comes first. That means, for example, something as small as not drilling into billboards during training, otherwise we can’t talk. But also something structural like breakfast and lunch for the players. You can imagine that 25 top athletes eat a lot. It has often happened that technical director Linton Posthumus or I drove to Albert Heijn for extra bread.”
According to Ultee, the conditions are now correct and this should lead to better performance. “Last year, from a sporting point of view, it was often a case of collapsing and waiting. In the summer we strengthened the selection. There is now a completely different TOP Oss on the field. How great would it be if we could compete for a period title or a place in the left row. We add something to this competition instead of just being a filler.”
The last time Helmond Sports played football in the Eredivisie in the 1983/1984 season. In 2022, Chairman Philippe van Esch expressed his wish to obtain a PhD within three years. That didn’t work out and the Helmonders didn’t even make it to the play-offs.
“Every now and then fantastic things happen.”
Under coach Jurgen Seegers (49), the club hopes to take the step towards the top of the competition. “We are going for the play-offs, because we can play football very well. Helmond Sport is a beautiful club, but in puberty. Fantastic things happen every now and then, but steps still have to be taken to become an adult.”
Seegers does not have a selection with many players who are used to playing for prizes. “But I see the mental skills growing every week. The boys have to try to get ‘older’ quickly without going up in age.”
FC Eindhoven relegated to the first division in 1977 and still plays there. The club is now fourteenth, but the Eindhoven team was even the proud leader in the first three games. According to coach Maurice Verberne (54), the most important goals are to play attractive football and develop players.
“We then want to sign players for longer or otherwise sell them. Like last summer’s Shane van Aarle (Juventus) and Evan Rottier (ADO Den Haag), as a club you get money for that. It is the fate of FC Eindhoven, but we see it as a compliment.” Verberne does not feel any promotional pressure. “But we are sportsmen and want to get the most out of it. The play-offs are a very big prize for us.”