Eredivisie (women's football)

Eredivisie
Full name	Eredivisie voor vrouwen
Association	Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbal Bond
First edition	2007
Teams	8 teams
master	Ajax Amsterdam
Record champions	AZ Alkmaar (3)
Website	www.eredivisievrouwenvoetbal.nl
Qualification for	UEFA Women's Champions League
↓ top class (II)

The Women's Eredivisie was the first women's football league in the Netherlands . The "Ehrendivision" comprised six clubs and in August 2007 replaced the Hoofdklasse as the top division. For the 2012/13 season, the Eredivisie was replaced by a joint league with Belgium, the BeNe League .

It has been played again since 2015/16.

history

In September 2006 the Dutch Football Association set up a working group to develop a concept for a new, more professional women's football league. Even though the Dutch national team and club teams have achieved better results in recent years, Dutch women's football is clearly overshadowed by Germany and the Scandinavian countries.

Once the concept was in place, all 38 professional clubs were contacted to find out how great the interest in this project was. Nine of these clubs spontaneously expressed their interest. A total of six clubs started playing in August 2007. The clubs had already held trial training sessions in spring 2007 and put together their squads.

In the long term, the league should be increased to ten clubs. For the 2008/09 season, Roda JC Kerkrade was added to the league as a seventh team. The team was disbanded after one season due to the club's financial problems. For the 2010/11 season, the league was increased to eight clubs by the clubs VVV Venlo and FC Zwolle .

While most of the Hoofdklasse clubs reacted positively to the new league despite being downgraded to the second division, those responsible at FFC Heike Rheine reacted very angrily. The German Bundesliga relegated team traditionally had many Dutch women in the squad in the past. While the team was in a relegation battle, according to President Alfred Werner, offers were also made to the German players.

structure

Each of the six teams in the honor division was an offshoot of a professional club known from men's football. The players and coaches benefited from the existing structures. Geographical aspects also played a role in the selection of the locations, so that every player had the opportunity to find a club close to home. Each team started the season with a squad of 20 players.

Each player on the national team was given a choice between two clubs. The international players who were active abroad were advised to move to the new league, although not all players have returned home. The U-19 national players were assigned to the clubs. Practically all other players could apply for the remaining places. However, they had to take part in several viewing tournaments where a selection was made.

In addition, each team cooperated with a club from the Hoofd class. The clubs of the Hoofdklasse became more or less farm teams of the top clubs. In the clubs of the Hoofdklasse young, as yet inexperienced players should get match practice.

The association calculated a budget of around 150,000 euros for each club . In the first three years, the association paid the clubs' travel expenses and made qualified coaches available. The games were played on Thursday and Friday evenings.

aims

With the new league, the Dutch association wanted to professionalize domestic women's football and bring it to a higher sporting level. In the medium term, the aim was to reduce the gap to neighboring Germany and the Scandinavian countries . The national team should also benefit and qualify for a major tournament for the first time. The immediate goal for the national team was the 2009 European Championship in Finland . Furthermore, the image of women's football should be improved and the prejudices that still exist should be broken down.

mode

The six participating teams played a quadruple round in the league system , i. H. each team played four times per season against each other team. There were three points for a win and one point for a draw. The team with the highest points was the champions at the end of the season and took part in the UEFA Women's Champions League for the Netherlands . In the first two seasons there was neither promotion nor relegation.

master

• 2007/08 : AZ Alkmaar
• 2008/09 : AZ Alkmaar
• 2009/10 : AZ Alkmaar
• 2010/11 : FC Twente Enschede
• 2011/12 : ADO The Hague
• 2015/16 : FC Twente Enschede
• 2016/17 : Ajax Amsterdam
• 2017/18 : Ajax Amsterdam
• 2018/19 : FC Twente Enschede

Top scorer queens

season	Nat.	Surname	society	Gates
2007/08		Karin Stevens	Willem II Tilburg	20th
2008/09		Sylvia Smit	SC Heerenveen	14th
2009/10		Sylvia Smit Chantal de Ridder	SC Heerenveen AZ Alkmaar	11
2010/11		Chantal de Ridder	AZ Alkmaar	19th
2011/12		Priscilla de Vos	Telstar	16
2012/13		Renate Jansen	ADO The Hague	10
2013/14		Vivianne Miedema	AZ Alkmaar	39
2014/15		Lineth Beerensteyn	ADO The Hague	17th
2015/16		Jill Roord	FC Twente	21st
2016/17		Katja Snoeijs	Telstar	21st
2017/18		Katja Snoeijs	VV Alkmaar	25th
2018/19		Tiny Hoekstra	SC Heerenveen	27

See also

• List of the highest national soccer divisions

Individual evidence

1. ↑ vrouwenvoetballnederland.nl: VVV-Venlo en FC Zwolle treden toe tot Eredivisie Vrouwen ( Memento of the original of May 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Women's football magazine No. 21, page 42

Web links

• FIFA.com: Netherlands create women's first division
• FIFA.com: Our women's football has some catching up to do