1.
Venlo
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Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, near the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg, blerick, on the west bank, was known as Blariacum. Because of its importance, the city of Venlo was besieged several times. The most significant siege was that of 1702, carried on by Menno van Coehoorn, consequently, Venlo was incorporated into the Generaliteitslanden of the United Provinces at the Treaty of 1713. After the Napoleonic Wars it became part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, on 9 November 1939, two British Intelligence Service agents were kidnapped by the Sicherheitsdienst in what became known as the Venlo Incident. Venlo had both a road and a bridge over the Maas. The city was damaged by bombing raids on the bridges at the end of the war. Allied forces made 13 attempts to destroy the bridges to cut the German supply lines and these failed, and it was the retreating German troops who in the end blew up the bridges in an attempt to stop the allied advance. Allied forces liberated Venlo from the east, from inside Germany itself, about 300 people were killed due to those raids. The raids also cost Venlo a major part of its historical buildings, however, some old buildings, such as the city hall and the Römer house, survived the war relatively unscathed. Before the war, Venlo had an active Jewish community, most of the Jews were murdered in The Holocaust. By the late 1990s, drug-related nuisance had become a problem in the centre of Venlo, in 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago, on 1 January 2010, the municipality of Arcen en Velden, was merged into the municipality of Venlo. In 2003 Venlo was awarded the title Greenest city of Europe, Venlo was the host of Floriade 2012, the worlds largest horticultural exhibition. In 2013, Venlo has won the prestigious Best City Centre of the Netherlands award. It amazed the jury by all the investments which have made in the last couple of years in the Maas Boulevard, the railway station, the tunnel in the centre. Summer park festivities called Zomerparkfeest in August held in and around the park of Venlo. Venlo, being a city with a 100, 000+ population, is served by a number of schools both at primary and secondary education levels
2.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
3.
Midfielder
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A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their teams defenders and forwards, some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being mobile and efficient in passing, they are commonly referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box. The number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the teams formation, most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing teams attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match, central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided roughly equally between attack and defence. When the opposing team has the ball, a midfielder may drop back to protect the goal or move forward. The 4–3–3 and 4–5–1 formations each use three central midfielders, the 4−4−2 formation may use two central midfielders, and in the 4–2–3–1 formation one of the two deeper midfielders may be a central midfielder. The term box-to-box midfielder refers to central midfielders who have abilities and are skilled at both defending and attacking. These players can track back to their own box to make tackles and block shots. A good box-to-box midfielder needs good passing, vision, control, stamina, tackling and marking in defence, left and right midfielders have a role balanced between attack and defence, similar to that of central midfielders, but they are positioned closer to the touchlines of the pitch. They may be asked to cross the ball into the penalty area to make scoring chances for their teammates. Common modern formations that include left and right midfielders are the 4−4−2, the 4−4−1−1, the 4–2–3–1, a notable example of a right midfielder is David Beckham. Defensive midfielders are players who focus on protecting their teams goal. These players may defend a zone in front of their teams defence, defensive midfielders may also move to the full-back or centre-back positions if those players move forward to join in an attack. Sergio Busquets described his attitude, The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someones position, great. A good defensive midfielder needs good positional awareness, anticipation of play, marking, tackling, interceptions, passing and great stamina. A holding or deep-lying midfielder stays close to their teams defence, a player in this role will try to protect their goal by disrupting the opponents attacking moves and stopping long shots on the goal. The holding midfielder may also have responsibilities when their team has the ball and this player will make mostly short and simple passes to more attacking members of their team but may try some more difficult passes depending on the teams strategy
4.
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
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Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, England. The team competes in the Championship, the tier of the English football league system. Formed as an offshoot of The Wednesday Cricket Club in 1867, in 1868 they won the Cromwell Cup, only the second tournament of its kind, and in 1877 they won the inaugural Sheffield Challenge Cup, the oldest county cup in England. They were founding members and inaugural champions of the Football Alliance in 1889, in 1992 they became founder members of the Premier League. The club has spent most of its history in English footballs top flight. The Owls, as they are nicknamed, have won four league titles, Wednesday have also competed in UEFA cup competitions on four occasions, reaching the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1963. Since 1899 the club has played its matches at Hillsborough stadium. Although no contemporary evidence has found to support the claim. Nevertheless, an 1842 article in Bells Life magazine states the club was founded as far back as 1816, the club was so named because it was on Wednesdays that the founding members had their day off work. They were initially based at the New Ground in Darnall, and often went by the name of Darnall Wednesday, in 1855 they were one of six clubs that helped build Bramall Lane, and held a wicket there for many years. The proposal proved very popular, with over 60 members signing up for the new team on the first night and they played their first match against The Mechanics on 19 October the same year, winning by three goals and four rouges to nil. On 1 February 1868, Wednesday played their first competitive match as they entered the Cromwell Cup. A week after their semi-final, they went on to win the cup, beating the Garrick club in the final after extra time, a key figure during the formative years of the football club was Charles Clegg, who joined the Wednesday in 1867. His relationship with the club lasted for the rest of his life and he also became president and chairman of the Football Association, and was known as the Napoleon of Football. In 1876 Wednesday acquired Scot James Lang, although he was not employed by the club, he was given a job by a member of the Sheffield Wednesday board that had no formal duties. He is now acknowledged as the first professional player in England. With Lang in their team the club became one of the strongest in the region. In 1880 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, but although they had had Lang on their books a decade earlier, the club officially remained staunchly amateur, and this stance almost cost the club its very existence
5.
VVV-Venlo
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VVV-Venlo is a football club from Venlo in the Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club plays its games in the De Koel stadium. VVV returned to the Eredivisie, the highest league in the Netherlands, after one season in the Eredivisie, VVV-Venlo were relegated back to the Eerste Divisie. After a single season, VVV-Venlo won the Eerste Divisie 2008-09 title, in the 2009–2010 season, the team booked its best league result since 1988, by finishing 12th in the Eredivisie. Another remarkable event was the transfer of star player Keisuke Honda to CSKA Moscow and they also signed toddler Baerke van der Meij on a symbolic 10-year contract, after a video featuring him scoring a hat trick into a toy box went viral. Honda was replaced by Gonzalo and the club signed Japanese player Maya Yoshida, the department of Keisuke Honda turned out to be a key point in the clubs success. In the second half of the season the team was not able to win matches, at the end of the season, key players Ruben Schaken and Adil Auassar both signed with Feyenoord on a free transfer. Gonzalo returned to his employer FC Groningen, Sandro Calabro signed with Swiss side St. Gallen, the club contracted Ruud Boymans and the Nigerian Ahmed Musa to strengthen the squad to be able to escaping from relegation. This succeeded, but it had been a season in which Jan van Dijk was fired. Belgian manager Glen De Boeck was signed for the next season, as a result of that, he resigned in December 2011. Ton Lokhoff was recruited as the new manager and succeeded to not relegate after the winning the post-season play-offs, the club finished fifth in its first Eerste Divisie season since its promotion in 2009. VVV-Venlo had been acquiring Japanese players such as Keisuke Honda, Maya Yoshida, Robert Cullen, sef Vergoossen, a legendary manager of the club and a Japanese agent, Tetsuro Kiyooka had become the bridge between the Japanese players and the club. VVV Venlo currently play at De Koel in Venlo, the stadium holds 8,000 people and was built in 1972. It is named after its sponsor, hence its current name Seacon Stadion De Koel. As of 24 January 2017 For recent transfers, see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2016 Note, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. 28 — Beau Vilters, defender — posthumous honour, below is a table with VVV-Venlos domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956. Official website Fanclub – Fanclub Dn Twellefde Man Fanclub – GoodOld VVV Fanclub – East Side Venlo
6.
RKC Waalwijk
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RKC Waalwijk is a football club currently playing in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Its name is derived from Rooms Katholieke Combinatie and was a club of HEC, WVB. The club was formed on 26 August 1940 and used to play its games at Sportpark Olympia. Its new stadium, the 7500 seater Mandemakers Stadion was opened in 1996, while considered as one of the Eredivisies smaller clubs, it nevertheless maintained its top flight status for many years. Its home colors are yellow and blue, at the end of the 2006–07 season, RKC Waalwijk were relegated from the Eredivisie after a defeat in play-offs against VVV-Venlo. On 3 June 2009 they were promoted to the Eredivisie division after a win in the play-offs against De Graafschap, though, their spell didnt last long ending in the last place with only 15 points. In the season followed they would finish first in the Eerste Divisie promoting back in the top flight of Dutch football, after another relegation at the end of the 2013-14 season, RKC Waalwijk finished 20th in the 2014-15 season of Eerste Divisie. However, they didnt relegate to Topklasse because both of the two Topklasse champions declined promotion into professionalism, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality
7.
SV Straelen
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SV Straelen is a German association football club from Straelen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was established in 1919 and today has nearly 2,400 members with departments for athletics, badminton, basketball, gymnastics, handball, karate, swimming, long an unheralded local side, Sportverein Straelen first won promotion to the fourth tier Oberliga Nordrhein in 1996. Straelen parlayed their reprieve into a stay at the Oberliga level that ended with a 17th place finish in 2001. During this period the team earned an appearance in the round of the DFB-Pokal following a 1999 regional cup win. SV returned to the Oberliga Nordrhein in 2006 on the strength of a Verbandsliga Niederrhein title, in 2007–08, the club clearly missed the qualifying criteria for the new Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen, coming last in the league. In an odd twist, while the first team was relegated to the Verbandsliga, for this reason, the club fields both teams in the same league in the 2008–09 season, a novelty at this level of play. The club nowadays plays in the Landesliga Niederrhein again after relegation from the Oberliga, official team site Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables
8.
KFC Uerdingen 05
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KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The one time Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now plays in the 5th division. The club was founded on 17 November 1905 as Fußball-Club Uerdingen 05, on 1 August 1919, following World War I, FC was joined by Sportvereinigung des Realgymnasiums Urdingen. During World War II from 1941–45 the club played as part of the wartime side Kriegspielgemeinschaft Uerdingen alongside VfB1910 Uerdingen. That partnership continued after the war with the two clubs playing as Spielvereinigung Uerdingen 05, on 20 February 1948, VfB became independent again and in 1950 SpVgg resumed their original identity as FC Uerdingen 05. In 1953, the merged with Werkssportgruppe Bayer AG Uerdingen. Bayer withdrew its sponsorship of the team in 1995 at which time the club took on the name Krefelder Fußball-Club Uerdingen 05. Bayer continues to support the departments of the club as Sport-Club Bayer 05 Uerdingen. Uerdingen played in the local leagues throughout their early history. By the early 1960s they had advanced as far as the Amateurliga Niederrhein where they would play until 1971 when they stepped up into the Regionalliga West. The club then enjoyed a succession of strong finishes, a result in 1974–75 earned them promotion to the top flight Bundesliga. After three seasons in the second tier 2, Bundesliga Nord, another second-place finish returned Uerdingen to the Bundesliga in 1979, this time for a two-year stay. The club would go on to enjoy its most successful years through the 1980s and they returned to the Bundesliga in 1983 and earned a best-ever third-place result there in 1986. Uerdingen also captured the DFB-Pokal in 1985 with a 2,1 victory over Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in Berlins Olympiastadion, legendary in the clubs history from this time is their victory over Dynamo Dresden in the quarter-finals of the 1986 European Cup Winners Cup. Down 0–2 after the first leg away and behind 1–3 by half-time at home in the return leg, in 1987, Uerdingen also became the first club to win both the German under 19s and under 17s championship in the same season. The team spent the first half of the 1990s as an elevator crew bouncing up, after the 1995 season Bayer withdrew its sponsorship of the football team which has suffered chronic financial difficulties ever since. Uerdingen took up their year of play in the Bundesliga in the 1995–96 season as Krefelder Fußball-Club Uerdingen 05. By the turn of the millennium they had slipped through the second division, the clubs persistent financial problems led the DFB to deny them a license for play in the Regionalliga Nord in 2003 despite a mid-table finish and they were relegated to the Oberliga Nordrhein
