Royal Dutch Football Association

Royal Dutch Football Association
UEFA
Short name	KNVB
Founded	8 December 1889; 134 years ago
Headquarters	Zeist, Netherlands
FIFA affiliation	21 May 1904; 120 years ago
UEFA affiliation	15 June 1954; 70 years ago
BeNe League affiliation	5 May 2012 – 5 May 2015
President	Just Spee
Website	knvb.nl (in Dutch); knvb.com (in English); onsoranje.nl (in Dutch);

The Royal Dutch Football Association (Dutch: Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond, pronounced [ˌkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈneːdərlɑntsə ˈvudbɑlbɔnt]; KNVB [ˌkaːʔɛɱveːˈbeː]) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women's national teams.

For three seasons in the 2010s, the KNVB and its Belgian counterpart operated a joint top-level women's league, the BeNe League, until the two countries dissolved the league after the 2014–15 season and re-established their own top-level leagues. The KNVB is based in the central municipality of Zeist. With over 1.2 million members, the KNVB is the single largest sports association in the Netherlands.^[1]

History

In 1889, the Nederlandse Voetbal en Athletiek Bond was founded. Due to certain disagreements, several football clubs ended their association with it and joined together to form Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KNVB) which was later renamed to its present name.^[2] It was one of the founding members of FIFA in 1904 and one of the first non-British football associations in Europe.^[3]^{[self-published source?]} The first Dutch football club was formed in 1879 in Haarlem.^[4] The Netherlands Football League Championship had already existed unofficially for a decade when the association was founded. The KNVB strongly disapproved of the professionalism of football in 1909. It said that "it will protest against it by all means necessary."^[5] In 2012, the KNVB launched an 11-point action plan, called 'Football for everyone' to promote gay football players in coming out. It released a 30-second video named 'Gay? It doesn't matter'; prepared by broadcaster BNN. The video was also broadcast during the Dutch national football teams World Cup qualifier match against Andorra held in October 2012.^[6]

During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, it collaborated with Royal Philips to open six football clinics across Brazil. Bert van Oostveen is the current Secretary-General of KNVB.^[1]

Management

Senior management		Title/Managed Institution		Term of office
	Just Spee (born 1965)	President	National football team	Since 17 December 2019
	Gijs de Jong (born 1972)	Secretary-General	National football team	Since January 2018
	Nigel de Jong (born 1984)	Technical Director	Netherlands national football team · Netherlands women's national football team	Since 4 June 2023
	Marianne Van Leeuwen (born 1961)	Director of professional football	Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie	Since 1 September 2021
Board of directors – Professional Leagues		Title/Managed Institution		Term of office
	Jean-Paul Decossaux (born 1963)	Chief commercial officer	Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie	Since 1 December 2009
	Ron Francis (born 1978)	Financial director	Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie	Since 1 July 2010
	Mark Boetekees (born 1973)	Chief administrative officer	Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie	Since 1 April 2010
Board of directors – Amateur Leagues		Title/Managed Institution		Term of office
	Jan Dirk van der Zee (born 1971)	Operations Director	Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse	Since 1 April 2015
	Meta Römers (born 1970)	Administrative Director	Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse	Since 1 January 2016
Supervisory board – Professional Leagues		Title/Managed Institution		Term of office
	Simon Kelder (born 1944)	Senior Member	Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie	Since 4 June 2012
	Erik Mulder [nl] (born 1967)	Member	Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie	Since 1 November 2016
Supervisory board – Amateur Leagues		Title/Managed Institution		Term of office
	Pier Eringa (born 1961)	Chairman	Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse	Since 1 December 2014
	Huub Wieleman (born 1955)	Member	Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse	Since 1 December 2014
	Tjienta van Pelt (born 1970)	Member	Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse	Since 1 June 2016
	Jos Vranken (born 1967)	Member	Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse	Since 1 December 2014
	Albert van Wijk (born 1962)	Member	Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse	Since 1 December 2014
Source: KNVB.nl (in Dutch)

Current sponsorships

References

^ ^a ^b "Philips partners with the Royal Dutch Football Association to kick- off a series of football clinics across Brazil". Philips Newscenter. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
^ Sean Hamil; Simon Chadwick (2010). Managing Football: An International Perspective. Routledge. p. 411. ISBN 978-1-85617-544-9. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
^ David Laine (25 February 2012). Facts About Association Football – History Timeline. Lulu.com. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4716-1231-2. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
^ John Nauright; Charles Parrish (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-59884-300-2. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
^ Jacco van Uden (2004). Organisation and Complexity: Using Complexity Science to Theorise Organisational Aliveness. Universal-Publishers. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-58112-222-0. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
^ Comiteau, Lauren (12 October 2012). "Out of the closet and on to the pitch". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.

External links

KNVB.nl – official website (in Dutch)
KNVB.com – official website in English
OnsOranje.nl – website of the Netherlands national football team (in Dutch)
Netherlands National Football Team History at VoetbalStats.nl (in Dutch)
Netherlands at FIFA site

[Philips-1] "Philips partners with the Royal Dutch Football Association to kick- off a series of football clinics across Brazil". Philips Newscenter. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2014.

[HamilChadwick2010-2] Sean Hamil; Simon Chadwick (2010). Managing Football: An International Perspective. Routledge. p. 411. ISBN 978-1-85617-544-9. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2017.

[Laine-3] David Laine (25 February 2012). Facts About Association Football – History Timeline. Lulu.com. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4716-1231-2. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2017.

[NaurightParrish2012-4] John Nauright; Charles Parrish (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-59884-300-2. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2017.

[Uden2004-5] Jacco van Uden (2004). Organisation and Complexity: Using Complexity Science to Theorise Organisational Aliveness. Universal-Publishers. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-58112-222-0. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2017.

[6] Comiteau, Lauren (12 October 2012). "Out of the closet and on to the pitch". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.

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