Promoting the Dutch League (Eredivise)

DoubleR

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Hello everyone,

Seeing that the beta for FM 15 is hopefully around a week away for us, I thought it would be a perfect moment to do some promotional work for the Dutch league called the eredivisie.

Why you might ask? I love how people on these forums have certain clubs and leagues they either choose to be in, end up in or have a close relationship with. This does not even have to be the league or club you follow in real life but, one of the great aspects of the game, can be one that results in following the club or league in real life because of the close relationship you might have with it in real life.

One example for me is, going back to FM12, Chesterfield which is a club moving between the leage one and the league two (actually in the league one again next year) that I picked just because I liked the name, ending up winning the champions league many years later, and now still checking up on them once in a while in the real world.

However what I have noticed at these forums, maybe I might be mistaken, is that the league I follow in real life (the Dutch Eredivisie) is not one that is often mentioned here as being one of the enjoyed or managed leagues in Football Manager. How come people that play football manager travel all over the world, but forget to drop by in Holland. Thats why I have made this thread to tell you guys a bit more about the league and mention some clubs that might be an interesting challenge to try in FM15 or in other words: promoting the Dutch League!

General Information
The Dutch eredivisie was founded in the year 1956 and ranked the 8th best league in the world by the Uefa after the season 2012-2013. If I remember correctly I think it is the 9th league in Football Manager. The top division consists of 18 clubs, the second division (or Jupiler League) consists of 20 clubs including some "B" or "Young" teams of three of the eredivisie clubs (Ajax, PSV and Twente). Below the Jupiler League you have two more semi-professional leagues: The Topklasse and the Hoofdklasse (Top and Head division); winning the topklasse gets you into the jupiler league but sadly those two semi-prof leagues are no in the game.

Rules
Going back to the eredivisie. In FM it is one of the few leagues (I think Germany is the other) that has no regulations surrounding forreign players; no max number, no work permits, no x number of squad needs to be from home country etc. The only rule is that you are not allowed to play non-EU under 18 players (who most often only join your squad when they turn 18). Starting this season Sky has invested a huge amount of money in the Eredivisie for the TV/live broadcast rights which should give clubs in FM15 a bit more cash to spend. The first place gives you champions league group stage football, second place qualification round champions league, places 3 and 4 europa league and 5-9 have a "play-off" at the end for the last spot. Last place is relegated, places 16 and 17 play promotion/relegation play-off against jupiler-league clubs

Legacy/History
During the 1960's and 70's The Dutch Eredivise was actually one of the biggest leagues in the world winning a lot of the international leagues as well with the biggest clubs being Feyenoord and Ajax. In 1970 Feyenoord was the richest club in the world (winning the champions league that year).
But there are obviously other international succeses aswell for example Ajax winning the champions league 4 times (only behind Real Madrid, Milan, Bayern, Liverpool and Barcelona) and Feyenoord and PSV winning it once (which means that out of 22 champions league winners; 3 are actually dutch). In the Europa League these three clubs have also won at least once; latest price being the Europa League won by Feyenoord in 2002.

Recent Years / Challenge 1
In more recent years however the Dutch Eredivisie has not been able to play a big role in international football. Obviously I am not talking about the National team (which got a nice 3rd place in Brazil) but Champions League wise I cannot remember the last time we passed the group stage and AZ alkmaar (one of the other Dutch clubs) got to the quarter finals in the Europa league last year but that is about it. One goal for you as manager could be to bring the Dutch Eredivisie back to its glory of the 60's and 70's and to a lesser extent of the 90's and 00's.

Big Dutch Clubs / Challenge 2
Another interesting challenge could be that since 1965, the introduction of the Eredivisie being in 1956, all but three titles have been won by either Ajax (24), PSV (18) and Feyenoord (9); the other three being won by AZ (2) and FC twente (1). Maybe it is time for another club (or even different clubs) to win the league title, one of the winners to keep winning or having one team surpass the magical number of 24 dutch titles. Before 1965 Other clubs also won the championship (see addition at the bottom of this post)

Below I will name some of the clubs that could be interesting to play with (challenge 3):

Ajax
Ajax, based in the capital of the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Having won the last 4 (!) league titles, there is not much "respect" to get in the national league. However, internationally (in the champions league), Ajax has not been able to make a fist and show what its made off. Having won their last big international title in 94-95, having a new succes is long overdue. The club is one of the financial healthiest in the world, but are focusing on their youth.

PSV
Reining supreme in the national league in the early 00's (winning the league 7 out of 9 times, 4 in a row), the last national title has been in the season 2007/2008. PSV is based in Eindhoven which is based more in the east side of the Netherlands causing rivalries with the 'west side' teams (like Feyenoord in Rotterdam and Ajax in Amsterdam). PSV is number one in the current (real life) season, can you as their manager make them actually win it?

Feyenoord
Based in Rotterdam, Feyenoord was once the richest and best club in the world in the year 1970 when they won the champions league. They are also the holder of the last international title with the europa league won in 2002. However, even though already winning 9 league titles, the last league title has been in 1999! Meaning that the supporters of feyenoord have been waiting 14/15 years for a new national league title; are you the one that can finally bring them some new national succes?

Fc Twente
The fourth largest club in the Netherlands despite only winning one league title. Twente is located in Enschede which is close to the border with Germany making FC Twente the largest club of the 'north'. FC twente has just improved their stadium, however, has come into some fanancial problems; are you the one that can bring dominance to the North? (Heerenveen being the other club of the North for the same challenge), (AZ alkmaar being the winners of the other two titles could also be a challenge candidate)

Vitesse
Vitesse located in Arnhem (which again is east like PSV), has a close relation with Chelsea and, just like Chelsea, has a rich guy from russia "behind the wheel". This cash injection, together with the players on loan from Chelsea (last year guys like Piazon, this year William), has not yet gotten them any succes in the league. Maybe you are the one that can fullfill the ambitious destiny of this team (either with or without the assistance of Chelsea and the Money).

Ado Den Haag
ADO (Short for Alles door oefening translated to "Everything through practice"), is based in the Hague which is the "Washington D.C." of the Netherlands but also has a huge international name: The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, together with Queen Máxima. Most foreign embassies in the Netherlands and 150 international organisations are located in the city, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, which makes The Hague one of the major cities hosting the United Nations, along with New York, Brussels, Geneva, Bonn, Vienna, Tokyo and Nairobi (Wikipedia). This could be a great starting point for a large famous football club; however they have not yet been able to do it in real life (scoring mid-table positions at best). Can you give the hague the club it deserves?

Pec Zwolle & Go Ahead Eagles
Only promoted two years ago, but great additions to the league; showing fresh new football that can even overthrow the big guys. It seems like these clubs are here to stay; but can they become even bigger? (to a lesser extent SC cambuur)

FC dordrecht & Excelsior Rotterdam
Both clubs are in the same region as Feyenoord and make up the "Rijnmond Regio" together with Sparta Rotterdam in the second division. However these two clubs got promoted to the eredivisie this season and are by far the smallest clubs present today. Can you keep them inside the Eredivisie? Or even better; can one of the smaller clubs in the rijnmond regio surpass the 'big brother' Feyenoord?


However there are even more clubs that could be interesting; for example FC Utrecht which is one of the more well known cities in Western Europe, Heracles Almelo who has a rivalry with FC twente (and are currently last in the league). SC cambuur who has a rivalry with Heerenveen, FC Groningen with a nice stadium and also in the "battle of the north" with Heerenveen and FC twente.

Or for people that want a challenge, clubs in the second division like, NEC, RKC and Roda JC who relegated from the Eredivisie last year; for Roda JC its first relegation in club history; can you bring them back? Sparta Rotterdam (mentioned as one of the "rijnmond" clubs with Dordrect, Excelsior and Feyenoord) is one of the oldest clubs in the Netherlands with a big history; actually the 5th overall club of the Netherlands after FC twente (looking at the wins and number of points). However they have been playing in the second league for 5 years now; they should really not be there
Achilles'29; the first semi-prof team that made the jump to the professional jupiler league, can you take them to new heights?
FC eindhoven The second club of eindhoven which also has the earlier mentioned PSV eindhoven located. Can you surpass their big brother?

Minor correction/addition btw: Roda JC's predecessor club, Rapid JC before they fused with Roda Sport, was the last club to win the championship before the introduction of the Eredivisie, while one of the clubs that FC Utrecht was formed out of, DOS, won the Eredivisie in the 1957/58 season. Two more clubs, DWS (now an amateur club) and Sparta (now in the Eerste Divisie) also won in 1963/64 and 1958/59 respectively.

Final Remarks
Hopefully this post has shed some more light on this league with great history and interesting clubs, followings and rivalries. If I have convinced at least one of you to try the Eredivisie; my mission is accomplished. I hope that you at least have enjoyed reading this post and if you have any more questions; please ask! Maybe I have inspired you to make a post promotion your league that you think deservers more FM players (managers) and attention, please let me know because I would love to learn more and come visit you!

Leaves me to wish everyone the best of fun with FM15 when it releases!
 
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I will definitely be trying the Eredivise, I tend to have a save in that league anyway but nothing serious. Ajax will be my team, great stadium, great facilities and an incredible youth system. Domestic domination will be straight forward but European will be tricky. Also FC Twente could be interesting.
 
As an Ajax supporter, I will try my hardest to try and promote the youth and make them into the world's best.
 
I never been able to get a good Ajax game going... Even though I am a fan hahahaha

I try lower teams, came 2nd with NAC in FM13
 
I never been able to get a good Ajax game going... Even though I am a fan hahahaha

I try lower teams, came 2nd with NAC in FM13

Why not? What goes wrong?
The one thing that annoys me about being Ajax is the constant transfer bids for your best players.
 
Good read mate,

I myself year after year manage in the Welsh Premier League of all places! And i love nothing more than dominating domestically with TNS (163 games unbeaten atm!!) and trying to crack europe.

And sadly i admit i have never stuck to a save in the Eridivisie in recent years? Although one of my best saves was on CM 01/02 with PSV :)

Might give them another shot this year!
 
Had/still have a Feyenoord save on FM14 that's in the season 2029/2030. Made them the number one club in the world, and in the past two seasons managed to get the Eredivisie into the top 4 leagues in Europe. Will have another dabble with them in 15, as they sold a fair amount of key players over the summer but have some nice youngsters coming through to fill their boots - so should be equally as fun. The aim is to build a stronger Dutch core this time around though - think I only have around 10 home grown Dutch players in my squad, only 4 of which are key first team starters. So that's my plan for when the beta is released anyway. I've already got transfer targets in mind, ffs :(
 
My current Arsenal save on FM14 started as a Feijenoord save, with which I won the Eredivisie three years running. I was succeeded by Martin Jol (!) of all people, who went on to win the championship three times in a row too....
 
Minor correction/addition btw: Roda JC's predecessor club, Rapid JC before they fused with Roda Sport, was the last club to win the championship before the introduction of the Eredivisie, while one of the clubs that FC Utrecht was forme dout of, DOS, won the Eredivisie in the 1957/58 season. Two more clubs, DWS (now an amateur club) and Sparta (now in the Eerste Divisie) also won in 1963/64 and 1958/59 respectively.
 
Minor correction/addition btw: Roda JC's predecessor club, Rapid JC before they fused with Roda Sport, was the last club to win the championship before the introduction of the Eredivisie, while one of the clubs that FC Utrecht was forme dout of, DOS, won the Eredivisie in the 1957/58 season. Two more clubs, DWS (now an amateur club) and Sparta (now in the Eerste Divisie) also won in 1963/64 and 1958/59 respectively.

Sorry you are totally right it should say: "Since 1965 etc..", have fixed it now. Have also added your statement/message in the opening post
 
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I always have liked NEC's logo and kit. What should I expect from them?

Also, who would be an interesting choice outside the big 3 for someone who likes youth, speed, and attacking?

Random question, is there any political elements to Dutch sports like in Scotland, Italy, or Spain? Is there a well-known leftist or working class team?
 
I always have liked NEC's logo and kit. What should I expect from them?

Also, who would be an interesting choice outside the big 3 for someone who likes youth, speed, and attacking?

Random question, is there any political elements to Dutch sports like in Scotland, Italy, or Spain? Is there a well-known leftist or working class team?

NEC is a club that was in the Eredivisie for many years since 1994, but relegated last season. However, even though they now play in the Jupiler League (the division below the Eredivisie), they kept most of their Eredivisie squad intact meaning they are currently dominating the Jupiler League; first with 8 wins in 9 games played and 1 loss.
They have a pretty decent stadium (15th largest in the Netherlands) with a capacity of 12.500 (where for example other Eredivsie teams have much less like Heracles; 8.500, Go Ahead Eagles 7428, FC Dordrecht, 4088, Excelsior, 3531), so as I said pretty decent and Eredivisie worthy. However when you gain promotion with them its still the squad that also caused relegation last season (last matchday btw so very close) so you will need to get some more quality
NEC also has a very close rivalry with Vitesse were some people will actually won't travel to the City of the other team (except on match day)
Another fun fact is that in the Netherlands you also have a club called "NAC" which means that once a year you would have a game NAC-NEC and NEC-NAC. However supporters of NEC pronounce their name letter for letter so in other words "N-E-C" to differentiate them from NAC which is said like one word.
For me it is one of the clubs that should really be in the Eredivisie and its a club that everybody knows.


Outside the big 3 there are a few teams that have been praised for their attacking (and speed) play this season: Vitesse, PEC Zwolle and SC Cambuur. I think that all clubs in the Netherlands like their youth (also because they dont have the budget to buy (big) international names), but I know that Vitesse recently invested a lot of money in their training complex and youth department. As stated before they also get youth players from Chelsea like Piazon last year.

They are not really any political elements to Dutch Football (at least as far as I know), although they are obviously connected to a city which might be more left or right winged. Regarding the leftist or 'working class teams' there are some things for me the best known example is the fact that traditionally Feyenoord was more of a working class club being close to the Rotterdam Harbour / Port of Rotterdam while Sparta Rotterdam was more of the higher class/etilist Rotterdam citizens (Another example would be SC cambuur (etilist) vs Heerenveen (working class)

There are also some clubs that call themselves "Boeren" meaning "Farmers", actually shouting "Boeren, Boeren, Boeren" (Farmers, Farmers, Farmers) when they score referring to their 'working class' roots and background (We are the farmers)
Examples of supporters of clubs that see themselves as "working class"
PSV
De Graafschap
FC Groningen
and I might be missing some teams..
 
I always have liked NEC's logo and kit. What should I expect from them?

Also, who would be an interesting choice outside the big 3 for someone who likes youth, speed, and attacking?

Random question, is there any political elements to Dutch sports like in Scotland, Italy, or Spain? Is there a well-known leftist or working class team?

I thought NEC is in heavy money troubles. Since they got demoted to the jupiler league they had to fire alot of staff and now they can't pay the rent of their stadium anymore and asked the local government for support. The other side tho is that they're #1 on the table, if i'm not mistaken...
 
Always do a Ajax save, on FM 14 had a strike force of Berardi, Dybala and Vietto.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
 
Thanks mate, I've pretty much been in every big league in Europe but never went for the Dutch league. Will now start in FM 15 with FC Eindhoven in the Jupiler League, as I love to challenge myself with small teams that never won anything (or not in a long time at least). They've been in the 2nd league for 30 years constantly now, runner-up currently in RL, sounds like a challenge. (H)
 
Thanks mate, I've pretty much been in every big league in Europe but never went for the Dutch league. Will now start in FM 15 with FC Eindhoven in the Jupiler League, as I love to challenge myself with small teams that never won anything (or not in a long time at least). They've been in the 2nd league for 30 years constantly now, runner-up currently in RL, sounds like a challenge. (H)

Sounds like a nice challenge indeed, added bonus is the fact that you can try to surpass PSV Eindhoven as well
 
Anyone here that (indeed) started a save/their first save in either the Dutch eredivisie or Dutch Jupiler league ? Or still has plans to do a save? I have started a game with Feyenoord like I always do, but might go ADO Den Haag (The Hague) because that city deserves a bigger club!
 
Anyone here that (indeed) started a save/their first save in either the Dutch eredivisie or Dutch Jupiler league ? Or still has plans to do a save? I have started a game with Feyenoord like I always do, but might go ADO Den Haag (The Hague) because that city deserves a bigger club!
I don't have FM15 yet but once I do, I might start a save in the Dutch leagues since I have never even loaded up the leagues before! It would be interesting to try and turn Sparta Rotterdam into a force to rival Feyenoord as well as the other big clubs. However, I don't know anything about the club other than what you posted earlier.

Also, what is the usual reputation you need to have for starting in the Jupiler League? I usually like to have a sunday-league unemployment save and was wondering if I could start in that league.
Thanks.
 
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