ADO Den Haag explained

Clubname:ADO Den Haag
Upright:0.75
Short Name:ADO Den Haag
Nickname:Den Haag (The Hague)
De Residentieclub (The Residence Club)
De Ooievaars (The Storks)
Ground:Bingoal Stadion
Capacity:15,000
Owner:David Blitzer
Chairman:Natascha van Grinsven-Admiraal
Manager:Darije Kalezić
Mgrtitle:Head coach
Current:2023–24 ADO Den Haag season
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Website:https://adodenhaag.nl/nl/

Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˈɑləz doːr ˈufənɪŋ dɛn ˈɦaːx/), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˈaːdoː dɛn ˈɦaːx/), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2020–21 season. The club was for a time known as FC Den Haag (in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ɛfˈseː dɛn ˈɦaːx/), with ADO representing the amateur branch of the club. Despite being from one of the traditional three large Dutch cities, it has not been able to match Ajax, Feyenoord or PSV in terms of success in the Eredivisie or in European competition. There is nonetheless a big rivalry with Ajax and Feyenoord. The Dutch words "Alles Door Oefening" translate into Everything Through Practice.

History

1905–1971: ADO

On 1 February 1905, the club Alles Door Oefening (ADO) was founded in café 'Het Hof van Berlijn' (now: De Paap) in The Hague. In the first years of its existence, the club endured some difficult times as many members refused to pay their fees. ADO started out in the local Haagsche Voetbal Bond, but promoted to the national Nederlandsche Voetbal Bond in 1912. That year they promoted to the third level (3e klasse NVB) and two years later they even earned the championship on that level.

After moving to the Zuiderpark stadium in 1925, ADO continued to grow to a club of some significance. In 1926, the club earned promotion to the highest national level, the Eerste Klasse. In the following years the red-green-white team struggled not to be relegated at first, but rose to the top of the league at the end of the 1930s. In 1939 the club just missed the class title after losing to DWS in Amsterdam. In 1940, the title seemed very close again, but another second-place finish was the highest achievable position after the club saw many players being drafted in the army with World War II closing in. This time another club from Amsterdam, Blauw-Wit, grabbed the title. In 1941, ADO finally won their class and moved on to the national champion's competition, losing that to Heracles.

In the 1941–42 season, all the stars were aligned, and although the war made everyday life harder and harder, the club seemed undefeatable. After winning their league, often by many goals difference, ADO moved on to the national champion's competition and fought for the title with Heerenveen, AGOVV, Eindhoven and Blauw-Wit. A 5–2 victory over AGOVV finally brought ADO their first national title. In 1943 ADO won another title, amongst others by beating legend Abe Lenstra's Heerenveen 8–2.

The Hague had to wait until the 1960s for more successes from their local club. After Ernst Happel joined ADO as a coach in 1962, the club worked their way to the top of the league again. They finished third in the final ranking in 1965. In 1963, 1964 and 1966, ADO played in the national cup final, the KNVB Cup, but lost. In 1968, they again reached the final, and this time beat Ajax to win it. In the 1970–71 season, ADO started the league with 17 games undefeated and were at the top of the national league, but ended their season as No. 3.

In 1967, ADO played a summer in North America's United Soccer Association, under the name San Francisco Golden Gate Gales. The club finished tied for second in the Western Division.

1971–1996: FC Den Haag

In 1971 the club merged with city rivals Holland Sport to form FC Den Haag.

The club again reached the Dutch Cup final in 1972 (this time losing 3–2 to Ajax) then went on to win the trophy for a second time in 1975, this team defeating Twente 1–0. Their greatest European success was a quarter-final game against West Ham United for the European Cup Winners Cup in 1976. A 4–2 win in The Hague followed by a 3–1 defeat in London meant elimination. In the 1980s, FC Den Haag was often associated with hooliganism and financial backfall. However, they reached their fourth Dutch Cup final in 1987, losing 4–2 (again to Ajax) following two extra-time winners from Marco van Basten.

On 3 April 1982, hooligans of the club burned down part of their own home ground, Zuiderpark Stadion.[1] The fire was set after a 4–0 loss to HFC Haarlem. It damaged the ground's oldest stand dating back to 1928 and caused $500,000 in damages.[2] The damaged part was rebuilt and opened in 1986.[3]

After another merger the club was renamed ADO Den Haag in 1996.

1996–present: ADO Den Haag

After a long spell in the country's second tier of league football, ADO Den Haag played four seasons in the Eredivisie then were relegated again in the 2006–07 season. However, after finishing sixth in the 2007–08 season, they went on to win the play-offs, meaning promotion back to the Eredivisie for 2008–09. The club's new home was finished in 2007: the 15,000-capacity Kyocera Stadion, formerly known as the Den Haag Stadion. Their home colors are yellow and green. They began the 2008–09 season with two wins which put them on top of the Eredivisie for the first time in 32 years. In the 2009–10 season, the club's average home attendance was 11,745 spectators.

The team enjoyed success in the 2010–11 season. Defeating rivals Ajax twice was one of the highlights of the season. ADO Den Haag finished seventh in the league and won the play-offs (beating Roda JC and Groningen) which offered the last Dutch UEFA Europa League place. They won the first matches against Lithuanian side Tauras (3–2, 2–0) but lost the first away leg for the third qualifying round against Cypriot club Omonia 3–0 in Nicosia.

ADO supporters have strong links with Welsh club Swansea City. Flags of the respective clubs are often flown at the matches of the other club, and both clubs regularly hold pre-season friendly matches. Legia Warsaw (Poland), Club Brugge (Belgium) and Juventus (Italy) also share strong supporter links with ADO Den Haag.

The club was in serious financial trouble in 2008 and in June 2014, its majority shareholder agreed to sell the club to Chinese-based United Vansen International Sports Company, Ltd. for a reported $8.9 million.[4] The current ownership group has "promised to invest millions of euros" into the club.[5] UVS was founded in 2008 and was responsible for organising the Beijing Olympic closing ceremony and football curtain-raisers attracting prominent football clubs such as Juventus, Milan, Internazionale, Napoli, Lazio, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Hull City.[6]

The 2019–20 season was declared void, with no promotion/relegation, which meant ADO Den Haag remained in Eredivisie for the 2020–21 season despite their 17th-place finish.[7] In 2021, ADO Den Haag was relegated to the Eerste Divisie.[8] The same year, American investment company Global Football Holdings, owned by David Blitzer, purchased majority shares in the club from United Vansen.[9] [10]

Sponsors

PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
1987–1989CruyffHotelplan Vakanties
1992–1994Lotto
1994–1999VHS
1999–2000WilsonClient Solutions
2000–2001Solidium
2001–2002Fila
2002–2004Hommerson Casino's
2004–2005Hummel
2005–2008DSW
2008–2011Fit For Free
2011–2012ErreàKyocera
2012–2017Basic Fit
2018–2022Cars Jeans
2023–presentHommerson Casino's

Honours

Eredivisie (up to 1955–56 the Netherlands Football League Championship)

Eerste Divisie

KNVB Cup

European record

UEFA Europa League
SeasonRoundOpponentsHome legAway legAggregate
2011–12Q2 Tauras2–03–25–2
Q3 Omonia1–00–31–3
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
SeasonRoundOpponentsHome legAway legAggregate
1968–691 Grazer AK4–12–06–1
2 1. FC Köln0–10–30–4
1972–731 Spartak Moscow0–00–10–1
1975–761 Vejle BK2–02–04–0
2 Lens3–23–16–3
QF West Ham United4–21–35–5
1987–881 Újpest Dósza3–10–13–2
2 BSC Young Boys2–10–12–2
UEFA Cup
SeasonRoundOpponentsHome legAway legAggregate
1971–721 Aris Bonnevoie5–02–27–2
2 Wolverhampton Wanderers1–30–41–7

Domestic results

See main article: List of ADO Den Haag seasons. Below is a table with ADO Den Haag's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.

Coaching staff

PositionName
Head coach Darije Kalezić
Assistant head coach Regilio Vrede
Assistant head coach Levi Schwiebbe
Goalkeeper Coach Raymond Mulder
Physical coach John Nieuwenburg
Physiotherapist Edwin Coret
Equipment manager Rob Ravestein
Club Physician Daan van de Pol, MD PhD

Former players

National team players

The following players were called up to represent their national teams in international football and received caps during their tenure with ADO Den Haag:

Aruba
Bonaire
Burkina Faso
Chinese Taipei
Curaçao
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Indonesia
Israel
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Nigeria
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Slovakia
Slovenia
Suriname
United States

National team players by Confederation

Member associations are listed in order of most to least amount of current and former ADO Den Haag players represented Internationally

Total national team players by confederation
ConfederationTotal(Nation) Association
AFC4 Chinese Taipei (1), Indonesia (1), Japan (1), Philippines (1)
CAF4 Nigeria (2), Burkina Faso (1), Ivory Coast (1)
CONCACAF10 Curaçao (4), United States (2), Aruba (1), Bonaire (1), Jamaica (1), Suriname (1)
CONMEBOL0 
OFC0 
UEFA33 Netherlands (19), Norway (4), Slovakia (2), Denmark (1), Estonia (1), Finland (1), Israel (1), Lithuania (1), Luxembourg (1), Poland (1), Slovenia (1)

Players in international tournaments

The following is a list of ADO Den Haag players who have competed in international tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup, AFC Asian Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, and the CONCACAF Gold Cup. To this date no ADO Den Haag players have participated in the UEFA European Championship, Copa América, or the OFC Nations Cup while playing for ADO Den Haag.

CupPlayers
1934 FIFA World Cup Mauk Weber
1938 FIFA World Cup Mauk Weber
2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup John O'Brien
2013 Africa Cup of Nations Kenneth Omeruo
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Kenneth Omeruo
2015 Africa Cup of Nations Wilfried Kanon
2017 Africa Cup of Nations Wilfried Kanon
2018 FIFA World Cup Tyronne Ebuehi
2019 Africa Cup of Nations Wilfried Kanon
2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Elson Hooi
2021 Africa Cup of Nations Kilian Nikiema
2023 Africa Cup of Nations Kilian Nikiema
2023 AFC Asian Cup Rafael Struick

Former managers

Notes

  1. Web site: The tarnishing of Den Haag's golden past. 20 February 2016. 3 July 2018. 3 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180703220335/https://www.worldsoccer.com/features/the-tarnishing-of-den-haags-golden-past-368667. live.
  2. Book: Montague, James. The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football's Super-rich Owners WINNER FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2018. 24 August 2017. Bloomsbury Publishing. 9781472923134. Google Books. 15 October 2020. 12 February 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240212154437/https://books.google.com/books?id=vh6LDQAAQBAJ&q=Zuiderpark+fire+1982&pg=PA121#v=snippet&q=Zuiderpark%20fire%201982&f=false. live.
  3. Web site: History. 29 August 2011. 3 July 2018. 3 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180703190856/http://www.adoforexpats.com/club-info/zuiderpark/history/. live.
  4. Montague, James A Soccer Team, Its Foreign Owner and Local Discontent The New York Times. 6 January 2016
  5. Web site: Dutch club Den Haag to be taken over by Chinese company . Reuters . Reuters . 24 June 2014 . eurosport.com . . 23 April 2015 . 12 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240212154408/https://www.eurosport.com/geoblocking.shtml . live .
  6. Web site: Glimpses of Exhibitors: United Vansen International Sports Co., Ltd. . . 27 February 2015 . cifts.org . China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services . 23 April 2015 . 4 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073447/http://en.ciftis.org/index.php/index-view-aid-8741.html . dead .
  7. Web site: Eredivisie . 24 April 2020 . 24 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210524145200/https://eredivisie.nl/nl-nl/uitgelicht/afwikkeling-voetbalseizoen-201920-een-feit . dead .
  8. Web site: ADO degradeert na dramatische middag tegen Willem II . 13 May 2021 . 13 May 2021 . Voetbal International . nl . 12 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240212154442/https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/ado-degradeert-na-dramatische-middag-tegen-willem-ii . live .
  9. Web site: Football club ADO Den Haag taken over by American company . DutchNews.nl . 5 November 2021 . 7 May 2023 . 8 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211208033608/https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2021/11/football-club-ado-den-haag-taken-over-by-american-company/ . live .
  10. Web site: Real Salt Lake Players Set for Short-Term Training Stints in Europe . rsl.com . 7 May 2023 . 7 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230507125030/https://www.rsl.com/news/real-salt-lake-players-set-for-short-term-training-stints-in-europe . live .
  11. A Dutch-born footballer, Daniël Rijaard represented Netherlands Antilles internationally, prior to the countries dissolution in 2010, with Curaçao considered by both UEFA and FIFA as the only inherit successor to the national team of former Netherlands Antilles.