| Pixels: | 230px |
| Organiser: | KNVB |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| Confed: | UEFA |
| Teams: | 18 (since 1966–67) |
| Levels: | 1 |
| Relegation: | Eerste Divisie |
| Champions: | PSV (25th title) |
| Season: | 2023–24 |
| Most Champs: | Ajax (36 titles) |
| Most Appearances: | Pim Doesburg (687) |
| Top Goalscorer: | Willy van der Kuijlen (311) |
| Tv: | List of broadcasters |
| Current: | 2024–25 Eredivisie |
The Eredivisie (in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˈeːrədivizi/; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. As of the 2023–24 season, it is ranked the 6th-best league in Europe by UEFA.[1]
The Eredivisie consists of 18 clubs. Each club meets every other club twice during the season, once at home and once away. At the end of each season, the two clubs at the bottom are relegated to the second level of the Dutch league system, the (First Division), while the champion and runner-up of the are automatically promoted to the Eredivisie. The club finishing third from the bottom of the Eredivisie goes to separate promotion/relegation play-offs with six high-placed clubs from the .[2]
The winner of the Eredivisie claims the Dutch national championship. Ajax have won the most titles with 36. PSV Eindhoven are next with 25, and Feyenoord follow with 16. Since 1965, these three clubs have won all but three Eredivisie titles (the 1981 and 2009 titles went to AZ and Twente won in 2010). Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord are known as the "Big Three" or "Traditional Top Three" of Dutch football. They are the only clubs in their current form to have never been relegated out of the Eredivisie. A fourth club, Utrecht, is the product of a 1970 merger between three of that city's clubs, one of which, VV DOS, had also never been relegated out of the Eredivisie.
From 1990 to 1999, the official name of the league was PTT Telecompetitie (after the sponsor, PTT Telecom), which was changed to KPN Telecompetitie (because PTT Telecom changed its name to KPN Telecom) in 1999 and to KPN Eredivisie in 2000. From 2002 to 2005, the league was called the Holland Casino Eredivisie. Since the 2005–06 season, the league has been sponsored by the Vriendenloterij (lottery), but for legal reasons its name could not be attached to the league (the Dutch government was against the name, because the Eredivisie would, after Holland Casino's sponsorship, yet again be sponsored by a company providing games of chance).
In August 2012, it was made public that tycoon Rupert Murdoch had secured the rights to the Eredivisie for 12 years at the expense of one billion euros, beginning in the 2013–14 season.[3] Within this deal, the five largest Eredivisie clubs were to receive five million euros per year.[4] In 2020, the Eredivisie was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the foundation of the Dutch national football championship in 1898 until 1954, the title was decided through play-offs by a handful of clubs who had previously won their regional league.[5] The competition was purely an amateur one; the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) rejected any form of payment and suspended players who were caught receiving salary or transfer fees.[6] The call for professional football grew in the early fifties after many national team members left to play abroad in search for financial benefits.[7] The KNVB would usually suspend these players, preventing them from appearing for the Dutch national team. After the North Sea flood of 1953, the Dutch players abroad (mainly playing in the French league) organised a charity match against the France national team in Paris. The match was boycotted by the KNVB, but after the assembled Dutch players defeated the French (2–1), the Dutch public witnessed the heights that could be achieved through professional football.[8] To serve the growing interest, a dissident professional football association (the NBVB) and league were founded for the 1954–55 season.[9] On 3 July 1954, the KNVB met with a group of concerned amateur club chairmen, who feared the best players would join the professional teams. The meeting, dubbed the slaapkamerconferentie ('bedroom conference'), led to the Association reluctantly accepting semi-professionalism.[6]
Meanwhile, both the KNVB and the NBVB started their separate competition. The first professional football match was contested between Alkmaar and Venlo.[6] The leagues went on for eleven rounds, before a merger was negotiated between the two federations in November. Both leagues were cancelled and a new, combined competition emerged immediately. De Graafschap, Amsterdam, Alkmaar and Fortuna '54 from the NBVB were accepted to the new league. Other clubs merged, which led to new names like Rapid J.C., Holland Sport and Roda Sport. The first (semi-)professional league was won by Willem II.[10] For the 1956–57 season, the KNVB abandoned the regional league system. The Eredivisie was founded, in which the eighteen best clubs nationwide directly played for the league title without play-offs. The inaugural members of the Eredivisie in 1956 were Ajax, BVC, BVV, DOS, EVV, Elinkwijk, SC Enschede, Feijenoord, Fortuna '54, GVAV, MVV, NAC, NOAD, PSV, Rapid J.C., Sparta, VVV '03 and Willem II.[11] Ajax was the first team to claim the title that season.[11] Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history;
| Club | City | Capacity | Position in 2022–23 | 1st season in Eredivisie | No. of seasons in Eredivisie | 1st season of current spell | No. of seasons of current spell | Eredivisie titles | National titles | Last title | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ajaxa b | Amsterdam | 55,865 | data-sort-value="01” | 3rd | 1956–57 | 68 | 1956–57 | 68 | 26 | 36 | 2022 |
| Almere City | Almere | 4,501 | data-sort-value="16" | promoted* | 2023–24 | 1 | 2023–24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - |
| AZ | Alkmaar | 19,500 | data-sort-value="04" | 4th | 1968–69 | 46 | 1998–99 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 2009 |
| Excelsior | Rotterdam | 4,500 | data-sort-value="08" | 15th | 1970–71 | 24 | 2022–23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Feyenoorda b | Rotterdam | 51,137 | data-sort-value="03" | 1st | 1956–57 | 68 | 1956–57 | 68 | 10 | 16 | 2023 |
| Fortuna Sittard | Sittard | 12,500 | data-sort-value="14" | 13th | 1968–69 | 25 | 2018–19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Go Ahead Eagles | Deventer | 10,000 | data-sort-value="12" | 11th | 1963–64 | 34 | 2021–22 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1933 |
| Heerenveen | Heerenveen | 27,224 | data-sort-value="09" | 8th | 1990–91 | 32 | 1993–94 | 31 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Heracles | Almelo | 12,080 | data-sort-value="15" | promoted* | 1962–63 | 23 | 2023–24 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1941 |
| NEC | Nijmegen | 12,500 | data-sort-value="11" | 12th | 1967–68 | 43 | 2021–22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - |
| PEC Zwolle | Zwolle | 13,250 | data-sort-value="18" | promoted* | 1978-79 | 23 | 2023–24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - |
| PSVa b | Eindhoven | 36,500 | data-sort-value="02" | 2nd | 1956–57 | 68 | 1956–57 | 68 | 22 | 24 | 2024 |
| RKC Waalwijk | Waalwijk | 7,508 | data-sort-value="13" | 9th | 1988–89 | 28 | 2019–20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Sparta Rotterdama | Rotterdam | 11,026 | data-sort-value="10" | 6th | 1956–57 | 58 | 2019–20 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 1959 |
| Twentec | Enschede | 30,205 | data-sort-value="07" | 5th | 1956–57 | 65 | 2019–20 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2010 |
| Utrechtb d | Utrecht | 23,750 | data-sort-value="06" | 7th | 1970–71 | 54 | 1970–71 | 54 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Vitesse | Arnhem | 21,248 | data-sort-value="05" | 10th | 1971–72 | 39 | 1989–90 | 35 | 0 | 0 | - |
| FC Volendam | Volendam | 7,384 | data-sort-value="17" | 14th | 1959–60 | 27 | 2022–23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - |
See main article: List of Dutch football champions. Please note that the table below totals all winners of the Dutch top division, which included the Netherlands Football League Championship that preceded the Eredivisie. The Eredivisie was only founded in 1956 so many of these teams did not win the Eredivisie title.
| Club | Winner | Runner-up | Winning years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 23 | ||
| 25 | 16 | 1928–29, 1934–35, 1950–51, 1962–63, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2023–24 | |
| 16 | 22 | 1923–24, 1927–28, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1998–99, 2016–17, 2022–23 | |
| 10 | 1 | 1890–91, 1895–96, 1899–1900, 1900–01, 1901–02, 1902–03, 1904–05, 1906–07, 1909–10, 1913–14 | |
| 6 | – | 1908–09, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1914–15, 1958–59 | |
| 5 | 3 | 1891–92, 1893–94, 1896–97, 1897–98, 1898–99 | |
| 4 | 5 | 1916–17, 1921–22, 1929–30, 1932–33 | |
| 3 | 3 | 1889–90, 1892–93, 1894–95 | |
| 3 | 1 | 1915–16, 1951–52, 1954–55 | |
| 3 | – | 1903–04, 1905–06, 1924–25 | |
| 2 | 3 | 1980–81, 2008–09 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1926–27, 1940–41 | |
| 2 | – | 1941–42, 1942–43 | |
| 2 | – | 1922–23, 1952–53 | |
| 1 | 4 | 1920–21 | |
| 1 | 3 | 2009–10 | |
| 1 | 3 | 1963–64 | |
| Roda JC Kerkrade | 1 | 2 | 1955–56 |
| 1 | 2 | 1919–20 | |
| 1 | 2 | 1953–54 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1925–26 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1957–58 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1947–48 | |
| 1 | – | 1943–44 | |
| 1 | – | 1945–46 | |
| 1 | – | 1949–50 | |
| 1 | – | 1948–49 | |
| 1 | – | 1907–08 | |
| 1 | – | 1888–89 | |
| Position | Playoff | Qualification to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | – | Champions League group stage | |
| 2nd | – | Champions League third qualifying round of the League Path. | |
| 3rd | – | Europa League play-off round | |
| 4th | – | Europa Conference League third qualifying round | |
| 5th–8th/6th-9th | European competition play-offs | 4th vs 7th and 5th vs 6th or 5th vs 8th and 6th vs 7th; the two winners play each other to qualify for: Europa Conference League second qualifying round | |
| KNVB Cup winners | – | Europa League play-off round (group stage if the Europa Conference League winners have already qualified for the UCL through their domestic league) |
| Position | Playoff | What happens next | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16th | Nacompetitie | The 3rd to 8th placed teams in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie compete against each other for a spot in the semi finals. The remaining 3 teams and the 16th placed team from the Eredivisie then face off in a double legged knock out system for the final place in the Eredivisie. | |
| 17th-18th | – | Direct relegation to the Keuken Kampioen Divisie |
| +2018–19 Attendance | ||
| Club | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|
| Ajax | 52,987 | |
| Feyenoord | 42,065 | |
| PSV | 34,071 | |
| FC Utrecht | 18,846 | |
| Heerenveen | 18,743 | |
| NAC Breda | 18,262 | |
| Groningen | 18,025 | |
| Vitesse | 15,422 | |
| AZ | 15,027 | |
| PEC Zwolle | 13,478 | |
| Willem II | 12,998 | |
| ADO Den Haag | 12,561 | |
| De Graafschap | 12,321 | |
| Heracles Almelo | 10,993 | |
| Fortuna Sittard | 9,100 | |
| FC Emmen | 8,238 | |
| VVV Venlo | 6,828 | |
| Excelsior | 4,223 | |
| Average | 18,010 |
Since the beginning of the league, there have been three clubs with an attendance much higher than the others: Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. Clubs like Heerenveen, Utrecht and Groningen also have fairly large fanbases. The regular season average league attendance was just over 7,000 in 1990, but this figure has risen sharply over the years thanks to the opening of new stadiums and the expansion of existing ones nationwide. Average attendance for the 2018–19 season was 18,010, with Ajax having the largest (52,987) and Excelsior having the smallest (4,223). Ajax's figures however differ from those provided by the Johan Cruyff Arena, since the club counts all tickets sold instead of the number of people going through the turnstiles.
Last updated following the 2018–19 season
| Playing in the Eredivisie | |
| Playing in the Eerste Divisie | |
| Playing in the amateur leagues | |
| Club has been disestablished or merged into another club |
| Rank | Club | Seasons | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points | Avg. Points | Goals for | Goals against | Goal difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 63 | 2126 | 1413 | 381 | 329 | 4620 | 2,17 | 5386 | 2167 | +3219 | ||
| 2. | 63 | 2126 | 1298 | 453 | 375 | 4347 | 2,04 | 4912 | 2234 | +2678 | ||
| 3. | 63 | 2126 | 1208 | 489 | 429 | 4113 | 1,93 | 4540 | 2440 | +2100 | ||
| 4. | 52 | 1764 | 771 | 475 | 518 | 2788 | 1,58 | 2806 | 2247 | +559 | ||
| 5. | 53 | 1764 | 619 | 498 | 669 | 2355 | 1,32 | 2676 | 2801 | -125 | ||
| 6. | 49 | 1666 | 618 | 427 | 621 | 2281 | 1,37 | 2385 | 2505 | -120 | ||
| 7. | 41 | 1394 | 598 | 346 | 450 | 2140 | 1,54 | 2330 | 1917 | +413 | ||
| 8. | 44 | 1496 | 563 | 391 | 542 | 2080 | 1,39 | 2260 | 2208 | +52 | ||
| 9. | 50 | 1688 | 529 | 440 | 719 | 2027 | 1,20 | 2239 | 2812 | -573 | ||
| 10. | 45 | 1514 | 501 | 387 | 626 | 1890 | 1,25 | 2172 | 2486 | -314 | ||
| 11. | 40 | 1360 | 464 | 375 | 521 | 1767 | 1,30 | 1925 | 2098 | -173 | ||
| 12. | 34 | 1156 | 445 | 329 | 382 | 1664 | 1,44 | 1757 | 1605 | +152 | ||
| 13. | 43 | 1455 | 443 | 331 | 680 | 1660 | 1,14 | 2027 | 2608 | -581 | ||
| 14. | 40 | 1360 | 379 | 382 | 599 | 1519 | 1,12 | 1565 | 2132 | -567 | ||
| 15. | 36 | 1208 | 350 | 356 | 502 | 1406 | 1,16 | 1527 | 1992 | -465 | ||
| 16. | 27 | 918 | 373 | 233 | 312 | 1352 | 1,47 | 1546 | 1429 | +117 | ||
| 17. | 31 | 1042 | 325 | 268 | 449 | 1243 | 1,19 | 1399 | 1701 | -302 | ||
| 18. | 23 | 782 | 240 | 197 | 345 | 917 | 1,17 | 1014 | 1269 | -255 | ||
| 19. | 25 | 842 | 228 | 215 | 399 | 899 | 1,07 | 994 | 1513 | -519 | ||
| 20. | 22 | 748 | 207 | 197 | 344 | 818 | 1,09 | 968 | 1367 | -399 | ||
| 21. | 20 | 680 | 188 | 200 | 292 | 764 | 1,12 | 806 | 1085 | -279 | ||
| 22. | 19 | 630 | 193 | 143 | 294 | 722 | 1,15 | 860 | 1173 | -313 | ||
| 23. | 19 | 646 | 180 | 175 | 291 | 715 | 1,11 | 825 | 1124 | -299 | ||
| 24. | 18 | 612 | 172 | 178 | 262 | 694 | 1,13 | 695 | 978 | -283 | ||
| 25. | 22 | 748 | 168 | 186 | 394 | 690 | 0,92 | 830 | 1399 | -569 | ||
| 26. | 21 | 714 | 157 | 175 | 382 | 646 | 0,90 | 773 | 1373 | -600 | ||
| 27. | 14 | 460 | 168 | 109 | 183 | 613 | 1,33 | 790 | 848 | -58 | ||
| 28. | 13 | 430 | 147 | 117 | 166 | 558 | 1,30 | 588 | 644 | -56 | ||
| 29. | 12 | 392 | 141 | 99 | 152 | 522 | 1,33 | 635 | 700 | -65 | ||
| 30. | 14 | 468 | 118 | 140 | 210 | 494 | 1,06 | 530 | 754 | -224 | ||
| 31. | 13 | 392 | 123 | 115 | 154 | 484 | 1,23 | 533 | 595 | -62 | ||
| 32. | 12 | 442 | 114 | 123 | 205 | 465 | 1,05 | 491 | 756 | -265 | ||
| 33. | 9 | 294 | 121 | 77 | 96 | 440 | 1,50 | 565 | 490 | +75 | ||
| 34. | 6 | 204 | 73 | 47 | 84 | 266 | 1,30 | 307 | 350 | -43 | ||
| 35. | 7 | 234 | 65 | 50 | 119 | 245 | 1,05 | 306 | 483 | -177 | ||
| 36. | 6 | 204 | 61 | 56 | 87 | 239 | 1,17 | 263 | 321 | -58 | ||
| 37. | 6 | 196 | 65 | 42 | 89 | 237 | 1,21 | 334 | 401 | -67 | ||
| 38. | 7 | 238 | 49 | 64 | 125 | 211 | 0,89 | 258 | 437 | -179 | ||
| 39. | 4 | 136 | 37 | 34 | 65 | 145 | 1,07 | 168 | 279 | -111 | ||
| 40. | 6 | 204 | 31 | 46 | 127 | 139 | 0,68 | 208 | 463 | -255 | ||
| 41. | 5 | 170 | 35 | 26 | 109 | 131 | 0,77 | 164 | 358 | -194 | ||
| 42. | 4 | 136 | 33 | 30 | 73 | 129 | 0,95 | 187 | 311 | -124 | ||
| 43. | 4 | 132 | 32 | 29 | 71 | 125 | 0,95 | 148 | 256 | -108 | ||
| 44. | 2 | 68 | 26 | 17 | 25 | 95 | 1,40 | 92 | 95 | -3 | ||
| 45. | 3 | 102 | 23 | 25 | 54 | 94 | 0,92 | 107 | 209 | -102 | ||
| 46. | 2 | 68 | 20 | 20 | 28 | 80 | 1,18 | 103 | 130 | -27 | ||
| 47. | 2 | 68 | 18 | 10 | 40 | 64 | 0,94 | 126 | 172 | -46 | ||
| 48. | 2 | 68 | 12 | 23 | 33 | 59 | 0,87 | 74 | 127 | -53 | ||
| 49. | 2 | 68 | 13 | 18 | 37 | 57 | 0,84 | 72 | 137 | -65 | ||
| 50. | 2 | 64 | 15 | 10 | 39 | 55 | 0,86 | 99 | 189 | -90 | ||
| 51. | 2 | 68 | 12 | 18 | 38 | 54 | 0,79 | 93 | 162 | -69 | ||
| 52. | 2 | 68 | 13 | 13 | 42 | 52 | 0,76 | 62 | 142 | -80 | ||
| 53. | Emmen | 1 | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 38 | 1,12 | 41 | 72 | -31 | |
| 54. | 1 | 34 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 34 | 1,00 | 33 | 59 | -26 |
| Rank | width=175 | Name | Games | Playing position | First match | Last match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 687 | |||||
| 2 | 684 | Goalkeeper | ||||
| 3 | 576 | Goalkeeper |
See main article: List of Eredivisie top scorers.
| Rank | width=175 | Name | Goals | Games | Goals per game | Playing position | First goal | Last goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 311 | 545 | 0.57 | |||||
| 2 | 266 | 392 | 0.68 | Forward | 1983–84 | |||
| 3 | 216 | 309 | 0.70 | Forward | 1983–84 | |||
| 4 | 212 | 372 | 0.57 | Forward | 1983–84 | |||
| 5 | 208 | 456 | 0.46 | Forward | 1966–67 | |||
See main article: List of Eredivisie hat-tricks.
Last updated following the 2022–23 season.[12]
The following sixteen international tournaments were won by Eredivisie teams:
The UEFA Super Cup was founded by a Dutch reporter named Anton Witkamp and Ajax's 1973 win was the first time the tournament was contested officially.[17]
