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Showing results for tags 'eredivisie'.
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As suggested, I'm starting a thread on Dutch football. The line-up for the eredivisie next season is known now the play-offs have finished. Promotion/relegation resulted in some shocks. FC Twente, 2010 Dutch champions and the largest club in terms of support outside of the "big 3" have been automatically relegated by finishing bottom. Roda JC and Sparta Rotterdam are also 2 (in terms of support) big sides who got relegated, both failed to win the play-offs. Meanwhile, teams with the smallest support/budgets in last season's eredivisie like Excelsior (my club) and VVV Venlo stayed up comfortably, Excelsior even for the 4th consecutive season. Promotion from the Eerste Divisie was surprising as well. NEC Nijmegen were in support the biggest team in the division and fully expected to go straight back up after their relegation in 2017. Fortuna Sittard, a team that nobody expected to be amongst the contenders, finished second behind Ajax Colts who can't get promoted. As a result, Fortuna Sittard returned to the Eredivisie for the first time since relegation in 2002. On various occasions since then the club looked like going bust or losing their professional license, but they defied all odds by surviving and are now back in the top flight. De Graafschap got promoted via play-offs and return after their relegation in 2016. FC Emmen also got promoted via play-offs. They were the biggest surprise in the play-offs, defeating NEC and Sparta. They will be in the Eredivisie for the first time ever. Not only that, but it will even be the first time ever that a team from their province Drenthe (the most rural and least densely populated province in the country) will be in the Eredivisie. PSV will be the defending champions. They will also play in the Champions League qualifiers together with runners-up Ajax. Cup winners Feyenoord, 3rd place AZ and play-off winners Vitesse will play in the Europa League qualifiers. The line-up for the eredivisie will be: ADO Den Haag Ajax AZ FC Emmen Excelsior Feyenoord Fortuna Sittard De Graafschap FC Groningen SC Heerenveen Heracles Almelo NAC Breda PEC Zwolle PSV FC Utrecht Vitesse VVV-Venlo Willem II