FC Eindhoven

FC Eindhoven is a Dutch football club based in Eindhoven, North Brabant. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie (second tier of Dutch football), and are one of two professional clubs which are based in the city of Eindhoven, the other one being PSV Eindhoven.

FC Eindhoven play their home games at Jan Louwers Stadion, on the southern part of the city. The club's official colours are blue and white, hence their nickname "Blauw-Witten" (lit. 'The Blue-Whites').

History
The club was founded on 16 November 1909 as EVV Eindhoven. A couple of gentlemwn had seen that clubs in Randstad were growing and felt there was a need for a new team in Eindhoven too. It was decided to form a new club called E.V.V. (short for Eindhovense Voetbal Vereniging). The club colours were blue and white, the blue stemming from the crest of the city Eindhoven at that time. E.V.V. started to play in the Brabantse Voetbalbond, a regional league, but after a couple of years joined the NVB, the National League. In 1921 E.V.V. fused with Gestel (local team) and changed its name to E.V.V. Eindhoven. At the end of the 30s, the club had its first success winning as the Dutch Cup, the KNVB Beker (1937). In 1939, E.V.V. Eindhoven were champions of the 1st Division Region South and played for the title of The Netherlands with teams like DWS, NEC, Ajax and Achilles 1894. They finished fourth.

In 1950, E.V.V. Eindhoven had their first Dutch international in Noud van Melis. Frans Tebak and Dick Snoek were to quickly follow in his footsteps. In 1954, Eindhoven were the last Dutch league champions before the introduction of the professional league. After turning professional in 1954, the club played in the Eredivisie until 1957, when Eindhoven were relegated to the Eerste Divisie. In 1969, they were even relegated to the Tweede Divisie. Two years later, the club secured promotion back to the Eerste Divisie, and in 1975, Eindhoven were promoted to the Eredivisie. In 1977, Eindhoven were relegated back to the Eerste Divisie, where it has remained ever since. In 1997, E.V.V. Eindhoven moved from a professional club back to an amateur club. A new professional club SBV Eindhoven (Stichting Betaald Voetbal Eindhoven) was founded, and in 2002 changed its name to FC Eindhoven.

In the 2009–2010 season, FC Eindhoven qualified for playoffs to advance to the Eredivisie. Eindhoven advanced past the first round defeating AGOVV Apeldoorn 4–2 on goal aggregate. Eindhoven was pitted against possible relegation from Eredivisie club Willem II and were defeated on a 3–2 aggregate. In 2011/2012, FC Eindhoven finished third, despite Ernest Faber leaving the club to join Dick Advocaat at PSV as his assistant in March 2012. The club lost 3–0 to Helmond Sport over two legs, 1–0 in the first and 2–0 in the second, in Round 2 of the promotion playoffs.

Erwin Koeman, the replacement of Ernest Faber, left in the summer of 2012 and was replaced by John Lammers. Under Lammers the 2012–13 season finished in a disappointing 16th spot, only above two sides whose points totals had been set at zero due to bankruptcy. The 2013–14 season was a big improvement with the club finishing sixth and qualifying for the promotion play-offs. There they encountered Sparta Rotterdam and lost to 3–1 on aggregate.

Rivalries
FC Eindhoven's former biggest rivalry is with neighbours PSV Eindhoven, against whom they contest the Lichtstad Derby ('City of Light Derby'). However, the clubs have not faced each other in league competition since the 1976–77 season. FC Eindhoven used to be a bigger club than PSV in the period between 1930 and 1955. PSV was a club for the workers of Phillips and seen as a club for the privileged while FC Eindhoven was seen as the people's club. In 2004, FC Eindhoven contracted a co-operation deal with neighbours PSV Eindhoven, meaning the possibility of swapping youth players between the two clubs.

Nowadays, Helmond Sport are seen as the biggest rivals. The clubs are about 15 km apart and have been playing in the same league for years.

Honours

 * Eredivisie
 * Winner: 1954
 * KNVB Cup
 * Winner: 1937
 * Promoted to Eredivisie
 * Promotion: 1975
 * Promoted to Eerste Divisie
 * Promotion: 1971

Results
Below is a table with FC Eindhoven's domestic results since the introduction of professional football in 1956.

Former players

 * Geoffrey Prommayon
 * Joos van Barneveld
 * Jonathan Waterberg
 * 🇧🇪 Samuel Greven

Former managers
• A. Wynperle (1924–25)

• R.W. Jefferson (1925–28)

• J. Pilcik (1928–32)

• D. James (1933–35)

• Otto Pinter (1935–39)

• Wim van Tuijl (1939–49)

• Jan van de Gevel (1949–50)

• Wim Groenendijk (1950–56)

• Wim Groenendijk & T. de Zeeuw (1956–57)

• Layos Todt & T. de Zeeuw (1957–58)

• Huub de Leeuw (1958–60)

• Jan Bijl (1960–63)

• 🇳🇱 Jacques de Wit (1963–66)

• Ludwig Gorissen (1966–67)

• 🇳🇱 Hennie Hollink (1967–68)

• 🇳🇱 Joep Brandes & Bram Appel (1968–70)

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Les Talbot (1970–72)

• Hans Alleman (1972–73)

• 🇳🇱 Rinus Gosens (1973–79)

• 🇳🇱 Jacques de Wit (1979–82)

• 🇳🇱 Ad Versluis (1982–84)

• 🇳🇱 Th.Ramakers & G.van Berlo (1984–85)

• Jo Jansen (1985–86)

• Ted Immers (1986–88)

• 🇳🇱 Rinus Gosens (1988–89)

• 🇳🇱 Jacques de Wit (1989–90)

• 🇳🇱 Mario Verlijsdonk (1990–91)

• 🇳🇱 Chris Dekker (1991–92)

• 🇳🇱 Piet Buter (1992–93)

• 🇭🇺 Sandor Popovics & Mario Verlijsdonk (1993–94)

• Rob Jacobs (1994–95)

• Rob Jacobs & Mario Verlijsdonk (1995–96)

• Willem Leushuis (1997–2000)

• 🇧🇪 Jos Daerden (2000–01)

• 🇳🇱 Leon Vlemmings (2001–05)

• 🇳🇱 Louis Coolen (2005–07)

• 🇳🇱 Ernest Faber (2007)

• 🇳🇱 Gerald Vanenburg (2008)

• 🇳🇱 Ernest Faber (2008)

• 🇧🇪 Marc Brys (2008–09)

• 🇳🇱 Jan Poortvliet (2009–10)

• 🇳🇱 Ernest Faber (2010–12)

• 🇳🇱 Erwin Koeman (2012)

• 🇳🇱 John Lammers (2012)

• 🇳🇱 Pascal Maas (2012–13)

• 🇳🇱 Jean-Paul de Jong (2013–15)

• 🇳🇱 Mitchell van der Gaag (2015–16)

• 🇳🇱 Ricardo Moniz (2016–17)

• 🇳🇱 Wilfred van Leeuwen (2017-18)

• 🇳🇱 David Nascimento (2018-19)

• 🇳🇱 Ernie Brandts (2019-)