Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football.
Because their crest is based on the city's coat of arms, an armed angel holding a red shield with a white star, they are nicknamed de Sterrendragers ("Wearers of Stars") and, in local dialect, Us MVV'ke ("our little MVV", ). The club's name was formerly Maastrichtse Voetbal Vereniging until 2011, when it was officially changed to include the city name after "MVV."
During that period some MVV players were selected for the Dutch national team. A remarkable achievement, given the fact that the KNVB (Dutch Football Association) mostly selected players from teams in the "Randstad", Bèr Felix, Sjo Soons and Jeu van Bun were selected for the national team.
During the 1950s and 1960s MVV had some good seasons and Fons van Wissen, Giel Haenen and Gerard Bergholtz were selected for the national team. In 1957 the Boschpoort stadium was expanded to 18,000 seats due to increasing popularity. In 1961 the club moved to the new De Geusselt ground. The popularity of the club led to a total of 100,000 fans passing the stadium entry in the 1969 season. In 1963 the club was given 14 golden stars by a committee of supporters celebrating the period of 50 years in the highest divisions. Since then, the team wore occasionally imitation golden stars, instead of the white star from the city of Maastricht weapon. The sixties were a mixed period of glory and struggling against relegation with no numerous achievements.
His former team-mate and current TV analyst, Johan Derksen, said the following about him: "He never did a warming-up, because then he would be dead-tired before the match began. In a game against Excelsior he pulled his shirt over his head and did not participate in the game any more, because he was ashamed by the performance of the team. At that time, they travelled by Inter-city rail train when playing an away-game. When he overslept, the station chief would hold up the train and waited for Brokamp to arrive."
In 1984 they won the second division, only to be relegated in 1986 for the third time in a short period of time. After earning a promotion in 1988, they were back in the Eredivisie. MVV finally managed to avoid the drop and remained in the highest division until 1995. During that period strikers Cees Schapendonk and Erik Meijer played their caps for the national team and defender Erik Gerets was selected for the Belgium national football team. In the 1991β92 and 1992β93 seasons the team finished seventh for two consecutive seasons, nearly achieving European football. In 1992, MVV was voted Team of the Year" by the KNVB, mostly because of their attacking playing style, implemented by coach Sef Vergoossen.
Surprisingly, the 1995 season ended with another relegation. Once again it took the team two years to taste first division football again. A young and talented squad, led by coach and former MVV goalkeeper Frans KΓΆrver, won the second division again in 1997. Almost 50,000 fans celebrated this achievement on the market square. Yet the fifth relegation followed in 2000, forcing the renowned team to celebrate their 100th anniversary in the second division. Breaking with the tradition of promoting after two seasons, MVV even came in 18th in the 2004 season. Their poorest season in history. Currently, the club is still in the second division and occupying a 10th position on the all-time Eredivisie list.
In 2008, it was proposed to merge the Limburgish clubs MVV, Roda JC Kerkrade, VVV-Venlo and Fortuna Sittard to create a new club called FC Limburg. The merger was however cancelled after the province Limburg denied its backing of the project.
At the beginning of the 2010β11 season, the club changed its name from 'Maastrichtse Voetbal Vereniging' to 'Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht' ("Social Football Club Maastricht") and the club logo and the board also changed. The KNVB had imposed a penalty on the club because of the financial problems in 2010, which meant that the club had to start the competition with an eight-point deduction. Yet, they finished in 10th place; above expectations. MVV would once again reach the promotion play-offs in 2011, 2012 and 2012β13 season, but the club stranded in the first round three consecutive seasons due to elimination by FC Volendam, SC Cambuur and again FC Volendam, respectively.
Led by head coach RenΓ© Trost, who was working in his third and final season in Maastricht, the club competed for the championship in the 2012β13 season from the onset. MVV immediately became period champions of the 1st period, then became Herbstmeister and also retained championship ambitions for large parts of the second half of the season. Due to the bankruptcies of AGOVV Apeldoorn and SC Veendam, however, in accordance with the rules of the KNVB, the results played against those clubs were cancelled. At that point, MVV had played against those clubs three times and won three times, meaning MVV had to hand in nine points. Ultimately, MVV ended in fifth place, eleven points behind eventual winners SC Cambuur.
MVV managed to reach the promotion play-offs in 2015β16 and 2016β17. In the play-offs in 2015β16, MVV eliminated FC Volendam in the first round, but were eliminated in the second round by De Graafschap. In the play-offs of 2016β17, MVV managed to reach the final. MVV, who had entered in the second round, defeated Cambuur on their way. In the finals, MVV lost on aggregate to local rivals Roda JC Kerkrade who therefore retained their position in the Eredivisie. The first match was marked by unrest and rioting supporters, and was therefore suspended for 30 minutes.
The dramatic sportive and financial situation of the team led to some serious incidents. In 2003 when fans gathered around the town hall to listen to the debate over a municipal loan for MVV, eventually leading to riots. Mayor Leers decided that the city of Maastricht should not support MVV financially anymore and bankruptcy was minutes away. Bricks and bottles were thrown at the town hall and groups of people tried to force their way in the building. Aldermen, City council and riot police were attacked, when they tried to leave the town hall. This also led to a massive pitch invasion at the last game of the season.
During the years the fans also protested heavily against a merger with arch-rivals Roda JC Kerkrade and Fortuna Sittard. This led to another pitch invasion and death threats to club directors.
Aside from the rivalries with Roda JC and Fortuna Sittard, MVV also share rivalries with Helmond Sport, VVV-Venlo and NEC Nijmegen. Roda JC-MVV is considered the main rivalry in the Dutch Province of Limburg by both sets of supporters, despite a long period without the two sides playing in the beginning of the millennium, with the two sets of hardcore support regularly clashing and players making the switch between the two clubs receiving death threats. Roda JC are considered by Maastricht supporters as one having a Germanic and Limburgish, with German flags present in the Kerkrade-based club's stand and the Limburgish anthem being played at every home game. Maastricht on the other hand is known for its distinct Latin, Burgundian identity compared to the rest of the Province.
In 1983, under the reign of VVD MP Max Tripels, the club got into a financial abyss. The debt was 4.5 million guilders. Tripels asked horse and construction billionaire LΓ©on Melchior to reorganise the finances. In cooperation with others, Melchior started a project for a new stadium and in 1986 the municipal government gave the Geusselt ground to MVV. They even gave the team 3.7 million for the new stadium. But when Melchior started making ambitious plans and wanted to invest heavily in MVV, he was forced out by an old boys network, who had ruled MVV for a long time. The old stadium was renovated but a new one never came.
In 1993, the team was hit with another blow. The FIOD-ECD (Fiscal Police) raided the offices of MVV and arrested chairman Karl Dittrich, director Ron Weijzen and former chairman Bert Lieben. The reason for the arrests were the claims made by former financial administrator Marcel Koenen, who was arrested for stealing from the bank accounts of MVV. The directors were accused of bribe, tax fraud and forgery. Dittrich admitted that talks were held over bribing FC Utrecht after the match and the FIOD found a curious flow of funds but charges were dropped because the evidence was not sufficient. The claims of forgery and tax fraud stood and Dittrich settled the case.
In 2001, just before their 100th anniversary in 2002, disaster struck again. The financial situation was bad and bankruptcy was only minutes away. The question was again whether MVV would celebrate their 100th anniversary. Yet again, MVV management decided to go to the municipal government. With arguments such as "the bankruptcy of the Sport7 channel caused the bad financial situation" and "MVV is very important to the people of Maastricht" etc. they were able to convince mayor Houben and the aldermen. So eventually they managed to keep the club alive for 2002. MVV had a debt of 1.5 million euros and the last solution was to go to the municipal government again, for the second time within only a couple of years. But this time, in April 2003, they refused. According to newly appointed mayor Leers, "the town could not grant MVV yet another loan because the citizens would not accept it." However, thousands of people gathered around the town hall to protest the intentions of the municipal government. Later, just in time, billionaire LΓ©on Melchior saved the club again by paying off its debts. Currently, the club has reorganised their finances and is building on a solid financial basis.
In January 1962 they moved to their current ground at the Geusselt terrain. Again, the name of the location also became the name of the stadium. The Geusselt was restructured at different occasions. In a first major reconstruction the athletic track was removed, the pitch was turned 90 degrees and newly built seat-only stands reduced the capacity of the ground. In the new millennium the open corners of the stadium were closed and the last stand-only stand was replaced by a seat-only stand. Currently the stadium has a capacity of approximately 10,000.
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bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center
from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:18 from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/2016 till:01/01/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/2021 till:01/01/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/2022 till:01/01/2023 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/01/2023 till:01/01/2024 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1995 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "[[Eredivisie]]" from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1997 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "[[Eerste Divisie]]" from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2000 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "[[Eredivisie]]" from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2024 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "[[Eerste Divisie]]"
Below is a table with MVV's domestic results since the introduction of professional football in 1956.
2023β24 Eerste Divisie | 9th | β | 2023β24 | first round |
2022β23 Eerste Divisie | 5th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2022β23 | first round |
2021β22 Eerste Divisie | 16th | β | 2021β22 | second round |
2020β21 Eerste Divisie | 11th | β | 2020β21 | round of 16 |
2019β20 Eerste Divisie | 15th | β | 2019β20 | first round |
2018β19 Eerste Divisie | 12th | β | 2018β19 | first round |
2017β18 Eerste Divisie | 10th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2017β18 | first round |
2016β17 Eerste Divisie | 7th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2016β17 | first round |
2015β16 Eerste Divisie | 10th | β | 2015β16 | second round |
2014β15 Eerste Divisie | 11th | β | 2014β15 | third round |
2013β14 Eerste Divisie | 11th | β | 2013β14 | second round |
2012β13 Eerste Divisie | 5th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2012β13 | second round |
2011β12 Eerste Divisie | 8th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2011β12 | third round |
2010β11 Eerste Divisie | 10th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2010β11 | third round |
2009β10 Eerste Divisie | 10th | β | 2009β10 | second round |
2008β09 Eerste Divisie | 6th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2008β09 | second round |
2007β08 Eerste Divisie | 5th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2007β08 | third round |
2006β07 Eerste Divisie | 13th | β | 2006β07 | round of 16 |
2005β06 Eerste Divisie | 13th | β | 2005β06 | quarter-final |
2004β05 Eerste Divisie | 14th | β | 2004β05 | first round |
2003β04 Eerste Divisie | 18th | β | 2003β04 | second round |
2002β03 Eerste Divisie | 16th | β | 2002β03 | third round |
2001β02 Eerste Divisie | 14th | β | 2001β02 | group stage |
2000β01 Eerste Divisie | 13th | β | 2000β01 | third round |
1999β2000 Eredivisie | 16th | Eerste Divisie (losing prom./releg. play-offs) | 1999β00 | second round |
1998β99 Eredivisie | 14th | β | 1998β99 | second round |
1997β98 Eredivisie | 15th | β | 1997β98 | second round |
1996β97 Eerste Divisie | 1st | Eredivisie (promotion) | 1996β97 | group stage |
1995β96 Eerste Divisie | 11th | β | 1995β96 | quarter-final |
1994β95 Eredivisie | 16th | Eerste Divisie (losing prom./releg. play-offs) | 1994β95 | second round |
1993β94 Eredivisie | 10th | β | 1993β94 | round of 16 |
1992β93 Eredivisie | 7th | β | 1992β93 | round of 16 |
1991β92 Eredivisie | 7th | β | 1991β92 | third round |
1990β91 Eredivisie | 15th | β | 1990β91 | second round |
1989β90 Eredivisie | 15th | β | 1989β90 | second round |
1988β89 Eredivisie | 14th | β | 1988β89 | second round |
1987β88 Eerste Divisie | 3rd | Eredivisie (winning promotion competition) | 1987β88 | second round |
1986β87 Eerste Divisie | 5th | β | 1986β87 | second round |
1985β86 Eredivisie | 16th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 1985β86 | first round |
1984β85 Eredivisie | 14th | β | 1984β85 | quarter-final |
1983β84 Eerste Divisie | 1st | Eredivisie (promotion) | 1983β84 | second round |
1982β83 Eerste Divisie | 4th | promotion competition: no promotion | 1982β83 | first round |
1981β82 Eredivisie | 16th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 1981β82 | round of 16 |
1980β81 Eredivisie | 8th | β | 1980β81 | round of 16 |
1979β80 Eredivisie | 11th | β | 1979β80 | second round |
1978β79 Eredivisie | 11th | β | 1978β79 | second round |
1977β78 Eerste Divisie | 2nd | Eredivisie (winning promotion competition) | 1977β78 | first round |
1976β77 Eerste Divisie | 3rd | promotion competition: no promotion | 1976β77 | quarter-final |
1975β76 Eredivisie | 17th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 1975β76 | second round |
1974β75 Eredivisie | 11th | β | 1974β75 | second round |
1973β74 Eredivisie | 11th | β | 1973β74 | second round |
1972β73 Eredivisie | 7th | β | 1972β73 | second round |
1971β72 Eredivisie | 10th | β | 1971β72 | round of 16 |
1970β71 Eredivisie | 13th | β | 1970β71 | second round |
1969β70 Eredivisie | 8th | β | 1969β70 | round of 16 |
1968β69 Eredivisie | 13th | β | 1968β69 | second round |
1967β68 Eredivisie | 13th | β | 1967β68 | round of 16 |
1966β67 Eredivisie | 11th | β | 1966β67 | round of 16 |
1965β66 Eredivisie | 15th | β | 1965β66 | round of 16 |
1964β65 Eredivisie | 8th | β | 1964β65 | first round |
1963β64 Eredivisie | 11th | β | 1963β64 | first round |
1962β63 Eredivisie | 9th | β | 1962β63 | quarter-final |
1961β62 Eredivisie | 6th | β | 1961β62 | ? |
1960β61 Eredivisie | 14th | β | 1960β61 | ? |
1959β60 Eredivisie | 13th | β | not held | not held |
1958β59 Eredivisie | 8th | β | 1958β59 | ? |
1957β58 Eredivisie | 5th | β | 1957β58 | ? |
1956β57 Eredivisie | 4th | β | 1956β57 | ? |
Edwin Hermans |
Davy Heymans |
Gerry Oste |
Nico Bruijnen Bryan Heijnen |
Wouter Ganzevles Joep van Maasakkers Dave Velraeds |
Bert van Marwijk |
Lei Bovens John Sliepen |
Ingmar Cosemans |
Ronny Van Geneugden |
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