The 2019–20 Eerste Divisie, known as Keuken Kampioen Divisie for sponsorship reasons, was the sixty-fourth season of

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

since its establishment in 1955. It began in August 2019 with the first matches of the season and was scheduled to end in May 2020 with the finals of the promotion/relegation play-offs, also involving the 16th-placed team from the

2019–20 Eredivisie The 2019–20 Eredivisie was the 64th season of the Dutch football league Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 2 August 2019 and was suspended on 12 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. The season ...

. The season was temporarily halted in March 2020, then postponed for several weeks and later abandoned altogether due to the global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and consequent Dutch government decision to disallow all large-scale events until 1 September 2020.

Effects of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic

On 12 March 2020, all football leagues were suspended until 31 March as the Dutch government forbade events due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus reached the Netherlands on 27 February 2020, when its first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Tilburg. It involved a 56-year-old Dutchman ...

. On 15 March this period was extended until 6 April. Due to the decision of the Dutch government to forbid all gatherings and events until 1 June 2020, this period was even further extended. The Dutch government announced on 21 April that all events subject to authorization, would remain forbidden at least until 1 September 2020. As a result, the

KNVB The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women ...

announced the same day, the intention not to continue all remaining suspended competitions. A final decision would be taken after consultation with the

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and next the consequences would be discussed with the clubs involved. On 24 April 2020 the season was cancelled.

Teams

A total of 20 teams took part in the league.

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

gained promotion to the Eredivisie, and was replaced by

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

, who finished bottom in the

2018–19 Eredivisie The 2018–19 Eredivisie was the 63rd season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 10 August 2018 and concluded on 15 May 2019; the Europa League and relegation play-offs will take place later that month. PSV we ...

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

and

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

won the post-season playoff, and were replaced in the 2019–20 Eerste Divisie by

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

and

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

. At an extraordinary KNVB federation meeting on 7 June 2018, representatives of amateur and professional football reached an agreement to renew the football pyramid as of the 2019–20 season. Part of the Agreement was that no promotion/relegation would take place between the Eerste and

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie (; ) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and between 1962 and 19 ...

this season.

Personnel and kits

Standings

As the competition was cancelled, below is the situation on 9 March 2020, the date the last matches were played.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after completion of each round.

Period tables

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Period 4

Fixtures/results

Results by round

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks(+)

Assists

Attendance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Eerste Divisie Eerste Divisie seasons

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...