JOS Watergraafsmeer is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club from the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

district

Watergraafsmeer The Watergraafsmeer is a polder in the Netherlands. It was reclaimed in 1629. In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were many buitenplaatsen in the Watergraafsmeer, though nowadays only one, Frankendael, remains. Since 1921, the Watergraafsmeer ...

. In 2010 the club had around 500 registered members. The Saturday team plays in the

Derde Klasse The ('Third Class') is the eighth tier of football in the Netherlands Football is the most popular sport in the Netherlands. Football was introduced to the Netherlands by Pim Mulier in the 19th century when in 1879, at the age of 14, he fo ...

, while the Sunday team competes in the

Eerste Klasse The Eerste Klasse ( en, First Class) started as the 1st tier of football in the Netherlands and is now the 6th tier. The league is divided into eleven divisions, six for Saturday clubs and five for Sunday clubs. These divisions correspond to the s ...

History

20th century: Origins and founding

The club came into its current formation in 1995 after the fusion of two clubs from Watergraafsmeer, Jeugd Organisatie Sportclub (JOS, founded 1920) and Watergraafsmeer (1988). The Watergraafsmeer club was a result of six clubs amalgamating into one, TIW (Trainen Is Winnen, 1921), Amstel (1905), RNC, TDO (Training Doet Overwinnen, 1915), WMHO (Wie Moed Houdt Overwint, 1934) and Ontwaakt (1923). Former manager and head coach of local giants

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the ...

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...

began his coaching career at JOS, managing the club from 1960 until 1964 before moving to

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

for a season, and then to Ajax a year later. Former Ajax player and Dutch Olympian

Jaap Knol Jaap Knol (1 December 1896 – 8 October 1975) was a Dutch athlete. He competed in the men's javelin throw at the 1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX O ...

was the chairman of the club at the time. Former players who later made the step over to a professional club include Ruud Suurendonk, Johnny Beun, Jos Dijkstra and Ab Parree. JOS has been known to be a feeder club of sorts for AFC Ajax. The singer Henk Hofstede of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

pop group The Nits wrote the song "JOS days" on the album ''In the Dutch mountains'' (1987) about the club. In the song he sings about the monument of War victims and speaks on the shameful fact of not being accepted at the club as the first born of the family. The monument of JOS has since been demolished, there are however still monuments dedicated to fallen members of football clubs from the War that are still standing elsewhere in the Netherlands.

21st century: Hoofdklasse and other leagues

JOS Watergraafsmeer's Sunday first team were promoted to the

Hoofdklasse The Vierde Divisie, formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of ...

ahead of the 2009-10 season, where the finished in 3rd place. The top 3 clubs are automatically promoted leading to JOS competing in the Sunday Hoofdklasse A the following season, relegating back to the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as th ...

. In 2014, the club's Sunday team were promoted back to the

, playing on the highest level of Amateur football and the fourth tier in the Netherlands once more. While competing in the 2014–15 KNVB Cup, the team advanced to the Second Round of the competition after defeating

VV Noordwijk Voetbalvereniging Noordwijk is a Dutch football club founded in 1933, based in Noordwijk. It currently competes in the Tweede Divisie. History VV Noordwijk was founded on 4 March 1933. 1940s–1960s: Vierde, Derde, and Tweede Klasse Durin ...

in a 2–1 win, where they then faced the first team of AFC Ajax marking the first official Amsterdam derby to be contest in the city since 1983. On 24 September 2014 the two teams meet at the historic

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

where JOS Watergaafsmeer would be eliminated in a 9–0 loss, in which Ajax striker Arkadiusz Milik scored six goals. Davey van ’t Schip, the Son of former Ajax player and assistant manager

John van 't Schip Johannes Nicolaas van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch Canadian and former Dutch international footballer, who played as a winger. He spent his club career with Ajax, where they won four Eredivisie titles, a UEFA Cup and a Europea ...

was playing for JOS Watergraafsmeer in the match as well.

References

External links

JOS Watergraafsmeer
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:JOS Watergraafsmeer JOS Watergraafsmeer Football clubs in the Netherlands Association football clubs established in 1920 Football clubs in Amsterdam 1920 establishments in the Netherlands