The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the

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 ...

organised by the

Royal Dutch Football Association 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 w ...

(KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Outside the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup. The tournament consists of all teams from the top four tiers of Dutch league football (

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Derde Divisie The Derde Divisie (; ), formerly known as Topklasse (; ), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league is placed between the Tweede D ...

), as well as the 24 semi-finalists (or replacements) of the six

KNVB District Cup The KNVB District Cup () is a cup competition for amateur football clubs in the Netherlands. The competition is held in each of the six districts of the Royal Dutch Football Association. The 24 semi-finalists qualify for next-seasons KNVB Cup. The ...

s. The finals of the tournament traditionally takes place in

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

, and has been held there every season since the 1989 final. The winners of the cup compete against the winners of the Eredivisie for the

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

, (equivalent to a super cup) which acts as the curtain raiser for the following season.

History

Early history

The first attempt to hold a knock-out competition open to all clubs in the Netherlands was made in 1894, with the winners receiving a trophy offered by H.M.C. Holdert, former president of V.V.A. (Amsterdam). Seven teams entered and the first ever cup match in the Netherlands was thus held on 11 February, between

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

and HFC, ending in a 3–1 win to the latter. However, no other match was played due to the withdraws of several teams, and the lack of interest shown by the clubs caused Holdert to withdraw his trophy, so the final between HFC and R.A.P. was canceled, but four years later, in January 1898, Holdert offered another cup, to be contested just like the English

, and thus the KNVB Cup was conceived during a board meeting of the Dutch Football Association, in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, on 19 January 1898. Initially, it was decided to stage a competition for this new trophy already in the ongoing 1897–98 season, but the board had to cancel it after a prolonged stretch of bad weather in the first weeks of February had led to numerous match postponements in the western leagues. The tournament finally began the following season, 1898–99. The first

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

was played on 9 May 1899 between RAP Amsterdam and

HVV Den Haag HVV (Haagse Voetbal Vereniging; Dutch for The Hague Football Club) is an amateur football club in The Hague, Netherlands. It was founded in 1883 as an extension of HCC, (The)'' Hague Cricket Club''. In 1978, on the occasion of the club's cent ...

, and ended in a 1–0 victory for the former thanks to a goal from

Jan Hisgen Jan Hisgen was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward for RAP at the turn of the century. He played a crucial role in helping the club win the first KNVB Cup in 1899 and the first-ever international club trophy in European football in 1900, ...

extra-time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. In 1946, the trophy was changed to one made out of silver, which was extremely rare in the immediate aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. That trophy remains in use today.

Recent history

In 2018, a trophy colored in gold was commissioned to commemorate the 100th edition of the tournament.

Name changes

Like many national cup competitions, the name of the tournament has changed with sponsorship. From 1995, the competition went from being the KNVB Beker to being known as the Amstel Cup after the then sponsor

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam, to which the rive ...

. On 16 August 2005, the name was changed to the Gatorade Cup after the drinks company

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

. In 2006, the name returned to being the KNVB Beker with Gatorade remaining as the principal sponsor. On 12 January 2018, it was announced that TOTO would be the name sponsor of the KNVB Cup, until the 2021–22 season. The competition was renamed the TOTO KNVB Beker with immediate effect.

European competition

Up until 1998, the winner of the cup entered into the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

, but with the abandonment of that tournament, the winner now goes into the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. If the winning team has finished in the top two of the

and thus gained entry into the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, the berth will be redistributed to that season's Eredivisie. In 1998, both KNVB Cup finalists,

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

and PSV, gained entry in the Champions League, so a third-place play-off was played between the beaten semi-finalists,

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

and

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 ...

, to determine who would take the Cup Winners' Cup place.

Past finals

Number of titles

Notes

Media coverage

The broadcast rights are included in 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 ...

broadcast rights package, which also include the

Netherlands

The KNVB Cup is currently broadcast live by the

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

channels.

International

References

External links

KNVB.nl – Official website KNVB

RSSSF.com

RSSSF.com

RSSSF.com

– National cup results * :fr:Coupe des Pays-Bas de football {{National football Cups (UEFA region)

Football competitions in the Netherlands Recurring sporting events established in 1899 1899 establishments in the Netherlands