Wikipedia

2025–26 Tweede Divisie

The 2025–26 Tweede Divisie season is the tenth edition of the Dutch third tier since ending its hiatus since the 1970–71 season and the 25th edition using the Tweede Divisie name.

Tweede Divisie
Season2025–26
Dates16 August 2025 – 23 May 2026
ChampionsQuick Boys
RelegatedACV
Excelsior Maassluis
Matches306
Goals1,023 (3.34 per match)

On 2 October 2017, representatives of amateur and professional football reached an agreement during the extraordinary general meeting of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) regarding the path to renewal of the football pyramid.

During the extraordinary general meeting of 7 June 2018, an agreement was reached on the number of allowed reserve teams (belofteteams) in each division. For the Tweede Divisie, there are two. It was also decided that only two reserve teams would compete in the Tweede Divisie, with the remaining reserve teams participating in the new Under 21 Eredivisie. This is accompanied by its own relegation system.

After two extensions of the non-existent promotion/relegation system (due to Tweede Divisie clubs not having the economic capacity to compete in a fully professional league) in 2022, a decision was made to suspend the mandatory promotion/relegation system between the Eerste Divisie and Tweede Divisie for the next five to ten seasons for standard teams. The suspension does not apply to reserve teams. During the general meeting on 24 June 2022, it was announced that a proposal would be put forth for an admission arrangement to the Eerste Divisie.[1]

Overview before the season

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The league distinguishes between first teams (standard team) of a football club and second teams, also known as a reserve team or reserve squad (teams starting with "Jong"). For this season, there are two reserve teams playing in the Tweede Divisie, namely Jong Sparta and Jong Almere City.

For promotion, the following applies:

  • If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Eerste Divisie finishes in 19th or 20th place, a reserve team will be promoted directly from the Tweede Divisie if it finishes in first or second place.
  • If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Eerste Divisie finishes between 11th and 18th place, and a reserve team becomes the champion of the Tweede Divisie, a play-off match will take place for one spot in the Eerste Divisie.
  • If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Eerste Divisie finishes in the top ten, there will be no promotion or relegation between the Eerste Divisie and Tweede Divisie.

For relegation, the following applies:

  • The two standard teams that, based solely on the first teams, finish in 14th and 15th place, will play a relegation playoff with the period champions of the Derde Divisie for one spot in the Tweede Divisie.
  • The standard team that finishes 16th, based solely on the first teams, will be relegated to the Derde Divisie.
  • If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Tweede Divisie finishes in 17th or 18th place, it will be directly relegated to the Under 21 competition.
  • If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Tweede Divisie finishes between 10th and 16th place, it will play a playoff match against the champion of the Under 21 competition for one spot in the Tweede Divisie.
  • If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Tweede Divisie finishes in the top nine, there will be no promotion or relegation between the Tweede Divisie and the Under 21 competition.

Teams

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Team changes

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Promoted from
2024–25 Derde Divisie		 Relegated to
2025-26 Derde Divisie
Hoek
IJsselmeervogels
Kozakken Boys		 ADO '20
Noordwijk
Scheveningen
South Holland clubs in the 2025–26 Tweede Divisie
Club Location Venue Capacity
ACV Assen Univé Sportpark 3,000
AFC Amsterdam Sportpark Goed Genoeg 3,000
Barendrecht Barendrecht Sportpark De Bongerd 1,500
Excelsior Maassluis Maassluis Sportpark Dijkpolder 5,000
GVVV Veenendaal Sportpark Panhuis 4,500
HHC Hardenberg Sportpark De Boshoek 4,500
Koninklijke HFC Haarlem Sportpark Spanjaardslaan 1,500
Hoek Hoek Sportpark Denoek 2,500
IJsselmeervogels Spakenburg Sportpark De Westmaat 8,500
Jong Almere City Almere Yanmar Stadion 4,501
Jong Sparta Rotterdam Het Kasteel 11,000
Katwijk Katwijk Sportpark De Krom 6,000
Kozakken Boys Werkendam Sportpark De Zwaaier 3,000
Quick Boys Katwijk aan Zee Sportpark Nieuw Zuid 8,100
Rijnsburgse Boys Rijnsburg Sportpark Middelmors 6,100
Spakenburg Spakenburg Sportpark De Westmaat 8,500
De Treffers Groesbeek Sportpark Zuid 4,000
RKAV Volendam Volendam KWABO-stadion 6,500

Number of teams by province

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Standings

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Quick Boys[a] (C) 34 19 10 5 69 35 +34 66
2 Hoek 34 20 5 9 60 36 +24 65
3 De Treffers 34 18 8 8 63 37 +26 62
4 Spakenburg 34 17 8 9 71 57 +14 59
5 Rijnsburgse Boys 34 16 8 10 76 55 +21 56
6 HHC Hardenberg 34 17 5 12 58 44 +14 56
7 Katwijk 34 15 7 12 60 55 +5 52
8 Jong Almere City 34 15 5 14 70 62 +8 50
9 Kozakken Boys 34 13 8 13 47 55 −8 47
10 Jong Sparta 34 12 9 13 71 73 −2 45 Qualification for U21 relegation play-offs
11 AFC 34 12 9 13 46 54 −8 45
12 Barendrecht 34 13 4 17 62 84 −22 43
13 RKAV Volendam 34 13 3 18 50 62 −12 42
14 GVVV 34 12 6 16 52 67 −15 42
15 Koninklijke HFC 34 11 3 20 30 48 −18 36
16 IJsselmeervogels (O) 34 9 4 21 46 65 −19 31 Qualification for relegation play-offs
17 Excelsior Maassluis (R) 34 8 7 19 39 58 −19 31
18 ACV (R) 34 7 9 18 48 71 −23 30 Relegation to Derde Divisie
Source: Flashscore
Rules for classification: Season in progress: 1) Most points won; 2) Less points lost; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Alphabetical order; End of season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Play-off if relevant for deciding champion, relegation or participating in a European league, otherwise by draw. 8) Penalty shoot-out (only after a play-off)
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ↑ Quick Boys were deducted 1 point for unsportsmanlike behavior.

Results

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Home \ Away ACV AFC BAR EXM GVV HHC HFC HOE IJS JAL JSP KAT KOZ QUI RIJ SPA TRE VOL
ACV 0–1 1–5 3–1 2–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–2 0–4 1–2 3–3 1–2 1–2 3–3 2–2 4–1 1–2
AFC 1–1 3–1 3–2 0–2 2–3 1–2 1–5 1–0 0–0 1–4 2–2 2–2 0–2 3–2 2–0 1–0 3–1
Barendrecht 4–3 2–0 1–2 1–2 4–1 2–0 4–2 2–4 4–3 3–2 2–3 0–1 0–6 2–2 0–3 2–2 2–1
Excelsior Maassluis 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 4–0 0–0 3–1 0–4 0–1 1–3 0–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 3–1 0–1 3–0
GVVV 2–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 1–3 3–1 0–4 3–0 1–0 3–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 3–3 1–3
HHC Hardenberg 0–0 4–1 3–0 4–0 3–2 2–0 1–3 4–0 3–1 0–2 1–1 3–3 1–2 1–3 1–1 1–0 2–1
Koninklijke HFC 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–2 3–2 0–1 3–0
Hoek 2–1 2–2 1–1 3–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–1 4–0 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–0
IJsselmeervogels 2–4 0–2 1–3 0–0 0–3 2–0 3–0 2–1 3–0 1–3 2–3 0–2 0–3 2–2 0–2 2–0 2–3
Jong Almere City 2–4 2–1 3–3 1–1 5–4 1–3 2–1 1–2 3–2 3–0 3–0 3–1 1–4 5–1 4–2 2–3 3–2
Jong Sparta 3–0 3–0 4–1 0–4 5–2 2–2 4–1 1–4 4–0 2–2 2–2 1–1 4–4 2–4 4–4 1–4 1–5
Katwijk 3–2 0–1 4–3 3–2 2–1 0–2 4–0 0–1 3–0 3–0 4–1 2–1 1–2 3–2 2–2 2–4 1–2
Kozakken Boys 0–2 1–3 1–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 3–2 1–3 4–3 0–3 1–4 0–0 1–2 1–3 1–2 0–2 0–0
Quick Boys 1–0 1–1 1–3 2–1 6–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–2 2–1 5–1 3–0 1–1 0–0 5–2 0–2 1–0
Rijnsburgse Boys 1–1 3–0 5–1 5–0 5–0 0–4 2–0 1–0 1–3 2–1 4–2 1–3 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–2 7–0
Spakenburg 4–0 2–1 8–0 2–0 3–2 2–3 3–2 1–3 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 3–4 3–1 3–2 0–5 3–4
De Treffers 6–2 1–1 3–0 4–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 4–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–0
RKAV Volendam 3–0 0–3 5–2 4–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–2 1–4 1–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 3–4 1–3 0–1
Source: Flashscore
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

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Tweede divisie promotion/relegation play-offs

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8 teams (16th and 17th place in the Tweede Divisie and three teams each from the Derde Divisie A and Derde Divisie B) play for one spot in next season's Tweede Divisie.

Bracket

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Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
            
IJsselmeervogels 3 2 5
Sparta Nijkerk 0 1 1
IJsselmeervogels 7 1 8
ADO '20 0 0 0
Lisse 0 0 0
ADO '20 2 1 3
IJsselmeervogels 1 2 3
Excelsior Maassluis 2 0 2
Excelsior Maassluis 1 3 4
VVSB 1 0 1
Excelsior Maassluis (p) 1 2 3 (5)
Rijnvogels 2 1 3 (4)
DVS '33 0 2 2
Rijnvogels 1 2 3
Quarterfinals
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ADO '202−0Lisse
Sportpark De Vlotter, Heemskerk
Lisse0−1ADO '20
Ter Specke, Lisse

ADO '20 won 3–0 on aggregate.

Rijnvogels1−0DVS '33
 Report
Sportpark de Kooltuin, Katwijk
Referee: Daan Schaper
DVS '332−2Rijnvogels
Sportpark Zuid, Ermelo

Rijnvogels won 3–2 on aggregate.

Sparta Nijkerk0−3IJsselmeervogels
Report
De Ebbenhorst, Nijkerk
Attendance: Andy Wolff
IJsselmeervogels2−1Sparta Nijkerk

IJsselmeervogels won 5–1 on aggregate.

VVSB1−1Excelsior Maassluis
 Report
Sportpark De Boekhorst, Noordwijkerhout
Referee: Robin Vereijken
Excelsior Maassluis3−0VVSB
Sportpark Dijkpolder, Maassluis

Excelsior Maassluis won 4–1 on aggregate.

Semifinals
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ADO '200−7IJsselmeervogels
Sportpark De Vlotter, Heemskerk
IJsselmeervogels1–0ADO '20

IJsselmeervogels won 8–0 on aggregate.

Rijnvogels2−1Excelsior Maassluis
Sportpark de Kooltuin, Katwijk

3–3 on aggregate. Excelsior Maassluis won 5–4 on penalties.

Final
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Excelsior Maassluis2–1IJsselmeervogels
Sportpark Dijkpolder, Maassluis
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Luuk Timmer
IJsselmeervogels2–0 (a.e.t.)Excelsior Maassluis
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Pieter van Veelen

IJsselmeervogels won 3–2 on aggregate.

U21 relegation play-offs

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U21 Championship

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Groningen U213–1De Graafschap U21

Tweede Divisie playoff

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Groningen U211–1Jong Sparta
Jong Sparta3–1Groningen U21

Jong Sparta won 4–2 on aggregate.

References

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  1. ↑ "Voorjaarsvergadering Ledenraad Amateurvoetbal". Royal Dutch Football Association (in Dutch). 24 June 2022. p. 24. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
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