NEC

NEC Nijmegen, commonly NEC (Dutch pronunciation: [ɛnˈeːseː]) is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen, a city located in the province of Gelderland. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion from the 2020–21 Eerste Divisie.

The oldest remnant of the club, "Eendracht" (Dutch for unity), stems back to 15 November 1900. In 1910, Eendracht merged with NVV Nijmegen to form the Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnɛimeːɣə(n) ˈeːndrɑxt ˌkɔmbiˈnaː(t)si]). The team's home ground is the 12,500-seat Stadion de Goffert.

The club has reached the final of the KNVB Cup on four occasions – in 1973, 1983, 1994 and 2000 – but has never won any major silverware.

History

1900–1919: Merger and first years

NEC Nijmegen is the 41st oldest club in the Netherlands. While early football clubs were founded by the elites, the founders of NEC came from a different background to those of other Eredivisie clubs, hailing from the old slum in the 'Benedenstad' (lower city) of Nijmegen. The young men from this area played football on the streets and on the banks of the Waal, rather than on a conventional field.

On 15 November 1900, August Lodenstijn, Antoon Kuypers and Wouter de Lent made the decision to form their own football club, taking the name Eendracht, inspired by a sign in the town square.

Until 1903, Eendracht only played friendly matches against teams from other parts of Nijmegen, when the local league in Nijmegen was formed. Eendracht was the first champion and was promoted to the regional league of Gelderland, then two years later they were promoted to the second tier of Dutch football.

Eendracht merged in April 1910 with a club called NVV Nijmegen, which had been formed only two years earlier and was founded by former members of Quick 1888, to form Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie.

1920–1939: "Never first-class" <

This page also has a version in other languages :  НЕК (russian)