RKSV Groene Ster

RKSV Groene Ster is a Dutch football club based in Heerlerheide. The club play its home games at Pronsebroek. The club colours, reflected in their crest, kit and name, are green and white. Formed on 2 November 1926, the club have mostly played in the lower tiers of Dutch football, but reached the final of the nationwide KNVB Cup in 1943–44, where they however lost to with a record 9–1 score to winners Willem II. This result still stands as the biggest defeat in a KNVB Cup final. The club are currently playing in the Derde Divisie (fourth tier).

Groene Ster won the KNVB District Cup in the Zuid 2 (South 2) District in 2009 and 2019.

History

In the 1931–32 season, Groene Ster was promoted to the Tweede Klasse and in the following years emerged mainly as a cup-fighter. In 1944, the club played in the KNVB Cup final against Willem II, where they however lost to with a record 9–1 score. This result still stands as the biggest defeat in a KNVB Cup final. In 1950, Groene Ster first eliminated NAC and then managed a draw against PSV in the following round. However, the result was ultimately not enough to advance in the tournament.

In later years, Groene Ster mainly competed in the Vierde Klasse and Derde Klasse, but in the 1993–94 season, the green-whites finally won promotion. Four seasons later, in the 1997–98 season, they became champions in the Tweede Klasse Zonday and in the 2002–03 season, they also won a championship in the Eerste Klasse Zondag, resulting in promotion to the fifth-tier Hoofdklasse. Their place in the division was maintained for two seasons, but in the 2005–06 season, Groene Ster again suffered relegation to the Eerste Klasse Zondag, to promptly become champion again that same season, propelling them back to the Hoofdklasse. Another relegation followed, however, as Groene Ster finished 13th and the club would compete in the Eerste Klasse for the 2007–08 season.

Manager Silvio Diliberto became the club's head coach until the 2010–11 season. He became one of the mo