KNVB Cup


The KNVB Beker, branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. 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, as well as the 24 semi-finalists of the six KNVB District Cups. The finals of the tournament traditionally takes place in De Kuip, 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, which acts as the curtain raiser for the following season.

History

The competition was conceived during a board meeting of the Dutch Football Association, in The Hague, on 19 January 1898. The tournament began the following season, 1898-99. The first final was played on 9 May 1899 between RAP Amsterdam and HVV Den Haag. In 1946, the trophy was changed to one made out of silver, which was extremely rare in the immediate aftermath of World War II. That trophy remains in use today. 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. On 16 August 2005, the name was changed to the Gatorade Cup after the drinks company Gatorade. 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, but with the abandonment of that tournament, the winner now goes into the UEFA Europa League. If the winning team has finished in the top two of the Eredivisie and thus gained entry into the UEFA Champions League, the berth will be redistributed to that season's Eredivisie.
In 1998, both KNVB Cup finalists, Ajax and PSV, gained entry in the Champions League, so a third-place play-off was played between the beaten semi-finalists, SC Heerenveen and FC Twente, to determine who would take the Cup Winners' Cup place.

Past finals

Number of titles

ClubTitlesRunners-upWinning years
Ajax1961917, 1943, 1961, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1979, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2019
Feyenoord1341930, 1935, 1965, 1969, 1980, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2008, 2016, 2018
PSV Eindhoven981950, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996, 2005, 2012
AZ431978, 1981, 1982, 2013
Quick 41909, 1910, 1911, 1916
FC Twente341977, 2001, 2011
FC Utrecht331985, 2003, 2004
Sparta Rotterdam321958, 1962, 1966
HFC31904, 1913, 1915
HBS Craeyenhout251901, 1908
Roda JC241997, 2000
ADO Den Haag241968, 1975
Haarlem231902, 1912
Fortuna'54221957, 1964
DFC221914, 1932
VOC Rotterdam221905, 1907
Willem II221944, 1963
Wageningen21939, 1948
RCH21918, 1928
Vitesse132017
PEC Zwolle132014
NAC Breda131973
HVV Den Haag131903
Heerenveen122009
FC Groningen112015
VSV111938
VUC Den Haag111927
RAP Amsterdam111899
VVV11959
Quick 188811949
FC Eindhoven11937
Roermond11936
Velocitas Groningen11934
LONGA11926
ZFC11925
Schoten11921
CVV11920
Concordia11906
Velocitas Breda11900

Media coverage

The broadcast rights are included in the KNVB broadcast rights package, which also include the Johan Cruyff Shield.

Netherlands

The KNVB Cup is currently broadcast live by the Fox Sports Eredivisie channels.

International