Derby of the North


The Derby of the North is a match between the Dutch football clubs FC Groningen and SC Heerenveen. Since the dissolution of SC Veendam in 2013, there are only four professional football clubs in the three northern provinces of the Netherlands : FC Groningen, SC Heerenveen, SC Cambuur and FC Emmen. Although Heerenveen have an older and fiercer rivalry with Cambuur, the only game referred to as the Derby of the North is Groningen versus Heerenveen. This is due to Groningen and Heerenveen being seen as representing the provinces of Groningen and Friesland, whereas Cambuur is only regarded as the team of the city of Leeuwarden.
Groningen and Heerenveen have the biggest following of the four northern teams and are regulars in the first-tier Eredivisie. Cambuur have played in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier, for most of their existence. Emmen, Drenthe's only professional football team, made their debut in the Eredivisie in 2018–19. FC Groningen draws a lot of support from the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe.

History

Although FC Groningen and SC Heerenveen played each other for the first time in 1974, the rivalry did not commence until the mid-1990s. In the 1970s and 1980s, Groningen were the biggest and most successful football team in the northern provinces. They were a regular in the first-tier Eredivisie, qualified several times for European football, beat Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup, and had the largest attendances in the Netherlands besides Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV. Only SC Veendam joined FC Groningen in the Eredivisie in two discontinuous seasons the 1980s, but went straight back down on both occasions. Heerenveen would not play in the Eredivisie until 1990–91; during that season, Groningen competed for the league title, ultimately finishing in third place. As Groningen had been the only Northern representative in the top flight, the Dutch media referred to the club as the "Pride of the North". Groningen's club anthem, written in the 1970s, mentions the people from the three northern provinces Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe being united in their support for Groningen.
During the early 1990s, however, Groningen began to decline and were relegated from the Eredivisie in 1997–98. Heerenveen won promotion to the Eredivisie in 1992–93 and started to climb up the Eredivisie table in the following years. The side finished second in the 1999–2000 Eredivisie and qualified for the Champions League. Groningen won promotion back to the top tier the same season.
Heerenveen, under the guidance of chairman Riemer van der Velde, were referred by the Dutch media as a "family club", embracing its Frisian identity; Heerenveen have modelled their kit after the Frisian flag and play the Frisian provincial anthem before every home match. In the early 2000s, the Dutch media referred to Heerenveen as "everybody's second favorite team". During the same era, Groningen's supporters clashed several times with fans of other clubs. Heerenveen began to brand itself as the "Pride of the North", which is Groningen's nickname, as the club had surpassed Groningen in domestic performance. The rivalry intensified, particularly from Groningen's side, whose supporters named themselves the "people's club" with a passionate following, while they regarded Heerenveen fans as "fairweather supporters" with the worst atmosphere in the league.
In early 2006, Groningen left their outdated Oosterparkstadion for Euroborg. In their new stadium, Groningen began to close the gap and climbed up the league table. Around the same time, Heerenveen's "friendly image" began to attenuate.

List of results

Heerenveen have won the derby 32 times and Groningen have been victorious on 21 occasions. From a Groningen perspective it can be argued that the record balances in Heerenveen's favour because the two sides did not meet during Groningen's heyday in the 1980s, due to Heerenveen being in the second tier Eerste Divisie.
Both Groningen and Heerenveen celebrated the opening of their current stadium with a 2–0 victory. Heerenveen did so in the Abe Lenstra Stadion on 26 August 1994; Groningen played their first official match in the Euroborg against Heerenveen on 13 January 2006. Groningen and Heerenveen have never met in the KNVB Cup or in the play-offs.
1=FC Groningen win
1=sc Heerenveen win
1=Draw

DateLeagueVenueResultGoal scorers FC GroningenGoal scorers sc HeerenveenAttendanceNotes
17 Nov 1974Eerste DivisieSportpark Noord1=4 - 1BloembergZimic 2', Golijanin 23', Toornstra 66', Wierts 76'10,000
20 Apr 1975Eerste DivisieOosterpark Stadion1=2 - 0Gritter, Hovenkamp13,000
2 Nov 1975Eerste DivisieOosterpark Stadion1=3 - 0Hoekstra, Molendijk, Van der Heide6,000
16 May 1976Eerste DivisieSportpark Noord1=1 - 1Oosterwold2,500
3 Sep 1976Eerste DivisieOosterpark Stadion1=1 - 0Bakker5,000
3 Apr 1977Eerste DivisieSportpark Noord1=1 - 1J. van Dijk3,000
21 Aug 1977Eerste DivisieSportpark Noord1=2 - 06,500
29 Jan 1978Eerste DivisieOosterpark Stadion1=1 - 2Oosterwold8,500
12 Nov 1978Eerste DivisieSportpark Noord1=0 - 1Bakker2,500
20 May 1979Eerste DivisieOosterpark Stadion1=1 - 1Swanenburg7,000
11 Nov 1979Eerste DivisieOosterpark Stadion1=5 - 0Houtman 13', 46', 67', 90', Mulder7,000
27 Apr 1980Eerste DivisieSportpark Noord1=0 - 2Houtman 11,000
27 Jan 1991EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=3 - 0Veenhof 1', Huizingh 20', Djurovski 85'15,000
16 Jun 1991EredivisieSportpark Noord1=4 - 2Huizingh 26', Djurovski 31'Cămătaru 52', Van der Gijp 62', 88', Dijk 86'12,312The last match of a season in which Groningen had competed for the league title, while Heerenveen was fighting against relegation. It is widely believed that in these pre-rivalry days, Groningen allowed Heerenveen to grab the victory in order to have a chance of survival. It was to no avail as Heerenveen fell one goal short to stay up.
31 Oct 1993EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=2 - 2Ter Avest 40', Hamming 48'Tammer 82', Alberda 86'14,100
5 Apr 1994EredivisieSportpark Noord1=2 - 0Hellinga 9', Tammer 52'13,500
26 Aug 1994EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=2 - 0Sier 41', Regtop 71'13,200The first match in Abe Lenstra Stadion
15 Jan 1995EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=0 - 015,010
29 Aug 1995EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 0Straal 88'13,300
12 Mar 1996EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=1 - 1Bombarda 57'Tomasson 64'13,500
6 Sep 1996EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=1 - 5Gorré 83'Hansma 33', Wouden 48', 60', Tomasson 54', Talan 69'12,320
1 Jun 1997EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 3Magno 16', 28', Gorré 64'Nygaard 49'13,500
2 Dec 1997EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=0 - 1Elkhattabi 73'15,000
8 Apr 1998EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 1Magno 41'Van Nistelrooy 73'13,700
21 Dec 2000EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=2 - 1Hugo 34', G. van Dijk 80' De Nooijer 15'13,000
2 Mar 2001EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=0 - 014,350
21 Oct 2001EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=1 - 1Boussaboun 38'Nurmela 32'13,000
24 Apr 2002EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=2 - 0Hakansson 48', 69'14,400
1 Dec 2002EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=1 - 1Salmon 60'Samaras 79'12,500
9 May 2003EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=2 - 1Salmon 72'Sibon 45', J. De Jong 89'14,400
13 Sep 2003EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 0Hansson 38'14,600
19 Mar 2004EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=0 - 012,500
10 Dec 2004EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 0Väyrynen 66'17,863
15 May 2005EredivisieOosterpark Stadion1=1 - 2Buijs 75'Berg Hestad 27', Nilsson 60'12,500
6 Nov 2005EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=4 - 0Huntelaar 5', 47', Bosvelt 43', Samaras 74'21,200
13 Jan 2006EredivisieEuroborg1=2 - 0Nevland 24', Buijs 53'19,710The first official match in Euroborg
22 Oct 2006EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=4 - 2Levchenko 81', 82'Alves 14', 74', 79', Friend 67'26,000
2 Feb 2007EredivisieEuroborg1=1 - 1Van der Linden 62'Alves 70'19,846
9 Dec 2007EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=4 - 2Nevland 9', 14'Lovre 2', Bradley 7', 22', 41'25,600
14 Mar 2008EredivisieEuroborg1=0 - 1Sulejmani 86'19,719
28 Dec 2008EredivisieEuroborg1=2 - 3García García 54', Granqvist 90'Pranjić 13', Smárason 77', Paulo Henrique 90+5'22,311
7 Mar 2009EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=2 - 1Holla 68'Grindheim 59', Elm 90+3'26,100Record attendance for the derby game
12 Sep 2009EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=0 - 1Nordstrand 61'26,100
20 Jan 2010EredivisieEuroborg1=2 - 0Matavž 13', Granqvist 59'22,440
17 Oct 2010EredivisieEuroborg1=1 - 0Granqvist 46'22,427
30 Jan 2011EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 4Ivens 13', Matavž 25', Tadić 56', 90+4'Đuričić 68'26,100
11 Sep 2011EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=3 - 0Dost 45+1', Assaidi 61', Đuričić 84'26,100
31 Mar 2012EredivisieEuroborg1=1 - 3Tadić 36'Dost 24', 41', Elm 86'22,423
21 Oct 2012EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=3 - 0Van la Parra 61', 83', Finnbogason 65'26,100
7 Apr 2013EredivisieEuroborg1=3 - 1Raitala 3', Bacuna 42', De Leeuw 87'Mareček 70'22,505
15 Sep 2013EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=4 - 2Van der Velden 31', Kappelhof 56'Wildschut 52', Otigba 55', Finnbogason 72', 90'24,150
9 Feb 2013EredivisieEuroborg1=1 - 3De Leeuw 86' Van La Parra 33', Ziyech 36', Finnbogason 40' 20,193
7 Dec 2014EredivisieEuroborg1=1 - 1De Leeuw 7'Uth 25'20,705
22 Feb 2015EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=3 - 1De Leeuw 50'Thern 35', Van Aken 59', Veerman 90+2'24,894
13 Sep 2015EredivisieEuroborg1=3 - 1Hoesen 1', Linssen 16', Mahi 82'Thern 69'21,001
1 May 2016EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 2Idrissi 26', Rusnák 52'Larsson 21'25,385
15 October 2016EredivisieEuroborg1=0 - 3Zeneli 7', Larsson 73', Ghoochannejhad 82'21,155
29 January 2017EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=0 - 021,750
13 August 2017EredivisieEuroborg1=3 - 3Veldwijk 53', Mahi 82', 88' Thorsby 6', 86', Ghoochannejhad 40'19,422
8 April 2018EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 1Van Weert 55'Vlap 31'23,150
11 November 2018EredivisieEuroborg1=2 - 0Warmerdam 27', Doan 38'20,731
14 April 2019EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 1Gladon 61'Van Amersfoort 38'21,056
27 October 2019EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 1Benschop 73' Faik 45+3' 22,428
20 April 2020EredivisieEuroborgThe game, and the 2019–20 Eredivisie season, were abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.
21 February 2021EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=1 - 1Suslov 82'S. De Jong 43'0
11 April 2021EredivisieEuroborg1=0 - 2Veerman 71', Halilović 86'0
12 September 2021EredivisieEuroborg1=1 - 1Ngonge 68'Halilović 19'15,000
10 April 2022EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=3 - 1Kasanwirjo 29'Van Hooijdonk 7', 53', Van Beek 80'22,500
22 January 2023EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=3 - 1Krüger 40'Sarr 5', 82', Van Amersfoort 81'19,029
19 March 2023EredivisieEuroborg1=0 - 2Van Hooijdonk 27', 40'21,247
22 September 2024EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=2 - 1[Luciano Luciano Valente (footballer, born 2003)|Valente (footballer, born 2003)|Valente] 9'Trenskow 12', Nicolaescu 69'23,729
25 January 2025EredivisieEuroborg1=1 - 0Valente 63'22,525
16 August 2025EredivisieEuroborg1=2 - 1Willumsson 29', 90+4'Trenskow 15'22,525
18 January 2026EredivisieAbe Lenstra Stadion1=0 - 2Klaverboer 58', Blokzijl 79'24,105