# 2014–15 Eredivisie

The 2014–15 Eredivisie season was the 59th season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. On 18 April 2015, PSV were confirmed as champions of the season, thus ending the four-year reign of Ajax.

## Teams

A total of 18 teams took part in the league: The best fifteen teams from the 2013–14 season, two promotion/relegation playoff winners and the 2013–14 Eerste Divisie champions.
There are three teams that played in the 2013–14 Eerste Divisie that were promoted to the Eredivisie for the 2014–15 season. Willem II returned to the Eredivisie after just one season by winning its first Eerste Divisie title in 49 years. Meanwhile, FC Dordrecht and Excelsior navigated to the promotion/relegation playoffs to reach the Eredivisie, with both clubs having received byes after finishing second and third in the Eerste Divisie. FC Dordrecht swept both legs against VVV-Venlo 5–2 on aggregate in the second round before facing another Eerste Divisie club for a spot in the Eredivisie (after Sparta Rotterdam sent NEC Nijmegen into relegation). FC Dordrecht won 5–3 on aggregate to return to the Eredivisie for the first time in 19 years.
Excelsior returned after two seasons in the Eerste Divisie by first overcoming FC Den Bosch 5–2 on aggregate before relegating RKC Waalwijk from the league by winning 4–2 on aggregate.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| ADO Den Haag | The Hague | Kyocera Stadion | 15,000 |
| Ajax | Amsterdam | Amsterdam ArenA | 53,052 |
| AZ | Alkmaar | AFAS Stadion | 17,023 |
| Cambuur | Leeuwarden | Cambuur Stadion | 10,250 |
| Dordrecht | Dordrecht | GN Bouw Stadion | 4,088 |
| Excelsior | Rotterdam | Stadion Woudestein | 3,531 |
| Feyenoord | Rotterdam | De Kuip | 51,177 |
| Go Ahead Eagles | Deventer | Adelaarshorst | 8,000 |
| Groningen | Groningen | Euroborg | 22,550 |
| Heerenveen | Heerenveen | Abe Lenstra Stadion | 26,100 |
| Heracles Almelo | Almelo | Polman Stadion | 8,500 |
| NAC Breda | Breda | Rat Verlegh Stadion | 19,000 |
| PEC Zwolle | Zwolle | IJsseldelta Stadion | 12,500 |
| PSV | Eindhoven | Philips Stadion | 36,000 |
| Twente | Enschede | De Grolsch Veste | 30,205 |
| Utrecht | Utrecht | Stadion Galgenwaard | 23,750 |
| Vitesse Arnhem | Arnhem | GelreDome | 25,000 |
| Willem II | Tilburg | Koning Willem II Stadion | 14,637 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| ADO Den Haag | Henk Fräser | Erreà | Basic-Fit Fitness |
| Ajax | Frank de Boer | adidas | Ziggo |
| AZ | John van den Brom | Macron | AFAS software |
| Cambuur | Henk de Jong | Quick | Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma |
| Dordrecht | Jan Everse | Macron | Riwal |
| Excelsior | Marinus Dijkhuizen | Masita | DSW Zorgverzekeraar |
| Feyenoord | Fred Rutten | adidas | Opel |
| Go Ahead Eagles | Dennis Demmers | hummel | Drukwerkdeal.nl |
| Groningen | Erwin van de Looi | Masita | Essent |
| Heerenveen | Dwight Lodeweges | Jako | Univé |
| Heracles Almelo | John Stegeman | Erima | TenCate |
| NAC Breda | Robert Maaskant | Umbro | Into Telecom |
| PEC Zwolle | Ron Jans | Patrick | Compello |
| PSV | Phillip Cocu | Nike | Philips |
| Twente | Alfred Schreuder | Nike | XXImo |
| Utrecht | Rob Alflen | hummel | HealthCity |
| Vitesse | Peter Bosz | Macron | Truphone |
| Willem II | Jurgen Streppel | Robey | Tricorp |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Heerenveen | Marco van Basten | End of contract | 1 July 2014 | Pre-season | Dwight Lodeweges | 1 July 2014 |
| AZ | Dick Advocaat | End of contract | 1 July 2014 | Pre-season | Marco van Basten | 1 July 2014 |
| Feyenoord | Ronald Koeman | End of contract | 1 July 2014 | Pre-season | Fred Rutten | 1 July 2014 |
| Utrecht | Jan Wouters | Mutual consent | 1 July 2014 | Pre-season | Rob Alflen | 1 July 2014 |
| Dordrecht | Harry van den Ham | End of contract | 1 July 2014 | Pre-season | Ernie Brandts | 1 July 2014 |
| Heracles Almelo | Jan de Jonge | Sacked | 31 August 2014 | 18th | John Stegeman | 17 September 2014 |
| AZ | Marco van Basten | Mutual consent | 16 September 2014 | 12th | John van den Brom | 29 September 2014 |
| NAC Breda | Nebojša Gudelj | Sacked | 13 October 2014 | 15th | Eric Hellemons (interim) | 14 October 2014 |
| NAC Breda | Eric Hellemons | Sacked | 2 January 2015 | 17th | Robert Maaskant | 3 January 2015 |
| Dordrecht | Ernie Brandts | Sacked | 19 February 2015 | 18th | Jan Everse (interim) | 10 March 2015 |
| Go Ahead Eagles | Foeke Booy | Sacked | 22 March 2015 | 17th | Dennis Demmers (interim) | 22 March 2015 |
| Feyenoord | Fred Rutten | Sacked | 17 May 2015 | 4th | Giovanni van Bronckhorst | 17 May 2015 |

## Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | PSV (C) | 34 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 92 | 31 | +61 | 88 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Ajax | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 69 | 29 | +40 | 71 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | AZ | 34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 63 | 56 | +7 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Feyenoord | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 56 | 39 | +17 | 59 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 5 | Vitesse (O) | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 66 | 43 | +23 | 58 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 6 | PEC Zwolle | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 59 | 43 | +16 | 53 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 7 | Heerenveen | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 50 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 8 | Groningen | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 49 | 53 | −4 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 9 | Willem II | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 46 | |
| 10 | Twente | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 43 | |
| 11 | Utrecht | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 60 | 62 | −2 | 41 | |
| 12 | Cambuur | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 46 | 56 | −10 | 41 | |
| 13 | ADO Den Haag | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 44 | 53 | −9 | 37 | |
| 14 | Heracles | 34 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 47 | 64 | −17 | 37 | |
| 15 | Excelsior | 34 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 47 | 63 | −16 | 32 | |
| 16 | NAC Breda (R) | 34 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 36 | 68 | −32 | 28 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 17 | Go Ahead Eagles (R) | 34 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 29 | 59 | −30 | 27 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round and for the relegation play-offs |
| 18 | Dordrecht (R) | 34 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 24 | 76 | −52 | 20 | Relegation to Eerste Divisie |
* ↑ Groningen qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2014–15 KNVB Cup.
* ↑ FC Twente were deducted three points twice since they did not meet the financial standards set by the KNVB.
* ↑ Ten teams, two from the Eredivisie and eight from the Eerste Divisie, played for two spots in the 2015–16 Eredivisie, the remaining eight teams play in the 2015–16 Eerste Divisie.
* ↑ Go Ahead Eagles was awarded a spot in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round because of its Fair Play ranking. They were also relegated to the 2015–16 Eerste Divisie after losing in the second round of the relegation play-offs.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ADO | AJX | AZ | CAM | DOR | EXC | FEY | GAE | GRO | HEE | HER | NAC | PEC | PSV | TWE | UTR | VIT | WII |
| ADO Den Haag | | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Ajax | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 5–0 |
| AZ | 3–1 | 1–3 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Cambuur | 3–2 | 2–4 | 0–2 | | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Dordrecht | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–6 | 0–4 |
| Excelsior | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 2–5 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–5 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 |
| Feyenoord | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 |
| Go Ahead Eagles | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Groningen | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Heerenveen | 0–0 | 1–4 | 5–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Heracles | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–4 | | 6–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| NAC Breda | 1–1 | 2–5 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–5 | 0–2 | 1–3 | | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| PEC Zwolle | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 6–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 4–1 | | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| PSV | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–3 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Twente | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–5 | | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Utrecht | 0–0 | 1–1 | 6–2 | 1–3 | 6–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Vitesse Arnhem | 6–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | | 2–0 |
| Willem II | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Memphis Depay | PSV | 22 |
| 2 | Luuk de Jong | PSV | 20 |
| 3 | Michael de Leeuw | Groningen | 17 |
| 3 | Michiel Kramer | ADO Den Haag | 17 |
| 5 | Tjaronn Chery | Groningen | 15 |
| 5 | Mark Uth | SC Heerenveen | 15 |
| 7 | Adnane Tighadouini | NAC Breda | 14 |
| 7 | Georginio Wijnaldum | PSV | 14 |
| 9 | Bartholomew Ogbeche | Cambuur | 13 |
| 9 | Bertrand Traoré | Vitesse | 13 |
| 9 | Tom van Weert | Excelsior | 13 |
| 9 | Hakim Ziyech | Heerenveen / Twente | 13 |

### Assists

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Hakim Ziyech | Heerenveen / Twente | 16 |
| 2 | Jetro Willems | PSV | 12 |
| 3 | Luciano Narsingh | PSV | 10 |
| 3 | Mark Uth | Heerenveen | 10 |
| 4 | Luuk de Jong | PSV | 9 |
| 4 | Davy Klaassen | Ajax | 9 |
| 6 | Roland Alberg | ADO Den Haag | 8 |
| 6 | Anwar El Ghazi | Ajax | 8 |
| 6 | Bryan Linssen | Heracles Almelo | 8 |
| 6 | Furdjel Narsingh | Cambuur | 8 |
| 6 | Lasse Schöne | Ajax | 8 |
| 6 | Marko Vejinović | Vitesse Arnhem | 8 |

## Play-offs
### European competition

Four teams played for a spot in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| Heerenveen (e) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Feyenoord | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | |
| Feyenoord | 0 | 2 | 2 | Heerenveen | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| | | | | Vitesse Arnhem* | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| PEC Zwolle | 1 | 1 | 2 | Vitesse Arnhem* | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Vitesse Arnhem | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | |
Key: * = Play-off winners, (a) = Wins because of away goals rule, (e) = Wins after extra time in second leg, (p) = Wins after penalty shoot-out.

### Promotion/relegation play-offs

Ten teams, two from the Eredivisie and eight from the Eerste Divisie, played for two spots in the 2015–16 Eredivisie, the remaining eight teams play in the 2015–16 Eerste Divisie.
| First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round |
| Almere City | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | |
| De Graafschap (e) | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | |
| De Graafschap (e) | 1 | 2 | 3 | De Graafschap | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| | | | | Go Ahead Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | De Graafschap* | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | Volendam | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | Volendam | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | Eindhoven | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | |
| Oss | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| VVV-Venlo | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| VVV-Venlo | 2 | 0 | 2 | VVV-Venlo | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | |
| | | | | NAC Breda | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | NAC Breda | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | Roda JC Kerkrade* (a, e) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | | | | Emmen | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | Roda JC Kerkrade | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | |
Key: * = Play-off winners, (a) = Wins because of away goals rule, (e) = Wins after extra time in second leg, (p) = Wins after penalty shoot-out.