# Excelsior Rotterdam

Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. It plays in the Eerste Divisie, the 2nd tier of Dutch football from the 2024–25 season following relegation. The club was founded on 23 July 1902 and was formerly known as "Rotterdamse Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging Excelsior" (Rotterdam Football and Athletics Club Excelsior). Excelsior's home stadium is the Stadion Woudestein – for sponsorship reasons known as the Van Donge & De Roo Stadion – which has a capacity of about 4,500, one of the smallest stadiums hosting professional football in the Netherlands.

## History
### Early history

Excelsior was officially formed on 23 July 1902 as Rotterdamse Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging Excelsior (English: Rotterdam Football and Athletics Club Excelsior). The initial founders of the club, a group of close friends located in the Kralingen district of Rotterdam, started playing football matches on the fields of the eighteenth century buitenplaats Woudesteyn. After the actual establishment of the club, the municipality officially gave permission to use the land. As football was still an elite sport at the beginning of the 20th century, Excelsior became one of the first working class clubs in the Netherlands.

### First successes

In the season 1945–46, Excelsior gained their first success by promoting to the Eerste Klasse, the highest tier of Dutch football before professional football was introduced in 1954. The deciding match against VUC was played in De Kuip and attracted 52.000 spectators. Excelsior relegated in the next season, but managed to promote for the second time in the season 1951–52. After the introduction of professional football, Excelsior won the Eerste Divisie championship three times (1974, 1979 and 2006) and promoted to the Eredivisie various times, usually to relegate not long afterwards.
Excelsior once reached the KNVB Cup final in the season 1929–30, but lost the match to fellow Rotterdam club Feyenoord (0–1). Excelsior's biggest pre-war achievement was the win of the Zilveren Bal trophy. Excelsior beat Feyenoord (5–0) in the finals of the highly rated pre-season tournament.

### Founding father of Dutch professional football

In the mid-fifties, Excelsior were the leading club behind the introduction of professional football in the Netherlands. When the KNVB continued to refuse payments in football, Excelsior chairman Henk Zon and board member Aad Libregts managed to persuade association president Hans Hopster, in cooperation with the directors of Feyenoord, Sparta and ADO Den Haag. In August 1954 the KNVB accepted the proposal and professional football was introduced in the Netherlands.

### Pioneers

Being the smallest professional club in Rotterdam, Excelsior always had to be creative to survive. This creativity made Excelsior play a pioneering role within Dutch football. In 1958 Excelsior became the first Dutch club with covered stands. Later, in 1974, Excelsior also were the first Dutch club with shirt advertising. Against the then existing rules, the club put an 'A' on the shirt. The character was supposed to stand for 'Team A', but in reality it stood for Akai, the company of main investor Rob Albers. The KNVB decided to ban the 'A' from the shirt and it would take until 1982 for shirt advertising to be introduced. Akai would adorn the shirts of Excelsior until the season 1999–00.

### Millennium

In 2002, the year in which the club was officially 100 years old, Excelsior returned to the Eredivisie. They did this after spending more than 20 years in the second tier of Dutch football. They were relegated after one season. In the 2005/2006 season Excelsior became champions of the Eerste Divisie and were promoted back to the Eredivisie once again.
Between 1997 and 2005 Excelsior had a partnership with Rotterdam rivals Feyenoord. Excelsior became Feyenoord's satellite club. As such, Feyenoord gave Excelsior money and players (either on loan or free transfer).
A majority of the Excelsior fans have always been against a partnership with Feyenoord. Michel van der Neut, chairman of Excelsior's supporters club, claimed: "Excelsior sold her soul with the extended partnership. Excelsior simply stops existing this way."

### Recent history

In 2010 Excelsior returned to the highest tier of Dutch football, after defeating crosstown rival Sparta Rotterdam in the final of the Eredivisie promotion/relegation play-offs. The team was mostly composed by Feyenoord loanees and was coached by former Feyenoord youth coach Alex Pastoor. In the 2010–11 season Excelsior made a flying start in the Eredivisie, gaining ten points in its first five matches, including a home victory in the Rotterdam derby against Feyenoord (3–2). In the remainder of the season, Excelsior upset some of the larger league teams at home, winning against AZ and getting draws against Groningen and eventual league champions Ajax. In the final match of the regular season, Excelsior got a 4–1 win away at Vitesse Arnhem, a result that left them one goal short of staying up. Finishing 16th, Excelsior had to face FC Den Bosch and Helmond Sport in the relegation / promotion play-offs. A 4–2 home win against Helmond sport ensured another season of Eredivisie football for Excelsior.
Excelsior finished bottom of the table in the Eredivisie at the end of the 2011–12 season, managing only four wins in 34 matches. The club was again relegated to the Eerste Divisie and has had ups and downs since. In the 2022–23 season Excelsior will be playing in the Eredivisie after being relegated in 2019.

## Stadium

Excelsior's home venue is Stadion Woudestein, which has a capacity of 4,500 seats, one of the smallest stadiums hosting professional football in the Netherlands. The official name of the stadium is Van Donge & De Roo Stadion.
The club had two short spells at different locations. For the season 1907–1908 Excelsior played on the Afrikaanderplein. After returning to Woudestein, Excelsior moved to the Toepad terrain for seasons 1922–1939. When the Dutch government decided to build marine barracks on the Toepad area right before the start of the Second World War, Excelsior moved back to the familiar Woudestein.
In the early nineties Excelsior went through a difficult period. The club barely survived a financial crisis, but a newly appointed board under the chairmanship of Martin de Jager had one important goal; a new Excelsior stadium. Various plans were made, one of them being a joint stadium for Excelsior and Sparta, but eventually none of the plans were implemented. Due to financial pressure, Excelsior decided to take the plunge and started renovating Woudestein themselves. The club built two new stands themselves and with the help of the municipality the main stand got renovated as well, including business seats and office space. On 31 July 2000, the new stadium was opened with a friendly match against Feyenoord.
When Excelsior promoted to the Eredivisie after the season 2009–10, the club decided to replace the grass surface with artificial turf. Main reason for the change was the lack of financial resources to install under-soil heating, which is mandatory for clubs participating on the highest level of Dutch football.

## Supporters and rivalries
### Paper recycling club

Excelsior is known as the Oud papier-club (paper recycling club), because former chairman Henk Zon often used to collect old paper in order to secure the financial position of the club.

### Mascot

Since 2008 'Woutje Stein' is the official Excelsior mascot. He is named after the Woudestein-stadium.

### Rivalries

Rotterdam is the city with the most professional teams in the Netherlands. Besides Excelsior there are Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam.

#### Rivalry against Sparta

Excelsior is from the Kralingen-neighbourhood and Sparta Rotterdam is from the Spangen-neighbourhood. Both clubs are not always playing in the Eredivisie, hence they play matches against each other in both the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. The Feyenoord partnership Excelsior had in the past has resulted in more hatred from Sparta Rotterdam supporters.
One of the more spectacular matches between Excelsior and Sparta was the 2010 derby. Excelsior managed to gain promotion to the Eredivisie by winning against Sparta in the 94th minute of the match.

#### Rivalry against Feyenoord

Ever since the clubs used to work together Excelsior players and supporters have grown a more serious rivalry against Feyenoord. The majority of Excelsior supporters never wanted a cooperation with Feyenoord in the first place. On 22 May 2009, Excelsior supporters hosted a funeral as they felt like their club's identity had died due to the partnership with Feyenoord.
In 2017 Excelsior won against Feyenoord (3–0), resulting in the latter not winning the Eredivisie title on that day. This resulted in riots.

## Honours
### League

* Eerste Divisie
** Winners (3): 1973–74, 1978–79, 2005–06
** Promotion (6): 1969–70, 1981–82, 2001–02, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2021–22
* Tweede Divisie
** Promotion (1): 1968–69

## Domestic results

Below is a table with Excelsior's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.
Domestic Results since 1956 :
| Domestic league | League result | Qualification to | KNVB Cup season | Cup result |
| 2022–23 Eredivisie | 15th | – | 2022–23 | second round |
| 2021–22 Eerste Divisie | 6th | Eredivisie (winning promotion/releg. play-offs) | 2021–22 | second round |
| 2020–21 Eerste Divisie | 9th | – | 2020–21 | Quarter-final |
| 2019–20 Eerste Divisie | 7th | – | 2019–20 | second round |
| 2018–19 Eredivisie | 16th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 2018–19 | first round |
| 2017–18 Eredivisie | 11th | – | 2017–18 | first round |
| 2016–17 Eredivisie | 12th | – | 2016–17 | second round |
| 2015–16 Eredivisie | 15th | – | 2015–16 | third round |
| 2014–15 Eredivisie | 15th | – | 2014–15 | Semi-final |
| 2013–14 Eerste Divisie | 3rd | Eredivisie (winning promotion/releg. play-offs) | 2013–14 | round of 16 |
| 2012–13 Eerste Divisie | 15th | – | 2012–13 | second round |
| 2011–12 Eredivisie | 18th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 2011–12 | third round |
| 2010–11 Eredivisie | 16th | – (surviving promotion/relegation play-offs) | 2010–11 | Fourth round |
| 2009–10 Eerste Divisie | 3rd | Eredivisie (winning promotion/releg. play-offs) | 2009–10 | Third round |
| 2008–09 Eerste Divisie | 5th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2008–09 | Round of 16 |
| 2007–08 Eredivisie | 18th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 2007–08 | Round of 16 |
| 2006–07 Eredivisie | 16th | – (surviving promotion/relegation play-offs) | 2006–07 | Third round |
| 2005–06 Eerste Divisie | 1st | Eredivisie (promotion) | 2005–06 | Second round |
| 2004–05 Eerste Divisie | 12th | – | 2004–05 | Second round |
| 2003–04 Eerste Divisie | 2nd | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2003–04 | Third round |
| 2002–03 Eredivisie | 17th | Eerste Divisie (losing promo./releg. play-offs) | 2002–03 | Quarter-final |
| 2001–02 Eerste Divisie | 2nd | Eredivisie (winning promotion/releg. play-offs) | 2001–02 | Round of 16 |
| 2000–01 Eerste Divisie | 2nd | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 2000–01 | Round of 16 |
| 1999–00 Eerste Divisie | 4th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 1999–00 | Round of 16 |
| 1998–99 Eerste Divisie | 6th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 1998–99 | Second round |
| 1997–98 Eerste Divisie | 16th | – | 1997–98 | Group stage |
| 1996–97 Eerste Divisie | 17th | – | 1996–97 | Group stage |
| 1995–96 Eerste Divisie | 16th | – | 1995–96 | Group stage |
| 1994–95 Eerste Divisie | 3rd | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 1994–95 | Second round |
| 1993–94 Eerste Divisie | 12th | – | 1993–94 | Third round |
| 1992–93 Eerste Divisie | 14th | – | 1992–93 | Round of 16 |
| 1991–92 Eerste Divisie | 15th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 1991–92 | Third round |
| 1990–91 Eerste Divisie | 19th | – | 1990–91 | Second round |
| 1989–90 Eerste Divisie | 14th | – | 1989–90 | Second round |
| 1988–89 Eerste Divisie | 3rd | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 1988–89 | First round |
| 1987–88 Eerste Divisie | 8th | – | 1987–88 | Round of 16 |
| 1986–87 Eredivisie | 18th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 1986–87 | Quarter-final |
| 1985–86 Eredivisie | 15th | – | 1985–86 | First round |
| 1984–85 Eredivisie | 12th | – | 1984–85 | Round of 16 |
| 1983–84 Eredivisie | 13th | – | 1983–84 | First round |
| 1982–83 Eredivisie | 9th | – | 1982–83 | Second round |
| 1981–82 Eerste Divisie | 3rd | Eredivisie (winning promotion/releg. play-offs) | 1981–82 | Round of 16 |
| 1980–81 Eredivisie | 17th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 1980–81 | Second round |
| 1979–80 Eredivisie | 9th | – | 1979–80 | Second round |
| 1978–79 Eerste Divisie | 1st | Eredivisie (promotion) | 1978–79 | Second round |
| 1977–78 Eerste Divisie | 4th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 1977–78 | Semi-final |
| 1976–77 Eerste Divisie | 4th | promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion | 1976–77 | Round of 16 |
| 1975–76 Eredivisie | 18th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 1975–76 | Second round |
| 1974–75 Eredivisie | 14th | – | 1974–75 | Second round |
| 1973–74 Eerste Divisie | 1st | Eredivisie (promotion) | 1973–74 | Round of 16 |
| 1972–73 Eredivisie | 17th | Eerste Divisie (relegation) | 1972–73 | Round of 16 |
| 1971–72 Eredivisie | 15th | – | 1971–72 | Quarter-final |
| 1970–71 Eredivisie | 16th | – | 1970–71 | Second round |
| 1969–70 Eerste Divisie | 2nd | Eredivisie (promotion) | 1969–70 | Second round |
| 1968–69 Tweede Divisie | 2nd | Eerste Divisie (promotion) | 1968–69 | Second round |
| 1967–68 Tweede Divisie | 16th | – | 1967–68 | Quarter-final |
| 1966–67 Tweede Divisie | 9th | – | 1966–67 | DNC |
| 1965–66 Tweede Divisie | 9th (group B) | – | 1965–66 | Group stage |
| 1964–65 Eerste Divisie | 16th | Tweede Divisie (relegation) | 1964–65 | Second round |
| 1963–64 Eerste Divisie | 9th | – | 1963–64 | Round of 16 |
| 1962–63 Eerste Divisie | 8th | – | 1962–63 | Third round |
| 1961–62 Eerste Divisie | 2nd | – | 1961–62 | ? |
| 1960–61 Eerste Divisie | 4th (group B) | – | 1960–61 | ? |
| 1959–60 Eerste Divisie | 11th (group A) | – | not held | not held |
| 1958–59 Eerste Divisie | 6th (group B) | – | 1958–59 | ? |
| 1957–58 Eerste Divisie | 7th (group A) | – | 1957–58 | ? |
| 1956–57 Eerste Divisie | 9th (group B) | – | 1956–57 | ? |

## Current squad

    As of 4 February 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | NED | Ilias Bronkhorst |
| 3 | DF | NED | Kik Pierie |
| 4 | DF | NED | Django Warmerdam |
| 5 | DF | SWE | Casper Widell |
| 6 | MF | BEL | Xander Blomme (on loan from Go Ahead Eagles) |
| 7 | FW | ITA | Seydou Fini (on loan from Genoa) |
| 8 | MF | NED | Mathijs Tielemans (on loan from Vitesse) |
| 9 | FW | SWE | Richie Omorowa |
| 10 | MF | NED | Lance Duijvestijn |
| 11 | MF | USA | Zach Booth |
| 12 | DF | FRA | Arthur Zagré |
| 14 | FW | CUW | Rayvien Rosario |
| 15 | MF | NED | Noah Naujoks |
| 16 | DF | NED | Jurgen Mattheij |
| 17 | DF | BEL | Nolan Martens |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | NED | Nesto Groen |
| 20 | MF | NED | Lennard Hartjes |
| 21 | FW | BEL | Jacky Donkor |
| 22 | DF | NED | José de Almeida Reis |
| 23 | MF | NED | Cedric Hatenboer (on loan from Anderlecht) |
| 24 | MF | NED | Joshua Eijgenraam |
| 28 | DF | SMA | Ronan Olivacce |
| 29 | FW | NED | Mike van Duinen |
| 30 | FW | NED | Derensili Sanches Fernandes |
| 31 | DF | NED | Giuliano Cairo |
| 32 | DF | NED | Siem De Moes |
| 33 | FW | NED | Jerolldino Armantrading |
| 38 | GK | NED | Pascal Kuiper |
| 40 | GK | NED | Calvin Raatsie |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | NED | Seb Loeffen (at SV Spakenburg until 30 June 2025) |
| — | DF | NED | Serano Seymor (at VVV-Venlo until 30 June 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | SWE | Oscar Uddenäs (at AIK until 30 June 2025) |

### Player of the year

The Excelsior 'Player of the Year' award is voted for by the club's supporters, in recognition of the best overall performance by an individual player throughout the football season. The annual election is organized by the supporters club Pro Excelsior since 1996.
| Season | Winner |
| 1995–96 | Marinus Dijkhuizen |
| 1996–97 | John Schuurhuizen |
| 1997–98 | Ferry de Haan |
| 1998–99 | Michael van der Kruis |
| 1999–00 | David Connolly |
| 2000–01 | Jarda Simr |
| 2001–02 | Michel Breuer |
| 2002–03 | Steve Olfers |
| 2003–04 | Danny Buijs |
| 2004–05 | Brett Holman |
| 2005–06 | Luigi Bruins |
| 2006–07 | René van Dieren |
| Season | Winner |
| 2007–08 | Kees Luijckx |
| 2008–09 | Jeffrey Altheer |
| 2009–10 | Ryan Koolwijk |
| 2010–11 | Daan Bovenberg |
| 2011–12 | Roland Alberg |
| 2012–13 | Jordy Deckers |
| 2013–14 | Lars Veldwijk |
| 2014–15 | Sander Fischer |
| 2015–16 | Rick Kruys |
| 2016–17 | Nigel Hasselbaink |
| 2017–18 | Hicham Faik |
| 2018–19 | Jerdy Schouten |

## Managers
### Current staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Ruben den Uil |
| Assistant head coach | André Hoekstra |
| Assistant coach / technology strategist | Takahisa Shiraishi |
| Team manager | Dennis van der Neut |
| Goalkeeping coach | Ronald Graafland |
| Fitness coach | Mario Meijer |
| Physio | Maurice de Groot |
| Physio | Rinus Kerskes |
| Club doctor | Robert Jan de Vos |
| Kit manager | Rien van Wijk |
| Kit manager | John van Tilburg |
| Chief scout | Dave Coelers |
| Scout | Bert Ebbens |

### Former managers

| Season(s) | Manager |
| 1954–56 | Rinus Smits |
| 1956–62 | Bob Janse |
| 1962–68 | Rinus Smits |
| 1968–70 | Bob Janse |
| 1970 | Jaap Kouters |
| 1970–71 | Bob Janse |
| 1971–73 | Joop Castenmiller |
| 1973–75 | Ben Peeters |
| 1975–76 | Thijs Libregts Bob Janse |
| 1976–80 | Thijs Libregts |
| 1980–82 | Hans Dorjee |
| 1982–86 | Rob Jacobs |
| 1986–88 | Henk Wullems |
| 1988–90 | Joop van Daele |
| 1990 | Martin van der Kooy |
| 1990–92 | Sándor Popovics |
| 1992–94 | Cor Pot |
| 1994–95 | Rob Baan |
| Season(s) | Manager |
| 1995–96 | Hans van der Pluijm |
| 1996-03 | Adrie Koster |
| 2003–04 | Henk van Stee |
| 2004–05 | John Metgod |
| 2005–06 | Mario Been |
| 2006–09 | Ton Lokhoff |
| 2009–11 | Alex Pastoor |
| 2011–12 | John Lammers |
| 2012–13 | Leon Vlemmings |
| 2013–14 | Jon Dahl Tomasson |
| 2014–15 | Marinus Dijkhuizen |
| 2015–16 | Alfons Groenendijk |
| 2016–18 | Mitchell van der Gaag |
| 2018–19 | Adrie Poldervaart |
| 2019–20 | Ricardo Moniz |
| 2020–24 | Marinus Dijkhuizen |

## Players
### National team players

The following players were called up to represent their national teams in international football and received caps during their tenure with Excelsior Rotterdam:
* Players in bold actively play for Excelsior Rotterdam and for their respective national teams. Years in brackets indicate careerspan with Excelsior.

### National team players by Confederation

Member associations are listed in order of most to least amount of current and former Excelsior players represented Internationally
Total national team players by confederation :
| Confederation | Total | (Nation) Association |
| AFC | 1 | Japan (1) |
| CAF | 5 | Cape Verde (2), DR Congo (1), Ghana (1), Guinea (1) |
| CONCACAF | 7 | Aruba (2), Curaçao (2), Sint Maarten (2), Trinidad & Tobago (1) |
| CONMEBOL | 0 | |
| OFC | 0 | |
| UEFA | 9 | Netherlands (4), Iceland (3), Ireland (2) |

## Players in international tournaments

The following is a list of Excelsior Rotterdam players who have competed in international tournaments, including the Africa Cup of Nations. To this date no Excelsior players have participated in the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, CONCACAF Gold Cup, AFC Asian Cup, Copa América or the OFC Nations Cup while playing for Excelsior Rotterdam.
| Cup | Players |
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations | Toni Varela |