PSV

AT HOME IN THE SHADOW OF AJAX AND FEYENOORD

Games between Feyenoord and Ajax may be regarded as Holland's only real 'Classics', but let's face it (Ajax fans, this may hurt a bit...): PSV have been the number one club in the Dutch Eredivisie in the past 25 years, and Holland's most succesful outfit in UEFA competition in the past 10. The Eindhoven side's list of honors is now longer than Feyenoord's and Ajax's record against PSV in the past ten seasons can on be described as 'terrible'. And let's not call them a 'fake club' without a history, shall we? Philips Stadium has always been in exactly the same location in downtown Eindhoven, and PSV have a pretty remarkable club history of more than 90 years now. If Ajax want to re-establish themselves as Holland's number one football institute, they will simply have to start beating PSV again. On a sidenote... Ajax's results against PSV have actually improved quite a bit in recent seasons, especially if you include KNVB Cup and Super Cup games.

Some PSV fans will tell you that PSV are still not taken seriously in The Netherlands, only because the club are not from the area known as the Randstad, the collective noun for the western provinces of The Netherlands, where the large part of the Dutch population lives, where the four major cities are, where most trade and industry takes place and (the crucial factor) where all of Holland's national newspapers and TV networks are based. Sometimes it really seems like PSV are slightly looked down upon for the simple reason that they're not from 'the west', and regarded as 'provincial'.

1929: PSV's first championship winning team.

The city of Eindhoven, however, isn't exactly 'rural': it's Holland's fifth city in size (well over 200,000 inhabitants) and the cradle of Philips, one of the world's leading electronics companies. The letters PSV stand for Philips Sport Vereniging ('Philips Sports Club'). Founded in 1913, PSV was originally a recreational sports club for Philips factory workers, living in the small working-class houses of the downtown neighborhood known as Philipsdorp ('Philipsville'). Football was only one of the 19 sports that could be practiced at PSV. The club's low-key football ground steadily developed into the modern Philips Stadium we know today, but still is on the exact same location: in the heart of the city that is, by the way, not exactly considered to be one of Holland's prettiest.

So, PSV have a history. Having said that: PSV were not much of a major force in Dutch football until the 1970s. More than 50% of the club's 20 Dutch championships were won in the last twenty years. Before that, the club were rather modest, although there were remarkable highlights: PSV, for example, were the very first Dutch club to participate in the precursor of the European Champions Cup in 1955, the Coupe Européenne. Also, the club's legendary goalgetter Coen Dillen still holds the mindblowing Eredivisie record of 43 goals in one season (1956-1957).

How in the world do they find those strikers?? From left to right:
Romario, Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy wearing the PSV strip.

The big triumphs, however, followed in more recent times, starting in the latter half of the 1970s. The PSV team of Willy van der Kuylen and the Van de Kerkhof twins (Willy and René) won the UEFA Cup of 1978 by beating French side Bastia in the final. The legendary Holland squad that made it to the World Cup final of 1978 in Argentina consisted of exactly as many PSV players as Ajacieden, a fact that people sometimes seem to be unaware of, quite possibly because the 'loudmouths' from Amsterdam tend to draw a bit more media attention.

A second golden PSV generation appeared on the scene precisely a decade later. Fickle Brazilian superstar Romario da Souza Faria was the key figure in a long period of PSV superiority in Dutch football, with the winning of the European Champions Cup of 1988 as a spectacular climax. Benfica were beaten in the penalty shoot-out of the goalless final in Stuttgart, Germany. The semi final, only weeks earlier, had seen a heroic battle against Leo Beenhakker's Real Madrid, which PSV won on an unforgettably unsightly away goal by youngster Edward Linskens: 1-1 in Madrid, followed by a nerve-wracking 0-0 in Eindhoven.

By far the greatest triumph in club history:
PSV with the European Champions Cup (Stuttgart, 1988).

PSV may not hail from an attractive city in the west, they may not have the swagger of the average Amsterdammer and they may lack a traditional home jersey (their red and white strip has had numerous different designs over the years), but they embarrass Ajax in the ArenA on an almost yearly basis and were extremely close to reaching the Champions League final of 2005 (they really would've deserved more against AC Milan). Let Amsterdam and Rotterdam play their 'Classics'. PSV taught both of them the hard way that a 'big city attitude' and an innate superiority complex do not necessarily guarantee success. (MP)

PSV FACTS

Founded: 31 August 1913
City: Eindhoven
Stadium: Philips Stadium
Capacity: 35,270
Official website: www.psv.nl

Honors:

• Dutch champions (20 times): 1929, 1935, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007
• Dutch Cup winners (8 times): 1950, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996, 2005
• Dutch Super Cup winners (7 times): 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003
• European Champions Cup winners: 1988
• UEFA Cup winners: 1978

Recent history: Ajax vs PSV