Men's Hoofdklasse Hockey

The Men's Hoofdklasse Hockey, currently known as the Tulp Hoofdklasse Men for sponsorship reasons,^[1] is the men's top division of field hockey in the Netherlands. The league ranks first in the European league ranking table.^[2] The league was established in 1973, and before the league existed the champions of the several district played in a championship pool to determine the national champion.

Hoofdklasse

Current season, competition or edition: 2024–25 Men's Hoofdklasse Hockey
Sport	Field hockey
Founded	1973; 52 years ago (1973)
First season	1973–74
Administrator	KNHB
No. of teams	12
Country	Netherlands
Confederation	EHF (Europe)
Most recent champion(s)	Amsterdam (22nd title) (2024–25)
Most titles	Amsterdam, Bloemendaal (22 each)
Broadcaster(s)	Viaplay NOS
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Promotieklasse
Domestic cup(s)	Gold Cup
International cup(s)	Euro Hockey League

Amsterdam are the current champions, having won the 2024–25 season by defeating Kampong in the championship final. Amsterdam and Bloemendaal have the most titles with 22 each.

Format

The season starts in August or September each year and is interrupted by the indoor hockey season from November to February. The outdoor season resumes from March. The league is played by twelve teams who play each other twice, competing for four spots in the championship play-offs. The number one and four and the number two and three play each other in the semi-finals and the winners qualify for the final where the winner will be crowned champion. Each semi-final and the final consist of two-leg matches, with the winner determined by the highest aggregate score over both home and away games. The last placed team is relegated to the second division, the Promotieklasse.^[3] The eleventh-placed team plays in a relegation play-off against the runners-up of the Promotieklasse and the tenth-placed team plays a relegation play-off against the third-placed from the Promotieklasse.^[3] The winners of these matches will play the next season in the Hoofdklasse.^[3]

Teams

Bloemendaal

Amsterdamse Bos

Klein Zwitserland

Rotterdam

Kampong

SCHC

Den Bosch

HDM

Oranje-Rood

Nijmegen

Amsterdamse Bos teams
 Amsterdam
 Hurley
 Pinoké

2024–25 Men's Hoofdklasse teams

Accommodation and locations

Team	Location	Province	Accommodation
Amsterdam	Amstelveen	North Holland	Wagener Stadium
Bloemendaal	Bloemendaal	North Holland	Sportpark 't Kopje
Den Bosch	's-Hertogenbosch	North Brabant	Sportpark Oosterplas
HDM	The Hague	South Holland	Sportpark Duinzigt
Hurley	Amstelveen	North Holland	Amsterdamse Bos
Kampong	Utrecht	Utrecht	De Klapperboom
Klein Zwitserland	The Hague	South Holland	Sportpark Klein Zwitserland
Nijmegen	Nijmegen	Gelderland	Radboud Sportcentrum
Oranje-Rood	Eindhoven	North Brabant	Sportpark Aalsterweg
Pinoké	Amstelveen	North Holland	Amsterdamse Bos
Rotterdam	Rotterdam	South Holland	Hazelaarweg Stadion
SCHC	Bilthoven	Utrecht	Sportpark Kees Broekelaan

List of champions

National champions (1897–1973)

No. Season Champions Runners-up 1 1898–99 Haagsche HBC (1) Haarlemsche HBC (1) 2 1899–1900 Haarlemsche HBC (1) Haagsche HBC (1) 3 1900–01 Haagsche HBC (2) Haarlemsche HBC (2) – 1901–02 Not held 4 1902–03 Haarlemsche HBC (2) HMHC (1) 5 1903–04 HMHC (1) Haarlemsche HBC (3) 6 1904–05 Haarlemsche HBC (3) HMHC (2) 7 1905–06 HMHC (2) Amsterdam (1) 8 1906–07 HVV (1) Amsterdam (2) 9 1907–08 ODIS (1) HHV (1) 10 1908–09 HVV (2) Amsterdam (3) 11 1909–10 De Musschen (1) HHV (2) 12 1910–11 De Musschen (2) HHV (3) 13 1911–12 De Musschen (3) TOGO (1) 14 1912–13 TOGO (1) De Musschen (1) 15 1913–14 TOGO (2) Hilversum (1) – 1914–15 Not held 16 1915–16 TOGO (3) HOC (1) 17 1916–17 TOGO (4) Amsterdam (4) 18 1917–18 TOGO (5) Bloemendaal (1) 19 1918–19 Bloemendaal (1) HDM (1) 20 1919–20 Bloemendaal (2) HOC (2) 21 1920–21 Bloemendaal (3) TOGO (2) 22 1921–22 Bloemendaal (4) Bloemendaal (2) 23 1922–23 Bloemendaal (5) HDM (2)

No. Season Champions Runners-up 24 1923–24 HDM (1) Bloemendaal (3) 25 1924–25 Amsterdam (1) Bloemendaal (4) 26 1925–26 Amsterdam (2) Deventer (1) 27 1926–27 Amsterdam (3) Deventer (2) 28 1927–28 Amsterdam (4) Deventer (3) 29 1928–29 Amsterdam (5) Deventer (4) 30 1929–30 HDM (2) Deventer (5) 31 1930–31 HDM (3) Deventer (6) 32 1931–32 Amsterdam (6) PW (1) 33 1932–33 Amsterdam (7) Deventer (7) 34 1933–34 Amsterdam (8) PW (2) 35 1934–35 HDM (4) Breda (1) 36 1935–36 HDM (5) PW (3) 37 1936–37 Amsterdam (9) Breda (2) 38 1937–38 BMHC (1) Breda (3) 39 1938–39 Venlo (1) Gooi (1) – 1939–40 Not held 40 1940–41 HDM (6) Venlo (1) 41 1941–42 HDM (7) & Venlo (2) — 42 1942–43 Venlo (3) HDM (3) 43 1943–44 Hilversum (1) PW (4) – 1944–45 Not held 44 1945–46 Venlo (4) HDM (4) – 1946–47 Not held 45 1947–48 HHIJC (1) Venlo (2)

No. Season Champions Runners-up 46 1948–49 HHIJC (2) Venlo (3) 47 1949–50 Venlo (5) HHIJC (1) 48 1950–51 HHIJC (3) Venlo (4) 49 1951–52 HHIJC (4) Venlo (5) 50 1952–53 Venlo (6) HHIJC (2) 51 1953–54 TOGO (6) Venlo (6) 52 1954–55 Venlo (7) HHIJC (3) 53 1955–56 Laren (1) DKS (1) 54 1956–57 TOGO (7) HTCC (1) 55 1957–58 DSHC (1) Venlo (7) 56 1958–59 SCHC (1) Venlo (8) 57 1959–60 Tilburg (1) Laren (1) 58 1960–61 Laren (2) Venlo (9) 59 1961–62 Amsterdam (10) EMHC (1) – 1962–63 Not held 60 1963–64 Amsterdam (11) PW (5) 61 1964–65 Amsterdam (12) HTCC (2) 62 1965–66 Amsterdam (13) Hattem (1) 63 1966–67 Venlo (8) Kampong (1) 64 1967–68 Kampong (1) HTCC (3) 65 1968–69 Laren (3) Venlo (10) 66 1969–70 Tilburg (2) HTCC (4) 67 1970–71 HTCC (1) HGC (1) 68 1971–72 Kampong (2) HHIJC (4) 69 1972–73 Kampong (3) HTCC (5)

Hoofdklasse era (1973–present)

Season	Champions[4]	Runners-up	Top goalscorer (Club)	Goals
1973–74	Kampong (4)	Amsterdam (5)	Paul Litjens (Kampong) Patty Mundt (Hattem)	20
1974–75	Amsterdam (14)	Klein Zwitserland (1)	Paul Litjens (Kampong)	28
1975–76	Kampong (5)	Klein Zwitserland (1)	Paul Litjens (Kampong)	28
1976–77	Klein Zwitserland (1)	Kampong (2)	Paul Litjens (Kampong)	18
1977–78	Klein Zwitserland (2)	HGC (2)	Paul Litjens (Kampong)	26
1978–79	Klein Zwitserland (3)	HGC (3)	Paul Litjens (Kampong)	24
1979–80	Klein Zwitserland (4)	Kampong (3)	Paul Litjens (Kampong)	38
1980–81	Klein Zwitserland (5)	HGC (4)	Ties Kruize (Klein Zwitserland)	57
1981–82	Klein Zwitserland (6)	Kampong (4)	Ties Kruize (Klein Zwitserland)	42
1982–83	Klein Zwitserland (7)	Amsterdam (6)	Ties Kruize (Klein Zwitserland) Hidde Kruize (Klein Zwitserland)	26
1983–84	Klein Zwitserland (8)	Amsterdam (7)	Maarten van Grimbergen (Klein Zwitserland)	25
1984–85	Kampong (6)	Bloemendaal (5)	Rick Volkers (Kampong)	21
1985–86	Bloemendaal (6)	Kampong (5)	Patrick Faber (Amsterdam)	25
1986–87	Bloemendaal (7)	HGC (5)	Floris Jan Bovelander (Bloemendaal)	27
1987–88	Bloemendaal (8)	HGC (6)	Floris Jan Bovelander (Bloemendaal)	25
1988–89	Bloemendaal (9)	Amsterdam (8)	Floris Jan Bovelander (Bloemendaal)	36
1989–90	HGC (1)	Kampong (6)	Floris Jan Bovelander (Bloemendaal)	24
1990–91	Bloemendaal (10)	HGC (7)	Floris Jan Bovelander (Bloemendaal)	32
1991–92	HDM (8)	Bloemendaal (6)	Gijs Weterings (HGC)	28
1992–93	Bloemendaal (11)	HGC (8)	Taco van den Honert (Amsterdam)	27
1993–94	Amsterdam (15)	Bloemendaal (7)	Floris Jan Bovelander (Bloemendaal)	28
1994–95	Amsterdam (16)	HDM (5)	Taco van den Honert (Amsterdam)	42
1995–96	HGC (2)	Bloemendaal (8)	Bram Lomans (HGC)	26
1996–97	Amsterdam (17)	Den Bosch (1)	Bram Lomans (HGC)	33
1997–98	Den Bosch (1)	Amsterdam (9)	Bram Lomans (HGC) Piet-Hein Geeris (Den Bosch) Richard de Snaijer (HDM)	29
1998–99	Bloemendaal (12)	Oranje Zwart (1)	Bram Lomans (HGC)	29
1999–2000	Bloemendaal (13)	Den Bosch (2)	Paul Robert Lankhout (Kampong)	31
2000–01	Den Bosch (2)	Oranje Zwart (2)	Teun de Nooijer (Bloemendaal)	24
2001–02	Bloemendaal (14)	Amsterdam (10)	Sander Dreesmann (Klein Zwitserland)	24
2002–03	Amsterdam (18)	Oranje Zwart (3)	Taeke Taekema (Klein Zwitserland)	33
2003–04	Amsterdam (19)	Bloemendaal (9)	David Mathews (Amsterdam)	34
2004–05	Oranje Zwart (1)	Bloemendaal (10)	Roderick Weusthof (SCHC)	27
2005–06	Bloemendaal (15)	Amsterdam (11)	Roderick Weusthof (SCHC)	34
2006–07	Bloemendaal (16)	HGC (9)	Christopher Zeller (Bloemendaal)	47
2007–08	Bloemendaal (17)	Amsterdam (12)	Taeke Taekema (Amsterdam)	43
2008–09	Bloemendaal (18)	Amsterdam (13)	Roderick Weusthof (SCHC)	34
2009–10	Bloemendaal (19)	HGC (10)	Ashley Jackson (HGC)	29
2010–11	Amsterdam (20)	Bloemendaal (11)	Taeke Taekema (Amsterdam)	27
2011–12	Amsterdam (21)	Rotterdam (1)	Roderick Weusthof (Rotterdam)	34
2012–13	Rotterdam (1)	Oranje Zwart (4)	Jeroen Hertzberger (Rotterdam)	26
2013–14	Oranje Zwart (2)	Bloemendaal (12)	Mink van der Weerden (Oranje Zwart)	36
2014–15	Oranje Zwart (3)	Kampong (7)	Justin Reid-Ross (Amsterdam)	34
2015–16	Oranje Zwart (4)	Amsterdam (14)	Gonzalo Peillat (HGC)	33
2016–17	Kampong (7)	Rotterdam (2)	Jeroen Hertzberger (Rotterdam)	28
2017–18	Kampong (8)	Amsterdam (15)	Jeroen Hertzberger (Rotterdam)	28
2018–19	Bloemendaal (20)	Kampong (8)	Jeroen Hertzberger (Rotterdam)	23
2019–20	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.[5]		Tim Swaen (Bloemendaal)	18
2020–21	Bloemendaal (21)	Kampong (9)	Alexander Hendrickx (Pinoké)	21
2021–22	Bloemendaal (22)	Pinoké (1)	Alexander Hendrickx (Pinoké)	25
2022–23	Pinoké (1)	Bloemendaal (13)	Jeroen Hertzberger (Rotterdam)	32
2023–24	Kampong (9)	Rotterdam (3)	Jip Janssen (Kampong)	24
2024–25	Amsterdam (22)	Kampong (10)	Timo Boers (Den Bosch)	28

Champions

By club

Club	Championships	Runners-up	Seasons won
Amsterdam	22	15	1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1936–37, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1974–75, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2024–25
Bloemendaal		13	1918–19, 1919–20, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22
Kampong	9	10	1967–68, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1984–85, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2023-24
Venlo	8	10	1938–39, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1945–46, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1966–67
HDM		5	1923–24, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1991–92
Klein Zwitserland		2	1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84
TOGO	7	2	1912–13, 1913–14, 1915–16, 1916–17, 1917–18, 1953–54, 1956–57
Oranje Zwart	4	4	2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16
HHIJC		4	1947–48, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52
Haarlemsche HBC	3	3	1899–1900, 1902–03, 1904–05
Laren		1	1955–56, 1960–61, 1968–69
De Musschen		1	1909–10, 1910–11, 1911–12
HGC	2	10	1989–90, 1995–96
HHV		3	1906–07, 1908–09
Den Bosch		2	1997–98, 2000–01
HMHC		2	1903–04, 1905–06
Haagsche HBC		1	1898–99, 1900–01
Tilburg		0	1959–60, 1969–70
HTCC	1	5	1970–71
Rotterdam		3	2012–13
Hilversum		1	1943–44
Pinoké		1	2022–23
SCHC		0	1958–59
DSHC		0	1957–58
BMHC		0	1937–38
ODIS		0	1907–08
Deventer	0	7
PW		5
Breda		3
HOC		2
DKS		1
EMHC		1
Gooi		1
Hattem		1

By province

Province	Championships	Runners-up	Winning clubs
North Holland	56	37	Bloemendaal (22), Amsterdam (22), Haarlemsche HBC (3), Laren (3), De Musschen (3), Hilversum (1), Pinoké (1), BMHC (1)
South Holland	38	34	HDM (8), Klein Zwitserland (8), TOGO (7), HHIJC (4), HGC (2), HHV (2), HMHC (2), Haagsche HBC (2), Rotterdam (1), DSHC (1), ODIS (1)
Utrecht	10	10	Kampong (9), SCHC (1)
North Brabant	9	15	Oranje Zwart (4), Den Bosch (2), Tilburg (2), HTCC (1)
Limburg	8	10	Venlo (8)
Overijssel	0	13
Gelderland		1

Media coverage

Since 2015, almost every Sunday, one match from either the men's or the women's league is broadcast live by either Ziggo Sport or the NOS.^[6]

The 2025 finals were streamed live on the Tulp Hoofdklasse YouTube channel.

See also

• Women's Hoofdklasse Hockey