FC Volendam confirm Keuken Kampioen Divisie championship with win in Utrecht

FC Volendam were crowned champions of the second division of Dutch football, the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, with two games to go on Monday. The club had already confirmed their promotion to the Eredivisie a few weeks ago but they completed their seventh championship at this level with a 3-2 win away at Jong FC Utrecht.

The team’s striker, Henk Veerman, made the difference in the game with a hat trick. This brought the captain’s tally for the season to 26 goals.

Volendam climbed up to 79 points due to the win, breaking a club record for most points in a season. The Noord-Holland club also won the second division title in the 1958/59, 1960/61, 1966/67, 1969/70, 1986/87 and 2007/08 seasons.

Rick Kruys’ team had already confirmed their promotion to the Eredivisie with a win against Jong AZ on April 14. Volendam is returning to the highest level of Dutch football after a season away from it.

The fishing village had readied themselves for a huge title celebration a week ago, but Excelsior delayed the party with a 4-1 win in the Kras Stadion, FC Volendam’s home stadium.

Volendam took the lead in the Galgenwaard just after the half hour mark through Veerman. However, the home team then turned the game around to make it 2-1 before halftime after Lynden Edhart and Massien Ghaddari had scored.

Veerman led by example in the second half. First, he hit a hard shot with his left foot to make it 2-2 and the 34-year-old from Volendammer put the ball in the net with a clever overhead kick a short while later.

"It's an insane achievement," said the striker. "We would have preferred to win the title last week in our own stadium, but, unfortunately, it didn't work out. All sorts of things are going through my head now, but I'm especially happy that we've finally lifted that trophy."