Cambuur clinches promotion to the Eredivisie with 4-2 victory over Emmen

SC Cambuur will return to the Eredivisie next season. Coach Henk de Jong’s team won 4-2 at FC Emmen and, with five games remaining, has already secured promotion.

The win brings the Leeuwarden club to 73 points, 20 points clear of third-placed Willem II, who still have six games remaining. ADO Den Haag, the league leaders, had already secured promotion last week with a victory over Jong FC Utrecht.

Ichem Ferrah put Cambuur ahead in the sixth minute at De Oude Meerdijk, receiving a pass from Tonry Rölke on the right, beating two Emmen defenders, and firing a powerful shot into the goal.

15 minutes later, Fabian Kvam scored his first goal for Cambuur with a header from Tomas Galvez’s cross, and just two minutes afterward, the Norwegian doubled his tally with a low shot into the right corner.

Before halftime, Romano Postema reduced the deficit for Emmen, finishing a left-wing cross into the top right corner. In the second half, Ferrah restored Cambuur’s three-goal cushion, cutting inside and scoring once more. Freddy Quispel netted Emmen’s second goal, but in the closing minutes, coach De Jong and his players and staff were already celebrating along the sideline.

Cambuur suffered a 4-3 home defeat to Jong AZ last Friday. Had they drawn or won, and De Graafschap lost, the Leeuwarden team could have already confirmed promotion.

Cambuur last competed in the Eredivisie in the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 seasons, finishing 17th in the latter and suffering relegation.

Under coach Henk de Jong, who replaced Sjors Ultee, the club began its resurgence. After narrowly missing promotion with a third-place finish last season, Cambuur, along with already-promoted ADO Den Haag, has built such a commanding lead this year that promotion was secured well before the final stretch of the season.

This marks Cambuur’s fifth promotion to the Eredivisie, following earlier promotions in 1992, 1998, 2013, and 2021. Henk de Jong was also in charge for the last two, leading the club to the title in both 2013 and 2021. He also guided De Graafschap to promotion in 2018.

Emmen, relegated from the top division in 2023, is now competing in its third straight season in the Eerste Divisie.