The 2023–24 Tweede Divisie, known as Betnation Divisie for sponsorship reasons, season is the eighth edition of the Dutch third tier since ending its hiatus since the 1970–71 season and the 23rd edition using the Tweede Divisie name.
On 2 October 2017, representatives of amateur and professional football reached an agreement during the extraordinary general meeting of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) regarding the path to renewal of the football pyramid.
During the extraordinary general meeting of 7 June 2018, an agreement was reached on the number of allowed reserve teams (belofteteams) in each division. For the Tweede Divisie, there are two. It was also decided that only two reserve teams would compete in the Tweede Divisie, with the remaining reserve teams participating in the new Under 21 Eredivisie. This is accompanied by its own relegation system.
After two extensions of the non-existent promotion/relegation system (due to Tweede Divisie clubs not having the economic capacity to compete in a fully professional league) in 2022, a decision was made to suspend the mandatory promotion/relegation system between the Eerste Divisie and Tweede Divisie for the next five to ten seasons for standard teams. The suspension does not apply to reserve teams. During the general meeting on 24 June 2022, it was announced that a proposal would be put forth for an admission arrangement to the Eerste Divisie.
Overview before the season The league distinguishes between first team (standard team) of a football club and second team, also known as a reserve team or reserve squad (teams starting with "Jong"). For this season, there are two reserve teams playing in the Tweede Divisie, namely Jong Sparta and Jong Almere City FC.
For promotion, the following applies:
If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Eerste Divisie finishes in 19th or 20th place, a reserve team will be promoted directly from the Tweede Divisie if it finishes in first or second place. If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Eerste Divisie finishes between 11th and 18th place, and a reserve team becomes the champion of the Tweede Divisie, a play-off match will take place for one spot in the Eerste Divisie. If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Eerste Divisie finishes in the top ten, there will be no promotion or relegation between the Eerste Divisie and Tweede Divisie.
For relegation, the following applies:
The two standard teams that, based solely on the first teams, finish in 14th and 15th place, will play a relegation playoff with the period champions of the Derde Divisie for one spot in the1 Tweede Divisie. The standard team that finishes 16th, based solely on the first teams, will be relegated to the Derde Divisie. If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Tweede Divisie finishes in 17th or 18th place, it will be directly relegated to the Under 21 competition. If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Tweede Divisie finishes between 10th and 16th place, it will play a playoff match against the champion of the Under 21 competition for one spot in the Tweede Divisie. If the lowest-ranked reserve team in the Tweede Divisie finishes in the top nine, there will be no promotion or relegation between the Tweede Divisie and the Under 21 competition.
Teams
Team changes Promoted from2022–23 Derde Divisie Promoted from2022–23 Division 1 U21 Relegated to2023-24 Derde Divisie Relegated to2023–24 Division 1 U21 Withdrawn ACVADO '20GVVV Jong Almere City IJsselmeervogelsTEC Jong Volendam OFC
Club Location Venue Capacity ACV Assen Univé Sportpark 3,000 ADO '20 Heemskerk Sportpark de Vlotter 6,000 AFC Amsterdam Sportpark Goed Genoeg 3,000 Excelsior Maassluis Maassluis Sportpark Dijkpolder 5,000 GVVV Veenendaal Sportpark Panhuis 4,500 HHC Hardenberg Sportpark De Boshoek 4,500 Koninklijke HFC Haarlem Sportpark Spanjaardslaan 1,500 Jong Almere City Almere Yanmar Stadion 4,501 Jong Sparta Rotterdam Het Kasteel 11,000 Katwijk Katwijk Sportpark De Krom 6,000 Kozakken Boys Werkendam Sportpark De Zwaaier 3,000 Lisse Lisse Sportpark Ter Specke 7,000 Noordwijk Noordwijk Sportpark Duin Wetering 3,500 Quick Boys Katwijk aan Zee Sportpark Nieuw Zuid 8,100 Rijnsburgse Boys Rijnsburg Sportpark Middelmors 6,100 Scheveningen Scheveningen Sportpark Houtrust 3,500 Spakenburg Spakenburg Sportpark De Westmaat 8,500 De Treffers Groesbeek Sportpark Zuid 4,000
Number of teams by province Number of teams Province Team(s)8Excelsior Maassluis, Jong Sparta, Katwijk, Lisse, Noordwijk, Quick Boys, Rijnsburgse Boys, Scheveningen3ADO '20, AFC, Koninklijke HFC2GVVV, Spakenburg1ACVJong Almere CityDe TreffersKozakken BoysHHC
Standings
Fixtures and results
Play-offs
Statistics
Top scorers Flashscore RankPlayerClubGoals1 Ahmed El AzzoutiSpakenburg252 Rob van der LeijHHC Hardenberg223 Nick BroekhuizenQuick Boys174 Mukhtar SuleimanSpakenburg165 Sem van DuijnQuick Boys15 Fughill ZeldenrustRijnsburgse Boys Tijmen WildeboerJong Almere City Ilias LatifGVVV9 Tim WaterinkDe Treffers14 Milan ZonneveldADO '20
References