Feyenoord W

Foundation

The football club Wilhelmina was founded in the pub De Vereeniging on 19 July 1908 and played in blue-sleeved red shirts and white shorts. Between 1908, 1910, 1911, and 1912, the club underwent a series of changes of name and team colours, becoming Hillesluise Football Club in 1909, and then RVV Celeritas. Upon earning promotion to the National football association in 1912, the club renamed to SC Feijenoord (after the city district in which the team was founded), and changed uniform once again, adopting the red and white shirts, black shorts and black socks that they still wear today. In 1917, Feijenoord were promoted to the highest level of Dutch football and moved to the ground Kromme Zandweg.

First successes

After 16 years the formation of the club, and a mere three years after they were promoted for the second time to the highest level of Dutch football, Feijenoord earned their first honours by capturing the national league championship in 1924. The team enjoyed a string of successes in the latter half of the decade, taking divisional titles in 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1929, and winning their second national championship in 1928.

Feijenoord won their first Dutch Cup in 1930 by scoring the only goal in a derby final against Excelsior. They continued to dominate their division with three consecutive titles, but were winless in subsequent championship finals. Five years after their first cup win, Feijenoord took the prize for a second time in 1935, by beating HVV Helmond.

Feijenoord started to attract more fans to their stadium at Kromme Zandweg, and in 1933, they decided to build a new facility. The club moved to the Feijenoord Stadion (nicknamed "De Kuip" or "the Tub") in 1937, playing the first match there on 27 March against Beerschot. During this period Feijenoord won three consecutive division titles from 1936 to 1938, with their third and fourth national championships coming in 1936 and 1938.

During World War II, Feijenoord played their matches at Sparta Rotterdam's Kasteel, as the Nazis had occupied De Kuip. When Het Kasteel was unavailable due to clashes with Sparta fixtures, Feijenoord played at their former ground, the Kromme Zandweg.

Feijenoord again won a division title with a national championship in 1940, their fifth Dutch title. During the German occupation of the Netherlands, play continued in Dutch football leagues, though the 1945 championship was cancelled as the war came to its conclusion. During this period, Feijenoord's only trophy was a divisional championship in 1943. After the war, Feijenoord did not perform as well as they had in previous decades, not seriously challenging in their division and so missing the national playoff rounds.

On 30 June 1954, the chairmen of the three biggest Rotterdam teams organised a meeting in Utrecht, which was attended by several chairmen of other clubs and a delegation of the KNVB to discuss the start of professional football in the Netherlands. The professional era commenced with the first Eredivisie season in 1954/1955. Feijenoord were one of the clubs participating in the inaugural Eredivisie and have never been relegated. One of the most memorable matches in these first years of professional football was the clash between Feijenoord and the Volewijckers at 2 April 1956, which Feijenoord won 11–4, with nine goals by Henk Schouten. Feijenoord would grow an intense rivalry with Ajax. Matches between the two clubs quickly were dubbed as de Klassieker ("The Classic"). The first memorable Klassieker from a Feijenoord point of view took place at 11 November 1956, when Daan den Bleijker scored four times to give Feijenoord a 7–3 win over their archrivals.

Golden era

Feijenoord claimed their first professional Eredivisie Championship and their sixth Dutch Championship in 1961. On the road to the title Ajax was beaten 9–5 in De Kuip, four of Feijenoord's goals were scored by Henk Schouten. The following season, they played their first European Cup match facing IFK Göteborg. The Swedes were beaten 0–3 in Gothenburg and 8–2 in Rotterdam. Feijenoord were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur in the following round. In 1962, Feijenoord successfully defended their Dutch Championship title and reached the final of the Intertoto Cup 1961–62. where Feijenoord faced arch-rival Ajax in the final and subsequently lost 4–2.