KNVB District Cup

The KNVB District Cup (Dutch: Districtsbeker) is a cup competition for amateur football clubs in the Netherlands. The competition is held in each of the six districts of the Royal Dutch Football Association. The winners of the six cup competitions contest the KNVB Amateur Cup.

Competition format

The competition starts each year in late August with a group stage. Depedent on the district and the tier of the teams in a group, the group winners and sometimes the group runners-up qualify for the knock-out stage. From the knock-out stage, teams can get a bye if they are left over after the draw is made. If needed, an intermediate round will be played to narrow the number of teams down to 16 before the round of 16 is played.

From the 2016-17 season, the teams of the Topklasse will no longer participate in the District Cup.

Qualification for the KNVB Cup

All the semi-finalists of all the district cups (24 in total) qualify for the KNVB Cup of the next season. If a team qualify for the Cup in multiple ways (like winning the promotion/relegation play-offs of the Topklasse and reaching the semi-finals of the District Cup) a lucky loser is determined by:

Tie-breakers
All the match points of the teams, obtained from the knock-out stage (three for a win and one for a win after a penalty shoot-out) up. If a team had a bye in one round, the round will not count for the other teams. Goal difference. Goals ahead. Drawing of lots.

History

The cup competition, which started in the 1959-1960 season, initially saw a separation between Saturday clubs and Sunday clubs, who played in separate cup competitions. This separation was abolished in 1980; Saturday clubs and Sunday clubs from one district now play for the one cup of that district.

The reserve teams of professional football clubs played in the District Cup competitions until 1997, when the KNVB Reserve Cup was established.

In order to minimize the number of match days, between 2003 and 2006 the final eight teams in the district cups were divided into two groups. They played each other in group matches of 2 halves of 20 minutes, with all group matches played on the same day. The winners of the two groups qualified for the final.

Recent winners

Year	North	East	West I	West II	South I	South II
2001-02	Joure	De Bataven	FC Hilversum	TONEGIDO	Geldrop	EVV
2002-03	Genemuiden	VVOG	IJsselmeervogels	TONEGIDO	UNA	VV Eijsden
2003-04	Sneek	Bennekom	Sporting Maroc	Ter Leede	DBS	Meerssen
2004-05	Genemuiden	HSC '21	Ajax Amateurs	Excelsior Maassluis	Triborgh	Gemert
2005-06	Harkemase Boys	WHC	GVVV	Rijnsburgse Boys	ASWH	EVV
2006-07	Harkemase Boys	Bennekom	Türkiyemspor	Lisse	UNA	Meerssen
2007-08	Hoogeveen	Achilles '29	Ajax Amateurs	Rijnsburgse Boys	Unitas	Gemert
2008-09	Harkemase Boys	Go Ahead Kampen	DOVO	Barendrecht	LRC Leerdam	RKSV Groene Ster
2009-10	SWZ	HSC '21	DOVO	Voorschoten '97	Dongen	SV Deurne
2010-11	Harkemase Boys	Achilles'29	ODIN '59	FC Lisse	UNA	JVC Cuijk
2011-12	SC Genemuiden	HHC Hardenberg	FC Chabab	Leonidas	Kozakken Boys	Gemert
2012-13	Harkemase Boys	De Treffers	Argon	Capelle	HSV Hoek	SV Deurne
2013-14	ONS Sneek	VV De Bataven	IJsselmeervogels	VV Capelle	ASWH	JVC Cuijk
2014-15	Harkemase Boys	Excelsior '31	IJsselmeervogels	RKAVV	HSV Hoek	JVC Cuijk

See also

• Football in the Netherlands