Amsterdamsche Football Club Door Wilskracht Sterk (English: Amsterdam Football Club Strong Through Willpower), also referred to as AFC DWS, Door Wilskracht Sterk or simply DWS, is a
Dutch football club from
Amsterdam, currently competing in the
Tweede Klasse (English: Second Class), the fifth tier of
amateur football in the
Netherlands.[1]
History
AFC DWS was founded on 11 October 1907, by the trio of Robert Beijerbacht, Theo Beijerbacht and Jan van Galen under the name of Fortuna which was soon changed to Hercules.[2] The team played in a blue and white striped shirt and white shorts. On 22 March 1909 the name was changed to DWS and the shirt colours became blue and black vertical stripes.[3]
In 1954 the club entered professional football, playing its home matches in the
Olympic Stadium in
Amsterdam. It merged in 1958 with BVC Amsterdam into DWS/A. That name was dropped again in 1962 and turned back into DWS.
DWS became champions of the
Eredivisie in 1964, the same year they were promoted from the
Eerste Divisie, which is a feat that has never been repeated.[4][5] DWS then reached the quarter-finals of the
1964–65 European Cup, in the next season. Their 1964 triumph is the most recent occasion of a club without a predominantly red and white home strip (unlike recent contenders Ajax, AZ, Feyenoord, PSV and Twente) winning the Eredivisie title, a drought of 55 years.
In 1972 the club merged with
Blauw-Wit Amsterdam and
Volewijckers to form
FC Amsterdam. DWS continued as an amateur club, which still exists. They celebrated their 100-year Jubilee in 2007.[6]
Amsterdamsche Football Club Door Wilskracht Sterk (English: Amsterdam Football Club Strong Through Willpower), also referred to as AFC DWS, Door Wilskracht Sterk or simply DWS, is a
Dutch football club from
Amsterdam, currently competing in the
Tweede Klasse (English: Second Class), the fifth tier of
amateur football in the
Netherlands.[1]
History
AFC DWS was founded on 11 October 1907, by the trio of Robert Beijerbacht, Theo Beijerbacht and Jan van Galen under the name of Fortuna which was soon changed to Hercules.[2] The team played in a blue and white striped shirt and white shorts. On 22 March 1909 the name was changed to DWS and the shirt colours became blue and black vertical stripes.[3]
In 1954 the club entered professional football, playing its home matches in the
Olympic Stadium in
Amsterdam. It merged in 1958 with BVC Amsterdam into DWS/A. That name was dropped again in 1962 and turned back into DWS.
DWS became champions of the
Eredivisie in 1964, the same year they were promoted from the
Eerste Divisie, which is a feat that has never been repeated.[4][5] DWS then reached the quarter-finals of the
1964–65 European Cup, in the next season. Their 1964 triumph is the most recent occasion of a club without a predominantly red and white home strip (unlike recent contenders Ajax, AZ, Feyenoord, PSV and Twente) winning the Eredivisie title, a drought of 55 years.
In 1972 the club merged with
Blauw-Wit Amsterdam and
Volewijckers to form
FC Amsterdam. DWS continued as an amateur club, which still exists. They celebrated their 100-year Jubilee in 2007.[6]