Short name ADO Den Haag Chairman Ben Knüppe Owner United Vansen | Ground Capacity 15.000 Manager Željko Petrović | |
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Full name Haagsche Football ClubAlles Door OefeningDen Haag Nickname(s) The HagueDe ResidentieclubDe Ooievaars (The Storks) Founded 1 February 1905; 112 years ago (1905-02-01) Profiles | ||
Ado den haag psv 2 2 hansen backheel goal
Alles Door Oefening Den Haag ( [ˈɑləs doːr ˈufənɪŋ dɛn ˈɦaːx]), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag [ˈaːdoː dɛn ˈɦaːx], is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. The club was for a time known as FC Den Haag [ɛfˈseː dɛn ˈɦaːx], with ADO representing the amateur branch of the club. Despite being from one of the traditional three large Dutch cities, it has not been able to match AFC Ajax, Feyenoord or PSV in terms of success in the Eredivisie or in European competition. There is nonetheless a big rivalry with Ajax and Feyenoord. The words Alles Door Oefening translate into Everything Through Practice in Dutch.
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Ado den haag fc twente fc den haag 110 jaar sfeer
1905–1971: ADO
On 1 February 1905, the club Alles Door Oefening (ADO) was founded in café 'Het Hof van Berlijn' (now: De Paap) in The Hague. In the first years of its existence, the club endured some difficult times as many members refused to pay their fees and the sport of cricket was more popular in the city. ADO started out in the local Haagsche Voetbal Bond, but promoted to the national Nederlandsche Voetbal Bond in 1912. That year they promoted to the 3rd level (3e klasse NVB) and two years later they even earned the championship on that level.
After moving to the Zuiderpark stadium in 1925, ADO continued to grow to a club of some significance. In 1926, the club earned promotion to the highest national level, the 'Eerste Klasse'. In the following years the red-green-white team struggled not to be relegated at first, but rose to the top of the league at the end of the 1930s. In 1939 the club just missed the class title after losing to DWS in Amsterdam. In 1940 the title seemed very close again, but another 2nd-place finish was the highest achievable position after the club saw many players being drafted in the army with World War II closing in. This time another club from Amsterdam, Blauw-Wit, grabbed the title. In 1941, ADO finally won their class and moved on to the national champion's competition, losing that to Heracles.
In the 1941–42 season all the stars were aligned, and although the War made everyday life harder and harder, the club seemed undefeatable. After winning their league, often by many goals difference, ADO moved on to the national champion's competition and fought for the title with Heerenveen, AGOVV, Eindhoven and Blauw-Wit. A 5–2 victory over AGOVV finally brought ADO their first national title. In 1943 ADO won another title, amongst others by beating legend Abe Lenstra's Heerenveen 8–2.
The Hague had to wait until the 1960s for more successes from their local club. After Ernst Happel joined ADO as a coach in 1962, the club worked their way to the top of the league again. They finished 3rd in the final ranking in 1965. In 1963, 1964 and 1966 ADO played in the national cup final, the KNVB Beker, but lost. In 1968 they again reached the final, and this time beat Ajax to win it. In the 1970–71 season, ADO started the league with 17 games undefeated and were at the top of the national league, but ended their season as No. 3.
In 1967, ADO played a summer in North America's United Soccer Association, under the name San Francisco Golden Gate Gales. The club finished tied for second in the Western Division.
1971–1996: FC Den Haag
In 1971 the club merged with city rivals Holland Sport to form FC Den Haag.
The club again reached the Dutch Cup final in 1972 (this time losing 3–2 to Ajax) then went on to win the trophy for a second time in 1975, this team beating FC Twente 1–0. Their greatest European success was a quarter-final game against West Ham United for the European Cup Winners Cup in 1976. A 4–2 win in The Hague followed by a 3–1 defeat in London meant elimination. In the 1980s FC Den Haag was often associated with hooliganism and financial backfall. However, the reached their fourth Dutch Cup final in 1987, losing 4–2 (again to Ajax) following two extra-time winners from Marco van Basten. After another merger the club were renamed ADO Den Haag in 1996.
1996–Present: ADO Den Haag
After a long spell in the country's second tier of league football, ADO Den Haag played four seasons in the Eredivisie then were relegated again in the 2006–07 season. However, after finishing 6th in the 2007–08 season, they went on to win the play-offs, meaning promotion back to the Eredivisie for 2008–09. The club's new home was finished in 2007 and is the 15,000 seater Kyocera Stadion; formerly known as the Den Haag Stadion. Their home colors are yellow and green. They started the 2008–09 season with two wins, which put them on top of the Eredivisie for the first time in 32 years. In the season 2009–2010 the average attendance was 11,745 people.
The team enjoyed success in the 2010–2011 season. Beating rivals AFC Ajax twice was one of the highlights of the season. ADO Den Haag finished 7th in the Eredivisie and won the play-offs (beating Roda JC and FC Groningen) which offered the last Dutch Europa League place. They won the first matches against FK Tauras (3–2, 2–0) but lost the first away leg for the third qualifying round against AC Omonia Nicosia, by 3–0, in Nicosia.
ADO supporters have strong links with Welsh club Swansea City. Flags of the respective clubs are often flown at the matches of the other club, and both clubs regularly hold pre-season friendly matches. Legia Warszawa (Poland), Club Brugge (Belgium), and Juventus (Italy) also share strong supporter links with ADO Den Haag.
Rivalry with fellow Dutch teams is, however, less friendly and ADO achieved notoriety following an incident after beating Ajax on 20 March 2011. Anti-semitic songs including "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas" were sung not only by ADO supporters but also by their midfielder Lex Immers who was subsequently suspended for 5 matches.
In 2004 a domestic match between ADO Den Haag and PSV Eindhoven was abandoned after 80 minutes due to racist chanting from the crowd.
The club was in serious financial trouble in 2008, and in June 2014 its majority shareholder agreed to sell the club to Chinese-based United Vansen International Sports Company, Ltd for a reported $8.9 million. The current ownership group has "promised to invest millions of euros" into the club. UVS was founded in 2008 and was responsible for organising the Beijing Olympic closing ceremony and football curtain-raisers attracting prominent football clubs such as Juventus, A.C. Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli, Lazio, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, and Hull City.
Honours
European record
Domestic results
Below is a table with ADO Den Haag's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.
Current squad
As of 2 february 2017Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
On loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.