Country Netherlands Founded 1992 Level on pyramid 1 | Confederation UEFA Number of teams 8 | |
Relegation to Beloften Eerste Divisie | ||
The Beloften Eredivisie ( [bəˈlɔftə(n) ˈeːrədiˌvizi]; "Promised Honor Division") is the highest football league in for reserve teams in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). The league was founded in 1992 as Reserve Teams Eredivisie. Since the 2001/02 season the current name is in use and the second teams are called beloften teams.
Until the 2009/10 season the league champion, as well as the KNVB Reserve Cup winner, was awarded a ticket for the regular KNVB Cup but the reserve teams were disbanded from the KNVB Cup. A Super Cup was installed instead. There is no promotion and the team finishing at the bottom of the table is relegated to the Beloften Eerste Divisie. The competition is a stand-alone competition and is not incorporated in the Dutch professional or amateur league structure. In recent years there is a less interest in the competitions. A lot of teams merged their youth program and bring a joined team in the beloften leagues. The 2012/2013 season also saw a big change to the format: the best 3 teams of that season were allowed to promote to the eerste divisie. As a result, the reserve tams of PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and FC Twente left the Beloften Eredivisie and played in the aforementioned eerste divisie.