About Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (Dutch for "Honorary Division") is the top-tier football league in the Netherlands, held annually.
League History
The Netherlands National Football Championship was officially founded in 1898. Until 1954, the championship title was determined through play-offs among a small number of clubs that had excelled in regional leagues. In 1956, Dutch football leagues officially moved toward professionalization.
The professionalized Eredivisie (commonly referred to as the "Dutch top flight") was formally established in the 1956/57 season, with Ajax F.C. claiming the first league title. In the early years of the Eredivisie, Ajax and Feyenoord emerged as the league’s two dominant clubs. Between the 1956/57 and 1973/74 seasons, they won 14 out of 18 league titles.
Starting from the 1970s, PSV Eindhoven began to rise, forming a "tripartite rivalry" in the Eredivisie.
PSV Eindhoven achieved two streaks of four consecutive Eredivisie titles: from the 1985/86 to 1988/89 seasons, and from the 2004/05 to 2007/08 seasons.
In the 2016/17 season, Feyenoord won the Eredivisie title after an 18-year drought.
The New Era
The 2019/20 season was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, the Eredivisie officials announced the immediate termination of the league, with no champion named and relegation cancelled.
In the 2023/24 Eredivisie season, PSV Eindhoven won the championship, Feyenoord finished as runners-up, while Ajax—another of the traditional "Big Three"—only ranked 5th in the league.
As of 2025, Ajax tops the Eredivisie’s all-time title list with 28 championships; PSV Eindhoven follows with 26 titles, and Feyenoord ranks 3rd with 11 titles.