Excelsior

Excelsior Rotterdam, usually known simply as Excelsior, were founded on 23 July 1902 by a group of friends in the Kralingen district of Rotterdam. The club take their nickname, De Kralingers, from that neighbourhood and play in red and black. Their home, Stadion Woudestein, is named after the old country estate where the founders first played and, with a capacity of around 4,500, is one of the smallest grounds in Dutch professional football.

Excelsior have won the second-tier Eerste Divisie three times, in 1973-74, 1978-79 and 2005-06, and have spent much of their history moving between the top two divisions. They reached the KNVB Cup final in 1930, losing 1-0 to Feyenoord. Off the pitch, the club played a leading part in bringing professional football to the Netherlands in 1954, with chairman Henk Zon among those who persuaded the national association to accept it.