Utrecht

The club exists because the city hall wanted it to: on 1 July 1970, with both DOS, the 1958 national champion, and Velox sliding toward bankruptcy and relegation, the municipality pushed the two clubs together with USV Elinkwijk to keep top-flight football in Utrecht at all. Velox's own manager, Bert Jacobs, took charge of the merged side.

The championship never came. The cup did, three times over — 1985, 2003 and 2004 — which is where the nickname Cupfighters comes from, alongside Utreg, the city's name in local dialect, and De Domstedelingen, a nod to the cathedral that gives Utrecht its skyline.

Hans van Breukelen came through the club before his saves settled the 1988 European Championship final for the Netherlands; Jan Wouters, another academy product, later lifted the World Cup with the same generation. Dirk Kuyt passed through on his way to Feyenoord and Liverpool.