2006–07 Eredivisie

The 2006–07 Eredivisie season began on August 18, 2006. The season saw PSV Eindhoven quickly building a gap with the other teams. After 20 matches, the club was 11 points ahead of AZ and 12 points ahead of Ajax. The lead quickly dissipated in the 13 matches that followed. A draw of PSV at FC Utrecht in the penultimate round saw AZ and Ajax catching up. The three clubs were all on 72 points from 33 matches, with the AZ on top due to goal difference. Ajax were second, PSV were third. AZ suffered a shock defeat at league minnows Excelsior Rotterdam in the final round, playing with 10 men after 15 minutes in the game. Ajax won 0–2 against Willem II, and PSV beat Vitesse 5–1. PSV and Ajax both finished on 75 points, but PSV finished first due to a better goal difference (+50, against +49 for Ajax) to end one of the most exciting and closest title races in many years.

Eredivisie

Season	2006–07
Dates	18 August 2006 – 29 April 2007
Champions	PSV (20th title)
Promoted	Excelsior
Relegated	Den Haag RKC Waalwijk
Champions League	PSV Ajax
UEFA Cup	FC Groningen AZ SC Heerenveen FC Twente
Intertoto Cup	Utrecht
Top goalscorer	Afonso Alves (34 goals)
Biggest home win	AZ 8–1 NAC (2006-10-07)
Biggest away win	PSV 1–5 Ajax (2006-08-19)
Highest scoring	AZ 8–1 NAC (2006-10-07)
Average attendance	18,078
← 2005–06 2007–08 →

Promoted team

This team was promoted from the Eerste Divisie at the start of the season:

• Excelsior (Eerste Divisie champions)

Relegated teams

The following teams were relegated to the Eerste Divisie at the end of the season:

• ADO Den Haag
• RKC Waalwijk

Promoted teams

The following teams were promoted from the Eerste Divisie at the end of the season:

• De Graafschap
• VVV-Venlo

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	PSV (C)	34	23	6	5	75	25	+50	75	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Ajax	34	23	6	5	84	35	+49	75	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round playoff
3	AZ	34	21	9	4	83	31	+52	72
4	Twente	34	19	9	6	67	37	+30	66
5	Heerenveen	34	16	7	11	60	43	+17	55
6	Roda JC	34	15	9	10	47	36	+11	54	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round playoff
7	Feyenoord	34	15	8	11	56	66	−10	53
8	Groningen	34	15	6	13	54	54	0	51
9	Utrecht	34	13	9	12	41	44	−3	48
10	NEC	34	12	8	14	36	44	−8	44	Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round playoff
11	NAC Breda	34	12	7	15	43	54	−11	43
12	Vitesse Arnhem	34	10	8	16	50	55	−5	38
13	Sparta Rotterdam	34	10	7	17	40	66	−26	37
14	Heracles Almelo	34	7	11	16	32	64	−32	32
15	Willem II	34	8	7	19	31	64	−33	31
16	Excelsior	34	8	6	20	43	65	−22	30	Qualification to relegation play-offs
17	RKC Waalwijk (R)	34	6	9	19	33	60	−27	27
18	ADO Den Haag (R)	34	3	8	23	40	72	−32	17	Relegation to Eerste Divisie

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ADO	AJX	AZ	EXC	FEY	GRO	HEE	HER	NAC	NEC	PSV	RKC	RJC	SPA	TWE	UTR	VIT	WIL
ADO Den Haag		1–2	1–3	2–2	3–3	1–3^[a]	2–3	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–4	1–2	1–1	0–3^[b]	2–1
Ajax	2–0		2–2	2–2	4–1	3–2	0–1	3–0	2–0	2–0	0–1	5–0	2–0	5–2	1–1	2–0	3–0	6–0
AZ	2–2	1–1		5–0	0–0	2–0	3–1	5–0	8–1	0–0	1–3	2–0	2–2	3–0	2–2	5–1	1–0	2–0
Excelsior	3–1	1–3	3–2		1–3	0–2	3–1	6–1	0–2	1–1	0–0	0–3	0–1	3–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	3–2
Feyenoord	3–1	0–4	3–2	1–0		0–4	4–3	0–0	3–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	4–3	3–2	2–1	2–0	2–1	0–0
FC Groningen	2–5	2–3	1–1	2–1	3–0		1–1	2–1	3–1	4–1	0–2	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	4–3	4–1
SC Heerenveen	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–0	5–1	4–2		5–1	4–2	3–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	5–0
Heracles Almelo	4–3	0–3	0–0	3–2	4–1	0–1	1–0		2–0	0–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–0	3–0	2–2	2–2
NAC Breda	2–2	1–2	1–4	2–1	4–1	0–0	1–1	1–1		0–2	1–1	2–1	0–2	3–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–0
NEC	3–2	2–2	0–2	0–1	4–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–1		2–1	1–0	0–0	1–2	0–3	2–0	1–0	1–2
PSV	2–1	1–5	2–3	4–0	2–1	1–0	3–1	3–0	3–0	3–1		2–0	4–1	7–0	2–0	5–0	5–1	4–0
RKC Waalwijk	1–0	2–2	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–1	0–1	0–3		3–2	2–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	1–1
Roda JC	1–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–2	0–1	1–0	7–0	3–2	1–0	2–0	1–1		2–1	2–0	0–0	2–4	2–1
Sparta Rotterdam	2–1	3–0	0–2	2–1	1–4	0–1	2–2	0–0	0–3	0–4	1–1	1–0	2–2		3–0	1–1	1–2	1–0
FC Twente	3–1	1–4	3–0	4–1	3–0	7–1	5–1	1–1	2–1	4–0	1–0	4–3	2–2	2–0		3–0	2–0	0–0
FC Utrecht	2–0	2–3	0–4	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	1–1	5–0	2–0	2–2	0–0		2–0	3–0
Vitesse	2–2	4–2	1–3	2–3	0–1	3–2	1–3	4–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	3–1	0–0	3–0	1–1	4–2		1–0
Willem II	2–1	0–2	0–4	2–1	3–5	3–0	1–3	2–0	0–2	1–0	1–3	3–1	0–1	0–0	1–3	2–1	0–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. The match was suspended for crowd trouble 4 minutes into the second half, while FC Groningen were leading 0-3. The remaining minutes were played three days later.
2. The match was suspended after 63 minutes, after ADO supporters had invaded the pitch. The Royal Dutch Football Association decided ten days later that the game would not be finished, making the score at the time of the suspension the final score.

Play-offs

For UEFA competitions

For one Champions League ticket and three UEFA Cup tickets

	Matches A and B					Match E
	5	SC Heerenveen	1
	2	Ajax	4
						A	Ajax	4
						B	AZ	2
	4	FC Twente	1
	3	AZ	3

Ajax have qualified for 2007–08 UEFA Champions League. AZ, FC Twente and Heerenveen have qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup.

For one UEFA Cup ticket and possibly one Intertoto Cup ticket

	Matches C and D					Match G
	9	FC Utrecht (advances on away goals)	1
	6	Roda JC	1
						C	FC Utrecht	1
						D	FC Groningen	4
	8	FC Groningen	3
	7	Feyenoord	2

FC Groningen have qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. FC Utrecht faced Vitesse (the team winning match J) for one ticket to the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007.

For possibly one Intertoto Cup ticket

	Matches H and I					Match J
	13	Sparta Rotterdam	2
	10	NEC	3
						H	NEC	0
						I	Vitesse	3
	12	Vitesse	4
	11	NAC Breda	2

Vitesse faced FC Utrecht (the team losing match G) for one ticket to the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007.

For the Intertoto Cup ticket

	Match K
	G	FC Utrecht	2 (a)
	J	Vitesse	2

FC Utrecht have qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007.

Relegation playoffs

Round 1

Team #1	Aggregate	Team #2	Match 1	Match 2	Match 3
FC Zwolle	1-2	FC Dordrecht	0-1	1-1	Not played
BV Veendam	5-3	Go Ahead Eagles	5-1	0-2	Not played

All teams play a home and an away match, with the possibility of a third match in case of a tie. The team that has scored the most away goals in the first two legs will play the deciding third leg at home. If both teams have scored an equal number of away goals, a penalty shootout after the second leg will decide who plays at home in the third leg.

Round 2

Team #1	Aggregate	Team #2	Match 1	Match 2	Match 3
FC Dordrecht	2-5	RKC Waalwijk	2-0	0-2	0-3
FC Den Bosch	2-3	VVV-Venlo	1-2	1-0	0-1
FC Volendam	3-6	RBC Roosendaal	3-5	0-1	Not played
BV Veendam	0-4	Excelsior	0-1	0-3	Not played

All teams play a home and an away match, with the possibility of a third match in case of a tie. The team that has scored the most away goals in the first two legs will play the deciding third leg at home. If both teams have scored an equal number of away goals, a penalty shootout after the second leg will decide who plays at home in the third leg.

Round 3

Team #1	Aggregate	Team #2	Match 1	Match 2	Match 3
VVV-Venlo	5-1	RKC Waalwijk	2-0	0-1	3-0
RBC Roosendaal	1-2	Excelsior	1-1	0-1	Not played

All teams play a home and an away match, with the possibility of a third match in case of a tie. The team that has scored the most away goals in the first two legs will play the deciding third leg at home. If both teams have scored an equal number of away goals, a penalty shootout after the second leg will decide who plays at home in the third leg.
The winners of matches G and H will play in the Eredivisie 2007/2008

Top scorers

Pos.	Player	Club	Goals
1.	Afonso Alves	SC Heerenveen	34
2.	Blaise Nkufo	FC Twente	22
	Danny Koevermans	AZ	22
4.	Jefferson Farfán	PSV	21
	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	Ajax	21
6.	Danko Lazović	Vitesse	19
7.	Wesley Sneijder	Ajax	18
8.	Kennedy Bakırcıoğlu	FC Twente	15
9.	Shota Arveladze	AZ	14
10.	Erik Nevland	FC Groningen	13

Awards

Dutch Footballer of the Year

See also: Dutch Footballer of the Year

• 2006 / 2007 — Afonso Alves (SC Heerenveen)

Stadiums

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Ajax	Amsterdam ArenA	51,628
Feyenoord	Feijenoord Stadion	51,177
PSV	Philips Stadion	35,119
Vitesse	Gelredome	26,600
Heerenveen	Abe Lenstra Stadion	26,000
Utrecht	Stadion Galgenwaard	24,426
Groningen	Euroborg	19,814
Roda JC	Parkstad Limburg Stadion	19,979
AZ	DSB Stadion	17,023
NAC	Rat Verlegh Stadion	17,064
Willem II	Willem II Stadion	14,637
Twente	Arke Stadion	13,740
NEC	Stadion de Goffert	12,470
ADO	Zuiderpark Stadion	10,500
Sparta	Sparta Stadion / Het Kasteel	11,026
Heracles	Polman Stadion	8,500
RKC	Mandemakers Stadion	7,500
Excelsior	Stadion Woudestein	3,527

See also

• 2006–07 KNVB Cup
• 2006–07 Eerste Divisie

External links

• Eredivisie.nl - Official website Eredivisie (in Dutch)
• (in English and Dutch)
• Eredivisie on rsssf.com (in English)