The 15 most successful Dutch clubs ranked using the ARL Football Success Ranking System, plus a lowdown on the Netherlands’ top 5 clubs
ARL Football Success Ranking System
The ARL Football Success Ranking System for men’s European club football establishes which clubs are the most successful of each nation and in the whole of Europe.
It is a system of scoring points to clubs based on what trophies and how many have been won.
Different trophies score different points and are based on a ‘glory’ criteria.
Only ‘competitive football’ trophies are considered.
The Netherlands and its Eredivisie (Updated Jan, 2026)
This diminutive nation has a long and rich footballing heritage as one of Europe’s few countries to have established its national championship in the 19th Century – the same year as England’s Football League. The Dutch KNVB stubbornly maintained the amateur status of its league as late as 1956 when the professional Eredivisie was founded.
Ajax and Feyenoord‘s ferocious rivalry created the brand of ‘total football’ which the Dutch became renowned for in the 1970s when they ruled Europe from 1970-1974. The Netherlands’ football landscape has since come to be dominated by the ‘Big Three’ of Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven and AFC Ajax. Between them they have won six European crowns, to date.
Dutch Competitions
Netherlands Football League Championship / Eredivisie (1889-1944 ; 1946-)
KNVB Beker (1899-1918 ; 1920-1921 ; 1925-1928 ; 1930 ; 1932 ; 1934-1939 ; 1943-1944 ; 1948-1950 ; 1957-1959 ; 1961-2019 ; 2021-)
- Dutch football ranks 6th in the UEFA Association Coefficient for 2025-2026, making it a Tier 2 footballing nation. Clubs are therefore docked -4 Success Points per domestic competition and any domestic Super Cup competition is not counted.
- Dutch clubs have won 189 success points from international competitions.
*Scroll to the bottom for the lowdown on the Netherlands’ 5 most successful football clubs!
| Competition Key | Points |
| UEFA SC: UEFA Super Cup | 4 |
| FIFA IC: Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup / FIFA Intercontinental Cup | 6 |
| NC: National Cup (KNVB Beker) | 6 |
| UEFA ECL: UEFA Conference League | 8 |
| UEFA EL: UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League | 12 |
| UEFA CWC: UEFA Cup Winners Cup | 13 |
| C: Top Tier League Championship (KNVB Football League Championship / Eredivisie) | 14 |
| FIFA CWC: quadrennial FIFA Club World Cup | 15 |
| UEFA CL: UEFA European Cup / UEFA Champions League | 17 |
The Netherlands’ 15 Most Successful Football Clubs, Ranked
| Position | Club | Subpoints Totals | Total Points |
| 1 | AFC Ajax | UEFA SC: 3 x 4 = 12 FIFA IC: 2 x 6 = 12 NC: 20 x 6 = 120 UEFA EL: 1 x 12 = 12 UEFA CWC: 1 x 13 = 13 C: 36 x 14 = 504 CL: 4 x 17 = 68 +1 (Treble) | 742 |
| 2 | PSV Eindhoven | NC: 11 x 6 = 66 EL: 1 x 12 = 12 C: 26 x 14 = 364 CL: 1 x 17 = 17 +2 (Trebles) | 461 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | FIFA IC: 1 x 6 = 6 NC: 14 x 6 = 84 EL: 2 x 12 = 24 C: 16 x 14 = 224 CL: 1 x 17 =17 | 355 |
| 4 | HVV Den Haag | NC: 1 x 6 = 6 C: 10 x 14 = 140 | 146 |
| 5 | Sparta Rotterdam | NC: 3 x 6 = 18 C: 6 x 14 = 84 | 102 |
| 6 | AVV RAP | NC: 1 x 6 = 6 C: 5 x 14 = 70 | 76 |
| 7 | Go Ahead Eagles | NC: 1 x 6 = 6 C: 4 x 14 = 56 | 62 |
| 8 | Koninklijke HFC | NC: 3 x 6 = 18 C: 3 x 14 = 42 | 60 |
| 9 | Willem II Tilburg | NC: 2 x 6 = 12 C: 3 x 14 = 42 | 54 |
| 10 | AZ Alkmaar | NC: 4 x 6 = 24 C: 2 x 14 = 28 | 52 |
| 11 | HBS Craeyenhout | C: 3 x 14 = 42 | 42 |
| =12 | Racing Club Heemstede ADO Den Haag | NC: 2 x 6 = 12 C: 2 x 14 = 28 | 40 |
| =14 | FC Twente FC Utrecht | NC: 3 x 6 = 18 C: 1 x 14 = 14 | 32 |
5: Sparta Rotterdam
| Success Points: | 102 |
| Earliest Trophy Won: | Netherlands Football League Championship (FLC), 1909 |
| Latest Trophy Won: | KNVB Beker, 1966 |
| Most Successful Manager: | Denis Neville – 26 points (1955-1963) |
| Most Successful Decade: | 1910s – 56 points |
Founded by eight wealthy school kids in 1888, De Kasteelheren members would go on to play a massive role in the establishment of the KNVB – the Dutch national football association – and the national football team. In early editions of the national league, meanwhile, Rotterdam established themselves as the ‘nearly men’, repeatedly getting ‘close but no cigar’ in conquering the championship. Finally they reached the summit in 1909, then another four times in six years in Rotterdam’s first ‘golden era’ with players like ‘Bok’ de Korver leading the line.
Between 1955-1963, Englishman Denis Neville stood at the helm and led Sparta to their first Eredivisie title and two Dutch cups. With a 3rd Beker in ’66, Rotterdam are the 5th most successful club in the Netherlands.
4: HVV Den Haag
| Success Points: | 146 |
| Earliest Trophy Won: | FLC, 1891 |
| Latest Trophy Won: | FLC, 1914 |
| Most Successful Manager: | Jimmy Yates – 14 points (1904) |
| Most Successful Decade: | 1900s – 90 points |
This old club was founded all the way back in 1883 and although little is written of their accolades, De Koninklijke Haagse is the sole club outside of the ‘Big Three’ to have earned a star – representing 10 Dutch championships. HVV won all 10 between 1891 and 1914. This includes ruling the roost over the league between 1899-1903. Some esteemed men played for the club during those years. Willem Hesselink won two championships with HVV and later became a champion at tug-of-war, the 1500m and the long jump athletics events; Eetje Sol scored 122 goals in 133 games across 11 years; Constant Feith scored 235 goals between 1903 and 1920; and four lads of the Kessler family tree played for club and country between 1904-1923.
HVV beat HBS Craeyenhout 6-1 in the final to win the 1903 KNVB Cup.
3: Feyenoord
| Success Points: | 355 |
| Earliest Trophy Won: | FLC, 1924 |
| Latest Trophy Won: | KNVB Beker, 2024 |
| Most Successful Manager: | Ernst Happel – 37 points (1969-1973) |
| Most Successful Decade: | 1960s – 68 points |
Feyenoord were founded in the Rotterdam pub De Vereeniging in 1908 and moved into their groundbreaking De Kuip stadium in 1937 between winning five league titles plus two Bekers before WWII. De Stadionclub have consistently won Dutch crowns in every decade since, except the 1950s and 2000s.
The club slumped in its footballing fortunes as Rotterdam slowly rebuilt after the war’s devastation yet, with the launch of the professional Eredivisie in 1956, Feyennoord revelled in a glory period soon after. Feyenoord won five league titles and two cups in the 1960s with players like the lightning left-winger Coen Moulijn and record top scorer Ove Kindvall. Ernst Happel then took charge and led Feyenoord to the apex, seizing the European and Intercontinental cups by beating Celtic and Estudiantes, respectively in ’71. The ‘club on the Meuse’ went on to further achieve a Eredivisie-UEFA Cup ‘double’ in ’74.
There were some lean decades until the 21st Century when Feyenoord reaffirmed their credentials as one of Europe’s elite clubs by winning another UEFA Cup, plus two Eredivisies and five Bekers with the likes of Dirk Kuyt who banged in 102 goals.
2: PSV Eindhoven
| Success Points: | 461 |
| Earliest Trophy Won: | FLC, 1929 |
| Latest Trophy Won: | Eredivisie, 2025 |
| Most Successful Manager: | Guus Hiddink – 125 points |
| Most Successful Decade: | 2000s – 104 points |
PSV were originally founded in 1910 as a football club for Phillips employees to let off some steam. De Lampen won three championships plus a Beker before the 1970s before they became the main Dutch power to challenge Ajax’s hegemony in the Eredivisie. They won their first UEFA trophy – the UEFA Cup – and three Eredivisies in the ’70s with Willy van der Kuijlen scoring 308 goals in 528 games.
Guus Hiddink took charge in 1987 and PSV thrived under his excellent man-management to revel in two intensely successful periods, winning four consecutive Eredivisies AND three Bekers in a row around his period. In 1988, they beat all-comers with a European ‘treble’. Legends like Gullit and Romario served the club around this time. Hiddink returned to PSV and won another three Dutch championships and cup between 2002-2006.
Their most recent Dutch crown was lifted in 2025.
1: AFC Ajax
| Success Points: | 742 |
| Earliest Trophy Won: | KNVB Beker, 1917 |
| Latest Trophy Won: | Eredivisie, 2022 |
| Most Successful Manager: | Jack Reynolds – 118 points |
| Most Successful Decade: | 1970s – 156 points |
Named after the ancient Greek warrior, this Amsterdam club was founded at the start of the 20th Century and their exploits both home and abroad became suitably legendary. Jack Reynolds managed de Godenzonen for two stints spanning 1917-1947 where he led them to win eight league titles and a Beker. The Englishman’s tactics inspired Ajax’s evolutionary tactics after the war.
Ajax ruled supreme at home and abroad in the ‘60s and ‘70s when Rinus Michels created ‘Total Football’ in which every outfield player’s position was totally fluid in order to create attacking opportunities as the opposition chased shadows. Also, Johan Cruyff – regarded as the greatest Dutch footballer of all time – had joined the club in 1959. Ajax’s evolutionary football was proven the best between 1966-1973 with seven out of eight Eredivisie championships and three consecutive European Cups. Their crowning achievement was in 1972: Five trophies up for grabs; five triumphs – the European ‘treble’ as well as the (unofficial) UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup.
Louis van Gaal – dubbed the ‘Iron Tulip’ – took the reins between 1991-97 and made Ajax again the most commanding team in Europe. With Dutch superstars like Bergkamp, Seedorf and van der Sar, Ajax won three Dutch crowns in a row, including in 1995 when they achieved another clean sweep of the European ‘treble’, UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup. Although Ajax have had to jostle for supremacy with PSV and Feyenoord in the 21st Century, they remain in the top 10 most successful European clubs of all time!
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