TOP Oss

Early years (1928–1939)

According to sources, Toon Steinhauser and the brothers Piet and Cor van Schijndel always played football in Oss on Jurgensplein, a central square, after school. On 9 April 1928, they decided to found a club named Klein Maar Dapper (K.M.D.; English: "Small But Brave"), but when it turned out that more clubs had that name, the choice fell on T.O.P. ("To Our Pleasure"). On 7 May 1930, T.O.P. played its first competition match, on a field on the Molenstraat, behind Hotel van Welten and next to the local cinema. The pitch was a bare, uneven surface, covered with sand with an occasional tuft of grass. During home games, the goal posts were picked up from bakery Toontje van Bergen, then located in the Nieuwe Brouwerstraat. T.O.P. had two teams in the 1930–31 season both competing in the local division 1e Klas Maasbuurt. The first team reached promotion to the Derde Klasse of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), where it remained for the coming years. T.O.P. won its first title in 1939, in the Derde Klasse E. Thereby, the club qualified for playoffs to promotion to the Tweede Klasse, where they had to face SV Nevelo from Oisterwijk and Hero from Breda. Both teams had already qualified and promotion became a fact.

The dark 1940s

With World War II looming, the Dutch army seized the then home ground of T.O.P., Gemeentelijk Sportpark Oss, in September 1939. At the end of August 1939, the threat of war in Europe became ever greater and…

Topklasse Sunday Champions (1): 2010–11 Runners-up (1): 2010–11