The 2011–12 Eerste Divisie, known as Jupiler League for sponsorship reasons, was the fifty-sixth season of Eerste Divisie since its establishment in 1955. It began in August 2011 with the first matches of the season and ended in June 2012 with the nacompetitie, a promotion-and-relegation tournament also involving the 16th- and 17th-placed teams from the 2011–12 Eredivisie. The competition was won by FC Zwolle on 13 April 2012, after drawing FC Eindhoven 0–0 at home in their 32nd match of the season.
On 1 March 2012, the Dutch football federation confirmed that no team would be relegated from the league at the end of the season, after all the 2011–12 Topklasse teams had decided against being eligible for promotion to the Eerste Divisie.
Teams A total of 18 teams took part in the league. Willem II were relegated as bottom-placed team in the 2010–11 Eredivisie, whereas FC Oss were promoted as 2010–11 Topklasse runners-up, as champions IJsselmeervogels opted to keep playing at amateur level instead. Following the disbandment and consequent exclusion of RBC Roosendaal in June 2011, last-placed 2010–11 Eerste Divisie club Almere City FC were readmitted in the league to fill the vacancy.
The season also saw the participation of the old BV Veendam under their new denomination of SC Veendam.
Club Location Venue CapacityAGOVV ApeldoornApeldoornStadion Berg & Bos3,250Almere City FCAlmereMitsubishi Forklift Stadion3,000CambuurLeeuwardenCambuur Stadion10,250FC Den Bosch's-HertogenboschDe Vliert9,000FC DordrechtDordrechtGN Bouw Stadion4,100FC EindhovenEindhovenJan Louwers Stadion4,600FC EmmenEmmenUnivé Stadion8,600Fortuna SittardSittardWagner & Partners Stadion12,500Go Ahead EaglesDeventerAdelaarshorst6,700Helmond SportHelmondStadion De Braak4,100MVVMaastrichtDe Geusselt11,026FC OssOssHeesen Yachts Stadion4,700Sparta RotterdamRotterdamHet Kasteel11,026TelstarVelsenTATA Steel Stadion3,625SC VeendamVeendamDe Langeleegte5,290FC VolendamVolendamKras Stadion6,260Willem IITilburgKoning Willem II Stadion14,637FC ZwolleZwolleFC Zwolle Stadion10,000
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment AGOVV Apeldoorn Mutual consent 1 July 2011 Pre-season 1 July 2011 FC Dordrecht Signed by FC Utrecht 1 July 2011 Pre-season 1 July 2011 Go Ahead Eagles Signed by De Graafschap 1 July 2011 Pre-season 1 July 2011 Helmond Sport Signed by Willem II 1 July 2011 Pre-season 1 July 2011 Sparta Rotterdam End of interim spell 1 July 2011 Pre-season 1 July 2011 SC Veendam Signed by Go Ahead Eagles 1 July 2011 Pre-season 1 July 2011 Willem II End of interim spell 1 July 2011 Pre-season 1 July 2011 Fortuna Sittard Signed by VVV-Venlo 28 December 2011 14th 29 December 2011 FC Dordrecht Sick leave 7 January 2012 (interim) 7 January 2012 FC Volendam Gardening leave 6 March 2012 13th (interim) 6 March 2012 FC Eindhoven Hired by PSV Eindhoven 14 March 2012 2nd 17 March 2012 Go Ahead Eagles Resigned 24 March 2012 11th (interim) 30 March 2012 AGOVV Apeldoorn Removed from managerial duties 26 April 2012 17th (interim) 26 April 2012
League table
Results
Playoffs VVV-Venlo and De Graafschap joined the Eerste Divisie-teams for the playoffs, after finishing 16th and 17th in the Eredivisie.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Top goalscorers Updated 27 January 2012
17 goals Jack Tuyp (FC Volendam) 12 goals Nassir Maachi (FC Zwolle) 11 goals Erik Bakker (SC Cambuur) Marcel van der Sloot (FC Oss) 10 goals Donny de Groot (Willem II) Anco Jansen (SC Veendam) 9 goals Christopher Bieber (FC Oss) Jeremy Bokila (Sparta Rotterdam) Cecilio Lopes (FC Dordrecht) Johan Plat (Telstar) Tom van Weert (FC Den Bosch)
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Willem II 9,547 2 Zwolle 8,557 3 Sparta 7,089 4 Cambuur 5,560 5 MVV 5,409 6 Go Ahead 4,850 7 Fortuna 4,788 8 Den Bosch 4,064 9 Volendam 3,286 10 Veendam 3,124 11 Eindhoven 2,990 12 Helmond 2,806 13 Emmen 2,348 14 AGOVV 2,315 15 Dordrecht 2,212 16 Oss 2,115 17 Telstar 2,075 18 Almere 1,377
Source:
References