The unofficial Dutch national team in their first match against Felixstowe in 1894.Mulier as captain of the unofficial Dutch national team in a match against Maidstone in 1895.
This is a list of the Netherlands national football team's results from 1894 to the present day that, for various reasons, are not accorded the status of official internationals and are not being recognized by FIFA.[1] Player appearances and goals in these matches are also not counted to their totals.
The national team played twelve matches until the first official international match of the Netherlands took place in 1905. They played their first match against the English side Felixstowe FC on 6 February 1894.[2] Their first unofficial victory came against the English side Maidstone FC, which was defeated 4–3, thanks to two goals from Pim Mulier.[3] The biggest victory came on 18 November 1895 when Saxmundham FC, the losing finalists in the Suffolk Senior Cup the season before, was sent home after a 9–2 loss, thanks in part to a 5-goal haul from Rein Boomsma.[4]
Note: They were invited by Sparta. Although losing finalists in the Suffolk Senior Cup the season before, they could not offer the Dutch enough resistance, since Sparta won 5–0 and the Dutch team 9–2.
In the early 1900s, the Netherlands played four unofficial matches against Belgium as they contested for the Coupe Vanden Abeele.[5] The Dutch were represented by sides selected and organized by Cees van Hasselt, but since the games were not being sanctioned by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), only players from the second division were available to Van Hasselt, so Belgium naturally won those games.[5][6][7]
Note: BFC Preussen won three consecutive Berlin Football Championships in 1899–1901,[8] and such was their success, that they contested a match against the unofficial Dutch national team on 30 December 1900.
Stadium: Beerschot A.C. ground Referee: Herbert Willing (Netherlands)
Note: Belgium had originally announced to field an exclusively Belgian squad, but eventually replaced Paul Chibert (injured) with Herbert Potts, who contributed decisively to Belgium's win, scoring four goals.
In the 20th century, the Netherlands played several unofficial matches against British clubs, and did it under several different names such as Netherlands/Holland XI, Select Netherlands/Holland, and Zwaluwen.[9]
Apart from the official biannual Low Countries derbies, Belgium played against the Netherlands for diverse purposes in the 1920s; the 1925 and 1926 matches served as fundraiser for FIFA and charity, respectively, and in the 1929 match the Royal Dutch Football Association's 40th anniversary was celebrated.[10]
Outside the official biannual Low Countries derbies, Belgium faced the Netherlands for diverse reasons in the 1930s; the 1930 match served to inaugurate the new national stadium, the two matches in 1932 served as a fundraiser for FIFA and charity, and the 1939 match was at the occasion of the Royal Dutch Football Association's 50th anniversary.[10]
^"Nederlands elftal 1893-'94" [The Dutch national team in 1893-'94]. www.dagvantoen.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
^"Nederlands elftal 1895-'96" [The Dutch national team in 1895-'96]. www.dagvantoen.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
^Hubert, Christian (1980). Les diables rouges (in French). Brussels: Arts & voyages. pp. 12–13. ISBN978-28-016-0046-7.
^Fraiponts, Jean; Willocx, Dirk (2003). Kroniek van het Belgische voetbal / Pioniers en Rode Duivels - 1863-1906 (in Dutch). Vol. 1. Antwerp: Assoc. BE bvba. ISBN978-90-77314-01-2.. Extract consulted online on 30 August 2010 on Beerschot Athletic ClubArchived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
