History
Earliest days
VRA’s history begins on 20 March 1882, the first day of spring and the day that the RUN cricket club was founded. After a few rambling years, this club merged with two other Amsterdam clubs, Amstels and Progress, forming the football and cricket club R.A.P. Historical gem: the same R.A.P. was to become the first official football champion of the Netherlands and, moreover, in the same season became the first winner of the ‘double’, as it also won the first predecessor of the KNVB cup! Quality shows.
VRA’s genesis
The Amsterdamsche Sport Vereeniging VRA was established on 5 September 1914, combining Amsterdam football and cricket clubs Volharding (1889), R.A.P. (1887) and Amstels (1885). The most important player in this merger was the celebrated Dutch poet, socialist and sportsman Herman Gorter. In the early years the club played both cricket and football in a wide range of locations, locations where today we find the Vondelpark, Museumplein and the Olympic Stadium. After 1917 VRA stopped playing football and continued as a cricket club only.
In 1939 VRA was allocated playing fields in the newly built Amsterdamse Bos (then known as the Bosplan), and shared its grounds and clubhouse with the Amsterdamse Hockey & Bandy Club, right next to the national hockey stadium. The next move wasn’t made until 1988, when the club moved a mere few hundred metres to the east, to its current venue. VRA’s very own pavilion lies in one of the best locations of the Amsterdamse Bos. In addition, the ABN-AMRO International Cricket Centre was established on our splendid grounds a few years ago, thanks to our high-quality facilities and our resulting cooperation with the Royal Dutch Cricket Board (KNCB) and its main sponsor, ABN-AMRO.
National successes
While VRA has been a steady and often successful suitor for the national title in the last fifteen years, there was also once a long period without such great successes. Particularly in the years just after the war, VRA I regularly found itself in danger of relegation and at times played in the second highest league. The introduction of the professional player/coach in Dutch cricket in 1979 made a big difference at VRA. Since then VRA has gained and maintained a strong foothold in the highest league of Dutch cricket.
Champion of the Netherlands: 1891 – Amstels CC 1896 – Amstels CC 1904 – Volharding 1905 – Amstels CC 1908 – Volharding 1909 – Amstels CC 1924 - VRA 1937 - VRA 1981 - VRA 1998 - VRA 1999 - VRA 2001 - VRA 2003 - VRA 2005 - VRA 2006 - VRA 2007 - VRA 2010 - VRA 2011 - VRA
