2019–20 Eredivisie

Eredivisie
2019–20
	Eredivisie; 2019–20
Season information
Dates	2 August 2019 – 8 March 2020
Winners	not awarded
Relegated	no relegation
Domestic cup winners
KNVB Cup	not awarded
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Ajax; AZ
Europa League	Feyenoord; PSV Eindhoven; Willem II
Season statistics
Matches played	232
Goals scored	715
Average	3.08 (per match)
Top goalscorer	Steven Berghuis; Cyriel Dessers; (15 goals each)
Biggest home win	Utrecht 6–0 Fortuna Sittard; (3 November 2019)
Biggest away win	Heracles Almelo 0–4 Heerenveen; (4 August 2019); PEC Zwolle 0–4 PSV Eindhoven; (29 September 2019); VVV-Venlo 0–4 Vitesse; (19 October 2019); PSV Eindhoven 0–4 AZ; (27 October 2019)
Highest scoring	PEC Zwolle 6–2 RKC Waalwijk; (15 September 2019)
← 2018–19	2020–21 →

The 2019–20 Eredivisie was the 64th season of the Dutch football league Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 2 August 2019 and was scheduled to end on 24 May 2020. However, due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the league was suspended on 12 March 2020 and was declared to be ended on 24 April. Ajax was the defending champion. Twente, RKC Waalwijk and Sparta Rotterdam joined as the promoted clubs from the 2018–19 Eerste Divisie. They replaced NAC Breda, Excelsior and De Graafschap who were relegated to the 2019–20 Eerste Divisie. Ajax managed to finish at the first position, but was not declared as the champions of this season's league.

Effects of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic[]

On 12 March 2020, all football leagues were suspended until 31 March as the Dutch government forbade events due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in the Netherlands. On 15 March this period was extended until 6 April. Due to the decision of the Dutch government to forbid all gatherings and events until 1 June 2020, this period was even further extended.

On 2 April, several clubs including Ajax, AZ and PSV indicated they were not willing to play the remainder of the season.

The Dutch government announced on 21 April that all events subjct to authorization, would remain forbidden at least until 1 September 2020. As a result, the KNVB announced the same day, the intention not to continue all remaining suspended competitions. A final decision would be taken after consultation with the UEFA and next the consequences would be discussed with the clubs involved.

On 24 April 2020 the KNVB announced their final decision:

The ranking on 8 March 2020 is the final ranking, but Ajax will not be champions.
There will be no promotion/relegation between the Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Divisie.
European tickets will be assigned based on the ranking on 8 March: Ajax and AZ - Champions League, and Feyenoord, PSV and Willem II - Europa League.

The decision has caused controversies. FC Utrecht, which finished at 6th position, has played one less match than Willem II and finalist of KNVB Cup, have announced that the club will take legal action after being denied a European place.

Teams[]

Stadiums and locations[]

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
ADO Den Haag	The Hague	Cars Jeans Stadion	15,000
Ajax	Amsterdam	Johan Cruyff Arena	54,990
AZ	Alkmaar	AFAS Stadion	17,023
Emmen	Emmen	De Oude Meerdijk	08,600
Feyenoord	Rotterdam	De Kuip	52,000
Fortuna Sittard	Sittard	Fortuna Sittard Stadion	10,300
Groningen	Groningen	Noordlease Stadion	22,550
Heerenveen	Heerenveen	Abe Lenstra Stadion	27,224
Heracles Almelo	Almelo	Polman Stadion	12,080
PEC Zwolle	Zwolle	MAC³PARK Stadion	14,000
PSV Eindhoven	Eindhoven	Philips Stadion	36,500
RKC Waalwijk	Waalwijk	Mandemakers Stadion	07,500
Sparta Rotterdam	Rotterdam	Het Kasteel	11,000
Twente	Enschede	De Grolsch Veste	30,205
Utrecht	Utrecht	Stadion Galgenwaard	23,750
Vitesse	Arnhem	GelreDome	21,248
VVV-Venlo	Venlo	Seacon Stadion – De Koel	08,000
Willem II	Tilburg	Koning Willem II Stadion	14,500

AZ only played their first home game at AFAS Stadion due to the stadium's roof collapse on 10 August 2019. From then on they play their home matches at the 17,000-capacity Cars Jeans Stadion in The Hague, home of ADO Den Haag.

Personnel and kits[]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
ADO Den Haag	Alan Pardew	Aaron Meijers	Erreà	Cars Jeans
Ajax	Erik ten Hag	Dušan Tadić	Adidas	Ziggo
AZ	Arne Slot	Teun Koopmeiners	Under Armour	AFAS Software
Emmen	Dick Lukkien	Anco Jansen	Hummel	Hitachi Capital Mobility
Feyenoord	Dick Advocaat	Steven Berghuis	Adidas	Droomparken
Fortuna Sittard	Sjors Ultee	Wessel Dammers	Masita	Sparr Finance
Groningen	Danny Buijs	Mike te Wierik	Puma	Payt
Heerenveen	Johnny Jansen	Hicham Faik	Jako	Ausnutria
Heracles Almelo	Frank Wormuth	Robin Pröpper	Acerbis	Asito
PEC Zwolle	John Stegeman	Bram van Polen	Craft	Molecaten
PSV Eindhoven	Ernest Faber (interim)	Ibrahim Afellay	Umbro	Metropoolregio Brainport Eindhoven
RKC Waalwijk	Fred Grim	Kevin Vermeulen	Stanno	Mandemakers Keukens
Sparta Rotterdam	Henk Fraser	Adil Auassar	Robey	D&S Groep
Twente	Gonzalo García García	Wout Brama	Sondico	Pure Energie
Utrecht	John van den Brom	Willem Janssen	Nike	Zorg van de zaak
Vitesse	Edward Sturing	Bryan Linssen	Nike	Royal Burgers' Zoo & Netherlands Open Air Museum
VVV-Venlo	Hans de Koning	Danny Post	Masita	Seacon Logistics
Willem II	Adrie Koster	Jordens Peters	Robey	Destil

Managerial changes[]

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Feyenoord	van Bronckhorst, GiovanniGiovanni van Bronckhorst	End of contract	1 July 2019	Pre-season	Stam, JaapJaap Stam	1 June 2019
AZ	van den Brom, JohnJohn van den Brom		1 July 2019		Slot, ArneArne Slot	1 July 2019
Utrecht	Advocaat, DickDick Advocaat		1 July 2019		van den Brom, JohnJohn van den Brom	1 July 2019
Twente	Pušić, MarinoMarino Pušić	Sacked	1 July 2019		García García, GonzaloGonzalo García García	1 July 2019
PEC Zwolle	Stam, JaapJaap Stam	Signed by Feyenoord	1 July 2019		Stegeman, JohnJohn Stegeman	1 July 2019
Fortuna Sittard	René Eijer	Mutual consent	1 July 2019		Sjors Ultee	1 July 2019
VVV-Venlo	Maurice Steijn	Signed by Al Wahda	9 June 2019		Maaskant, RobertRobert Maaskant	1 July 2019
Feyenoord	Jaap Stam	Resigned	28 October 2019	12th	Advocaat, DickDick Advocaat	30 October 2019
VVV-Venlo	Robert Maaskant	Sacked	11 November 2019	17th	Jay Driessen (interim)	15 November 2019
Vitesse	Leonid Slutsky	Resigned	29 November 2019	6th	Joseph Oosting (interim)	3 December 2019
ADO Den Haag	Alfons Groenendijk	Resigned	2 December 2019	17th	Dirk Heesen (interim)	2 December 2019
PSV Eindhoven	Mark van Bommel	Sacked	16 December 2019	4th	Ernest Faber (interim)	16 December 2019
VVV-Venlo	Jay Driessen (interim)	End of interim spell	19 December 2019	16th	Hans de Koning	19 December 2019
ADO Den Haag	Dirk Heesen (interim)		24 December 2019	17th	Alan Pardew	24 December 2019
Vitesse	Joseph Oosting (interim)		30 December 2019	6th	Edward Sturing	30 December 2019

League table[]


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ajax	25	18	2	5	68	23	+45	56	Champions League play-off round
2	AZ	25	18	2	5	54	17	+37	56	Champions League Second qualifying round
3	Feyenoord	25	14	8	3	50	35	+15	50	Europa League group stage
4	PSV	26	14	7	5	54	28	+26	49	Europa League Third qualifying round
5	Willem II	26	13	5	8	37	34	+3	44	Europa League Second qualifying round
6	Utrecht	25	12	5	8	50	34	+16	41
7	Vitesse	26	12	5	9	45	35	+10	41
8	Heracles	26	10	6	10	40	34	+6	36
9	Groningen	26	10	5	11	27	26	+1	35
10	Heerenveen	26	8	9	9	41	41	0	33
11	Sparta Rotterdam	26	9	6	11	41	45	−4	33
12	Emmen	26	9	5	12	32	45	−13	32
13	VVV-Venlo	26	8	4	14	24	51	−27	28
14	Twente	26	7	6	13	34	46	−12	27
15	PEC Zwolle	26	7	5	14	37	55	−18	26
16	Fortuna Sittard	26	6	8	12	29	52	−23	26
17	ADO Den Haag	26	4	7	15	25	54	−29	19
18	RKC Waalwijk	26	4	3	19	27	60	−33	15

Source: eredivisie.nl, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Season statistics[]

Top scorers[]

Rank	Player	Club	Games			avg.
1	Steven Berghuis	Feyenoord	24	15	7	0.63
1	Cyriel Dessers	Heracles Almelo	26	15	1	0.58
3	Myron Boadu	AZ	24	14	0	0.58
3	Bryan Linssen	Vitesse	25	14	0	0.56
5	Oussama Idrissi	AZ	25	13	0	0.52
6	Quincy Promes	Ajax	20	12	0	0.6
6	Tim Matavž	Vitesse	25	12	1	0.48
8	Donyell Malen	PSV Eindhoven	14	11	2	0.79
	Vangelis Pavlidis	Willem II	25		1	0.44
	Haris Vučkić	Twente	25		1	0.44
	Dušan Tadić	Ajax	25		3	0.44
	Teun Koopmeiners	AZ	25		9	0.44

Source: nos.nl

Hat-tricks(+)[]

Rnd	Player	Club	Goals	Date	Home	Score	Away
4	Quincy Promes	Ajax	50' 68' 83'	25 September 2019	Ajax	5–0	Fortuna Sittard
6	Donyell Malen	PSV Eindhoven	18' 36' 46' 83' (p) 89' (p)	14 September 2019	PSV Eindhoven	5–0	Vitesse
6	Reza Ghoochannejhad	PEC Zwolle	60' 81' 83' 88'	15 September 2019	PEC Zwolle	6–2	RKC Waalwijk
11	Mark Diemers	Fortuna Sittard	9' 26' 87' (p)	26 October 2019	Fortuna Sittard	4–1	VVV-Venlo
13	Cyriel Dessers	Heracles Almelo	56' 64' 82'	9 November 2019	Heracles Almelo	6–1	VVV-Venlo
15	Noa Lang	Ajax	32' 51' 70'	1 December 2019	Twente	2–5	Ajax
17	Steven Berghuis	Feyenoord	19' 34' (p) 64' (p)	15 December 2019	Feyenoord	3–1	PSV Eindhoven

Assists[]

Rank	Player	Club	Games		avg.
1	Dušan Tadić	Ajax	25	14	0.56
2	Hakim Ziyech	Ajax	21	12	0.57
3	Steven Bergwijn	PSV Eindhoven	16	10	0.63
4	Abdou Harroui	Sparta Rotterdam	26	08	0.31
5	Steven Berghuis	Feyenoord	24	07	0.29
	Gyrano Kerk	Utrecht	24		0.29
	Calvin Stengs	AZ	25		0.28
	Mauro Júnior	Heracles Almelo	26		0.27
9	Bryan Smeets	Sparta Rotterdam	22	06	0.27
	Myron Boadu	AZ	24		0.25
	Owen Wijndal	AZ	24		0.25
	Cody Gakpo	PSV Eindhoven	25		0.24
	Gustavo Hamer	PEC Zwolle	25		0.24
	Cyriel Dessers	Heracles Almelo	26		0.23