Hera United

Hera United
Founded2025
StadiumSportpark Goed Genoeg, Amsterdam
Capacity3,000
Managing directorMarieke Visser
Head coachEd Engelkes
LeagueVrouwen Eerste Divisie
2025–2610th
Websitehera-united.nl

Hera United is a Dutch women's football club based in Amsterdam, North Holland that plays in the Vrouwen Eerste Divisie, the second level of women's football in the Netherlands. The club began play in the 2025–2026 Eredivisie season after taking over the license from Telstar. The club was relegated from the top-level Vrouwen Eredivisie after finishing in 10th place in its inaugural season. The club plays home matches at Sportpark Goed Genoeg.

History

Formation

Marieke Visser, who worked in marketing, founded Hera as the first women's-only professional football club in the Netherlands. She said she was inspired to start a women's club by the success of Angel City FC in the U.S. and the lack of formal recognition of AFC Ajax's 2022–23 Eredivisie championship. Early partners and investors included Dutch television executive Susan van Geenen, sports television presenter Barbara Barend, and technology founder and investor Marijn Pijnenborg. The nascent club first met with the KNVB, the Dutch football association, in 2023. The group went public with their plans in March 2024, announcing their intent to have a club play at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.[1][2][3][4][5] In September 2025, Visser said the club would play one match in its first season at the Olympic Stadium.[6]

The club is named after the Greek goddess Hera.[1] The club's logo is a peacock, one of the goddess's sacred animals. The logo also has the club's name and founding year.[7]

Telstar takeover

In July 2024, Hera announced a partnership with Telstar, an existing Eredivisie club that regularly was at the bottom of the standings, that could lead to Hera operating the Eredivisie club beginning in the 2025–26 season.[8] This change required KNVB approval. Visser said at the time that Hera would play in Amsterdam, with derbies against Ajax.[9][10] In December 2024, the KNVB approved a rule change allowing a women's-only club to field a professional team, a necessary step for Hera to take over the club.[11] In June 2025, the KNVB approved additional needed rule changes.[12] In August, the club announced it would play its home games at Sportpark Goed Genoeg in Amsterdam, the home field of men's third-division team Amsterdamsche FC, for the 2025–26 season.[13] On 3 September, both teams and the Eredivise announced that Hera had taken over Telstar's license and place in the league. The two clubs would jointly operate a youth program, Hera-Telstar Opleidingen.[14][15][16]

Ahead of the club's first season, coach Ed Engelkes, who had managed Telstar since February 2025, said the club kept what was good and talented from Telstar and that the team's goal was to avoid relegation from the Eredivisie, which meant finishing above the bottom three in the standings.[6]

The club announced its first sponsors and advertisers on 5 September, days before its first match. Nike is its kit supplier, Booking.com is the sponsor on the front of the kit, and SportCity is the sponsor on the back of the kit.[17]

2025–2026: Relegation

The club secured its license, home park, and kits shortly before the start of the 2025–26 season.[13][14][17] In its first match, Hera tied fellow North Holland club AZ in Alkmaar, 2–2, on 7 September.[18] The club then lost four of its next five matches before winning its first match, defeating ADO Den Haag on 16 November.[19][20] The club added two more draws before the winter break. In the second half of the season, Hera had a pair of two-game win streaks, beating Ajax and Excelsior in February, then SC Heerenveen and NAC Breda in April, but lost seven other matches.[21][22]

The club was relegated from the Eredivisie to the Vrouwen Eerste Divisie on the final night of the season, conceding two late goals to FC Utrecht to lose 2–1 at home on 22 May.[23] That night, ADO won to pass Hera in the league table and De Graafschap won an Eerste Divisie playoff to earn its promotion.[24][25] Club management and head coach Engelkes had been critical of the KNVB's decision to contract the Eredivisie from 12 clubs to 10 and relegating three teams during the season.[26][27]

In the KNVB Cup, Hera won three matches, defeating Klarenbeek,[28] NAC,[29] and Sparta, defeating the Rotterdam club on penalties, 7–6.[30] Hera lost in the semi-finals to FC Twente, 3–0.[31]

Records

Season League Position W – D – L = Pts GF – GA Top scorer KNVB Cup Refs
2025–26 Eredivisie 10 / 12 5 – 5 – 12 = 20 25 – 42 Jannette van Belen (7) Semi-finals [21][31]

References

  1. 1 2 van der Kleij, Jacobien (16 December 2024). "Amsterdamse Hera United wordt mogelijk eerste vrouwenprofclub van Nederland, mag toetreden tot eredivisie". Het Parool. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  2. ↑ "Marieke Visser richt de eerste profvoetbalclub voor vrouwen op". Linda. (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "Nieuwe vrouwenprofclub in de maak met Olympisch Stadion als thuisbasis". NOS (in Dutch). 20 March 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  4. ↑ "Hera we go: the Dutch club hoping to change women's football landscape". OneFootball. The Guardian. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "Business Daily | How to start a women's pro-football team". BBC Audio. 24 July 2025. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Champagne en ballonnen, maar ook realisme bij Hera: 'Wordt lastig niet te degraderen'". NOS (in Dutch). 3 September 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
  7. ↑ "Products". Hera United Store. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "HERA United en Telstar kondigen samenwerking vrouwenvoetbal aan" [HERA United and Telstar announce women's football partnership]. Telstar (in Dutch). 8 July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  9. ↑ "Amsterdam could get a new all-women pro football club". NL Times. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  10. ↑ de Ridder, Audrey (24 September 2024). "Telstar Vrouwen lijkt bezig aan laatste seizoen: dit zijn de plannen van Hera United" [Telstar Women seems to be in its final season: these are Hera United's plans]. ESPN.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  11. ↑ "34 clubs stemmen unaniem: Hera United kan toetreden tot Azerion Vrouwen Eredivisie" [34 clubs vote unanimously: Hera United can join Azerion Women's Eredivisie]. ESPN.nl (in Dutch). 16 December 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  12. ↑ "Nieuw succes voor Hera United, KNVB past regels definitief aan: 'Trekken champagne open'" [New success for Hera United, KNVB adjusts final rules: 'Open the champagne']. NOS (in Dutch). 19 June 2025. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  13. 1 2 "Nieuwe vrouwenprofclub Hera United gaat spelen bij amateurclub AFC" [New women's professional club Hera United will play at amateur club AFC]. NOS (in Dutch). 12 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  14. 1 2 "Licentie vrouwenvoetbal Telstar over naar HERA United". SC Telstar. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  15. ↑ Waebeke, Menno (3 September 2025). "HERA United krijgt licentie betaald vrouwenvoetbal". Vrouwen Eredivisie (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  16. ↑ "HERA United officially joins professional football as the first independent women's professional club in the Netherlands". Hera United. 2 September 2025. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  17. 1 2 "A dream start for HERA United". Hera United. 5 September 2025. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  18. ↑ Hilgersom, Mathieu (8 September 2025). "HERA United start met gelijkspel, nederlaag voor NAC Breda". Vrouwen Eredivisie (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  19. ↑ "HERA rekent af met ADO Vrouwen en boekt eerste zege in clubhistorie". ESPN.nl. 16 November 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  20. ↑ Hylkema, Djoeke (17 November 2025). "ADO Vrouwen zakt af naar laatste plek in eredivisie: 'We moesten winnen om vertrouwen terug te krijgen'". ad.nl (in Dutch).
  21. 1 2 "2025-2026 HERA United Match Logs (Miscellaneous Stats), All Competitions". FBref.com. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "Hera United stunt in stadsderby tegen Ajax". at5.nl (in Dutch). 2 February 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  23. ↑ "Hera degradeert in debuutseizoen uit de eredivisie". NH Nieuws (in Dutch). 22 May 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  24. ↑ "HERA United relegated, De Graafschap promoted, ADO escaped in the final phase". www.espn.nl. 22 May 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  25. ↑ "Hera United degradeert na dramatisch slot, vrouwen Ajax en Feyenoord Europa in". nos.nl (in Dutch). 22 May 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  26. ↑ "ADO en HERA halen uit: "De KNVB heeft vanuit haar ivoren toren besloten, het vrouwenvoetbal verliest perspectief"". ESPN.nl (in Dutch). 24 February 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  27. ↑ "HERA-trainer Engelkes vol onbegrip na degradatie: "Je doet het vrouwenvoetbal tekort"". ESPN.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  28. ↑ "Klarenbeek trots ondanks uitschakeling door HERA: "Kranig verweerd"". Vrouwenvoetbalnieuws (in Dutch). 14 August 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  29. ↑ "NAC Breda 2-3 HERA". www.espn.com. 12 December 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  30. ↑ Feenstra, Richard (29 January 2026). "Sparta (vr) uitgeschakeld na strafschoppen tegen HERA United". Voetbal Rotterdam (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  31. 1 2 Korenromp, Willem (18 March 2026). "FC Twente Vrouwen naar finale KNVB Beker na eenvoudige zege op Hera United". ad.nl (in Dutch).
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.