TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbreviation for Tot Ons Plezier (English translation: To our pleasure), the team plays its home matches at the Frans Heesen Stadion, where it has been based since 1946.
The club's history includes numerous promotions and relegations, and some spells of sustained success. It has perhaps been most prominent since the early 1990s, where the club established itself in the second-tier of Dutch football. TOP Oss have a rivalry with nearby club FC Den Bosch.
History
Early years (1928–1939) According to sources, Toon Steinhauser and the brothers Piet and Cor van Schijndel always played football in Oss on Jurgensplein, a central square, after school. On 9 April 1928, they decided to found a club named Klein Maar Dapper (K.M.D.; English: "Small But Brave"), but when it turned out that more clubs had that name, the choice fell on T.O.P. ("To Our Pleasure"). On 7 May 1930, T.O.P. played its first competition match, on a field on the Molenstraat, behind Hotel van Welten and next to the local cinema. The pitch was a bare, uneven surface, covered with sand with an occasional tuft of grass. During home games, the goal posts were picked up from bakery Toontje van Bergen, then located in the Nieuwe Brouwerstraat. T.O.P. had two teams in the 1930–31 season both competing in the local division 1e Klas Maasbuurt. The first team reached promotion to the Derde Klasse of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), where it remained for the coming years.
T.O.P. won its first title in 1939, in the Derde Klasse E. Thereby, the club qualified for playoffs to promotion to the Tweede Klasse, where they had to face SV Nevelo from Oisterwijk and Hero from Breda. Both teams had already qualified and promotion became a fact.
The dark 1940s
With World War II looming, the German army seized the then home ground of T.O.P., Gemeentelijk Sportpark Oss, in September 1939. At the end of August 1939, the threat of war in Europe became ever greater and on 28 August, the Dutch government announced the general mobilisation of army and fleet. Because many footballers between the ages of 20 and 35 were also mobilised and train connections were disrupted, the KNVB decided to postpone the competition matches scheduled for 3 and 10 September. The KNVB took the decision on 9 September 1939 to establish a Noodcompetitie ("Emergency Competition") to replace the regular competition. In the Noodcompetitie, teams were classified by geography rather than strength, there was no promotion and relegation, and no protests over referees' decisions could be filed. The season started on 24 September, a week later than the regular season had been planned to start. T.O.P. was in the Tweede Klasse B, where they, among others, played SC Helmondia, VVV and RKVV Wilhelmina. The competition ended after only few games when the German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. The competition came to a standstill for several weeks, but was resumed at the end of May. Daily life was, however, disrupted, but under pressure from the German occupying forces, life had to appear as 'normal' as possible.
After state of emergency was declared in the Netherlands by the German occupiers on Dolle Dinsdag on 5 September 1944, the KNVB decided to stop all competitions. The years 1940–45 also marked a tragic period for T.O.P., as two of their players, Pince van der Aa and Hugo Brinkman, were permanently disabled during acts of war.
An ambiguous situation emerged in the Netherlands in September 1944, as the southern provinces were liberated, including Oss on 27 September 1944. While the rest of the country was still at war, allied soldiers played a benefit match on 14 October 1944 against a combined association football team from Oss. The site of the memorable match is the Gemeentelijk Sportpark Oss on the Berghemseweg, which had been seized by German soldiers as part of the occupation in 1939. The Royal Air Force team consisted of: Spencer (goalkeeper), Dauber, Spiking, Percival, Waddell, Shepherd, Martin, Levy, Phillips, Conve and Taylor. The proceeds of the competition were approximately ƒ 3,300 and which went to war victims from Oss.
Another war became the centre of attention after the liberation in 1945. On 28 September 1947, T.O.P. play a benefit against the team "De rest van Oss" with the final result 2–2. The proceeds went to Dutch soldiers in the Dutch East Indies. The match was organized by the organisation Nederland-Indië en Katholiek Thuisfront M.O.O. Oss.