TOP Oss

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.