On 1 April 1888, Easter Sunday, eight schoolboys in Rotterdam founded a cricket club. That is how Sparta Rotterdam was born, the oldest professional football club in the Netherlands, which turns 139 on 1 April 2027. And its red and white shirt has its roots at a ground in England.

Eight schoolboys and a cricket bat

The founders were eight boys aged 13 to 16. They named the club Rotterdamsche Cricket & Football Club Sparta, and at first they mainly played cricket. In July 1888 they got hold of a football, and very soon football became their great love.

Sources do not say who suggested the name, but for Greek readers the reference to ancient Sparta is obvious. In 1893 the team won the second division and was promoted to the top flight.

A trip to England

The red and white colours were not there from the start. They arrived in 1899, when board members travelled to England and fell for the red and white striped shirt of Sunderland. In fact, Sparta's first striped shirts were old, second-hand Sunderland shirts.

With them the team wore black shorts, as it still does today. The red and white striped socks were added in 1930, completing a look that the whole of the Netherlands recognises.

The golden era

The stripes brought luck. Sparta won the Dutch championship in 1909, 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1915, and was one of the top teams in the country. According to the club, its legendary Bok de Korver had already scored the first goal in the history of the Dutch national team in 1905.

The sixth and most recent title came in 1959, starring winger Tinus Bosselaar. Around those years came three Dutch Cups as well, in 1958, 1962 and 1966. Sparta still holds a record from 1892: the 17-0 win over Amersfoortsche FC, the biggest victory in a Dutch league match.

The lords of the Castle

Since 15 October 1916 Sparta has played in the Spangen district, at the ground everyone calls Het Kasteel, "The Castle". The name comes from the building with two turrets, the only part of the original design that survived the 1998-99 renovation. That is why its players are called "Kasteelheren", the lords of the castle.

The stadium hosted matches at the 1928 Olympic Games and holds about 11,000 spectators. Its stands are named after club legends such as Tonny van Ede and Bok de Korver.

A school for stars

Sparta is famous for its academy. It produced Danny Blind, Ed de Goey, Kevin Strootman, Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay. In the 1980s its captain was Louis van Gaal, who later became one of the best-known coaches in the world.

In that era Sparta also enjoyed fine runs in the UEFA Cup, the highlight being a 2-0 win over Hamburg. In the years that followed it went up and down between the two divisions many times, but it always came back. In 2010 it even beat Almere City 12-1, equalling the Dutch league record.

Celebrate with us

139 years after that Easter Sunday, Sparta's red and white striped shirt remains one of the most classic symbols of Dutch football. It is a shirt with English origins, a Dutch soul and a Greek name.

Happy birthday, Sparta! May the flag always fly high over the Castle.

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Het Kasteel, home of Sparta Rotterdam – Angelo Romano, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.