winning once—as Veendam spent most of their existence in the lower divisions. During the 1990s, Groningen contested heated matches with Twente as hooligans of both clubs often clashed. During the 1990s, a local rivalry between Groningen and Frisian club Heerenveen developed—known as the Derby of the North (Dutch: Derby van het Noorden)—following Heerenveen's first ever promotion to the Eredivisie in 1989–90. Groningen went down to the Eerste Divisie in 1998, and by 2000, the club was surpassed, in results, by Heerenveen. During the 2000s, the rivalry reached its peak and fans of both clubs pulled pranks, such as Groningen fans painting the statue of Heerenveen's Abe Lenstra in green-white colours. The rivalry faded during the mid-2010s as another Frisian club, Cambuur, won promotion to the Eredivisie; Heerenveen regard Cambuur as their main rivals. Players First-team squad Out on loan Other players under contract Management Football management Source: Coaches Ron Groenewoud was the club's first coach; he was relegated with Groningen to the Eerste Divisie in 1974 and remained in charge until 1975. Groningen won the Eerste Divisie title in 1979–80 under coach Theo Verlangen, who also led the team to qualification for their first ever European campaign in 1983. Hans Westerhof led Groningen to their best ever league finish: third in the 1990–91 Eredivisie. After relegation in 1998, the team won promotion back to the top flight under Jan van Dijk in 1999–2000. Erwin van de Looi led Groningen to their first major honour: the 2014–15 KNVB Cup. The German Frank Wormuth became the club's first foreign coach when he took the post in 2022. Honours and achievements Eredivisie (Tier 1) Highest position: 3rd in 1990–91 Eerste Divisie (Tier 2) Winners: 1979–80 Promotion play-off winners: 1999–2000 KNVB Cup Winners: 2014–15 Runners-up: 1988–89 Johan Cruyff Shield Runners-up: 2015 Records and statistics The record for the most first team appearances in all competitions for Groningen is held by Jan van Dijk, who played 537 games between 1975 and 1992. The club's top goal scorer is Peter Houtman, who scored 128 goals in three spells for Groningen. He also holds the club record for the most goals scored in a season, when he netted 31 times in 1977–78. The youngest player to play for Groningen is Richairo Živković, who was aged 16 years and 88 days on his debut against Heracles Almelo in 2012. The club's oldest player is goalkeeper Peter van der