Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. Because their crest is based on the city's coat of arms, an armed angel holding a red shield with a white star, they are nicknamed de Sterrendragers ("Wearers of Stars") and, in local dialect, Us MVV'ke ("our little MVV", ). The club's name was formerly Maastrichtse Voetbal Vereniging until 2011, when it was officially changed to include the city name after "MVV." History The early years (1902–1946) In 1902, in an establishment on the famous Vrijthof square, plans were made to found a Maastricht football team. It started with the name MVC (Maastricht Football Club), but they changed its name often during their first years. It was not until 1908 that their current name MVV (Maastrichtse Voetbal Vereniging) was adopted. From the start in 1902 until 1976 MVV played continuously in the highest Dutch leagues. Periods of top rankings were varied with periods of anonymity. In the 1926–27 season they lost out the Dutch championship by losing a decisive match against SC Enschede. In 1932 they ranked second again, behind champions PSV. The 1935–36, 1938–39 and 1945–46 seasons were also successful, with two second-place finishes. In 1946–47 the team even won their league and was to participate in the champions group. This group was made up of the four champions of each region. Like in 1927, MVV had no success and finished last. During that period some MVV players were selected for the Dutch national team. A remarkable achievement, given the fact that the KNVB (Dutch Football Association) mostly selected players from teams in the "Randstad", Bèr Felix, Sjo Soons and Jeu van Bun were selected for the national team. Post-war MVV (1952–1969) 1952 was an important year for the team. MVV celebrated its 50th anniversary and the call to establish professional football in the Netherlands became louder. In the 1954–55 season the official KNVB and the professional football organisation (NBVB), supported by the newly founded professional teams, put their differences aside and a semi-professional league was born. In the new competition (Eredivisie) the top nine teams of the NBVB and the KNVB leagues were to participate. MVV came in third and was allowed