they finished second and the team won promotion via the promotion/relegation play-offs. In 1980 they beat Ajax in a historic match by 3–6. Still the biggest home-defeat in the old De Meer Stadium for the Amsterdam squad. After some years of mid-table finishes the team was relegated again in 1982. In 1984 they won the second division, only to be relegated in 1986 for the third time in a short period of time. After earning a promotion in 1988, they were back in the Eredivisie. MVV finally managed to avoid the drop and remained in the highest division until 1995. During that period strikers Cees Schapendonk and Erik Meijer played their caps for the national team and defender Erik Gerets was selected for the Belgium national football team. In the 1991–92 and 1992–93 seasons the team finished seventh for two years in a row, nearly achieving European football. In 1992, MVV was voted Team of the Year" by the KNVB, mostly because of their attacking playing style, implemented by coach Sef Vergoossen. Surprisingly, the 1995 season ended with another relegation. Once again it took the team two years to taste first division football again. A young and talented squad, led by coach and former MVV goalkeeper Frans Körver, won the second division again in 1997. Almost 50,000 fans celebrated this achievement on the market square. Yet the fifth relegation followed in 2000, forcing the renowned team to celebrate their 100th anniversary in the second division. Breaking with the tradition of promoting after two seasons, MVV even came in 18th in the 2004 season. Their poorest season in history. Currently, the club is still in the second division and occupying a 10th position on the all-time Eredivisie list. In 2008, it was proposed to merge the Limburgish clubs MVV, Roda JC Kerkrade, VVV-Venlo and Fortuna Sittard to create a new club called FC Limburg. The merger was however cancelled after the province Limburg denied its backing of the project. A new beginning (2010–present) After years of financial troubles, MVV was classified by the KNVB as 'financially healthy' (category 3) at the beginning of the 2011–12 season. This was unique, because never before had a club from category 1 ('insufficient') been promoted directly to category 3 of the financial health list. In the KNVB assessment of 2018, MVV Maastricht had dropped to category 2 ('sufficient'). At the beginning of the 2010–11 season,