the championship. Spirits were therefore high in 1949, when the title was finally won in the Tweede Klasse A. The decisive match was played on 30 January 1949, where T.O.P. played a home match on the Heescheweg against its biggest rivals at the time, VV DESK from Kaatsheuvel. In front of a sold-out stadium, with an average of 2,500 spectators during that season, the T.O.P. team lived up to its high expectations and beat DESK 2–0 to secure the title. Head coach Janus Spijkers was, however, unable to repeat the feat in the play-offs for promotion that followed. The Tweede Klasse A championship did not result in promotion to the Eerste Klasse. First years of professionalism (1954–1957) In the 1950s, TOP finished most seasons in the top half of the table. The board had a positive outlook on the future, and when the KNVB started to choose clubs for a professional football competition, club management applied for a professional license as they did not want to lag begind other football clubs in the Brabant province. Therefore, as of the 1955–56 season, TOP took part in the professional competitions of the KNVB. In its first year as a semi-professional club, TOP competed in the Eerste Klasse C (first division). The stadium on the Heescheweg had uncovered stands with mostly terracing. Professional football in the Netherlands was randomly divided into four first divisions with about 80 clubs. In the debut 1955–56 season, TOP managed to win five out of thirty games, while they drew five and lost twenty, hauling in only fifteen points. VV Zwartemeer, however, did even worse and TOP ended in the penultimate spot. TOP suffered relegation in its first season in the new league, alongside UVS from Leiden and DHC from Delft. Despite local interest in the first season, with more than 5,000 spectators in average, the transition to professionalism was not an initial success. Ahead of the 1956–57 season, KNVB competitions were divided into the one top-tier Eredivisie, one second-tier Eerste Divisie and two third-tier Tweede Divisie. TOP compete the 1956–57 season in the Tweede Divisie B group. Once again, the club had to fight a relegation battle, and only managed to win three out of 28 matches against VV ONA from Gouda, VV De Valk from Valkenswaard and NEC Nijmegen. TOP would draw the short straw, and finish last in the group, with a goal difference of