Surinam - List of Champions

Football was introduced in Surinam at the end of 1909 (an earlier start in 1895, when a club called Wilhelmina was founded, had led to nothing) and soon numerous friendly matches were organised between the handful of clubs founded in Paramaribo in the next years, including a competition in September 1911 organised by the Vereeniging van Nationale Feesten, won by M.V.C.J. (the other two participants were H.B.S. and S.S.S.).
In 1914, the S.V.B. (Surinaamsche Voetbal Bond) was founded, for a period of three years, which organised league competitions (none of which were finished) and two matches, in August 1915, against a representative team from Georgetown (Demerara, British Guyana), resulting in heavy losses (0-5 and 0-6). It was dissolved in 1917.
In December 1918, the S.S.B. (Surinaamsche Sport Bond) was founded, which initiated a new league in 1919, with the first match on January 8 between Blauw-Wit and Excelsior (a 2-2 draw; a decade later, both clubs would merge due to loss of members). Blauw-Wit won the league ahead of U.D.I.
On October 1st, 1920, a new organisation called S.V.B. (Surinaamsche Voetbalbond) was founded, the organisation still in charge of football in Surinam. It started a league competition in spring 1921, involving six clubs (Blauw-Wit, Excelsior, Olympia, U.D.I., Voorwaarts and Zwaluw) to play a double round robin, but this was halted after a handful of matches due to a conflict between five of the clubs (all except Olympia) and the R.K. Ziekenhuis (roman catholic hospital), owners of the only available ground. A new attempt was made in the fall of 1921, by the same six clubs, but this competition also came to a premature end when Voorwaarts refused to complete its fixtures and the S.V.B. board resigned in December 1921.
Finally, a first competition (played as a single round robin between six clubs, with Ajax and Zeelandia replacing Blauw-Wit and Voorwaarts) was successfully completed in the first half of 1923. Within two months, a new league involving 8 clubs (Blauw-Wit and Voorwaarts returning to the fold and Imperator replacing Zeelandia) was started, alongside a second class competition involving five clubs. Transvaal earned promotion from the Tweede Klasse while Olympia again won the top level competition, but then decided to join a new federation, the K.V.B. (Katholieke Voetbalbond), founded on August 10, 1924, before the start of the 1925 league, which was won by newly promoted Transvaal.
Until the second World War, the S.V.B. and the K.V.B. (renamed N.G.V.B., Nederlandsch Guyana Voetbalbond, on January 1st, 1930) organised separate leagues and friendlies with visiting teams (in particular from Curaçao, Aruba, Demerara (British Guyana) and Trinidad). However, only the S.V.B. obtained real international recognition when it was granted affiliation to the F.I.F.A. on 17 May 1929 at the congress in Madrid, five years after the Dutch East Indies association N.I.V.B. In contrast, the N.G.V.B. had to settle for entering the Walcott Cup, a series of (nearly) annual meeting with the B.G.F.A., the federation of British Guyana.
During the second World War football was interrupted; in 1942 the M.V.O. (Militaire Voetbal Organisatie) temporarily took over the tasks of the S.V.B., but organised a competition with military teams only. In 1944, the M.V.O. and S.V.B. merged. The N.G.V.B. had been dissolved at the start of the war, and clubs such as Leo Victor who had been N.G.V.B. members entered the S.V.B. However, after the N.G.V.B. was refounded in July 1947, Leo Victor (among others) joined that federation again, until the merger of S.V.B. and N.G.V.B. in 1954. Some of the N.G.V.B. clubs that thereupon joined the S.V.B. in 1955 were Leo Victor, N.A.K.S., Sonny Boys and Bintang Merah. The N.G.V.B., now an acronym for Nieuwe Generatie Voetbalbond, still exists as a subfederation (onderbond) of the S.V.B.

        Champions               Runners-up

NB: seasons are indicate by the year they actually started and
    (if differently) finished, as far as it has been possible
    to recover those dates from contemporary newspapers; these
    do not necessarily correspond with the official denominations
    of the seasons by the S.V.B.

S.S.B.
1919    Blauw Wit               U.D.I.
S.V.B.
1921      not finished
1921/22   not finished
1923    Olympia                 Ajax
1923/24 Olympia                 Blauw-Wit
1925    Transvaal           [*] Excelsior
1926/27 Ajax                    M.V.V.
1927-29 Ajax
1929    Ajax
1930/31 Blauw-Wit-Excelsior [+]   not defined
1932    Cicerone
1933    Cicerone
1934    Cicerone                Voorwaarts
1935    Cicerone                Go Ahead
1936    Voorwaarts
1937    Transvaal
1937/38 Transvaal
1938/39 Arsenal
1939/40 Arsenal
1940/41 Voorwaarts
1942-45   no competition
1946    M.V.V.               
1947-50 M.V.V.                  Robinhood
1950    Transvaal               Robinhood
1950/51 Transvaal               Robinhood
1951/52 Voorwaarts              
1953    Robinhood        
1954/55 Robinhood
1955    Robinhood
1956    Robinhood
1957/58 Voorwaarts              Robinhood
1958      not awarded       [!]   
1959    Robinhood               Sonny Boys
1960      annulled
1961    Leo Victor          2-1 Transvaal
1962    Transvaal
1963/64 Leo Victor          1-0 Robinhood
1964    Robinhood               Transvaal
1965/66 Transvaal               Robinhood
1966    Transvaal
1967    Transvaal               Robinhood
1968    Transvaal               Robinhood
1969    Transvaal
1970    Transvaal           5-3 Robinhood
1971    Robinhood               Transvaal
1972      no competition
1973    Transvaal
1974    Transvaal
1975/76 Robinhood               Transvaal
1976    Robinhood
1977    Voorwaarts          3-1 Transvaal
1978    Leo Victor          3-2 Robinhood           [aet]
1979    Robinhood
1980    Robinhood
1981    Robinhood
1982/83 Leo Victor              Robinhood    
1983    Robinhood
1984/85 Robinhood
1985/86 Robinhood
1986    Robinhood
1987    Robinhood
1988    Robinhood               Transvaal
1989    Robinhood
1990/91 Transvaal
1991/92 Transvaal               Robinhood
1992/93 Leo Victor              Robinhood
1993/94 Robinhood           4-3 Leo Victor
1994/95 Robinhood               Corona Boys
1995/96 Transvaal               Prekash
1997    Transvaal               Robinhood
1998/99 S.N.L.                  Robinhood
1999/00 Transvaal               S.N.L.
2000/01   no competition
2001/02 Voorwaarts              S.N.L.
2002/03 FCS Nacional            Robinhood
2003/04 Walking Bout Company    Inter Moengotapoe  
2004/05 Robinhood               Royal'95
2005/06 Walking Bout Company    Robinhood
2006/07 Inter Moengotapoe       Leo Victor
2007/08 Inter Moengotapoe       Robinhood
2008/09 Walking Bout Company    Leo Victor
2009/10 Inter Moengotapoe       Walking Bout Company 
2010/11 Inter Moengotapoe       Walking Bout Company 

[*] Transvaal had won the 1924 Tweede Klasse (first ever season);
    after winning the league in 1925 they were relegated (along 
    with Excelsior) after the 1926/27 competition; however, their
    relegation was revoked in April 1927, before the start of the
    1927/28 league.
[+] Blauw-Wit-Excelsior were formed on 3 Dec 1929 when Blauw-Wit
    and Excelsior merged.
[!] Some sources credit the 1958 title to Transvaal; they were to
    play a championship decider replay against Robinhood which the
    latter refused to honour; according to contemporary papers the
    title was not awarded.

Number of Titles (75)

NB: does not include 1919 competition organised by S.S.B.;
    does include the 1923 single round robin league.

 22 Robinhood (Paramaribo)           [1]

 19 Transvaal (Paramaribo)           [2]

  6 Voorwaarts (Paramaribo)

  5 Leo Victor (Paramaribo) 

  4 Cicerone (Paramaribo) 
    Inter Moengotapoe (Moengo)
    
  3 Ajax (Paramaribo) 
    Walking Bout Company (Paramaribo) 

  2 Arsenal (Paramaribo) 
    M.V.V. (Paramaribo) 
    Olympia (Paramaribo) 
    
  1 Blauw-Wit-Excelsior (Paramaribo) 
    FCS Nacional (Paramaribo) 
    S.N.L. (Paramaribo)

[1] according to some sources, Robinhood won 23 league titles; in addition
    to the 22 listed above, it is claimed they won a title in 1961. This is 
    incorrect.
    The 1960 league championship, in which Robinhood were sharing the lead
    with Leo Victor, was abandoned in August 1960 and not resumed; no title 
    was awarded.
    In the 1961 season, won by Leo Victor after a championship playoff against 
    Transvaal on Dec 29, Robinhood finished 4th.
[2] according to some sources, Transvaal won 20 league titles; in addition
    to the 19 listed above, they are credited with the 1958 edition; see
    remark [!] on 1958 above.

About this document

Sources: [FIF 31], [Stu 90], newspapers (mostly available through the Koninklijke Bibliotheek): Suriname, Het Nieuws, Nieuw Suriname

Prepared and maintained by Allard Doesburg and Hans Schöggl for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Authors: Allard Doesburg (allard_doesburg@hetnet.nl) and Hans Schöggl
Last updated: 20 Jan 2012

(C) Copyright Allard Doesburg, Hans Schöggl and RSSSF 1998/2012
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All rights reserved.