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 first competition in September 1911 organised by the Vereeniging van Nationale Feesten, with three participants, won by Juliana, who repeated their triumph one year later.
On April 14, 1914, the S.V.B. (Surinaamsche Voetbal Bond) was founded; it started a league competition in December 1914 (abandoned after a month due to the enforced departure of most members of the two military clubs participating) and organised two matches, in August 1915, against a representative team from Georgetown (Demerara, British Guiana). It was dissolved in 1917.
In December 1918, the S.S.B. (Surinaamsche Sport Bond) was founded, which initiated a 4-team league (involving U.D.I., Go Ahead, Excelsior and Paramaribo) in January 1919, in order to prepare players for a match against British Guiana; however, the league was abandoned at the half-way stage when the visit from the neighbouring colony was cancelled (instead, a B.G.F.A. selection came in 1921). Later that year, the Commissie van Nationale Feesten organised a knock-out tournament on the occasion of the birthday of Koningin Wilhelmina, won by Blauw-Wit.

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 four matches due to a financial conflict. A new attempt was made in the fall of 1921, by the same six clubs, but this competition also came to a premature end, for much the same reasons, and the S.V.B. board resigned in December 1921.
After this double failure, two league competitions were completed under the supervision of the R.K.S.C. (Roomsch Katholiek Sport Comité) in 1922 (at the occasion of the festivities surrounding the Queen's Birthday; it involved only three clubs and lasted just one week) and 1923 (with six clubs), both won by Olympia; as the S.V.B. were not involved, these are not considered official titles.
Upon the completion of a new ground, at the Cultuurtuin, a resurrected S.V.B. finally completed a league competition in the 1923/24 season, played as a double round robin and alongside a second class competition involving five clubs. Olympia won its third successive title, but then decided to join a new federation, the K.V.B. (Katholieke Voetbalbond), founded on 10 August 1924; because of this, second class winners Transvaal, who had lost the playoff for promotion against Zwaluw, the bottom club of the top level, were promoted after all, and promptly won the 1925 league.

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 Guiana) 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.
Afterwards, the N.G.V.B. had to settle for meetings with the B.G.F.A., the federation of British Guiana (usually referred to as Demerara), with which it contested both the Walcott Cup (1925-1938) and the Amo Amateur Cup (1929-1948).
In February 1932, a third football federation was founded in Paramaribo (then a town with about 50,000 inhabitants), the U.V.V. (Unie van Voetbal Vereenigingen). This organisation included former S.V.B. champions Ajax and Blauw-Wit-Excelsior and organised a league competition in 1932/33 won by Ajax; among the other participants was a club called N.A.K.S. – a homonymous but probably unrelated club later won the N.G.V.B. league in 1953/54 and played at the top level of the S.V.B. in the early sixties. The U.V.V. was dissolved in August 1934.

Until (long after) World War II, the league was restricted to clubs from the capital Paramaribo, but local or regional football federations were set up in other parts of the country, with Moengo, Nickerie and Coronie leading the way. The S.V.B. organised a "Championship of the Colony" between five of these district federations in Paramaribo in 1934. Moengo and Paramaribo irregularly competed for the Lewis Cup.

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, the Koningin Wilhelminabeker. 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 some of its member clubs entered the S.V.B. However, after the N.G.V.B. was refounded in July 1947, most of these joined that federation again, until the merger of S.V.B. and N.G.V.B. in 1955. The N.G.V.B., now abbreviating Nieuwe Generatie Voetbalbond, still exists as a member federation (lidbond) of the S.V.B.
At the occasion of its golden jubilee, on 3 October 1970 the S.V.B. was granted the privilege to add "Koninklijke" to its name by Koningin Juliana, and until Suriname became independent at the end of 1975 the federation was called K.S.V.B.


Season  Champions                              Runners-Up

NB: seasons are indicated by the year they actually started and (if different)
    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.;
    if a result is indicated between the champions and runners-up, they
    finished equal on points and played off for the championship.

S.V.B. (1914-1917)
1914/15   not finished
S.S.B.
1919      not finished
S.V.B.
1921      two competitions started, neither finished
R.K.S.C.
1922    Olympia                                Excelsior
1923    Olympia                                Ajax
S.V.B.
1923/24 Olympia                                Blauw-Wit
1925    Transvaal [*]                          Excelsior
1926    Ajax                                   M.V.V.
1927      not held
1928    Ajax
1929      not finished
1930/31 Blauw-Wit-Excelsior [+]                  not defined
1932    Cicerone                               Voorwaarts
1933    Cicerone                               Voorwaarts
1934    Cicerone                               Voorwaarts
1935    Cicerone                                 not defined
1936/37 Voorwaarts                             Cicerone
1937    Transvaal                          3-1 Voorwaarts
1938      not held
1939/40 Arsenal                                  not defined
1940/41 Voorwaarts                         2-1 Transvaal
1941/42   not finished
1942-45   no competition
1946    M.V.V.               
1947-50 M.V.V.                                 Robinhood
1950/51 Transvaal                              Robinhood
1952    Voorwaarts                             Robinhood              
1953    Robinhood                              M.V.V.
1954/55 Robinhood                              Voorwaarts
1955      S.V.B. competition abandoned after merger with N.G.V.B.
1955/56 Robinhood                              Voorwaarts
1956    Robinhood
1957/58 Voorwaarts                             Robinhood
1958      not awarded [!]
1959    Robinhood                              Sonny Boys
1960      annulled
1961    Leo Victor                         2-1 Transvaal
1962    Transvaal                              Leo Victor
1963/64 Leo Victor                         1-0 Robinhood
1964    Robinhood                              Transvaal
1965    Transvaal                              Robinhood
1966    Transvaal
1967    Transvaal                              M.V.V.
1968    Transvaal                              Robinhood
1969    Transvaal                              M.V.V.
1970    Transvaal                      5-1 0-2 Robinhood
K.S.V.B.
1971    Robinhood                              Transvaal
1972      no competition due to renovation work on Suriname stadion
1973/74 Transvaal                              Robinhood
1974    Transvaal                              Robinhood
1975/76 Robinhood                              Voorwaarts
S.V.B.
1976/77 Robinhood                              Voorwaarts
1977/78 Voorwaarts                     2-1 1-0 Transvaal
1978    Leo Victor                         3-2 Robinhood                          [aet]
1979/80 Robinhood                              Transvaal
1980/81 Robinhood                              Transvaal
1981/82 Robinhood                              Transvaal
1982/83 Leo Victor                         1-1 Robinhood                          [aet, 4-3 pen]
1983/84 Robinhood                              Transvaal
1984    Robinhood                              Transvaal
1985/86 Robinhood                              Transvaal
1986    Robinhood                              Paloeloe
1987/88 Robinhood                              Leo Victor   
1988    Robinhood                              Transvaal
1989/90 Robinhood                              Transvaal
1990/91 Transvaal                          0-0 Robinhood                          [aet, 4-3 pen]
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 
2011/12 Robinhood                              Inter Moengotapoe        
2012/13 Inter Moengotapoe                      Notch
2013/14 Inter Moengotapoe                      Excelsior (Meerzorg)
2014/15 Inter Moengotapoe                      Notch
2015/16 Inter Moengotapoe                      Transvaal
2016/17 Inter Moengotapoe                  2-1 Leo Victor
2017/18 Robinhood                              Notch
2018/19 Inter Moengotapoe                      Robinhood         
2019/20   not finished
2020/21   not held
2022    Robinhood                              Inter Moengotapoe           
2023    Robinhood                              Inter Moengotapoe           
2024          

[*] Transvaal had won the 1924 Tweede Klasse (first ever season).
[+] 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 (80)

 26 Robinhood (Paramaribo)           [1]

 17 Transvaal (Paramaribo)           [2]

 10 Inter Moengotapoe (Moengo)

  6 Voorwaarts (Paramaribo)

  5 Leo Victor (Paramaribo) 

  4 Cicerone (Paramaribo)            [3]
    
  3 Walking Bout Company (Paramaribo) 

  2 Ajax (Paramaribo)                [4]
    M.V.V. (Paramaribo)             
    
  1 Arsenal (Paramaribo)             [5]
    Blauw-Wit-Excelsior (Paramaribo) 
    FCS Nacional (Paramaribo) 
    Olympia (Paramaribo)             [does not include 1922 and 1923 R.K.S.C. titles]
    S.N.L. (Paramaribo)

[1] according to some sources, Robinhood won 27 league titles; in addition to the 26
    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 17
    listed above, they are incorrectly credited with titles in 1938 (when no league
    was held), 1950 (but no league was held between 1947-50 edition won by M.V.V.
    in January 1950 and the 1950/51 edition which started in June 1950) and 1958
    (see remark [!]).
[3] Cicerone won their four titles in the four seasons following their promotion to
    the Eerste Klasse in 1931.
[4] Ajax are sometimes credited with four consecutive titles between 1926 and 1929,
    but no league was played in 1927 and the 1929 season was not finished.
[5] Arsenal are sometimes credited with two titles, in 1939 and 1940, but in fact
    they won only one league title, in a season which started in March 1939 and
    finished in April 1940.

About this document

Sources: [FIF 31], [Sam 53], [Stu 90], many Paramaribo newspapers (available through Delpher (formerly site of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek))

Thanks to Allard Doesburg and Hans Schöggl for an earlier version of this file

Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Author: Karel Stokkermans (karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 14 Feb 2024

(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 1998/2024
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.