Derby of the North

Derby of the North

Groningen v Heerenveen, February 2007.
Native name	Derby van het Noorden
Location	Northern Netherlands: Groningen and Friesland
Teams	FC Groningen SC Heerenveen
First meeting	Heerenveen 4–1 Groningen 1974–75 Eerste Divisie (17 November 1974)
Latest meeting	Heerenveen 2–1 Groningen 2024–25 Eredivisie (22 September 2024)
Next meeting	24 January 2025 2024–25 Eredivisie
Statistics
Most wins	SC Heerenveen (32)
Largest victory	Groningen 5–0 Heerenveen 1979–80 Eerste Divisie (11 November 1979)

The Derby of the North (Dutch: Derby van het Noorden) is a match between the Dutch football clubs FC Groningen and SC Heerenveen. Since the dissolution of SC Veendam in 2013, there are only four professional football clubs in the three northern provinces of the Netherlands (Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe): FC Groningen, SC Heerenveen, SC Cambuur and FC Emmen. Although Heerenveen have an older and fiercer rivalry with Cambuur, the only game referred to as the Derby of the North is Groningen versus Heerenveen. This is due to Groningen and Heerenveen being seen as representing the provinces of Groningen and Friesland, whereas Cambuur is only regarded as the team of the city of Leeuwarden.

Groningen and Heerenveen have the biggest following of the four northern teams and are regulars in the first-tier Eredivisie. Cambuur have played in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier, for most of their existence. Emmen, Drenthe's only professional football team, made their debut in the Eredivisie in 2018–19. FC Groningen draws a lot of support from the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe.^[1]