The Dutch "Paradox" in the History of Indonesian Football (Part IV)

Then in February 1893, the club from Penang returned to Medan to have another match with Gymnastiek Vereeniging. However, the club from Penang managed to win two football matches with a score of 7-0 and 4-2. And then, Football activities in Gymnastiek Vereeniging stopped, partly due to the emergence of a Bicycle Club called Deli Wielrders Club in 1893.

After the establishment of the Gymnastiek Vereniging Club, there has been no clear record of major football activities in the Dutch East Indies, at least until 1899. Because in the same year on June 1, another football club from Medan was established with the name Oostkust Sport Club Sumatra ( OSCS) in Medan, commonly known as Sport Club or SOK. And next, in 1928 another sports club was established on the island of Sumatra, namely Sport Vereniging Minang (SVM), in the city of Padang.

While on the island of Java, in historical records, football first appeared when the Bataviasche Cricket-Football Club "Rood-Wit" was founded on September 28, 1893 in Batavia (now Jakarta). Rood-Wit, is a Sports Club which also consists of a Football Team and a Cricket Team. Rood-Wit was then officially recognized its status in May 1894 by the Dutch East Indies Colonial Government.

And then in 1894 too, John Edgar and his friends founded a club with the name Victoria, at Hoogere Burgerschool (HBS) Surabaya. Then there is Sparta, a club that is also from the city of Surabaya, which was founded in 1895, a year after the birth of Victoria. Victoria herself made her first match against Sparta in June 1896, with a final score of 6-1 for Victoria's victory.

Whereas before the era of the Dutch East Indies Union Competition, in 1910 a soccer tournament called Droogdokbeker was held in Batavia, which was mostly attended by soldiers in the Dutch East Indies, both from Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger (KNIL) and Koninklijk Leger (KL). This tournament was stopped when an officer issued a regulation that forbade Soldiers from competing against Soldiers of different ranks.

And for the Local Football Competition in the Dutch East Indies, first held in Surabaya in 1902, then in Batavia in 1904, and in Medan in 1907. Local balls already running are often stopped and then dismissed.

In the NIVU era, the Dutch East Indies had even been a contestant for the World Cup in France in 1938. This also made the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) the first World Cup contestant from Asia. At that time there were 3 main football federations in the Dutch East Indies, namely NIVU, PSSI (Indigenous Football Federation) and HNVB (Chinese Ethnic Football Federation). And what was recognized by FIFA at that time was only NIVU.

Then since the arrival of Japanese troops from 1942-1945, NIVU practically disbanded. However, after Japan surrendered, in 1945-1950 NIVU returned again under the name ISNIS. After 1950, with the recognition of Indonesian independence by the United Nations, FIFA in 1952 recognized PSSI as the parent organization of football in Indonesia.


If we want to trace it even further, on November 16, 1887, the Dutch East Indies colonial government once established a sports club in the city of Medan, with the name Gymnastiek Vereeniging. Inside the Gymnastiek Vereeniging itself, apart from the Football Team there is also a Cricket Team. At that time, Cricket was a more famous Sport than Football.

In addition to the Football Team and Cricket Team, Gymnastiek Vereeniging itself has a Tennis Team, Gymnastics Team, and Athletic Team. This football team at the Gymnastiek Vereeniging Club is recorded in history, as the first football club in the Dutch East Indies.

In the early 1890s, Gymnastiek Vereniging was recorded as having hosted a Sports Club from Penang (Malaysia) for Football and Cricket Matches. The cricket match was held in the morning and was won by the Penang team, while in the afternoon it was followed by a football match which resulted in a draw.