The Traditional Top Three Does Not Exist (Anymore)
11/04/2015
Feyenoord positions themselves outside the top three
The way
Feyenoord addressed the recent cop match against Ajax did not give the impression they considered it a match between two top teams. Feyenoord acted the same as clubs like Utrecht and ADO Den Haag when Ajax would visit them. As a defense for this behavior people in the media mentioned that Feyenoord had not been able to beat Ajax for so long, and had not competed for the prizes so long. This is a reason for us to find out whether the tradition top three still exists, or even ever existed.
What does it mean, a traditional top three?
When can we consider there to be a traditional top three? For this to be the case two conditions have to be met. First there should be quantitative methods (we will consider the number of domestic championships and the number of games won at the highest domestic level) for which the teams rank with the first three, second there should be a larger gap between numbers 3 and 4 than between 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 4 and 5 and 5 and 6, because otherwise there would be a traditional top1, 2 , 4 or 5.
We will consider 4 periods, from the introduction of soccer in the Netherlands, from the start of the Eredivisie, the last 30 seasons and the last 10 seasons. The current season is left out of these comparisons.
The Numbers
Championships
Since Introduction of Soccer
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| Ajax | 33 | 11 |
| PSV | 22 | 8 |
| Feyenoord | 14 | 4 |
| HVV | 10 | 4 |
| Sparta | 6 | 1 |
Won Matches
Since Introduction of Soccer
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| Ajax | 1748 | 215 |
| PSV | 1523 | 21 |
| Feyenoord | 1512 | 401 |
| Sparta | 1111 | 174 |
| NAC | 937 | 127 |
Championships
Since Start Eredivisie
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| Ajax | 25 | 6 |
| PSV | 19 | 10 |
| Feyenoord | 9 | 7 |
| AZ | 2 | 1 |
| DWS/DOS/Sparta/FC Twente | 1 | 0 |
Won Matches
Since Start Eredivisie
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| Ajax | 1310 | 112 |
| PSV | 1198 | 75 |
| Feyenoord | 1123 | 381 |
| FC Twente | 742 | 139 |
| Sparta | 603 | 47 |
Championships
Last 30 Year
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| PSV | 15 | 4 |
| Ajax | 11 | 9 |
| Feyenoord | 2 | 1 |
| AZ | 1 | 0 |
| FC Twente | 1 | 1 |
Won Matches
Last 30 Year
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| PSV | 688 | 16 |
| Ajax | 672 | 133 |
| Feyenoord | 539 | 86 |
| FC Twente | 453 | 65 |
| Roda JC | 388 | 25 |
Championships
Last 10 Year
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| Ajax | 4 | 0 |
| PSV | 4 | 3 |
| AZ | 1 | 0 |
| FC Twente | 1 | 1 |
Won Matches
Last 10 Year
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| PSV | 222 | 5 |
| Ajax | 217 | 36 |
| FC Twente | 181 | 4 |
| AZ | 177 | 3 |
| Feyenoord | 174 | 30 |
Does the Traditional Top Three Still Exist?
If we go back to the start of the Eredivisie or even back to the introduction of soccer in the Netherlands we could conclude, on basis of the number of won matches at the highest level, that there indeed is a traditional top three of Ajax, Feyenoord and
PSV. If we however would look back to the number of championships there is more evidence for a top two, Ajax and PSV, which is only getting more obvious when we look back only to the past 30 or 10 seasons. The last 30 years Feyenoord is still third on the lists, but the gap between number 2 and 3 is much larger than the gap between 3 and 4. If we look at the last 10 year, Feyenoord is outside the top three, both based on championships (0) and games won.
More Numbers
Championships
Before Eredivisie
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| HVV | 10 | 2 |
| Ajax | 8 | 3 |
| Feyenoord | 5 | 0 |
| Sparta | 5 | 0 |
| RAP | 5 | 1 |
Won Matches
Before Eredivisie
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| Sparta | 508 | 70 |
| Ajax | 438 | 15 |
| HBS | 423 | 1 |
| NAC | 422 | 1 |
| Go Ahead | 421 | 16 |
Championships
Until 1984-85
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| Ajax | 22 | 10 |
| Feyenoord | 12 | 2 |
| HVV | 10 | 3 |
| PSV | 7 | 1 |
| Sparta | 6 | 1 |
Won Matches
Until 1984-85
| Club | Amount | Difference |
| Ajax | 1076 | 103 |
| Feyenoord | 973 | 72 |
| Sparta | 901 | 56 |
| PSV | 845 | 145 |
| NAC | 700 | 25 |
Did the traditional top three ever exist?
Has there been a period that there was clearly a top three? To determine this we looked at two other periods, before the start of the Eredivisie and until season 1984-85. Based on these two periods there is also no convincing indication that there is a top three. On the contrary, PSV is not part of any of the top 3 lists, as they achieved thre results more recently.
Conclusion
On basis of the numbers we can go either way, but perhaps for now it is better to start referring to a traditional top two of Ajax and PSV, until Feyenoord shows us they belong in the top list again, and they no longer go crazy when they are able to win against one of the top sides.