Noorthey, the birthplace of football in the Netherlands

Camping Noorthey stands on historic ground – more precisely, the birthplace of football in the Netherlands! It was here that a football was first kicked around, in Veur, as this part of Leidschendam was then called. Right near this spot, pupils of the Noorthey boys’ boarding school were already playing football in 1864. In their own way, but recognisable as the football we play today.

Noorthey boarding school (1820–1882) taught under the motto ‘den frisschen geest’: a healthy mind in a healthy body. Alongside learning and knowledge, sport and exercise were important activities.

Founder Petrus de Raadt (1796–1862) bought the country estate Schakenbosch from the Rotterdam Noorthey family, giving the school its name. De Raadt brought the best teachers to Noorthey, good enough for, for example, the eldest son of King William III. He lived between 1840 and 1879 and was perhaps the most famous pupil ever at Noorthey. Teachers sometimes even came from abroad, England for instance. And with them came the ‘foreign’ sports: cricket, hockey, football. The teachers joined in, to the pupils’ delight. This is how the pupils quickly became familiar with these sports, new to the Dutch at the time.

Nothing remains of the buildings and fields of Noorthey. The ‘Noorthey Society’, however, is still active and keeps the history of this special school very much alive.

When our mini campsite started in 1994, it was therefore an obvious choice to keep the historic name Noorthey. This way, the name that has echoed here for centuries lives on.

Today we welcome campers here who come to enjoy the peace, the greenery and the special surroundings. And perhaps that is the most beautiful thing about the name Noorthey: a name with a long history, in a place where new memories are made again and again.