1940-1969
During World War II Feijenoord played their matches at Sparta Rotterdam's Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel, as the Nazis had occupied De Kuip. When Het Kasteel was unavailable due to clashes with Sparta fixtues, Feijenoord played at their former ground, the Kromme Zandweg.
Feijenoord's again won a division title with a national championship in 1940, their fifth Dutch title. During the German occupation of the Netherlands from 1940 to 1945 play continued in Dutch football leagues, though the 1945 championship was cancelled as the war came to its conclusion. During this period Feijenoord did not win any trophies other than a divisional championship in 1943. After the war Feijenoord did not perform as well as they had in previous decades, not seriously challenging in their division and so missing the national playoff rounds. More generally, the war had a devastating effect on the city and its citizens and there seemed to be less enthusiasm for football.
With the city of Rotterdam still rebuilding after the war the club was unable to compete for trophies. Feijenoord's chairman Cor Kieboom organised a meeting on 30 June 1954 in Utrecht together with the chairman of the other Rotterdam teams, Jos Coler (Sparta) and Henk van Zon (Excelsior). At the meeting several chairmen of other clubs showed up as well as a delegation of the KNVB to discuss the start of professional football in the Netherlands. Despite the presence of several sceptics, Kieboon pushed the idea of professionalism through, resulting in the first Eredivisie season in 1954/1955. Feijenoord was one of the clubs participating in the inaugural Eredivisie and have never been relegated. One of the most memorable matches in these first years of professional football was the clash between Feijenoord and De Volewijckers at 2 April 1956, which Feijenoord won 11-4 with nine goals by Henk Schouten. He even scored a tenth time, but this goal was disallowed. The first memorable Klassieker from a Feijenoord point of view took place at 11 November 1956 when Daan den Bleijker scored four times to give Feijenoord a 7-3 win over their arch rivals. On 27 November 1957 46,000 supporters travelled to De Kuip for the first match at night in the stadium. In a match against Bolton Wanderers FC, which was lost 3-0 Feijenoord introduced their newly built floodlight system.
Feijenoord claimed their first professional Eredivisie Championship and their sixth Dutch Championship in history in 1961. On the road to the title Ajax were beaten 9-5 in De Kuip, four of Feijenoord's goals were scored by Henk Schouten. The following season, they played their first European Cup match facing IFK Göteborg. The Swedes were beaten 0-3 in Gothenburg and 8-2 in Rotterdam. Feijenoord were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur in the following round. In 1962 Feijenoord successfully defended their Dutch Championship title and reached the final of the Intertoto Cup 1961-62 by beating SK Hradec Králové and FC Baník Ostrava in the quarter and semi-finals. Feijenoord faced arch-rivals Ajax in the final, which was won by the Amsterdam team 4-2.
On 12 December 1962 Feyenoord played a decisive match versus Vasas SC in the second round of the European Cup 1962-63. The first two legs, in Rotterdam and Budapest both ended in 1-0 home victories, and a replay on a neutral ground took place. The match was played in Antwerp, Belgium and 30,000 Feijenoord fans travelled by bus to see their team play. For the third time the final score was 1-0, with the only goal scored by Rinus Bennaars who was immediately nicknamed "The hero of Deurne" (the neighbourhood in Antwerp where the match was played). The events in Antwerp resulted in an enduring friendly relationship between the fans of Feyenoord and Royal Antwerp FC.
In 1963 hundreds of thousands of people stood ashore by the Nieuwe Maas and the Nieuwe Waterweg to wave two ships, deGroote Beer and the Waterman goodbye. The ships transported thousands of Feijenoord fans to Lisbon where the club faced SL Benfica on 8 May 1963 in the European Cup semi-finals. The first leg, held in Rotterdam a month earlier, finished 0-0. Feijenoord eventually lost the match against Benfica 3-1, but this turned out to be the start of the most successful period in the club's history. Feijenoord won the double for the first time in their history in 1965 and managed to win another double a few years later in 1969. The 1965 title secured Feijenoord a spot in the European Cup 1965-66 where they faced multiple cup champions Real Madrid on 8 September 1965 in the preliminaries. During the match Hans Kraay had to leave the pitch injured after 31 minutes, without being substituted. He returned at the start of the second half and scored the goal which resulted in a 2-1 win. Later during the match fans' favourite Coen Moulijn was attacked roughly by a Spanish defender. Moulijn then chased the defender all over the pitch. Several other players did the same, as did some fans who entered the pitch. The referee could do nothing but suspend the match at 2-1 in Feijenoord's favour. Two weeks later Real comfortably beat Feyenoord 5-0, and eventually won the European Cup that season.
Read more about this topic: History Of Feyenoord Rotterdam