Early history The first attempt to hold a knock-out competition open to all clubs in the Netherlands was made in 1894, with the winners receiving a trophy offered by H.M.C. Holdert, former president of
V.V.A. (Amsterdam). Seven teams entered and the first ever cup match in the Netherlands was thus held on 11 February, between
Haarlem and
HFC, ending in a 3–1 win to the latter. Initially, it was decided to stage a competition for this new trophy already in the ongoing 1897–98 season, but the board had to cancel it after a prolonged stretch of bad weather in the first weeks of February had led to numerous match postponements in the western leagues. In 1946, the trophy was changed to one made out of silver, which was extremely rare in the immediate aftermath of
World War II. That trophy remains in use today.
Recent history In 2018, a trophy colored in gold was commissioned to commemorate the 100th edition of the tournament.
Name changes Like many national cup competitions, the name of the tournament has changed with sponsorship. From 1995, the competition went from being the
KNVB Beker to being known as the
Amstel Cup after the then sponsor
Amstel. On 16 August 2005, the name was changed to the
Gatorade Cup after the drinks company
Gatorade. In 2006, the name returned to being the
KNVB Beker with Gatorade remaining as the principal sponsor. On 12 January 2018, it was announced that TOTO would become the title sponsor of the KNVB Cup through the 2021–22 season, immediately rebranding the competition as the
TOTO KNVB Beker.
European competition Up until 1998, the winner of the cup entered into the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but with the abandonment of that tournament, the winner now goes into the
UEFA Europa League. If the winning team has finished in the top two of the
Eredivisie and thus gained entry into the
UEFA Champions League, the berth will be redistributed to that season's Eredivisie. In 1998, both KNVB Cup finalists,
Ajax and
PSV, gained entry in the Champions League, so a third-place play-off was played between the beaten semi-finalists,
SC Heerenveen and
FC Twente, to determine who would take the Cup Winners' Cup place. ==Past finals==