Based in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. Cambuur have moved between the top two tiers for decades; establishing themselves in the Eredivisie has been the long-standing challenge.

2025-26 was their third straight season in the second tier — and the one in which they took the second automatic promotion place.

Cambuur finished second on 78 points in the Eerste Divisie, behind champions ADO Den Haag (89), going up without needing the play-offs.

Henk de Jong is the head coach — a manager deeply rooted in Friesland and trusted as a club figurehead.

Capacity 15,000. Filling a ground of that size in a city of roughly 120,000 people is one of the club's real assets.

Friesland has a strong sense of its own language and identity, and the club functions as a symbol of it — the atmosphere here is distinctive even by Dutch standards.

Thijs Jansen (#1), a 192cm goalkeeper from Rotterdam who came through Feyenoord, is between the posts. In midfield, 21-year-old Rafik El Arguioui (#45) reached double figures for goals in the promotion season.

Up front are Skye Vink (187cm), a Jong Ajax product, and French winger Ilyes Hamache, previously with Lille and Schalke. Jamal Amofa, an Eredivisie regular with ADO Den Haag and Go Ahead Eagles, anchors the defence.