1894–1960

The club was founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out by Be Quick 1887 youth player Bruins Oving, who was lodging in Veendam, Carel Herman Steenhuisen and other young players from Veendam.^[1][2] Their first pitch was opposite coaching inn ’t Vosje at De Langeleegte.^[3] In 1905, the club and another Veendam-based team, Vitesse, merged; the name Look-Out was retained. After Princess Juliana was born in 1909, Look-Out was changed to P.J. Veendam, although the club removed the abbreviation “P.J.” the following year.^[4] Veendam were one of the founder members of the regional first tier Eerste Klasse Noord in 1916 but finished bottom of the league of seven teams in their inaugural season.^[5] In 1919, Veendam merged with Jupiter, a club from a working-class background; the name Veendam was retained.^[2] After several mid-table finishes, the team finished runners-up in 1929–30 and 1930–31, before winning their first and only Eerste Klasse Noord title in 1931–32.^[5] Veendam qualified for the national championship play-offs. The side played Ajax, Feijenoord, SC Enschede and PSV; they won one game (away at PSV), lost seven matches and were ranked in bottom place.^[2][6]

As a result of the successful spell, Veendam winger Jaap Woltjes was called up for the Dutch national team for a friendly against English side Nottingham Forest in 1936; Woltjes came on as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat.^[2] Although Veendam recorded a second place finish in the 1935–36 Eerste Klasse Noord, the team began to slide down the league table; they were eventually relegated to the Tweede Klasse in 1947–48.^[5] In 1950, the club signed its first manager, Wim Vaal. Veendam returned to the Eerste Klasse in 1954.^[2] During the same year, the club turned professional. The Veendam players earned 15 guilders per win (the equivalent of €52 as of 2023^{[lower-alpha 1]}), 10 per draw and 5 per loss; the players also received 5 guilders per week if they took part in 3 training sessions.^[7] In 1956, the first tier Eredivisie, the second tier Eerste Divisie and the third tier Tweede Divisie were established; Veendam were founder members of the Tweede Divisie and placed fourth during the initial season.^[8][9] The side were promoted to the Eerste Divisie as runners-up in 1958–59.^[10]

1960–1990

Dick Nanninga (pictured in 1978) made his professional debut with Veendam in 1973

In 1961, the club reorganized its structure as it established three boards: for the professional department, the amateurs and the youth.^[7] During this period, several Veendam players received employment at the local DWM potato starch factory.^[2] Veendam were relegated to the Tweede Divisie in 1964–65 but won promoted back to the second tier in 1967–68.^[11][12] The club appointed 26-year-old Leo Beenhakker as manager in 1968; he remained in post until 1972 and later managed Ajax and Real Madrid.^[13] In 1974, the club’s professional and amateur departments split; the professional side continued under the name SC Veendam.^[7] During the 1977–78 KNVB Cup, the team defeated Feyenoord 2–1 in the third round and reached the quarter-finals, in which Veendam were eliminated 4–2 on aggregate by Excelsior.^[14] Two Dutch international strikers made their professional debuts with Veendam during this period: Dick Nanninga in 1973 and Jurrie Koolhof in 1978.^[15]

Veendam came close to bankruptcy in 1984 but a deficit of 2,5 million guilders (the equivalent of €2000000 as of 2023^{[lower-alpha 1]}) was eliminated. During the same year, former Veendam player Henk Nienhuis became the club’s manager.^[16] Under his tenure, Veendam won promotion to the Eredivisie for the first time in 1985–86.^[17] The team finished the season in fourth place and qualified for the promotion play-offs; Veendam were victorious in all six matches and won promotion to the top flight.^[18] Around 12,500 spectators were in attendance at De Langeleegte in the decisive game against Willem II (1–0 win, goal from Boy Nijgh). Nienhuis’ squad was mostly composed of former FC Groningen players, such as Joop Gall, Pieter Huistra and Harris Huizingh.^[17] Veendam finished 17th out of 18 sides in 1986–87 and were relegated back to the second tier.^[19] The team ranked second and won promotion to the Eredivisie in 1987–88; Veendam finished in bottom place and were again relegated after one season in the Eredivisie.^[20][21]

1990–2013

In the 1995–96 Eerste Divisie, the team qualified for the promotion play-offs but finished second in the group behind NEC Nijmegen and remained in the second tier.^[22] In 1997, Sportclub Veendam changed its name to BV Veendam (BV stands for “Betaald Voetbal”; English: “Professional Football”).^[16] The club was plaged by financial problems during the following years; in 2003, it sold De Langeleegte to the municipality of Veendam for a fee of €3.2 million.^[23] Nevertheless, Veendam qualified for the 2006–07 Eerste Divisie promotion play-offs but were eliminated by Excelsior in the second round.^[24] The team reached the Eerste Divisie promotion play-offs again in 2010–11 but were eliminated in the second round by Helmond Sport.^[25]

In 2010, Veendam was declared bankrupt but it was later annulled on appeal.^[26] The following year, in order to attract more investors, the club was renamed SC Veendam, adopted a new badge which included a peat wheelbarrow, and a yellow shirt with a black V.^[27][28] The financial problems remained, however, and Veendam played their last ever match on 15 March 2013—a 2–1 win against FC Oss—and were declared bankrupt on 25 March.^[26][29] The club was dissolved on 2 April, with debts of around €1 million.^[30] Veendam 1894, the amateur club from which Veendam split in 1974, still exists as of 2023.^[31]

According to a reconstruction made by RTV Noord and Dagblad van het Noorden in August 2013, the death of catering entrepreneur and Veendam supporter Jan Lambeck in 2009 meant the end of an important income source, which eventually led to the bankruptcy of the club.^[32]