Editing Excelsior Rotterdam (section)

===Early history===
Excelsior was officially formed on 23 July 1902 as ''Rotterdamse Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging Excelsior'' ({{langx|en|Rotterdam Football and Athletics Club Excelsior}}). The initial founders of the club, a group of close friends located in the [[Kralingen]] district of [[Rotterdam]], started playing football matches on the fields of the eighteenth century [[buitenplaats]] Woudesteyn. After the actual establishment of the club, the [[municipality]] officially gave permission to use the land.<ref name="stadium">{{cite news |title=De geschiedenis van Stadion Woudestein |url=http://www.excelsioronline.nl/stadion.htm |newspaper=Supportersclub Pro Excelsior |language=nl |trans-title=The history of Stadion Woudestein |access-date=5 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526075038/http://www.excelsioronline.nl/stadion.htm |archive-date=26 May 2010}}</ref> As football was still an elite sport at the beginning of the 20th century, Excelsior became one of the first working class clubs in the Netherlands.<ref name="history">{{cite web|title=Excelsior Historie |url=http://www.sbvexcelsior.nl/index.php?objectID=53 |website=Excelsior Rotterdam|language=nl |trans-title=Excelsior History |access-date=30 June 2010 |archive-date=26 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226085616/http://www.sbvexcelsior.nl/index.php?objectID=53 |url-status=live }}</ref>