PSV is one of three European Cup winning football clubs in the Netherlands, the other two being AFC Ajax, their arch rivals, and Feyenoord. The club won the European Cup in 1988 (against Benfica) – making them the second Dutch club after Ajax to win The Treble – and the UEFA Cup in 1978 (against SC Bastia). They are often nicknamed Boeren (Dutch for farmers/peasants) in reference to their original provincial city origins. PSV have won the national league over 20 times.
As its name indicates, the club started out as a works team for employees of electronics conglomerate Philips on 31 August (then Koninginnedag), 1913 to celebrate the centennial defeat of the French in the Napoleonic wars. PSV's home stadium, the Philips Stadion, then known as Philips Sportpark, was built at the same time as the inauguration of the club, although its current capacity was achieved by renovations and improvements over the years.
Because of their close ties with Philips, PSV have had the same jersey sponsor without exception since 1982, the year jersey sponsorships were introduced in the Eredivisie. This is a record in Dutch football.
PSV garnered many honours in the football arena and have been credited as the club where many successful players such as Ruud Gullit, Romário, Eric Gerets, Ronaldo, Luc Nilis, Jaap Stam, and Ruud van Nistelrooy made their name. Their success was built on the foundations laid down by other famous players like Willy van der Kuijlen, Jan van Beveren, Jan Poortvliet, and the van de Kerkhof brothers, Willy and René.
PSV has difficulty competing with the salaries that are being paid elsewhere. It has managed though to become a springboard for professional development for talents such as Ronaldo and Eiður Guðjohnsen, who spent two seasons at the club as well as Mateja Kežman and Arjen Robben, and most recently, Park Ji-Sung and Alex.
Famous coaches such as Guus Hiddink (who between stints at PSV coached the Dutch national team to a fourth-place finish in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and South Korea to a similar fourth place in the 2002 FIFA World Cup) have managed the team over the years and have brought considerable successes to the club.