2006–07 season

In the 2006/07 season FC Groningen again managed to get an entrance for the UEFA Cup. They ended the season on an 8th place but thanks to the play-off tournament system, in which they beat Feyenoord and FC Utrecht, they qualified for the UEFA Cup where they faced ACF Fiorentina in the first round. Both matches in Groningen and Florence ended in a draw, 1–1. FC Groningen were defeated after penalties and knocked out in the first round.

2005-06 season

The 2005-06 season turned out to be one of the best in a long time for FC Groningen, with the club finishing 5th place in the league. This allowed Groningen to enter the play-off tournament for the UEFA Champions League third round qualification. However, they were beaten by Ajax in the finals who scored a goal two minutes before the final whistle.

By finishing fifth in the league, FC Groningen qualified for European football for the first time in 14 years, where they were defeated 4–3 on aggregate in the first round by Partizan Belgrade.

FC Groningen

The predecessor of FC Groningen was founded as Unitas in 1915. When Unitas joined the Eerste Klasse Noord their name was changed to GVAV (Groningen Football and Athletics Association). The Eerste Klasse Noord was a football league that consisted of teams from the northern provinces Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe, of which the winner went on to compete for the national title. During the days of the Eerste Klasse Noord GVAV stood in the shadow of Be Quick 1887 and Velocitas, two other sides from the city of Groningen. After the KNVB allowed professionalism in 1954 the Eerste Klasse Noord, along with the other regional leagues, ceased to exist. From the city of Groningen the teams GVAV, Be Quick 1887, Velocitas and Oosterparkers turned professional but the latter two soon had to step back to amateurism. Be Quick stayed professional until 1964, leaving GVAV as the only professional football team in the city of Groningen. In 1971 GVAV was reformed as FC Groningen.