1981 in the Netherlands

Year in the Netherlands:

Other years

1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983

Incumbents

• Monarch: Beatrix
• Prime Minister: Dries van Agt

Events

• January 5: First broadcast of Youth news.
• January 19: Nijmegen is very restless when squatted premises have to be evicted to make way for a parking garage.
• January 23: Heavy riots occur in Nijmegen, this happened during the eviction of squatted homes in the Piersonstraat. The reason behind it is a unwanted parking garage, that eventually got canceled.
• March 22: HGC is the first hockey club that has both their men and women play in their highest divisions. This happened with the ascension of the women during the 75th anniversary of the club.
• April 5: Hennie Kuiper wins Tour of Flanders cycling race.
• April 12: The Python roller-coaster is opened in the Efteling theme park.
• April 25: During the world championship ice hockey in Sweden The Netherlands men's national ice hockey team relegate back to the B-division after losing 12-6 West Germany.
• May 22: FC Utrecht play their final match at the old Galgenwaard Stadium. Supporters take home keepsakes and in the process demolish half the stadium.
• May 26: Dutch general election, 1981
• May 31: The final two parts of the Schiphol-line are officially opened.
• June 1: Football club N.E.C. is established in Nijmegen as a demerger of SC NEC.
• August 10: Inland skippers block the waterways for 5 days in order to force a better arrangement on cargo-sharing. Police and navy combat the chaos with a iron fist, the skippers have to end their actions without any results.
• September 6: The Gouwe-aquaduct is opened This viaduct enables a better traffic flow from the A12 state highway.

Sports

• 1980–81 Eredivisie
• 1980–81 Eerste Divisie
• 1980–81 KNVB Cup
• 1981 Amstel Gold Race
• The Netherlands men's national field hockey team are victorious at the 1981 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy in Karachi, Pakistan.