Fortuna Sittard

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Fortuna Sittard
Full name Fortuna Sittard Combinatie
Nickname(s) Fortuna, Fortunezen
Founded 1 July 1968 (1968-07-01)
Ground Trendwork Arena,
Sittard
Ground Capacity 12,500
Chairman Wil Meijers
Manager Willy Boessen
League Eerste Divisie
2012–13 Eerste Divisie, 7th
Home colours
Away colours

Fortuna Sittard is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Trendwork Arena and features in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. The club was a merger of former clubs 'Fortuna 54' and 'Sittardia' to merge as the Fortuna Sittard Combinatie on 1 July 1968. 'Fortuna 54' was a relatively successful club which once won the KNVB Cup in the 1956/1957 season where they finished the Eredivisie season 2nd place behind champions Ajax Amsterdam whereas the 'Sittardia' battled against relegation for many seasons. Another KNVB Cup triumph was also celebrated by 'Fortuna 54' in 1964 before the merging of the two clubs in 1968 due to financial difficulties. On 19 May 2009 the KNVB announced it will withdraw the license to play of Fortuna Sittard for the 2010–2011 season. After going to civil court, this decision was revoked and the club did not lose its license.[1]

History

The club experienced mixed fortunes throughout its history although they were a regular fixture in the Eredivisie in the 1990s, with many talented players such as Kevin Hofland, Mark van Bommel and Fernando Ricksen emerging from its youth system. These players later joined PSV Eindhoven and Rangers thereafter featured for the Dutch team. The team's management also had an eye for talent, as they snapped up Wilfred Bouma and Patrick Paauwe from the youth setup of PSV. Both players developed well under manager Bert van Marwijk, before breaking into the Dutch national side and moving towards bigger clubs.

At the end of the 1999–2000 season, successful manager Bert van Marwijk left to join Feyenoord and the team seemed to collapse. Due to poor management, the team signed a number of over-paid and under-performing "stars". Fortuna relegated to the First Division in the 2001–2002 season, where things were getting from bad to worse very quickly. Financial irregularities had been discovered and the team has been facing bankruptcy for the past 4 seasons. A little highlight came in the winter of 2003, when two of the club's fans won the Dutch lottery and donated all of the prize money to the club.

Things started to look up for Fortuna, when they were able to clear most of their debts by selling of the new stadium, the Wagner & Partners stadium. Unfortunately, the team hasn't been performing on the pitch and finished dead-last in the Dutch First Division for three consecutive seasons.

In the 2005–2006 season, the club managed to set a new record in Dutch professional football, going a staggering 28 league games without a win. The club also set a new record by finishing last for the third time in a row.

Even though financial troubles kept plaguing the club, recent years have seen a slow but steady return to financial health, with sportive successes following suit. In the 2011-2012 season they missed qualification for the playoffs for promotion to the Eredivisie by a hair's breadth, conceding an equalizer in the dying seconds of the season in the home match against the Go Ahead Eagles, seeing them take the final playoff spot instead. In 2012-2013 they were successful in qualifying, having a first chance at returning to the Eredivisie since their relegation in 2002, but they lost both first round matches against De Graafschap.

Honours

  • KNVB Cup
    • Winner: 1957, 1964
    • Runners-up: 1984, 1999
Eerste Divisie Eredivisie Eerste Divisie Eredivisie

Below is a table with Fortuna Sittard's domestic results since the introduction of professional football in 1956.

Current squad

As of 1 February 2014

For recent transfers, see List of Dutch football transfers winter 2013–14

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Belgium GK Ferhat Kaya
2 Belgium DF Niels Vets
3 Netherlands DF Roel Janssen
4 Belgium DF Timothy Dreesen
5 Germany DF Walid Sekkour
6 France MF Yoann de Boer (captain)
7 Netherlands FW Jeffrey Vlug
8 Belgium MF Franco Zennaro (on loan from Standard Liège)
9 Democratic Republic of the Congo FW Patrick N'Koyi
10 Netherlands MF Ramon Voorn
11 Netherlands FW Gevaro Nepomuceno
12 Sweden FW Patrick Amoah
14 Netherlands MF Lars Gulpen
15 Netherlands FW Aziz Khalouta
16 Belgium DF Kevin Kis
17 Netherlands MF Jordie Briels
18 Netherlands FW Žlatko Žejnilović
No. Position Player
19 Netherlands MF Tomas Overhof
20 Netherlands MF Bob Vankan
21 Belgium GK Robin Dengis
23 Netherlands GK Mark Voss
25 Belgium DF Jonathan Hendrickx
26 Turkey DF Fatih Turan
27 Netherlands DF Davy Hodselmans
29 Netherlands DF Mike Jongen
30 Netherlands DF Kay Vonck
31 Netherlands FW Nachité Parinussa
32 Netherlands FW David Driessen
33 Netherlands MF Thiemo Vanmaris
34 Netherlands FW Dion Watson
35 Netherlands DF Sjoerd Linssen
37 Belgium FW Tarik Bhar
39 Netherlands FW Marpel Titaley

Notable players

Netherlands

Canada
England

Ghana
Indonesia
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
Norway
Romania
Scotland
Yugoslavia

Managers

As Fortuna '54

As Sittardia

As Fortuna Sittard

See also

References

  1. (Dutch)KNVB gaat licentie Fortuna Sittard intrekken, Voetbal International (19 May 2009)

External links

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