the history

FC Twente – The History

Here is a little look at Friday’s night opponents.

FC Twente was founded in 1965 when Enschedese Boys and Sportclub Enschede merged. At that time the integration was the only solution to keep professional football alive in Enschede.

The Start

FC Twente finished its first season in 1965 in 11th place in the Dutch Eredivisie. Under the guidance of Hilbrink, Olijve and Iliohan, FC Twente changed its course. The young and ambitious Kees Rijvers along with the new manager decided to include young home grown players along with the qualities of several new signings.

With Kees Rijvers as manager, assisted by Spitz Kohn, FC Twente built a well-balanced squad. With discipline as the main motivation, Rijvers forms unity in the team. That this was a road to success showed in the 1968-1969 season when FC Twente becomes the sensation of the Eredivisie. The team from Enschede battles for the championship most of the season. The future looks bright for FC Twente and Kees Rijvers continues to be ambitious. In the 1970?s the club successfully maintains its upward streak and right up to this day, FC Twente are to be found near the top of the table.

FC Twente also has quite a history with European Football. In the 1970-1971 season FC Twente reaches the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in which Juventus proves to be too strong after extra time. Two years later FC Twente reaches the semi-final of the UEFA Cup, in which Juventus is the opponent. FC Twente are victorious in both the home and away matches and reach the final,where they’re up against Borussia M?nchengladbach.. The first match ends in a 0-0 draw, but the Germans finally triumph5-1 at home and win the Cup.

The long awaited first trophy follows in 1977,when FC Twente win the Dutch Cup with a resounding 3-0 victory over PEC Zwolle. Towards the end of the 1970?s, however, FC Twente has a hard time clinging on to the top of the league. The successful run cannot be continued throughout the 1980?s and a black period reigns in of FC Twente.. The 14th of May, 1983 is, up to this day, the darkest date in FC Twente’s history; the impossible happens: relegation becomes a reality.

In July 1983, the new manager, Fritz Korbach starts with a crystal clear mission:get FC Twente back to the highest level. The winningrun in the first division ends with them directly behind champions MVV and is sufficient for promotionback to the Eredivisie. The goal is achieved and the average attendance, 12.400, is a first division record.

Under the guidance of Theo Vonk, FC Twente slowly presents itself again at the end of the 1980?s in the Eredivisie. The team from Enschede grows and finishes third in the league for three consecutive seasons . The 25th anniversary in 1990 sees a just reward with ending the league in a spot that gives them the right to play European Football the following season.

In 1996 Hans Meyer is presented as the new manager of FC Twente. Meyer forms a new team which proves its worth. The season he arrives, proves to be a memorable one. More and more fans come to the Diekman Stadium; FC Twente takes a massive leap in the Eredivisie and in May1998 a new stadium is opened: Arke Stadion. With the new stadium, a good squad, a good youth academy and fantastic support from the stands, FC Twente has shown the Netherlands that they are a club who should be feared by all.

35.000 fans celebrate Cup victory in Rotterdam

The 2000-2001 season goes down in history as one of the most memorable in FC Twente’s history. The 11th place finish in the league was average but in the Dutch Cup the squad showed tremendous football. FC Twente has the chance, after winning the cup in 1977, to once again win a major domestic trophy.

FC Twente take on PSV in De Kuip in Rotterdam, filled with 35.000 FC Twente fans. The exciting goalless match ends in a penalty shootout in which goalkeeper Sander Boschker saves three consecutive penalties, bringing the cup to Enschede.

Unfortunately Enschede’s pride cannot build on the success of the Cup win in the following two seasons. On a financial level FC Twente face difficult times. Like more clubs, Foundation FC Twente ’65 was evenalmost declared bankrupt.

The years after the bankruptcy are taken as an opportunity by FC Twente to take a detailed look at what parts of the club need improvement. On the pitch however, the team slowly starts to play better football with some new faces. Blaise NKufo arrives in Enschede in 2003 and turns out to be a real goal poacher. In 2004 FC Twente reaches the final of the Dutch Cup once again but loses to FC Utrecht.

The recent years

From 2004 to 2006 FC Twente achieves no real success and in the summer of 2006 Fred Rutten is appointed as head coach. Rutten, who was working as an assistant of Guus Hiddink at PSV, is the person that needs to bring new success to the club. The first season under Rutten’s reign turns out to befantastic with qualification for the UEFA Cup before the play-offs. In his second season, Rutten and his men continue their successeswith eligibility for the qualifying round of the Champions League.

With Fred Rutten’s departure to Schalke 04, a new manager is found in Steve McClaren. The former English National Team coach sees his FC Twente play well against Arsenal and sees his team grow throughout the season. On the 13th of September 2008, FC Twente play their first match in the expanded stadium. De Grolsch Veste, now has a capacity of 24.000 seats.

On a European level, many successes are booked and FC Twentemakes it through the group phase of the UEFA Cup for the first time in more than 30 years. Later, FC Twente did the same in the Europe League in 2009. In the Eredivisie the squad continues their run of success and on the 33rd match day a 3-0 victory against league champions AZ means that FC Twente will once again appear in the qualifying round of the Champions League next season.

Champion!

The 2009/2010 season will become the most memorable in of the club. Sunday May 2nd, FC Twente became champions of The Netherlands for the first time in of the club. With a total of 86 points FC Twente stayed ahead of title rival Ajax by one point. Tens of thousands of fans watched the match (away at NAC Breda) on giant screens in the city centreor on the megascreen in de Grolsch Veste. After the decisive 0-2 from Miroslav Stoch, the city of Enschede shook. The players were honoured on the Monday after the match in the city hall of Enschede and there was a large celebration on the parking lot of de Grolsch Veste where 70.000 people gathered tocelebrate. The dream of many had been realized: FC Twente, Champions ofThe Netherlands.

During the 2010/2011 season, FC Twente made their first ever appearance in the Champions League. Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, and Tottenham Hotspur joined the Tukkersin the group stages; A difficult draw. Their first time on the big stage saw them hold Inter Milan to a 2-2 draw, and further draws with Tottenham and Werder Bremenalong with their victory in Bremen, saw them progress in Europe. FC Twente came third in their group and thus qualified for the 2011leg of the Europa League.

Stadium De Grolsch Veste

“Great atmosphere!”, “Impressive!” and “Magnificent!”. Three terms often used when referring to a visit to De Grolsch Veste, home of FC Twente. The Enschede stadium holds more than 24,000 seats, all with an excellent view of the pitch. It’s a proper football stadium that caterers to the needs of the many types of supporters that come and watch ourmatches.

Actual construction of the stadium began in 1997 when first pile of the new ground, the Arke Stadion, was driven into the ground. In 1998 the stadium was officially opened and it soon became clear that the 13,000+ seats available were not enough to meet the huge demand from sponsors and supporters. Hence the issue of a new extension was soon raised. This was completed in 2008. Enschede could now boast a multi-purpose stadium capable of holding 24,000 people.

Current side:

Ralph Speerstra (physio), Andrej Rendla, Wout Brama, Nacer Chadli, Peter Wisgerhof, Sander Boschker, Rasmus Bengtsson, Luc Castaignos, Willem Janssen, Marco Vlierhaar (physio), Carsten Schipmann (video analyst).

Alessandro Schoenmaker (fitness trainer), Nicky Kuiper, Joey Pelupessy, Tim Breukers, Tim Hilscher, Nick Marsman, Sonny Stevens, Andreas Bjelland, Kyle Ebecilio, Felipe Gutierrez, Felitciano Zschusschen, Bas Peijs (Club Doctor),

Jakob Malki (kit manager), Quincy Promes, Roberto Rosales, Theo Snelders (goalkeeping coach), Youri Mulder (assistant-coach), Michel Jansen (head coach), Alfred Schreuder (assistant-coach), Boudewijn Pahlplatz (assistant-coach), Robbert Schilder, Shadrach Eghan, Jan Borghuis (exercise physio)