FC Twente
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| Full name | F.C. Twente '65 | |||
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| Nickname(s) | The Tukkers The Reds | |||
| Founded | 1 July 1965 | |||
| Ground | De Grolsch Veste Enschede | |||
| Capacity | 24,000 | |||
| Chairman |  Joop Munsterman | |||
| Head coach |  Steve McClaren | |||
| League | Eredivisie | |||
| 2008–09 | Eredivisie, 2nd | |||
| Website | http://www.fctwente.nl/ | |||
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FC Twente is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Eredivisie Champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys. The new club has never won the league, but has finished as runners-up twice, were runners-up in the UEFA Cup 1974–75, and have won the KNVB Cup twice. Twente's home ground since 1998 is De Grolsch Veste and they are currently managed by Steve McClaren.
History
The club was formed in 1965 as a merger of two professional clubs, Sportclub Enschede and the Enschedese Boys. Although the current club has never won the Dutch championship, SC Enschede did, in 1926.
The first successes of the club started just after the merger of 1965, under coach Kees Rijvers. Twente finished 3rd in 1969, 4th in 1970, 5th in 1971, 3rd in 1972 and once again 3rd in 1973. The team's key figures were local heroes, such as Epi Drost, Eddy Achterberg, Kick van der Vall and Theo Pahlplatz. Their finest Eredivisie season was 1973-1974, in which Twente battled for the Dutch championship with Feyenoord. A head-to-head confrontation in the very last game of the season, in Rotterdam, had to bring the decision. Feyenoord were slightly luckier: 3-2. A second slot and a UEFA Cup ticket—that was all for FC Twente.
However, the Tukkers (as people from Twente are generally called) almost made the very most out of that UEFA Cup ticket. After beating Juventus in the semi-finals, FC Twente lost to German side Borussia Mönchengladbach in the finals.
Things went downhill for Twente after that, and the club was relegated to the Eerste Divisie in 1982. Twente returned to the top flight a year later, but the club soon became known for their amazing number of 1-1 and 0-0 draws. Their new reputation 'boring Twente' overshadowed the fact that the club kept qualifying for European football on a fairly regular basis: five times since 1985.
Financial troubles threatened the existence of the club during the late 1980s but thanks to a consortium take over led by Johan Overmars (Father of Marc Overmars) the club prospered reaching new heights.
Re-establishment followed in the 1990s. German coach Hans Meyer led Twente to the third slot in the Eredivisie of 1997 and to the third round of the UEFA Cup the next season. On 24 May 2001, Twente clinched the KNVB Cup, beating PSV in the final after being 3-1 down in the penalty shoot-out. The season thereafter Twente crashed out of the cup against the teenagers of Ajax's second team, results in the league were poor and the hard core Twente fans Ultras Vak-P went on a rampage at the club's brand-new stadium out of frustration. The club's mother corporation (FC Twente '65) was declared bankrupt in the 2002-03 season, almost leading to the end of the club's existence. The club survived and made it to another KNVB Cup final in 2004 and struck back with a fantastic Eredivisie season in 2006-07. In the season 2007-08, FC Twente placed fourth and won the play-offs for a ticket to the Champions League Qualifiers by defeating Ajax in the play-off finals.
On 1 August 2008, unseeded Twente entered the draw for the Champions League 3rd round qualifying stage, being drawn against seeded Arsenal. The two legs were played at home on 13 August and away on 27 August 2008. Twente lost 6-0 on aggregate, resulting in their elimination from the Champions League and subsequent entry of the UEFA Cup first round.
In the season 2008-09, FC Twente placed second (11 points below the league's champion AZ Alkmaar) and got the ticket to the Europa League (after failing to secure their position in the Champions League resulted from a 1-1 draw against Sporting Lisbon, which sent the Portuguese side through on away goals).[1]
Stadium
De Grolsch Veste, formerly named Arke Stadion, is the official stadium of FC Twente. It is located at the Business & Science Park, near the University of Twente. It has a spectator capacity of 24,000 with a standard pitch heating system and has a promenade instead of fences around the stands.
De Grolsch Veste replaced the old Diekman Stadion as Twente's home ground on 22 March 1998. Plans have been afoot to expand and to renovate the old and now demolished Diekman stadium, however, with a growing fan capacity and with arguments that the location of the Diekman stadium was not strategic enough, the idea was conceived to build a new arena for the Twente fans. The Diekman ground had also faced problems with its seating plans as a result of the FIFA regulations which imposes a necessity to construct a seating tribune behind each goal post. Fans of the club seldom use the official name but refer to the stadium as 'Epi Drost Stadium' after all-time club hero Epi Drost[citation needed].
The cost of the construction was estimated to be around 33 million guilders and took fourteen months to complete, with its foundation stone having been laid on 31 January 1997. Due to the tight budget available, the layout of the stadium was constructed in such that future expansions may be made possible without the necessity to tear down entire tribunes. The stadium is secured by Sony's network monitoring solutions.[2]
The first match played at the stadium was a historic 3-0 victory by the home team against PSV on 10 May 1998 in an Eredivisie match.
The recording of "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Gerry & the Pacemakers is sung along in the whole stadium before every kick-off.
FC Twente is currently considering to expand the stadium to 34,000 seats in March 2010.
Players
Current squad
As of 13 September 2009. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
- See also: FC Twente players
Topscorers
Head coaches
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Honours
Eredivisie (1x) KNVB Cup (2x)
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See also
References
External links
- Official websites
- FCTwente.nl Official website of FC Twente Template:Nl icon / Template:De icon / Template:En icon
- FC Twente TV Official website FC Twente TV (No registration needed)
- General fan sites
- FC Twente Online Template:Nl icon
- FC Twente Online English Section Template:En icon
- Vak-P Template:Nl icon
- FCT Hengelo Template:Nl icon
- FCT Riessen Template:Nl icon
- Twentefans Template:Nl icon
- News sites