Fortuna Sittard
Full nameFortuna Sittard
Nickname(s)Fortuna, Fortunezen
Founded1 July 1968 (1968-07-01)
GroundFortuna Sittard Stadion
Capacity12,500
OwnerNetherlands Principion Holding 65%
Turkey Özgür Işıtan Gün 20%
Netherlands Fortuna Sittard 10%
Netherlands STAK 5%[1][2]
ChairmanÖzgür Işıtan Gün
Head coachDanny Buijs
LeagueEredivisie
2022–23Eredivisie, 13th of 18
WebsiteClub website

Fortuna Sittard (Dutch pronunciation: [fɔrˈtynaː ˈsɪtɑrt]; Limburgish: Fortuna Zitterd [fɔʀˈtyːnaː ˈzɪtəʀt]) is a professional football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger of former clubs Fortuna 54 and Sittardia, which merged as the Fortuna Sittardia Combinatie on 1 July 1968.

History

Historical chart of league performance

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

Fortuna 54 won the KNVB Cup in the 1956–57 season, and finished the Eredivisie season in second place behind champions Ajax. Sittardia were less successful and battled against relegation for many seasons. Fortuna 54 won the KNVB Cup again in 1964 before the merging of the two clubs in 1968 due to financial difficulties.

At the end of the 1999–2000 season, manager Bert van Marwijk left to join Feyenoord and the team was relegated to the First Division in the 2001–02 season.[3]

Financial difficulties (2002–16)

Financial irregularities were discovered and the team faced bankruptcy over several seasons. In the winter of 2003, two of the club's fans won the Dutch lottery and donated all of the prize money to the club.[4] The club cleared most of their debts by selling off their new stadium, the Wagner & Partners stadium.[5]

On 19 May 2009, the KNVB announced it would withdraw the club's license to play for the 2010–11 season. After going to civil court, this decision was revoked.[6] Despite ongoing financial difficulties, the club gradually began to recover financially in the following years, leading to sporting success. In the 2011–12 season, Fortuna Sittard narrowly missed out on qualifying for the playoffs for promotion to Eredivisie, conceding an equaliser in the final seconds of the season at their home match against the Go Ahead Eagles, resulting in the Eagles taking the final playoff spot instead. Although they qualified for the playoffs in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons, offering them their first chance to return to Eredivisie since their relegation in 2002, they were unsuccessful in both first-round matches against De Graafschap.[7][8]

Takeover and Eredivisie (2016–present)

The club again faced financial troubles in 2016, leading to its takeover by a Turkish investor named Işıtan Gün, who had previously served as the chief operating officer of Galatasaray.[9] The 2016–17 season was a tough start for the club, but they managed to avoid relegation after changing coaches and recruiting new players, including some from Galatasaray.[10]

In December 2016, Sunday Oliseh was appointed as the new coach of Fortuna Sittard. During his time as coach, he set two new records for the club, with eight consecutive home victories and the biggest away victory in the club's history against Telstar with a score of 6–0. In January 2018, the team won a periodetitel after a 2–1 victory over Jong Ajax. However, on 14 February 2018, Oliseh was suspended due to "repeated and culpable actions towards multiple individuals within the organisation over an extended period." A statement on the club's website announced his release.[11]

In 2018, after 16 years in the Eerste Divisie, Fortuna won promotion to the Eredivisie again after beating Jong PSV 1–0 to stay clear from NEC and finishing runner-up to champions Jong Ajax, who are not allowed to promote.[12]

Fortuna Sittard finished in 16th place during the 2019–20 season. However, due to the season being declared void in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they remained in the Eredivisie for the 2020–21 season.[13]

Honours

International

Totals

Competition Participations Games Won Draw Lost Goals scored Goals conceded
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1 6 2 1 3 6 7
UEFA Intertoto Cup 1 4 2 1 1 8 6
Total 2 10 4 2 4 14 13

Results

EredivisieEerste DivisieEredivisieEerste DivisieEredivisie

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

Players

Current squad

As of 19 September 2023

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Netherlands NED Luuk Koopmans
2 DF Belgium BEL Siemen Voet (on loan from Slovan Bratislava)
3 DF Germany GER Sadik Fofana (on loan from Bayer Leverkusen)
6 MF Cape Verde CPV Deroy Duarte
7 FW Spain ESP Iñigo Córdoba
9 FW Netherlands NED Kaj Sierhuis
10 MF Croatia CRO Alen Halilović
11 FW Serbia SRB Marko Lazetić (on loan from AC Milan)
12 DF Portugal POR Ivo Pinto (captain)
14 DF Brazil BRA Rodrigo Guth
15 MF Turkey TUR Oğuzhan Özyakup
17 FW Netherlands NED Iman Griffith (on loan from AZ)
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF Kosovo KOS Arianit Ferati
20 FW Algeria ALG Mouhamed Belkheir
22 GK Netherlands NED Tom Hendriks
24 DF Curaçao CUW Nathangelo Markelo
31 GK Croatia CRO Ivor Pandur
32 MF France FRA Loreintz Rosier
33 DF Greece GRE Dimitrios Siovas
34 FW Indonesia IDN Ragnar Oratmangoen (on loan from Groningen)
35 DF Netherlands NED Mitchell Dijks
39 FW Belgium BEL Milan Robberechts
61 DF France FRA Rémy Vita
77 FW Netherlands NED Tijjani Noslin

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Netherlands NED Michael Verrips (at Groningen until 30 June 2024)
FW Portugal POR Umaro Embaló (at Cartagena until 30 June 2024)
FW Turkey TUR Tunahan Taşçı (at MVV until 30 June 2024)

Notable former players

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cape Verde
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Curaçao
England
Finland
Greece
Moldova
Netherlands
Poland
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden

Club staff

Position Staff
Head CoachNetherlands Danny Buijs
Assistant Head CoachNetherlands Adrie Poldervaart
Netherlands Stijn Kuijpers
Netherlands Roy de Decker
Striker's CoachNetherlands Toon Oijstra
PhysiotherapistNetherlands Jeroen Dieteren
Netherlands Martijn Smeets
Team ManagerNetherlands Danny van der Weerden
Club doctorNetherlands Robert van Gool
MaterialmanNetherlands Ronald Ronken
Video AnalystNetherlands Tjerk van Eggelen

Coaches

Women's football

On January 25, 2022 Fortuna announced they were beginning a women's football department.[14] The club will start in the Dutch women's Eredivisie in season 2022/23.

Current squad

As of 30 September 2022

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Belgium BEL Diede Lemey
2 DF Netherlands NED Moïsa van Koot
3 DF Netherlands NED Myrthe Moorrees
4 DF Netherlands NED Samantha van Diemen
5 DF Slovenia SVN Kristina Erman
6 FW Netherlands NED Anna Knol
7 MF Iceland ISL Hildur Antonsdóttir
9 FW Iceland ISL María Grós
10 MF Afghanistan AFG Farkhunda Muhtaj
11 MF Netherlands NED Alieke Tuin
13 FW Netherlands NED Hanna Huizenga
14 FW Netherlands NED Charlotte Hulst
15 MF Netherlands NED Amber van Heeswijk
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Belgium BEL Jarne Teulings
19 FW Canada CAN Chandra Davidson
22 GK Netherlands NED Claire Dinkla
26 MF Turkey TUR Yade Acem
27 MF Netherlands NED Suus van de Drift
29 FW Belgium BEL Tessa Wullaert
30 GK Netherlands NED Britt Renzen
32 MF Morocco MAR Kawtar Ait Omar
33 FW Netherlands NED Anne Heemskerk
44 MF Belgium BEL Féli Delacauw

See also

References

  1. "Shares of Fortuna Sittard". Fortuna Sitard. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  2. "Shares of Fortuna Sittard". Fortuna Sitard. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  3. Fortuna Sittard: geen toekomst, maar een fraaie historie - Voetbal International (in Dutch)
  4. "Help Fortuna! wint half miljoen bij staatsloterij". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 6 January 2003. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  5. Vossers, Anna (7 December 2013). "'Geldproblemen Fortuna Sittard voorbij door verkoop stadion'". Elsevier Weekblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  6. "KNVB gaat licentie Fortuna Sittard intrekken". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 19 May 2009. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  7. "Go Ahead en De Graafschap overtuigend door". NU (in Dutch). 11 May 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  8. "De Graafschap door in play-offs". NOS (in Dutch). 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  9. "Özel Durum Açıklaması (Genel)". KAP (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  10. "Fortuna Sittard haalt speler 'met vinkje op Twitter' van Galatasaray". Sportnieuws (in Dutch). 4 January 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  11. "Fortuna Sittard stelt Sunday Oliseh op non-actief". Fortuna Sittard (in Dutch). 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018.
  12. Bergen, Dennis van (28 April 2018). "Fortuna Sittard na zestien jaar terug in de eredivisie". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  13. "Afwikkeling voetbalseizoen 2019/'20 een feit | Eredivisie". Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  14. "Fortuna Sittard start met vrouwenvoetbal: "Die gaan we benaderen"". Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
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