# 2023–24 FC Groningen season

The 2023–24 season was FC Groningen's 53rd season in existence and their first one back in the Eerste Divisie since 2000 after enduring a disastrous campaign the previous season. They also competed in the KNVB Cup.
Under coach Dick Lukkien, Groningen finished as runners-up and won promotion back to the Eredivisie with a squad composed of many players who were recruited from Groningen's youth academy; the team defeated direct rivals Roda JC 2–0 on the last matchday to take second place from them. Groningen also reached the semi-final of the KNVB Cup for the first time since 2015.

## Players
### First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 4 | MF | NED | Joey Pelupessy |
| 5 | DF | GER | Marco Rente |
| 6 | MF | CPV | Laros Duarte |
| 7 | MF | NOR | Johan Hove |
| 8 | MF | CUW | Leandro Bacuna (captain) |
| 14 | MF | NED | Jorg Schreuders |
| 15 | DF | NED | Nick Bakker |
| 17 | FW | NOR | Kristian Strømland Lien |
| 18 | DF | NOR | Isak Dybvik Määttä |
| 19 | DF | NED | Liam van Gelderen |
| 20 | DF | NED | Thijmen Blokzijl |
| 21 | GK | NED | Hidde Jurjus |
| 22 | FW | FRA | Noam Emeran |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | DF | NED | Nordin Musampa |
| 25 | FW | NED | Thom van Bergen |
| 26 | DF | NED | Daniël Beukers |
| 27 | FW | POR | Rui Mendes |
| 29 | FW | NED | Romano Postema |
| 38 | FW | NED | Kian Slor |
| 40 | MF | ITA | Luciano Valente |
| 42 | FW | NED | Fofin Turay |
| 43 | DF | BEL | Marvin Peersman |
| 44 | GK | NED | Jasper Meijster |
| 45 | GK | NED | Dirk Baron |
| 47 | MF | NED | Tika de Jonge |
| 50 | DF | NED | Wouter Prins |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date |
| DF | Daniël Beukers | Jong AZ | | |
| GK | Hidde Jurjus | De Graafschap | | |
| FW | Kevin van Veen | Motherwell | €586,000 | 1 July 2023 |
| MF | Kristian Strømland Lien | Mjøndalen IF Fotball | | |
| MF | Leandro Bacuna | Watford F.C. | | |
| DF | Marco Rente | Heracles Almelo | €630,000 | 1 July 2023 |
| DF | Marvin Peersman | Aris Thessaloniki F.C. | | |
| FW | Noam Emeran | Manchester United U21 | Undisclosed | 24 August 2023 |
| FW | Rui Mendes | FC Emmen | €300,000 | 24 January 2024 |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| MF | Aimar Sher | Spezia Calcio | End of loan | 30 June 2023 |
| DF | Damil Dankerlui | Panserraikos F.C. | Free | 6 July 2023 |
| FW | Elvis Manu | Botev Plovdiv | End of loan | 30 June 2023 |
| FW | Florian Krüger | Eintracht Braunschweig | Loan | 29 August 2023 |
| GK | Jan de Boer | VVV-Venlo | | |
| DF | Jetro Willems | Heracles Almelo | Free | 1 July 2023 |
| MF | Kevin van Veen | Kilmarnock F.C. | On loan | 1 February 2024 |
| DF | Marin Šverko | Venezia FC | €250,000 | 7 July 2023 |
| DF | Mads Bech Sørensen | Brentford F.C. | End of loan | 30 June 2023 |
| DF | Matěj Chaluš | Malmö FF | End of loan | 30 June 2023 |
| GK | Michael Verrips | Fortuna Sittard | End of loan | 12 January 2024 |
| MF | Oliver Antman | FC Nordsjælland | End of loan | 30 June 2023 |
| GK | Peter Leeuwenburgh | Apollon Limassol | Free | 12 August 2023 |
| DF | Radinio Balker | Huddersfield Town A.F.C. | €1,300,000 | 18 January 2024 |
| MF | Ragnar Oratmangoen | Fortuna Sittard | Loan | 1 September 2023 |
| FW | Ricardo Pepi | FC Augsburg | End of loan | 30 June 2023 |
| MF | Tomáš Suslov | Hellas Verona | Loan | 1 September 2023 |
| DF | Yahya Kalley | IFK Norrköping | Undisclosed | 8 July 2023 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Eerste Divisie | 11 August 2023 | 10 May 2024 | Matchday 1 | 2nd | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 71 | 30 | +41 | 057.89 |
| KNVB Cup | 1 November 2023 | 29 February 2024 | First round | Semi-finals | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 060.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 43 | 25 | 10 | 8 | 78 | 33 | +45 | 058.14 |
Source: Soccerway

### Eerste Divisie
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| 1 | Willem II (C, P) | 38 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 77 | 35 | +42 | 79 | Promotion to the Eredivisie |
| 2 | Groningen (P) | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 71 | 30 | +41 | 75 | Promotion to the Eredivisie |
| 3 | Roda JC Kerkrade | 38 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 69 | 34 | +35 | 75 | Qualification for promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Dordrecht | 38 | 18 | 15 | 5 | 74 | 51 | +23 | 69 | Qualification for promotion play-offs |
| 5 | ADO Den Haag | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 72 | 50 | +22 | 63 | Qualification for promotion play-offs |
* ↑ Winner of the Second Period (Rounds 10–19)
* ↑ Winner of the Third and Fourth Period (Rounds 20–29 and 30–38)
* ↑ Winner of the First Period (Rounds 1–9)

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source:

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | L | D | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | D | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | | W | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | D | W |
| Position | 1 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were unveiled on 30 June 2023.

##### 2nd half
### KNVB Cup
## Statistics
### Scorers

Source
| # | Player | Eerste Divisie | KNVB | Total |
| 1 | Romano Postema | 18 | 3 | 21 |
| 2 | Thom van Bergen | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Luciano Valente | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | Laros Duarte | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Johan Hove | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | Jorg Schreuders | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | Kevin van Veen | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | Marvin Peersman | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Radinio Balker | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Marco Rente | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Rui Mendes | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Isak Dybvik Määttä | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Kristian Lien | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Leandro Bacuna | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Liam van Gelderen | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Paulos Abraham | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Tomáš Suslov | 1 | 0 | 1 |

### Assists

Source
| # | Player | Eerste Divisie | KNVB | Total |
| 1 | Luciano Valente | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | Thom van Bergen | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Johan Hove | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Leandro Bacuna | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Marvin Peersman | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | Jorg Schreuders | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Laros Duarte | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Romano Postema | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Marco Rente | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | Rui Mendes | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | Daleho Irandust | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Isak Dybvik Määttä | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Wouter Prins | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 | Hidde Jurjus | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Noam Emeran | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Paulos Abraham | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Tika De Jonge | 1 | 0 | 1 |

### Appearances

| # | Player | Eerste Divisie | KNVB | Total |
| 1 | Marvin Peersman | 37 | 4 | 41 |
| 1 | Thom van Bergen | 36 | 5 | 41 |
| 3 | Romano Postema | 35 | 5 | 40 |
| 4 | Luciano Valente | 34 | 5 | 39 |
| 5 | Isak Dybvik Määttä | 34 | 4 | 38 |
| 5 | Johan Hove | 34 | 4 | 38 |
| 5 | Leandro Bacuna | 33 | 5 | 38 |
| 5 | Marco Rente | 35 | 3 | 38 |
| 9 | Jorg Schreuders | 29 | 5 | 34 |
| 10 | Hidde Jurjus | 28 | 5 | 33 |
| 11 | Joey Pelupessy | 25 | 4 | 29 |
| 12 | Laros Duarte | 23 | 3 | 26 |
| 12 | Thijmen Blokzijl | 25 | 1 | 26 |
| 14 | Radinio Balker | 19 | 1 | 20 |
| 15 | Fofin Turay | 16 | 3 | 19 |
| 15 | Wouter Prins | 15 | 4 | 19 |
| 17 | Rui Mendes | 15 | 2 | 17 |
| 18 | Kristian Lien | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| 19 | Kevin van Veen | 14 | 1 | 15 |
| 20 | Noam Emeran | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| 21 | Tika De Jonge | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 22 | Michael Verrips | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 23 | Daleho Irandust | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 24 | Liam van Gelderen | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 24 | Nick Bakker | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 26 | Paulos Abraham | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 27 | Kian Slor | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 28 | Nils Eggens | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 | Tomáš Suslov | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 30 | Daniël Beukers | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Dirk Baron | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Nordin Musampa | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Ragnar Oratmangoen | 1 | 0 | 1 |

### Clean sheets

| # | Player | Eredivisie | KNVB | Total |
| 1 | Hidde Jurjus | 14 | 3 | 17 |
| 2 | Michael Verrips | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | Total | 17 | 3 | 20 |

### Disciplinary record

| # | Player | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | KNVB | KNVB | KNVB | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | Marco Rente | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Hidde Jurjus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Marvin Peersman | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Isak Dybvik Määttä | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Leandro Bacuna | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Luciano Valente | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Romano Postema | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Thom van Bergen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Wouter Prins | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Joey Pelupessy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Jorg Schreuders | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Kevin van Veen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Radinio Balker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Johan Hove | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Laros Duarte | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Liam van Gelderen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Noam Emeran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Rui Mendes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |