Fortuna Sittard

Fortuna Sittard 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
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.
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. The club cleared most of their debts by selling off their new stadium, the Wagner & Partners stadium.
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 After going to civil court, this decision was revoked. 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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Honours
KNVB Cup
Winners: 1956–57, 1963–64
Runners-up: 1983–84, 1998–99
Eerste Divisie
Winners: 1958–59, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1994–95
Promoted: 1981–82, 2017–18
International
Totals
Results
Below is a table with Fortuna Sittard's domestic results since the introduction of professional football in 1956.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Notable former players
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Emil Miljković
Cape Verde
Lisandro Semedo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jordan Botaka
Samuel Moutoussamy
Curaçao
Charlison Benschop
England
Todd Cantwell
Finland
Rasmus Karjalainen
Greece
Lazaros Rota
Andreas Samaris
Moldova
Vitalie Damașcan
Alexei Koselev
Netherlands
Joos van Barneveld
Mark van Bommel
Fernando Ricksen
Perr Schuurs
Poland
Jarosław Jach
Slovakia
Branislav Niňaj
Spain
José Rodríguez
Sweden
Tesfaldet Tekie
Club staff
Coaches
As Fortuna '54
1956–57: Friedrich Donenfeld (vice champion, cup winner)
1957–58: Bram Appel
1958–59: Harry Verhardt
1959–61: Friedrich Donenfeld
1961–63: Jung Schlangen
1963–65: Wim Latten (cup winner 1964)
1965–66: Max Schirschin
1966–67: Karl-Heinz Marotzke
1967–68: Bram Appel
As Sittardia
Frans Debruyn
Vladimir Beara (1966–1968)
Frans Debruyn (1968)
As Fortuna Sittard
Frans Debruyn (1968–69)
Henk Reuvers (1969–70)
Evert Teunissen (1970–72)
Cor Brom (1972–76)
Cor van der Hart (1976–77)
Joop Castenmiller (1977–80)
Frans Körver (1980–84)
Bert Jacobs (1984–87)
Hans van Doorneveld (1987–89)
Han Berger (1989–91)
Georg Keßler (1991–92)
Chris Dekker (1992–94)
Pim Verbeek (1994–97)
Bert van Marwijk (1997-00)
Henk Duut (2000–01)
Frans Thijssen (2000–01)
Hans Verèl (2001)
Hans de Koning (2001–04)
Chris Dekker (2004–06)
Frans Körver (2006–07)
Henk Wisman (2007)
Roger Reijners (2007–10)
Wim Dusseldorp (2010–11)
Tini Ruys (2011–12)
Willy Boessen (2012–14)
Peter van Vossen (2014–15)
Ben van Dael (2015–16)
Sunday Oliseh (2017–18)
Claudio Braga (a.i.) (2018)
René Eijer (2018–19)
Sjors Ultee (2019–20)
Kevin Hofland (2020)
Sjors Ultee (2020–2022)
Julio Velazquez (2022–2023)
Danny Buijs (2023–Present)
Women's football
On January 25, 2022 Fortuna announced they were beginning a women's football department. The club will start in the Dutch women's Eredivisie in season 2022/23.
Current squad
See also
Dutch football league teams
References
External links
Fansite Fortuna Supporters Collectief
Association football clubs established in 1968
1968 establishments in the Netherlands
Football clubs in the Netherlands
Football clubs in Sittard-Geleen
South Limburg (Netherlands)