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Euro Footy Focus: Feyenoord has fallen on hard times

The first club that you automatically think of when the subject of Dutch football crops up would ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

15.14 22 Feb 2013


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Euro Footy Focus: Feyenoord ha...

Euro Footy Focus: Feyenoord has fallen on hard times

Newstalk
Newstalk

15.14 22 Feb 2013


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The first club that you automatically think of when the subject of Dutch football crops up would surely be Ajax. The Amsterdam icons named after a Greek god, associated with historic legends Johan Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Edgar Davids and Clarence Seedorf, are firmly established in the pantheon of great continental sides thanks to their four European Cups.

But it is easy to forget that it was actually their great rivals Feyenoord who were the first Dutch club to win the European Cup in 1970, beating Celtic in the final before claiming the World Club Championship a year later.

It set the stage for an era of dominance for Dutch clubs in Europe – although it was a Cruyff-inspired Ajax that benefited by winning the next three European Cups.

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Since then the Rotterdam club has been in Ajax’s shadow – as well as PSV Eindhoven’s and more recently Twente and AZ - winning just three league titles since the 1973-74 season, with the last one arriving in 1999.

Feyenoord did win a second UEFA Cup title in 2002, beating Borussia Dortmund in the final in Rotterdam thanks to former Premier League players Pierre Van Hooijdonk and Jon-Dahl Tomasson.

Recurring theme

But the last decade has seen a steep decline from the high of that triumph on home soil. It is a recurring theme for certain clubs in Europe’s secondary leagues like the Eredivisie, Portuguese Primeira Liga and France’s Ligue 1, but lack of Champions League football can be a killer regardless of a club’s history and fanbase.

Between 1996 and 2003, Feyenoord were Champions League regulars, reaching the second group stage in 1999-00. However they were always a step behind domestic rivals and fellow Champions League regulars Ajax and PSV.

The Rotterdam club were perennial third place finishers which usually guaranteed progress to the Champions League qualifiers. But then disaster struck. UEFA decided to reduce the number of Champions League places available to Dutch clubs from three to just two ahead of the 2002/03 league season which cut Feyenoord off from a vital component of its budget.

The issue was compounded by the effects of the 1995 Bosman ruling on Dutch clubs as they haemorrhaged key players to Europe’s big clubs. All clubs in the Netherlands including Feyenoord were affected but they were hit harder than Ajax or PSV because of the immediate loss of Champions League revenue.

RVP

Over the last ten years, Feyenoord have lost the likes of Robin Van Persie, Dirk Kuyt and Salomon Kalou who have gone on to bigger and better things. The situation has not been helped by the fact that clubs like Chelsea have pounced on some of their Academy players before they have even graduated to the first-team with Jeffrey Bruma and Nathan Ake on the Blues’ books since they were 15 and 16 respectively.

With no Champions League and key players departing, Feyenoord slid backwards. Between 2006/07 and 2008/09 they failed to finish higher than sixth in the league even though the Eredivsie had temporarily adopted a playoff system which meant teams finishing 2nd to 5th had a shot at Champions League qualification.

With the club on the verge of bankruptcy, Feyenoord thought they had hit their lowest point in October 2010 when they were humiliated 10 – 0 by PSV. But over the next two years they have sold more key products of their youth academy like midfielders Leroy Fer (who nearly joined Everton in January) and Georgie Wijnaldum to the likes of FC Twente who were a mid-table Dutch club ten years ago, while the Dutch FA imposed transfer restrictions on the club which were only lifted last summer as debts became manageable.

Upturn

There are signs of an upturn in fortunes, however. With former Barcelona and Holland legend Ronald Koeman in charge, Feyenoord managed to beat the likes of Twente and PSV to 2nd place in the league last season, thereby reaching the Champions League qualifiers. They ultimately failed to reach this season’s group stage proper after losing to Dynamo Kiev but they are currently 4th this term – just six points off the top with 11 games to go.

The current squad is packed with exciting academy products like captain Stefan De Vrij, Jordy Clasie and Bruno Martins Indi as well as loanees and veterans like ex-Holland defender Joris Mathijsen.

Of course the likes of Clasie and Martins will certainly be sold for a healthy profit within the next few transfer windows, but that appears to be the club’s policy and reflective of the current state of Dutch football in this era.

The brutal truth is that Feyenoord will not be eating from Europe’s top table but it will be a victory of sorts if they can re-establish themselves as Eredivisie title challengers in the near future.


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