FC Twente (Holland)

FC Twente are a professional football club from the north east city of Enschede in The Netherlands. The club were formed on the 1st July 1965 following the merger of Sportclub (SC) Enschede and Enschedese Boys.

SC Enschede

SC Enschede had been formed on the 1st June 1910 and quickly going on to become one of the leading clubs in the country after beginning competitive life playing in Tweede second klasse football.

Sportclub won three divisional titles, the last of which in 1915-16 which led to promotion to Eerste Klasse Oost, which was one of five top level regional divisions from where each winner played in a group to decide the national champion.

After finishing as Oost runners-up three times, SC won the league in 1923-24 prior to a runners-up slot and then finishing top again in 1925-26 from where the club was crowned as Dutch champions.

Three more runners-up places in Eerste Klasse Oost ensued before they again won the division in 1931-32 which was followed up by another regional championship in 1935-36. It would be 1942-43 before the next time. On each occasion it couldn’t be backed up in the national round.

After becoming Oost runners-up again in 1948-49 the club was given a place in Eerste klasse D in the first season of professional football at their Heekpark home under coach Jaap van der Leck.

The competition was streamlined with SC placed in Hoofdklasse B, where the goals of Abe Lenstra ensured a third place finish and membership of the first single division Eredivisie of 1956-57 where the strike partnership of Arend van der Wel and Gerrit Moddejonge took SC to third place.

This was improved the following season with SC finishing national runners-up as Sepp Seemann topped their scorers chart. The club remained of of the leading lights, finishing third again in 1963-64 when Chiel Jansen and Henk Bosveld had put the goals away.

By 1965 the club was saddled with debts, which led to their merger. SC Enschede meanwhile continued as an amateur club who spent several seasons at Zondag Eerste Klasse level.

Enschedese Boys

Enschedese Boys were originally called Lotisco when formed on the 20th June 1906. They had a severe rivalry with SC who were supported by the middle class and factory owners, whereas Boys were the working class club.

It was said that fans of De Boys refused to wear black shoe laces as that was the colour of Sportclub, whereas SC fans would supposedly not eat erwtensoep as it was the green colour of Boys.

After winning their Tweede Klasse title in 1921-22, Boys joined SC in Eerste Klasse Oost where they remained until 1928-29 when they dropped back down a level for three seasons, winning their divisional title on a couple of occasions before returning to the top level.

After another spell of five seasons Boys dropped back down, but again recovered with the 2E Klasse A title in 1938-39. After a years break for War the clubs’ performances improved as they finished third in the 1945-46 Eerste Klasse Oost season.

Their greatest season came in 1949-50 with the Oost title to progress to the national round. When professional football began the club were placed in the top level Eerste Klasse C at their Volkspark home.

Their performance was not good enough to remain in the streamlined top division, before they dropped down further to the new third tier Tweede Divisie for the 1955-56 campaign where Gerrit Nijsink scored consistent goals despite his side finishing bottom again.

A runners-up spot from their section won promotion in 1959-60 back to the Eerste Divisie where a third place was won in 1962-63. De Boys were also suffering with financial problems by this time.

Boys continued as an amateur club playing many years in Zondag Eerste Klasse football, reviving their rivalry with SC before gradually slipping down the levels right down to Vijfde fifth Klasse football in 2016-17 at which point the few remaining members decided to dissolve the club.

FC Twente

The city of Enschede wanted one club to challenge for holeadinours, so the merger of FC Twente was agreed upon by both clubs as they moved into the multi-purpose Diekman Stadion with Friedrich Donenfeld their first head coach before Kees Rijvers took over after a year.

Third place was achieved in 1968-69 with Dick van Dijk leading the Eredivisie scoring before Antal Nagy led the line the following season. Another third place came in 1971-72 when  Spitz Kohn took over as coach before a runners-up place in 1973-74 with the goals of Johan Zuidema helping to established the club at the top level.

The team had travelled to De Kuip to challenge Feyenoord in the league decider but lost the game 3-2. As a consolation Twente were placed in the UEFA Cup for the following season where they made their name in Europe.

FC Twente, named after the local region in which Eschede is located, went all the way to the UEFA Cup Final of 1974-75 before losing to Borussia Monchengladbach 5-1 on aggregate after defeating Juventus in the semi-finals. The team also reached the final of the KNVB Beker where they went down 1-0 to FC Den Haag.

The side returned to the cup final the following season where they defeated PEC Zwolle 3-0 at De Goffert in Nijmegen as Epi Drost and Gerrie Mühren along with top scorer Jan Jeuring scoring the goals.

The skills of Arnold Mühren were added to the team along with goal scorer Ab Gritter with Twente reaching the 1978-79 Beker final where Ajax came out on top after a replay. Kohn departed but returned in November 1982 after the following two appointments didn’t work out.

However, he couldn’t save ‘De Tukkers’ from relegation to Eerste Divisie before Fritz Korbach coached the side to a return to the top flight as runners-up after just a seasons abstinence before a period of consolidation.

Theo Vonk arrived as coach in 1986, taking the team to three consecutive third place finishes from 1987-88 to 1989-90 as Piet Keur and then Claus Nielsen scoring the goals without Twente progressing too far in the UEFA Cup.

Rob Baan and Issy ten Donkelaar had spells as coach before the arrival of Hans Meyer who led the side to a third place finish in 1996-97 with international John Bosman putting away the chances regularly. Twente left Diekman Stadion for the brand new Arke Stadion in March 1998, which was built between the city centres of Enschede and Hengelo.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink became the next crowd favourite while Fred Rutten arrived as coach in 1999. His team lifted the KNVB Beker in 2000-01 after PSV were defeated on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

John van 't Schip had a short tenure in charge of the side before being replaced by René Vandereycken, as the club was declared bankrupt, but a new company was quickly formed with businessman Joop Munsterman taking over as chairman.

The team went down to a single goal to FC Utrecht in the 2003-04 KNVB Beker final. Rini Coolen, Jan van Staa and a returning Rutten were the next in the coach’s role who benefitted from the goals of Blaise Nkufo and Kennedy Bakırcıoğlu.

Steve McClaren was appointed as the new head coach in the summer of 2008 as the team played in the Champions League qualifiers. The Arke Stadion was renamed De Grolsch Verde in a sponsorship deal with the local brewers as the arena was extended.

The team finished as Eredivisie runners-up in 2008-09 with Marko Arnautović adding goals as well as losing KNVB Beker finalists after going down to SC Heerenveen on penalties in the final after Eljero Elia and Youssouf Hersi scoring in normal time.

FC Twente went on to win their first Eredivisie in 2009-10 losing only two games all season as Bryan Ruiz shone. McClaren resigned to be replaced by Belgian Michel Preud’homme. His side lifted their third KNVB Beker in 2010-11 after coming back from 2-0 down to defeat Ajax 3-2 with the goals coming from Wout Brama, Theo Janssen and Marc Janko.  

A week later FC Twente had to go to play Ajax at the Amsterdam ArenA, leading the league by one point going into the final game. Ajax won the game 3-1 to leave FC Twente as runners up as Luuk de Jong starred throughout the campaign.

Co Adriaanse took over in the managers seat from Preud’homme for 2012-13, but a sixth placed finish led to McClaren returning for a second spell for a year, but he couldn’t replicate former glories.

Michel Jansen led his side to third place in 2013-14 with the front pair of Dušan Tadić and Luc Castaignos producing the goods. Alfred Schreuder took charge in the summer of 2014 in what would be a difficult time for the club.

Twente were investigated and punished for financial mismanagement which saw a change of president and staff redundancies as René Hake took over as coach while the KNVB threatened the club with automatic relegation which was dismissed on appeal.

After apparently stabilising with the help of goals from Enes Ünal, Twente were relegated in 2017-18 after Hake, Gertjan Verbeek and then Marino Pusic all had spells as coach. Tom Boere scored goals supplied by Javier Espinosa and Aitor Cantalapiedra as the team won the Eerste Divisie title at the first attempt to regain their top flight status.

Gonzalo García García took charge of the team in the 2019-20 season which ended early owing to the COVID-19 pandemic with Twente in fourteenth place as Haris Vučkić led the scoring.

FC Twente will play in Eredivisie in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

FC Twente 3 Heracles 1 (Friday 17^th January 2014) Eredivisie (Att: 29,750)

I was in need of an annual venture over to Europe to watch some football for a weekend. After looking at possibilities for Germany and Belgium, I plumped for The Netherlands as my monthly long weekend off work coincided with the resumption of fixtures after the winter break.

After strategic advanced planning I flew to Eindhoven from Stanstead after hearing the end of the demoralising ODI between Australia and England and purchased an Anonymous OV Chipcard for all travel in the country on arrival. 

It was like an Oyster card, only covering everything. What a sensible idea! My long train ride had a couple of changes in Utrecht and Apeldoorn before I arrived in Hengelo, where I was to stay for the night.

The Hampshire City Hotel was a top class choice, as it was only a couple of minutes from the station. The helpful staff provided me with a continental plug adaptor as I’d left mine at home. De Grolsche Veste was located between there and Enschede and just a five minute train ride away, with Enschede Drienerlo station serving the stadium.

The club had been most helpful sorting me a ticket, after initially saying it may have been tough as it was the first game back following the break and a local derby to boot. I had to pay €43.50 for my ticket, which I collected at the stadium booth near to the station exit. 

A sensibly priced and sized programme cost me €1. The small size like some clubs issued in the 60's in the UK with all the required info, but it fitted into a back pocket.

I wandered around before going inside, even getting access into the fans bar. Unfortunately the place was predictably packed, so getting a beer was going to be hard work. I decided to give it a miss and go in search of my turnstile. 

After a big climb up the stairs I reached the concourse level, when I grabbed a quick look outside, before returning in search of a beer. A token system was in operation to buy plastic club munts (coins) from a machine, which were then exchanged for food and drink.

I enjoyed a lovely sweet dark local Grolsch, followed by a light one with a smoked hot dog, before heading to my seat and also take some photos from different angles. Beers could be taken to your seat like at all grounds I came across in Holland and Germany when I’ve visited.

The stadium was excellent, with two tiers around three sides and a lower side by the railway. My seat was right up on the top deck towards the byline offering great views of the action. It took some climbing to the top. 

The visitors from Almelo had one block of seats allocated, although their fans made themselves heard. Home fans in Vak P created plenty of atmosphere including their own take on "You'll Never Walk Alone" before kick off.

Twente went in deservedly 1-0 ahead at the break although Heracles had plenty of play after winger Quincy Promes back heeled and then fired into the far corner of the Heracles net. There were other opportunities, but the interval score was about right. I was struggling by the break with tiredness after such a long day and was glad to get up and have a stretch.

A second goal came soon after the interval from Luc Castaignos following a couple of attempts being kept out. A straight red card to the last Heracles defender, Jeroen Veldmate made the visitor’s task even harder not long after. 

To their credit they kept going and pulled a goal back with a fine individual effort, not that Twente's fans appreciated it, as the German Mark Uth ran from the half way line with defenders backing off before planting a shot into the top corner of the net. 

It woke Twente from their complacency as they pushed forward and sealed the game with a penalty from Serbian forward Dušan Tadić with two minutes remaining. The result was a fair reflection on the game.

There was a hell of a crush trying to get through the turnstiles that led to the tunnel under the railway for the return ride. It was quite scary at one point, with the organisation poor. The normal entrance to the far platform was cut off, but without any signage. Many locals had made the same error as myself. It was a relief to get on a train heading back to my base.

I was in a pub with decent loud music sampling more Grolsch within half an hour after a brief look around the centre of Hengelo to round off a long but very enjoyable day. I slept very well that night!

To see a brief clip I took at the game, click here: