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| Fortuna
wins half million |
06 Jan 2003
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|
Fortuna
Sittard has had a fortunate start to the New Year after winning a half million
Euros in the Dutch national lottery. The group of Fortuna fans who took the
initiative to buy the tickets are planning to put the money into a fund that
can be used for the ailing club.
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| Fortuna
lose 2-3 against Dordrecht |
13 Dec 2002
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|
Fortuna find themselves settled
on the bottom of the table after losing their 5th game in a row. Although the home
side took the lead in the 30th minute, they were trailing 1-2 just 5 minutes
later with goals from club top scorer Marco Boogers (33rd) and Leon van
Dalen (35th). In the 65th Michael van Dommelen increased the lead to
3-1. Although Harrie Gomans managed to reduce the gap to 1 goal with a
70th minute header, the visitors remained the better of the 2 teams and had
no problems in holding onto their lead.
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| Den
Bosch beat Fortuna |
06 Dec 2002
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|
Den Bosch beat Fortuna Sittard
with a Jan Michels 61st minute goal. Hard to believe that both teams played
in the ere divisie last season !
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| Fortuna
lose to Haarlem 1-2 |
29 Nov 2002
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|
Paul Janssen's first goal of the
season in the 37 minute of the match was not enough to help Fortuna avoid
defeat after Haarlem had taken a 0-2 advantage with goals from Jeroen
Kettings (3) and Paul Mulders (30).
|
| Groningen
end talks with PSV's Addo |
24 Nov 2002
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| Eagles
win at Fortuna 1-2 |
16 Nov 2002
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| Sub-topper
Go Ahead Eagles went 1-0 down after 23 minutes of last night's match
when Ronald Hamming put away a spot-shot after a penalty was awarded
against the visitors. After the break the Eagles drew level through a
Bram Marbus goal and a late 90th minute winner by Koen Brack gave them
the points. |
| Volendam
lose to Fortuna |
08 Nov 2002
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| Ronald
Hamming's two goals against Volendam turned the match around for Fortuna
after being 1-0 down they went on to win 1-2. It was only the 2nd win of the
season for the Sittardians and Volendam will be disappointed to drop
valuable points and miss out on the chnace to close the gap with the top 3
teams in the Eerste Divisie. |
| Emmen
only manage 0-0 at Fortuna |
01 Nov 2002
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|
Eerste Divisie table-toppers Emmen failed to impress last night only
managing a 0-0 draw against lowly 16th placed Fortuna. Fortuna still
haven't managed to adjust to Eerste Divisie football, having only managed
one win this season and now find themselves 3rd from bottom after this
goalless home draw.
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| Helmond
beat Fortuna 4-1 |
25 Oct 2002
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|
Helmond climb into 5th position after beating
Fortuna 4-1. All 5 goals were scored in the first 17 minutes of the game.
Leo Kantelenbergd the score in the 1st minute of the game and 5
minutes later he made it 2-0. Kristof Aelbrecht made 3-0 in the 9th and in
the 13th minute of the game Roy Hendricksen made it 4-0 for the home side.
Gert Brusselers pulled one back Fortuna in the 17th.
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| Fortuna
lose 2-3 to TOP Oss |
18 Oct 2002 |
|
Danny Guyt put TOP Oss ahead
after 35 minutes and doubled the score in the 48th minute. 15 minutes before
time Dennis Iliohan made it 0-3. Injury time goals by Georges Tychon and
Joos van Barneveld were too late to give Fortuna a point. |
| Cambuur
beat Fortuna 2-1 |
04 Oct 2002 |
|
There seems to be no end to
Fortuna's disastrous begin to season. Fortuna were hoping for better after
last week's 2-0 win over highly placed Telstar (their first ever win in the
Eerste Divisie) but are probably dismayed with yet another defeat this evening.
After almost an hour's goallessness Cambuur went into the lead via Katipana in
the 54th
minute. Jan Bruin increased the lead to 2-0 in the 86th minute, rectifying
having himself missed a penalty in the 73rd minute of the game. Fortuna-forward
Barneveld netted a consolation goal 2 minutes into extra time. |
| Fortuna
beat Telstar 2-0 |
27 Sep 2002
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|
Stormvogels/Telstar failed to profit
from the points dropped by Emmen at Haarlem and lost themselves in Limburg
to Fortuna Sittard. Joos van Berneveldd the score after almost
an hour's play and Ronald Hamming made it 2-0 in the last minute of the
match.
|
| Heracles
beat Fortuna 3-2 |
20 Sep 2002
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| Heracles
Almelo stay in touch with table-toppers Emmen after a 3-2 against
Fortuna. After Heracles went 2-0 up Joos van Barneveld and Harry Gomans
drew the Sittardians level, and it began to look as if Gert Jan
Verbeek's team would drop some points for the 2nd time this season,
before Rachid Tibari snatched the winner in the 90th minute. |
| Fortuna
and
Den Haag in hot-tempered 1-1 |
13 Sep 2002
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|
Den Haag dropped their first point of the season
and Fortuna earned their first during a hot-tempered match in Sittard. After 24
minutes a red card for Dennis ten Turk reduced Den Haag to 10 men and Ronald
Hamming put away the spot-shot. Peter Hofstede snatched a point for the visitors
with a goal just past the hour.
|
| Sparta
thrash Fortuna 4-0 |
08 Sep 2002
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|
Sparta regained the taste of victory this
afternoon against fellow-relegees Fortuna with a 4-0 thrashing of the
Limburgers. It was not only the Rotterdammers' first Eerste Divisie win but
also their first since November 28th 2001 (a 3-2 win against Willem II) and
it's been a straight run of 21 games since they last won a match! Dolf
Roks' team had little trouble disposing of their opponents today thanks
to goals by David Mendes da Silva (16th, 34th), Denni Conteh (60th)
and Danny Koevermans (65th).
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| MVV draw
with Fortuna 0 -
0 |
31 Aug 2002
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| MVV
drew for the 3rd time this season, this time with Fortuna Sittard. The
5,000 visitors were treated to a rather disappointing match in which
there were more yellow cards (5) than chances before goal. |
| Fortuna's
Fritz Emeran returns to France |
21 Aug 2002
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|
Fortuna have taken leave of defender Fritz Emeran
who's been with the Sittardians since
arriving from Belgian side RC Genk in the 2000/2001 season. He's
returning to France to play for Geugnon who turn out in the French 2nd Division.
He leaves the club with a slightly bitter taste in his mouth as Fortuna were
knocked out of theAmstel Cup last night by amateurs Gemert.
|
| Fortuna
exit Amstel
Cup |
20 Aug 2002
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|
Fortuna misfortunes continue - after their recent relegation
from the Ere Divisie they are now out of the Amstel Cup. They lost 3-2 to amateurs VV Gemert,
and exit the tournament at the first hurdle.
|
| Fortuna lose
to Eindhoven 1
- 2 |
16 Aug 2002
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| Fortuna
Sittard who were relegated last season, lost their first match of the
season last night to Eindhoven. Fortuna's top scorer Hammingd the
score in the 11th minute but as the 1st half progressed Eindhoven fought
themselves back into the match. 10 minutes before the break the
visitors levelled via Luciano van Kallen and 8 minutes later Ties
Konings scored the winner. |
| Fortuna
want to bring back Paul Janssen |
05 Aug 2002
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|
Fortuna Sittard want to persuade Paul Janssen to
return the club where he began his career. The former Fortuna defender has
recently returned to the area after terminating his contract at Groningen, which
still had two years to run, with the intention of becoming an estate
agent! He'd planned to continue playing football with amateurs IVS.
Whatever his decision the unfortunate Sittardians will have to be patient as the
31 year-old is still recovering from a broken toe!
|
| Fortuna
get licence for next season |
24 July 2002
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|
Fortuna Sittard have finally been granted their
professional licence by the Dutch FA (KNVB). The Limburgers, who were
relegated to the Eerste Divisie at the end of last season, were denied a
licence due to their precarious financial position but have been lucky to
find a sponsor in time who'll cover their debts. They are the fourth club
who've had to fight hard to come up with a feasible financial plan for
next season in order to meet the Dutch FA's (KNVB) preconditions. Den
Bosch, NAC, TOP Oss and now Fortuna are all in the safe-zone with Sparta
hearing the FA's verdict on their situation tomorrow. They shouldn't have
any problems convincing the licencing committee after they received a
cheque for the sale of Nourdin Boukhari to Ajax which should be sufficient
to guarantee their financial survival.
|
| Fritz
Emeran returns to Fortuna |
16 July 2002
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|
Fritz Emeran has returned 'home' to Fortuna
after unsucessfull trials with French side Girondin Bordeaux and English
side Portsmouth. The 26 year-old former Genk player will be giving his best
to the Limburgers, who are currently fighting for their survival as a
club, as they prepare for the coming season. He's already accepted a
reduced offer from the unfortunate Sittardians but is free to move to
another club if a tempting offer comes along.
|
| Fortuna-solution
for Hamming and Krijgsman |
15 July 2002
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|
Fortuna Sittard have found a solution for
Ronald Hamming and Dennis Krijgsman, two of the players whose contracts
they tried to terminate via the Dutch FA's (KNVB) arbitration committee.
Hamming has signed a new deal for two years with the financially troubled,
newly relegated Eerste Divisie side while Krijgsman can leave the club
transfer-free. The Limburgers will be appealing today against the Dutch
FA's decision not to grant them a licence for next season and next week
will be attempting to negotiate a new contract with their head of scouting
Hans Vergeer.
|
| Dennis
Gerritsen returns to amateur ranks |
15 July 2002
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|
Dennis Gerritsen has decided to end his
professional career and will continue to play football as an amateur. The
31 year-old's contract with Fortuna Sittard ran out this summer and there
were no other clubs interested in signing the forward so he'll now be
playing for amateur team Babberich. Gerritsen started his professional
career at the age of 22 with NAC after playing for Ajax's amateurs, going
on to play for Helmond Sport and De Graafschap.
|
| Fortuna
denied right to terminate contracts |
13 July 2002
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|
Fortuna Sittard have been denied the
possibility to terminate the contracts of Dennis Krijgsman, Ronald Hamming
and the head of scouting Hans Vergeer by the Dutch FA's (KNVB) arbitration
committee. According to the committee there is no evidence of economic
decline at the club which was the reason the club had given for taking the
drastic step. The trio had already rejected a reduced offer for next
season and this latest news brings much closer the end of the club which
is currently saddled with debts totalling 5 million Euros. Whether or
not Sittard-Geleen council will reach out a helping hand to Fortuna will
not be clear till after the summer.
|
| Cramb
and Rook leave Fortuna |
08 July 2002
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|
Fortuna have been able to find 'new homes' for
Scottish striker Colin Cramb and Mischka Rook - Cramb has returned
to Scotland while Rook has signed for Eerste Divisie side TOP Oss. It
reduces the pressure on the club who have serious financial problems and
they are now waiting to see if they can get permission from the Dutch FA
(KNVB) to terminate the contracts of players Ronald Hamming and Dennis
Krijsgman plus that of trainer Hans Verel.
|
| Emeran
on trial with Girondins Bordeaux |
05 July 2002
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| Fortuna's
Fritz Emeran is on trial with French side Girondins Bordeaux after being
told he can leave the club, despite his contract which runs till 2005. The
26 year-old right-back travels to a club which ended in 6th place in the
French Premiθre Division and will be playing UEFA Cup football next
season.
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| Fortuna
appeal against licence decision |
03 July 2002
|
Fortuna
have appeared before the Dutch FA's (KNVB) arbitration committee and been
given two weeks in which to present a sound budget for next season. There
is little chance of the Limburgers succeeding as they have short-term
debts of 4.5 million Euros, have to contribute another 2 million
Euros in back-payments owed the professional players' pension fund, owe
1.1 million Euros in taxes and have not paid their squad for the months
May and June!!! The club thinks they can survive if they terminate the
contracts of five players (Hamming, Krijgsman, Cramb, Rook and Averdijk),
trainer Verel and head-scout Vergeer without having to pay compensation.
The arbitration committee feels it's very unfair to terminate so many
long-term contracts in this way and dismissed the club's argument that
their financial problems were unforeseen! "It would have been better
for everyone if the club was simply declared bankrupt so that the people
concerned would have been able to apply for compensation", said
chairman Franken.
Fortuna presented a forecast for next season which shows incomes totalling
2.8 million Euros and costs of 2.5 million Euros. The main
accomodation has been hired to a school, reducing the rent, and a ceiling
for players salaries has been proposed which has been accepted by Pascal
Averdijk (54,000 Euros) but rejected by Cramb and Hamming. The total
wage-bill for the club's remaining 18 players (who may or may not still be
under contract next season) can not total more than 660,000 Euros.
|
| Fortuna
fail to get prof licence |
02 July 2002
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| Fortuna
Sittard have failed to get a new professional licence for next season from
the Dutch FA (KNVB). The news came hardly as a surprise but is still a
blow for the Limburgers as the club had already seen their 'old' licence
withdrawn by the Dutch FA. They've not given up hope altogether as club
representatives travel to the KNVB's arbitration committee tonight as they
try to get permission to terminate the contracts of several players. A
successful outcome will mean they can appeal against the loss of their
licence and will help to attract the help of potential business partners.
This could provide them with enough cash to continue but failure will mean
certain bankruptcy.
|
| Hamming's
Greek move in balance |
01 July 2002
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| Fortuna
striker Ronald Hamming's move to Greek side Panionios is hanging in the
balance after the Limburgers' all-time-top-scorer revealed that, although
he passed the obligatory medical, he's still not signed a contract. The
money is not the problem, but the 'fringe-benefits' are, and Hamming reckons
there's only a fifty-fifty chance that the deal will be closed. If it fails to
go through he's still got a year to run on his contract with Fortuna and
he claims there are also several German and Dutch clubs interested
in signing him.
|
| Emeran
and Akerboom stay with Fortuna |
28 Jun 2002
|
| Hamming
swaps Fortuna for Panionios |
25 Jun 2002
|
| Ronald
Hamming is leaving Fortuna Sittard for Greek side Panionios. The 29
year-old forward has signed a deal for one year with an option for one
more with the club who ended in 7th place in the Etniki Katigoria. Hamming
began his professional career in the 1992/1993 season at Groningen and
moved literally from one end of the country to the other to join Fortuna
in November 1994. He's scored 94 goals in 248 professional matches.
|
| Van
der Hoeven stays with Fortuna |
24 Jun 2002
|
| Jochem
van der Hoeven has accepted a reduction in salary to continue playing for
Fortuna Sittard. He's the first player at the club, currently facing
bankruptcy, who's accepted less money in order to help them survive.
Fortuna hope that Ronald Hamming, Mischa Rook and Marcel Akerbom, who've
all been made the same offer, will follow his example! Pascal Averdijk,
Dennis Krijgsman, Colin Cramb, Stijn Haeldermans and Fritz Emeran will all
have to await the outcome of the Dutch FA's (KNVB) arbitration comittee
which meets on July 2nd to decide whether or not the ailing Sittardians
will be given permission to terminate the players' contracts.
|
| Last
chance for Fortuna? |
20 Jun 2002
|
| The
Dutch FA's (KNVB) special arbitration committee will be meeting on July
2nd to decide Fortuna Sittard's future.
The ailing Limburgers have applied
to terminate the contracts of most of their players in an attempt to
survive as a professional club. They are currently without their prof
licence due to the fact that they will be unable to present their budget
to the KNVB for next season by the June 24th deadline. Stijn Haeldermans,
Pascal Averdijk, Dennis Krijgsman, Fritz Emeran, Colin Cramb, Ronald
Hamming, Jochem van der Hoeven, Marcel Akerboom, Mischa Rook, former-trainer
Hans Verel and the head of scouting Hans Vergeer will all see their
contracts annulled if RBC get the go-ahead. In the middle of July the club
hope to know whether or not they will be able to sell their stadium, use
the proceeds (7.5 million Euros) to pay off their debts and be able to
continue as a professional club.
|
| Alemannia
Aachen want Averdijk |
10 Jun 2002
|
| Fortuna's
Edwin Hermans signs for Zwolle? |
30 May 2002
|
| Fortuna's
Edwin Hermans, whose contract in Sittard runs out this summer, is on the
point of signing a contract with Zwolle. The 28 year-old former Eindhoven,
FC Volendam and MVV defender has been with Fortuna for the last 5 seasons.
He was recently linked with a move to NAC, Willem II and ADO Den Haag but
none of the clubs have followed up their initial interest with an offer.
|
| Fortuna
forced to sell squad |
22 May 2002
|
| Fortuna's
financial predicament has become so precarious that they are being forced
to sell practically the entire squad in order to have any chance of
surviving as a professional club. Despite the sale of Mark van Bommel,
Kevin Hofland, Jόrgen Dirkx and Patrick Paauwe, which brought in 8.3
million Euros during the last 4 years, mismanagement of the club's
financial affairs during the same period has led to the club building up
debts to the tune of 7.3 million Euros. Only a private donation made it
possible for the team to play its last game of the season against
Feyenoord! The club's general manager Theo Mommers has devised a
rescue-plan which includes cutting the bill for players' salaries from 2.5
million to 0.8 million Euros and only 3 of the 27 members of the squad
will be staying! Who exactly will be forced to leave will be announced on
Friday during an extraordinary meeting at the club. There is insufficient
capital to buy off existing contracts, there will also be forced
reductions in both the technical and administrative staff and, if all goes
according to plan, the stadium will also be part of the
"summer-sale" in Sittard.
|
| Fortuna
players for sale for free!! |
16 May 2002
|
The
club's financial crisis is forcing Fortuna Sittard to let many of
their players go without being able to ask a fee! Their money problems
have become so acute that the bill for players' salaries is being
drastically reduced as the club's current budget of 6.5 million Euros
is cut by 30%! AZ have already profitted from the unfortunate
Sittardians' position by getting Joost Volmer for nothing and Groningen
also took advantage of the opportunity to snap up Austrian striker Rolf
Landerl.
Other players who could soon well be heading out the door are Ronald
Hamming, Stijn Haeldermans, Jochem van der Hoeven, Fritz Emeran and Dennis
Krijgsman. Up and coming talents Joos van Barneveld and Harry Gommans will
not be on offer as Fortuna are planning to rebuild the team around these
key players.
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