Football Club Twente (Dutch pronunciation:[ɛfˈseːˈtʋɛntə]), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Boys. FC Twente's trophy cabinet includes the KNVB Cup, the Johan Cruyff Shield, and the Eredivisie title. They were runner-up in the Eredivisie in two other seasons, and finished second in the UEFA Cup. They have also won the Dutch Cup three times, most recently in 2011. Twente's home ground since 1998 is De Grolsch Veste. Since 2019, the team have played in the Eredivisie, the top division of Dutch football. The club takes its name from the region of Twente, the eastern part of Overijssel.
History
Foundation and early years
The club was formed in 1965 as a merger of two professional clubs, Sportclub Enschede and the Enschedese Boys. One of such predecessors, SC Enschede, had also won a single Dutch championship in 1926.[1]
The first successes of the club started just after the merger of 1965, under the innovative coach Kees Rijvers. Twente finished third in 1969, fourth in 1970, fifth in 1971, third in 1972 and again in 1973. The team's key figures were local heroes, such as Epi Drost, Eddy Achterberg, Kick van der Vall and Theo Pahlplatz. Their finest Eredivisie season was 1973–74, in which Twente battled for the Dutch championship with Feyenoord. A head-to-head confrontation in the final game of the season, in Rotterdam, where Feyenoord prevailed 3–2, sealed Twente's fate in second. Nonetheless, this earned the side a position in the UEFA Cup.
The Tukkers, as FC Twente fans are known, made the most of their UEFA Cup appearance in 1974–75, making it all the way to the final, where they lost 0–0 on aggregate (1–5 on away goals) to German side Borussia Mönchengladbach. They also eliminated the likes of Juventus en route to the final.
In 1977, Twente won their first trophy, the KNVB Cup, after beating PEC Zwolle 3–0.[2]
The 1980s and 1990s
After enjoying some success in the 1970s, prospects went downhill for Twente, with the club ultimately suffering relegation to the Eerste Divisie, the Dutch second division, in 1983. However, Twente returned to the top flight a year later, but the club soon became known for their "impressive" amount of 1–1 and 0–0 draws. Although the club's "boring" reputation seemed to stick, Twente continued to achieve European qualification on a regular basis, qualifying for Europe five times between 1985 and 2009.
Re-establishment then followed in the 1990s: German coach Hans Meyer led Twente to third-place in the Eredivisie of 1997 and into the third round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup the next season. On 24 May 2001, Twente clinched their second triumph in the KNVB Cup after beating PSV in the final after being 3–1 down in the penalty shoot-out. The season after, Twente crashed out of the Cup at the hands of Ajax's second team. Additionally, results in the league were poor, with hardcore Twente fans Ultras Vak-P eventually going on a rampage at the club's brand-new stadium, De Grolsch Veste, out of frustration.
From bankruptcy to national champions (2002–2011)
Steve McClaren, the first manager to win the title for FC Twente.
The club's mother corporation (FC Twente '65) was declared bankrupt in the 2002–03 season, almost leading to the club's going out of existence. Despite the club's financial troubles, it continued to enjoy success, reaching the 2004 KNVB Cup final, and finishing fourth in the 2006-07 Eredivisie season under the stewardship of chairman Joop Munsterman. In the 2007–08 season, Twente placed fourth and won the play-offs for a ticket to the Champions League qualifiers by defeating Ajax in the play-off finals.
In the 2008–09 season, Twente hired former England manager Steve McClaren as its new head coach. Under his tenure, unseeded Twente entered the draw for the third qualifying round of the Champions League, being drawn against seeded Arsenal. The two legs were played at home on 13 August and away on 27 August 2008. Twente lost 6–0 on aggregate, resulting in their elimination from the Champions League and subsequent entry of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round. At the domestic level, Twente finished second in the Eredivisie, 11 points behind champions AZ, and again secured entry to the Champions League qualifying rounds as Dutch runners-up, as well as KNVB Cup finalists (defeated by Heerenveen).
The 2009–10 season started with Twente being knocked out of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round after a 1–1 aggregate draw against Sporting CP, which sent the Portuguese side through on away goals.[3] The club was then admitted to the Europa League, where it enjoyed a relatively successful path that ended in a 4–2 aggregate defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen in the round of 32. At the domestic level, Twente won its first Eredivisie title at the end of a campaign in which they lost just twice, winning 16 of 17 at home. The championship was confirmed on the final day of the season when they beat NAC 2–0 away,[4] making Steve McClaren the first Englishman to guide a Dutch team to a national title since Bobby Robson in 1992.[5] The victory qualified Twente for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage, the club's first appearance in the competition. At the end of the season, McClaren resigned as the manager, moving to German side VfL Wolfsburg, and was replaced by the BelgianMichel Preud'homme. Twente continued their success by having a good run during the 2010–11 KNVB Cup, reaching the final on 8 May 2011 at De Kuip.[6] Twente recovered from 2–0 down to defeat Ajax 3–2 in extra time with a winner from Marc Janko,[7] which claimed the club's third KNVB Cup title.[8] One week later, the two teams faced each other in Amsterdam in the final round of matches in the Eredivisie, with Twente leading by a point. However, Ajax gained revenge for the Cup defeat by winning 3–1, to claim their first title in seven years.[9]
The start of the 2011–12 season, under Preud'homme's successor Co Adriaanse, featured another clash between the duo in the Amsterdam Arena, this time with Twente winning 2–1 in their second successive Johan Cruijff Shield supercup victory.[10]
Financial problems and relegation (2014–2019)
During the 2014–15 Eredivisie season, Twente found themselves in financial trouble again, forcing the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) to deduct the club three points from the side in March 2015.[11] Club President Munsterman, who had announced to leave the club at the end of the season, then already quit the club on 1 April 2015 over allegations of financial mismanagement.[12] The team fired 18 employees[13] and stopped with their scouting department after they received a second three-point penalty in April 2015.[14] They also decided to withdraw Jong Twente from the Eerste Divisie for the 2015–16 season and the women's professional team was relocated in a separate foundation.[15] On 18 May 2016, the KNVB declared its intent to relegate FC Twente to the Eerste Divisie. This was however still subject to appeal by FC Twente[16] and on 17 June 2016, the KNVB appeal committee decided that Twente can remain in the Eredivisie. At the end of the 2017–18 Eredivisie season, Twente relegated to the Eerste Divisie by finishing at the bottom of the table at the end of the season, after having fired two managers that season. The 2018–19 Eerste Divisie season was the first outside of the top flight for 34 years. Commercial director Jan van Halst felt partly responsible and then stepped down.[17]
Back to Europe
In the Eerste Divisie, Twente had a season marked by ups and downs. From December 2018, however, through a 15-game stretch, not a single loss was recorded, giving the club a big lead over the competition. On 22 April 2019, the title and promotion were secured. Twente drew 0–0 at home against Jong AZ, but because the last remaining competitor Sparta Rotterdam lost, Twente could no longer be reached.[18]
Despite Pušić's success in earning Twente promotion, he was let go and replaced by his assistant Gonzalo García, who was put in charge of the club for their return to the Eredivisie.[19] After a strong start, a 3–2 home defeat to archrivals Heracles Almelo was the start of a lesser period. Twente dropped to the bottom regions of the Eredivisie and after an impressive victory over AZ, three more defeats followed. However, after a 1–0 defeat against Vitesse, the Eredivisie season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. As a result, Twente finished the 2019–20 season in fourteenth place, safe of relegation.[20]
At the beginning of the 2020–21 season, García was also dismissed to be succeeded by the experienced Ron Jans.[21] At the same time, Jan Streuer became technical director as a replacement for the Ted van Leeuwen who had resigned.[22] Streuer brought in players such as Queensy Menig and Václav Černý, who would both become key players in the following season.[23] After an excellent first half of the season, the results in the second half of the season were disappointing. Twente missed play-offs for European football and finished in tenth place. As a result of this season, Streuer wanted to bring more experienced players to the club, and signed Robin Pröpper and Ricky van Wolfswinkel.[24] In addition, youth players were increasingly integrated in the first team with Mees Hilgers, Ramiz Zerrouki and Daan Rots becoming starters. Jody Lukoki was also signed, but he was seriously injured shortly after his arrival, which meant that he never played a match for Twente. Lukoki's contract was terminated on 17 February 2022 after being convicted of domestic violence.[25] Three months later, on 9 May 2022, Lukoki died of cardiac arrest after being beaten by family members.[26][27][28]
After a strong season, Twente finished in fourth place in the league table and qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League; their first return to Europe in eight years.[29]
The gate at the stadium symbolises the club's history.
De Grolsch Veste, formerly named Arke Stadion, is the official stadium of FC Twente and is owned by the club. It is located at the Business & Science Park, near the University of Twente and between the city centers of Enschede and Hengelo. It has a spectator capacity of 30,205 with a standard pitch heating system and has a promenade instead of fences around the stands.
De Grolsch Veste replaced the old Diekman Stadion as Twente's home ground on 22 March 1998. Initially, plans had been afoot to expand and renovate the old and now demolished Diekman stadium. However, with a growing fan capacity and with arguments that the location of the Diekman stadium was not strategic enough, the idea was conceived to build a new arena for the Twente fans. The Diekman ground also faced problems with its seating plans as a result of the FIFA regulations, which impose a requirement to construct a seating stand behind each goal.
The new stadium, De Grolsch Veste, cost an estimated 33 million guilders and took 14 months to build, with construction starting on 31 January 1997. Due to the tight budget available, the layout of the stadium was constructed so that future expansions are possible without the necessity to tear down entire existing stands.
On 10 May 1998, the first match played at the stadium resulted in a 3–0 victory by the home team against PSV in an Eredivisie match.
Initially, the Grolsch Veste had a capacity of 13,500 spectators, which was later reduced to 13,250. As of the start of the 2008–09 season, the stadium has been expanded with a partial second ring increasing the capacity to 24,000 seats. After a second expansion, completed in 2011, the current capacity became 30,205.
The players below had senior international cap(s) for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for FC Twente.
The women's section of Twente was founded in 2007 for the creation of the Eredivisie as new top-level league in the Netherlands. Twente played the opening match of the league. After three midfield positions in the first three years, Twente won the championship in 2010–11 and played the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2011–12.
