Roda JC and Fortuna Sittard are history

Friday 03 April 2009

For a second Fortuna Sittard Director Hans Erkens has to swallow.

"The meeting with the personnel this morning was very emotional," Erkens says at the press presentation of the new club Sporting Limburg.

"Some people have been with the club for 20, 30 and one even 50 years. And then in comes some interim Director telling them they are going to do things differently. Yes, that is tough."

But he added there was no other option.

The alternative budget drawn up by Trots op Fortuna (Proud of Fortuna), who pledged independence was based on quicksand, as they foresaw a deficit of a half million euro each year.

And that is exactly what the current management has been dealing with for years, mister Erkens said.

He talked to investors in Milan and Paris, to people who wanted to invest money in an independent Fortuna.

They all turned out to be phonies.

In short: not to merge would mean bankruptcy for Fortuna Sittard.

On top the KNVB stated yesterday that the clubs license will be withdrawn because of the debt of 5.3 million euro.

Financially weak Roda JC will also get in trouble quickly in the stand alone-variant, as they would have to lower their budget next year.

And they weren't living big anyway.

With the founding of Sporting Limburg the future of top level football in Limburg is guaranteed, say Roda chairman Olaf van Eijndhoven and former coach Sef Vergoossen, chairman of the steering group 'Topvoetbal In Limburg'.

In the past days the sure merger seemed to fall through at the last moment.

Big problem again was the debt of Fortuna Sittard, as the steering group only wanted to merge with a Fortuna free of debt.

"On Tuesday I personally thought it was all over," Vergoossen says.

At the very last moment there was a solution: the personnel of the club will come along to the new club, but the debts will be parked.

A solution will be sought for for the empty PLC.

A bankruptcy of that PLC is not ruled out and the chance that creditors can forget about their money is real.

But that is of later concern, the merge partners say.

Yesterday it was a day for a little party, for a new start and a feeling of pride.

It's not for nothing that the new club has core values such as professionality, teamwork and Limburg.

But there are still some uncertainties.

Indeed there is a logo and a jersey (all yellow at home, and blue on the road), but the financial picture is not yet complete.

There have been intensified talks with sponsors, but nothing has been signed yet.

It's estimated based on talks with companies that some 11 million euro will come in in the first year.

Besides that the Province of Limburg will help out financially.

The steering group thinks that is legally possible, as the club will set up some community projects in return.

That will increase the budget to 14 million.

That is not enough to compete for a 7th to 12th spot in the Eredivisie each year, as the business plan proclaims.

That can only happen starting 2013 when the budget will be increased to 20 million.

In the coming weeks a quartermaster will be appointed who will raise the scaffolding and put the right people on the right positions.

Principally all current staff of Roda JC and Fortuna Sittard will come along to the new club, but layoffs on both sides are not ruled out.

Yet there is money for a social plan.

Ongoing players contracts are respected.

At Fortuna only the contract Angelo Simone does not expire at the end of this year and within two weeks Fortuna will tell a number of other players whether or not they will get a contract at the new club.

Current Roda coach Harm van Veldhoven will probably be the coach of the new club and Martin van Geel will be the Director of Football.

Sef Vergoossen says he is open to a role in management.