Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club in

Sittard Sittard (; ) is a city in the Netherlands, situated in the southernmost province of Limburg. The town is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen and has almost 37.500 inhabitants in 2016. In its east, Sittard borders the German municipali ...

, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity

Fortuna Sittard Stadion The Fortuna Sittard Stadion () is a 12,500-capacity multi-use stadium on the Milaanstraat, Sittard, Netherlands. Currently used mostly for football matches, it is the home stadium of Fortuna Sittard. Built on the site of an industrial estate in ...

and features in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

. The club was established through a merger of former clubs Fortuna 54 and Sittardia, which merged as the Fortuna Sittardia Combinatie on 1 July 1968.

History

The club experienced mixed fortunes throughout its history although they were a regular fixture in the

in the 1990s, with players such as

Kevin Hofland Kevin Hofland (born 7 June 1979) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player, and was last the head coach of Eerste Divisie club Willem II. A centre back during his career, Hofland played 15 active seasons in which he amassed Ere ...

Mark van Bommel Mark Peter Gertruda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977) is a Dutch football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of Belgian side Royal Antwerp. His FIFA World Cup profile describes him as "a tackli ...

and

Fernando Ricksen Fernando Jacob Hubertina Henrika Ricksen (27 July 1976 – 18 September 2019) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a right back and central midfielder. After winning Eerste Divisie titles with Fortuna Sittard and AZ, he joined Ran ...

emerging from its youth system. These players later joined

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

and Rangers, and featured for the Netherlands national team. The team also signed

Wilfred Bouma Wilfred Bouma (; born 15 June 1978) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played most notably for PSV Eindhoven, Aston Villa and the Netherlands national team. Club career Early career Born in Helmond, North Brabant, Bouma started his ...

and

Patrick Paauwe Patrick Paauwe (born 27 December 1975) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Paauwe played as a defender in the past but for Feyenoord Rotterdam as a defensive midfielder role. Other teams he served ...

from the youth setup of PSV. Both players developed under manager

Bert van Marwijk Lambertus van Marwijk (; born 19 May 1952) is a Dutch football manager who was recently the head coach of the United Arab Emirates national team. As a player, he played for the Go Ahead Eagles, AZ, MVV and Fortuna Sittard amongst other clubs a ...

, before breaking into the Dutch national side and moving towards bigger clubs. Fortuna 54 won the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

in the 1956–57 season, and finished the

season in second place behind champions

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

. Sittardia were less successful and battled against relegation for many seasons. Fortuna 54 won the KNVB Cup again in 1964 before the merging of the two clubs in 1968 due to financial difficulties. At the end of the 1999–2000 season, manager Bert van Marwijk left to join

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

and the team was relegated to the First Division in the 2001–02 season. Financial irregularities were discovered and the team faced bankruptcy over several seasons. In the winter of 2003, two of the club's fans won the Dutch lottery and donated all of the prize money to the club. The club cleared most of their debts by selling off their new stadium, the Wagner & Partners stadium. On 19 May 2009, the

KNVB The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...

announced it would withdraw the club's license to play for the 2010–11 season. After going to

civil court Civil law may refer to: * Civil law (common law), the part of law that concerns private citizens and legal persons * Civil law (legal system), or continental law, a legal system originating in continental Europe and based on Roman law ** Private la ...

, this decision was revoked. Even though financial troubles kept plaguing the club, recent years have seen a slow but steady return to financial health, with sporting successes following suit. In the 2011–2012 season they missed qualification for the playoffs for promotion to the Eredivisie by a hair's breadth, conceding an equalizer in the dying seconds of the season in the home match against the

Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles () are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in the 2020-21 season. The club's h ...

, seeing them take the final playoff spot instead. In 2012–13 and 2013–14 they were successful in qualifying, having a first chance at returning to the Eredivisie since their relegation in 2002, but they lost both first round matches against

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

. In 2018, after 16 years in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

, Fortuna won promotion to the Eredivisie again after beating

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively for ...

1–0 to stay clear from

NEC is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It prov ...

and finishing runner-up to champions

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

, who are not allowed to promote. The 2019–20 season ended with Fortuna in 16th place. But with the season being declared void, they will participate in Eredivisie in 2020–21.

Honours

** Winners: 1956–57, 1963–64 ** Runners-up: 1983–84, 1998–99 *

** Winners: 1958–59, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1994–95 ** Promoted: 1981–82, 2017–18

Results

ImageSize = width:800 height:60 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/2021 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1990 Colors = id:bl1 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3) id:bl2 value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:rs value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6) id:rn value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1) PlotData= bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:18 from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:19 from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:19 from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:20 from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:19 from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/01/2016 till:01/01/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:- from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1993 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1995 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/2002 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2018 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2021 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "

" Below is a table with Fortuna Sittard's domestic results since the introduction of professional football in 1956.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable former players

;Bosnia and Herzegovina * Emil Miljković ;Cape Verde * Lisandro Semedo ;Democratic Republic of the Congo *

Jordan Botaka Jordan Rolly Botaka (born 24 June 1993) is a Congolese professional footballer. He represents DR Congo at international level. He formerly played for Club Brugge, Belenenses (on loan), Excelsior, Sint-Truiden, Gent, Charleroi and Fortuna Sit ...

Samuel Moutoussamy Samuel Moutoussamy (born 12 August 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nantes. Born in France, he represents the DR Congo national team. He was born in Paris, France. His mother is Congolese, and his ...

;Curaçao *

Charlison Benschop Charlison Girigorio Benschop (born 21 August 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for German club Wuppertaler SV. Born in the Netherlands Antilles, he has represented the Netherlands U21 national team and the Curaçao sen ...

;England *

Todd Cantwell Todd Owen Cantwell (born 27 February 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Rangers. Cantwell began his career at Norwich City, joining the club at under-10 level in 2008 and making his first-team debut ...

;Finland * Rasmus Karjalainen ;Greece * Lazaros Rota *

Andreas Samaris Andreas Samaris ( el, Ανδρέας Σάμαρης; born 13 June 1989) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Portuguese Primeira Liga club Rio Ave. After winning Superleague Greece with Olympiakos in 2014, he sign ...

;Moldova *

Vitalie Damașcan Vitalie Damașcan (born 24 January 1999) is a Moldovan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga I club FC Voluntari, on loan from Sepsi OSK, and the Moldova national team. Club career Damașcan made his professional debut with ...

* Alexei Koselev ;Netherlands * Joos van Barneveld *

Perr Schuurs Perr Schuurs (born 26 November 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Torino. Club career Schuurs made his senior league debut for Sittard on 14 October 2016 in an Eerste Divisie 2–0 home win agai ...

;Poland * Jarosław Jach ;Slovakia * Branislav Niňaj ;Spain * José Rodríguez ;Sweden * Tesfaldet Tekie

Club staff

Coaches

;As Fortuna '54 * 1956–57:

Friedrich Donenfeld Friedrich Donenfeld (17 January 1912 – 20 March 1976) was an Austrian professional football player and manager. He played for Thalia Wien, Hakoah Vienna, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Olympique de Marseille and Red Star F.C. He coached the Colombia nat ...

(vice champion, cup winner) * 1957–58:

Bram Appel Abraham Leonardus Appel (30 November 1921 – 31 October 1997) was a Dutch footballer who played as a striker and later a manager. Playing career Club Born in Rotterdam but raised in The Hague,Harry Verhardt * 1959–61: Friedrich Donenfeld * 1961–63: Jung Schlangen * 1963–65: Wim Latten (cup winner 1964) * 1965–66:

Max Schirschin Max Schirschin (29 January 1921 – 16 May 2013) was a German football player and manager. He played for Schalke 04, Angers, Le Havre, Rouen and RC Maison-Carrée. He coached Rouen, Gent, Fortuna '54, Metz and Le Havre. and Bastia Bas ...

* 1966–67:

Karl-Heinz Marotzke Karl-Heinz Marotzke (born 29 March 1934) is a German former football coach. He managed 1963–1964 SF Hamborn 07 leading the club to 14th place in the second division Regionalliga. From 1964 to 1966 he led VfL Osnabrück to 10th and 7th places ...

* 1967–68: Bram Appel ;As Sittardia * Frans Debruyn *

Vladimir Beara Vladimir Beara (; 26 August 1928 – 11 August 2014) was a Yugoslav football goalkeeper and manager. He played the vast majority of his professional club career for Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade in the Yugoslav Federal League and for the Yu ...

(1966–1968) * Frans Debruyn (1968) ;As Fortuna Sittard * Frans Debruyn (1968–69) * Henk Reuvers (1969–70) *

Evert Teunissen Evert is a Dutch and Swedish short form of the Germanic masculine name "Everhard" (alternative Eberhard).Evert
at the

(1970–72) *

Cor Brom Cor Brom (27 August 1932 – 29 October 2008) was a Dutch football player and manager. Playing career During his playing career, Brom played with Zwarte Schapen, VSV, Limburgia and Telstar. Managerial career After retiring as a player, Brom m ...

(1972–76) *

Cor van der Hart Cor van der Hart (25 January 1928 – 12 December 2006) was a Dutch footballer. He is known as one of the best defenders of the Netherlands national team in history, who was physically strong, who read the game very well and who had a qualit ...

(1976–77) * Joop Castenmiller (1977–80) *

Frans Körver Frans Körver (born 31 July 1937) is a Dutch former professional football player and manager. Career During the 1980s and 1990s, Körver guided five Dutch league teams to six promotions from the Eerste Divisie to the Eredivisie - FC Wageningen, ...

(1980–84) *

Bert Jacobs Bert Jacobs (March 5, 1941 – November 14, 1999) was a Dutch football manager, who played for HFC Haarlem. Jacobs was a football trainer at a young age, worked for Roda JC, FC Utrecht, Fortuna Sittard, Vitesse Arnhem, RKC Waalwijk and Sporting ...

(1984–87) *

Hans van Doorneveld Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

(1987–89) *

Han Berger Johan Antonius "Han" Berger (born 17 June 1950) is a Dutch association football coach and former player. Managerial career FC Utrecht Berger is the youngest head coach ever in the history of professional football in the Netherlands. After suffer ...

(1989–91) *

Georg Keßler Georg Kessler (born 23 September 1932) is a German former football manager. Honours Sparta Rotterdam *KNVB Cup runner-up: 1970–71 Anderlecht *Belgian First Division: 1971–72 *Belgian Cup: 1971–72 Hertha BSC *DFB-Pokal runner-up: 197 ...

(1991–92) *

Chris Dekker Chris Dekker (born 6 December 1945 in Westzaan, North Holland) is a retired football defender and midfielder from the Netherlands. Playing career Club He played in AZ'67's first ever squad after the merger between his club FC Zaanstreek and Al ...

(1992–94) *

Pim Verbeek Peter Tim Dirk "Pim" Verbeek (12 March 1956 – 28 November 2019) was a Dutch football manager who last coached the Oman national football team. Playing career As a player, Verbeek was a defender or a midfielder and spent his entire career at S ...

(1994–97) *

(1997-00) *

Henk Duut Henk Duut (born 14 January 1964 in Rotterdam) is a retired Dutch footballer who played as a defender. Currently, he works as a coach at the Guangzhou Evergrande youth academy. Playing career Club Duut started his football career at amateur side ...

(2000–01) *

Frans Thijssen Frans Thijssen (born 23 January 1952) is a Dutch former footballer. He started his professional career in 1970 with NEC Nijmegen. In 1973, he moved to FC Twente, where the midfielder played for nearly six seasons. Thijssen won fourteen caps fo ...

(2000–01) *

Hans Verèl Hans Verèl (21 April 1953 – 9 November 2019) was a football defender and midfielder from the Netherlands, who played for Sparta Rotterdam, SVV and FC Den Bosch. Playing career Verèl made his debut for Sparta on 20 May 1973 against Den B ...

(2001) *

Hans de Koning Hans de Koning (; born 5 April 1960) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. De Koning played as a goalkeeper. Playing career De Koning played for AZ'67 for ten years, before moving to Twente, where he became known as "''Hansj ...

(2001–04) *

(2004–06) *

(2006–07) *

Henk Wisman Henk Wisman (born 19 May 1957) is a Dutch football manager. He who was the coach of the Armenia national football team for about a year. Club career Wisman was born in Amsterdam. He began his career at AFC Ajax, having played in their youth syste ...

(2007) *

Roger Reijners Roger Reijners (born 10 February 1964) is a Dutch football coach and former player. He is currently assistant manager of MVV Maastricht. Playing career Reijners turned professional with Fortuna Sittard and played in the 1–0 KNVB Cup Final defea ...

(2007–10) * Wim Dusseldorp (2010–11) * Tini Ruys (2011–12) * Willy Boessen (2012–14) *

Peter van Vossen Peter Jacobus van Vossen (; born 21 April 1968) is a Dutch former professional football player and manager. Club career Van Vossen was born in Zierikzee. As a footballer, he played for Beveren, Anderlecht, Ajax, Istanbulspor, Rangers, Feyenoor ...

(2014–15) * Ben van Dael (2015–16) *

Sunday Oliseh Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh (born 14 September 1974) is a Nigerian football manager and former player. In his active playing career he played as a defensive midfielder. Physical yet technically gifted, he played for top European clubs including Aja ...

(2017–18) * Claudio Braga (''a.i.'') (2018) * René Eijer (2018–19) *

Sjors Ultee Sjors Ultee (born 23 May 1987) is a Dutch football manager, who is the current manager of the Eredivisie club SC Cambuur. Managerial career Ultee was briefly an amateur footballer, but at a young age was planning on becoming a sports doctor or ...

(2019–20) *

(2020) *

(2020–present)

Women's football

On January 25, 2022 Fortuna announced they were beginning a women's football department. The club will start in the Dutch

women's Eredivisie The Vrouwen Eredivisie () (Dutch for ''Honor Division'', ''Eredivisie Vrouwen'' before 2020), also known as the Azerion Eredivisie Vrouwen due to a 3 year sponsor contract starting from the 2022–2023 season, is the highest women's football le ...

in season 2022/23.

Current squad

References

External links

*
Fansite Fortuna Supporters Collectief
{{KNVB Cup Winners 1961-present Association football clubs established in 1968 1968 establishments in the Netherlands Football clubs in the Netherlands Football clubs in Sittard-Geleen South Limburg (Netherlands)

History

Honours

Results

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable former players

Club staff

Coaches

Women's football

Current squad

See also

References

External links