FC Twente

THE LONG WAY BACK OF THE 'BEST OF THE REST'

Only one club can historically claim to be Holland's 'best of the rest' (the fourth club behind Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord, in that order). That club is FC Twente from Enschede, the largest city in the eastern part  (Twente) of the eastern province of Overijssel. No other club finished so high, so frequently as The Reds, although they never actually won the Dutch championship. One of FC Twente's predecessors did, though: SC Enschede grabbed it in 1926. Football in the industrial city of Enschede slowly went downhill after that triumph, until SC Enschede and their local rivals Enschedese Boys had to grudgingly admit that joining forces was the only option.

Born in 1965, FC Twente are a relatively young club, but one with a long pre-history. Moreover, FC Twente did not need much time to make an impact. The arrival of legendary head-coach Kees Rijvers in the late 1960s marked the beginning of a uniquely succesful era for the young club, although it was partially overshadowed by Ajax's international triumphs of the early 1970s. FC Twente finished 3rd in 1969, 4th in 1970, 5th in 1971, 3rd in 1972 and once again 3rd in 1973. The team's key figures were immensely popular local heroes, such as Eddy Achterberg, Kick van der Vall, Theo Pahlplatz and Epi Drost. Their finest Eredivisie season was 1973-1974, in which Twente battled for the Dutch championship with Feyenoord. A head-to-head confrontation in Rotterdam, in the very last game of the season, had to bring the decision. Feyenoord were slightly more fortunate: 3-2. A second slot and a UEFA Cup ticket, that was all for Twente.

Match programme of the return leg of the 1975 UEFA
Cup final: FC Twente vs Borussia Mönchengladbach.

However, the Tukkers (as people from Twente are called) almost made the very most out of that UEFA Cup ticket. Twente were practically unbeatable and impressed Europe. The 1975 semi finals against Juventus are still regarded as the supreme highlight in club history: Johan Zuidema scored a legendary winner in Turin (0-1), after which a roaring Diekman Stadium saw Twente win once again to advance to the two-legged final against German powerhouse Borussia Mönchengladbach. A European trophy seemed within reach after a goalless draw in the away leg, but in front of their own ecstatic fans, Twente lost out to the toughest and most feared opponent of every footballer: stage fright. After 90 painful minutes the score was 1-5 to the Germans...

Over 30,000 'Tukkers' make De Kuip turn red as FC Twente beat PSV in the Amstel Cup final of 2002.

Things went downhill for Twente after that, with an unlikely relegation in 1982 as a result. The great FC Twente of the 1970s in the First Division... at the time it was almost as unthinkable as relegation for Ajax or Feyenoord. Twente returned to the top flight a year later, but in one short season a lot had changed for the worse. Famous for attractive, offensive football in the 1970s, Twente manifested themselves as a rather gray lot throughout the 1980s. They became known for their amazing number of 1-1 and 0-0 draws. Their new reputation ('boring Twente') overshadowed the fact that the club kept qualifying for 'Europe' on a fairly regular basis.

Meet 'The Reds' from Enschede.

Re-establishment followed in the 1990s. German head-coach Hans Meyer led Twente to the third slot in the Eredivisie of 1997 and to the third round of the UEFA Cup the next season. One of the sweetest moments in club history followed on 24 May 2001, when over 30,000 Tukkers turned De Kuip red for the Amstel Cup final against PSV. The score after 120 minutes of football was 0-0, after which PSV took a 3-1 lead in the penalty shoot-out. Twente seemed dead and buried. But then, at exactly the right moment, local hero Sander Boschker (goalkeeper for Twente's first team for sixteen seasons!) had the finest moment of his career, saving three PSV spotkicks in a row. 

A legendary moment in Dutch football: Eddy Achterberg misses for FC Twente,
in front of an empty Ajax goal at De Meer (1968-1969). He added a new word
to the Dutch 'football dictionary': an 'Achterberg' is still used as a synonym for an amazing miss.

The winning of the Dutch cup of 2001 seemed to mark the start of a new era of glory for the Reds, but football is an unpredictable little game. The season thereafter the proud cup winners painfully crashed out against the teenagers of Ajax's second team, results in the league were poor, the frustrated hard core of Twente fans ('Vak P Ultras') went on the rampage at the club's brand-new Arke Stadium and Twente were actually about to go out of business in 2002-2003, as the club's mother corporation (FC Twente '65 Corporation) was declared bankrupt. The club survived, made it to another Amstel Cup final in 2004 and struck back with a fantastic Eredivisie season in 2006-2007. How did they return to the top so quickly? Hard to say. Twente's youth academy is known as one of Holland's best. That helps. But more than anything else they tend to take the right decisions in troubled times. Didn't you know that the Wise come from the East...? (MP)

FC TWENTE FACTS

Founded: 14 April 1965, merger of Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys
City: Enschede
Stadium: Arke Stadium
Capacity: 13,250
Official website: www.fctwente.nl
Honors:

• Dutch champions: 1926 (SC Enschede)
• Dutch Cup winners: 1977, 2001
• Runner-up UEFA Cup: 1975

Recent history: Ajax vs FC Twente