Fortuna Sittard

Fortuna Sittard
Full name	Fortuna Sittard
Nickname(s)	Fortuna; Fortunezen; FSC; Fortuna Zitterd
Founded	1 July 1968; 56 years ago
Ground	Fortuna Sittard Stadion
Capacity	12,500
Owner	Principion Holding 65%; Özgür Işıtan Gün 20%; Fortuna Sittard 10%; STAK 5%
Chairman	Özgür Işıtan Gün
Head coach	Danny Buijs
League	Eredivisie
2023–24	Eredivisie, 10th of 18
Website	www.fortunasittard.nl
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Fortuna Sittard (Dutch pronunciation: [fɔrˈtynaː ˈsɪtɑrt]; Limburgish: Fortuna Zitterd [fɔʀˈtyːnaː ˈzɪtəʀt])^[tone?] is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. 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 it was a regular fixture in the Eredivisie in the 1990s, with players such as Kevin Hofland, Mark van Bommel and Fernando Ricksen emerging from its youth system. These players later joined PSV Eindhoven and Rangers and played for the Netherlands national team. The team also signed Wilfred Bouma and Patrick Paauwe from the youth setup of PSV. Both players developed under manager Bert van Marwijk before joining the Dutch national side and moving to bigger clubs.

Fortuna 54 won the KNVB Cup in the 1956–57 season and finished the Eredivisie season in second place behind champions Ajax. 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, and the team was relegated to the Eerste Divisie in the 2001–02 season.^[3]

Financial difficulties (2002–16)

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.^[4] The club cleared most of its debts by selling off its new stadium, the Wagner & Partners stadium.^[5]

On 19 May 2009, the KNVB announced it would withdraw the club's license to play for the 2010–11 season. After going to civil court, this decision was revoked.^[6] Despite ongoing financial difficulties, the club gradually began to recover financially in the following years, leading to improved results. In the 2011–12 season, Fortuna Sittard narrowly missed out on qualifying for the playoffs for promotion to Eredivisie, conceding an equaliser in the final seconds of the season in a home match against the Go Ahead Eagles, resulting in the Eagles taking the final playoff spot instead. Although the club qualified for the playoffs in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons, offering them a chance to return to Eredivisie since relegation in 2002, Fortuna was unsuccessful in both first-round matches against De Graafschap.^[7]^[8]

Takeover and Eredivisie (2016–present)

The club again faced financial troubles in 2016, leading to its takeover by Turkish investor Işıtan Gün, who previously served as the chief operating officer of Galatasaray.^[9] The 2016–17 season was a tough start for the club, but it managed to avoid relegation after changing coaches and recruiting new players, including some from Galatasaray.^[10]

In December 2016, Sunday Oliseh was appointed as the new coach of Fortuna Sittard. During his time as coach, he set two new records for the club, with eight consecutive home victories and the biggest away victory in the club's history, against Telstar by a score of 6–0. In January 2018, the team won a periodetitel after a 2–1 victory over Jong Ajax. However, on 14 February 2018, Oliseh was suspended due to "repeated and culpable actions towards multiple individuals within the organisation over an extended period," according to a statement on the club's website announcing his release.^[11] Oliseh posted online that he was suspended due to his "refusal to participate in Illegal activities."^[12]

In 2018, after 16 years in the Eerste Divisie, Fortuna won promotion to the Eredivisie again after beating Jong PSV 1–0 to stay clear from NEC and finishing runner-up to champions Jong Ajax, which cannot be promoted.^[13]

Fortuna Sittard finished in 16th place during the 2019–20 season. However, because the season was suspended and declared void due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the club remained in the Eredivisie for the 2020–21 season.^[14] After that reprieve, the club finished in 11th place that season. The following year, Fortuna Sittard finished 15th, just one point clear of the relegation playoff. Since then, the club's results have placed it more comfortably in the mid-table. Fortuna Sittard finished in 13th place in the 2022–23 season and 10th place in the 2023–24 season.

Honours

KNVB Cup
- Winners: 1956–57, 1963–64
- Runners-up: 1983–84, 1998–99
Eerste Divisie
- Winners: 1958–59, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1994–95
- Promoted: 1981–82, 2017–18

International

Totals

Competition	Participations	Games	Won	Draw	Lost	Goals scored	Goals conceded
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1	6	2	1	3	6	7
UEFA Intertoto Cup	1	4	2	1	1	8	6
Total	2	10	4	2	4	14	13

Results

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

Domestic Results since 1956
Domestic league	League result	Qualification to	KNVB Cup season	Cup result
2022–23 Eredivisie	13th	–	2022–23	first round
2021–22 Eredivisie	15th	–	2021–22	second round
2020–21 Eredivisie	11th	–	2020–21	round of 16
2019–20 Eredivisie	16th	No relegation due to COVID-19	2019–20	round of 16
2018–19 Eredivisie	15th	–	2018–19	quarter-final
2017–18 Eerste Divisie	2nd	Eredivisie (promotion)	2017–18	round of 16
2016–17 Eerste Divisie	17th	–	2016–17	first round
2015–16 Eerste Divisie	16th	–	2015–16	second round
2014–15 Eerste Divisie	19th	–	2014–15	third round
2013–14 Eerste Divisie	8th	promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion	2013–14	second round
2012–13 Eerste Divisie	7th	promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion	2012–13	second round
2011–12 Eerste Divisie	11th	–	2011–12	second round
2010–11 Eerste Divisie	16th	–	2010–11	third round
2009–10 Eerste Divisie	17th	–	2009–10	second round
2008–09 Eerste Divisie	15th	–	2008–09	third round
2007–08 Eerste Divisie	16th	–	2007–08	third round
2006–07 Eerste Divisie	15th	–	2006–07	second round
2005–06 Eerste Divisie	20th	–	2005–06	second round
2004–05 Eerste Divisie	19th	–	2004–05	second round
2003–04 Eerste Divisie	19th	–	2003–04	second round
2002–03 Eerste Divisie	15th	–	2002–03	group stage
2001–02 Eredivisie	18th	Eerste Divisie (relegation)	2001–02	round of 16
2000–01 Eredivisie	16th	– (surviving prom./releg. play-offs)	2000–01	round of 16
1999–2000 Eredivisie	12th	–	1999–2000	third round
1998–99 Eredivisie	10th	–	1998–99	final
1997–98 Eredivisie	7th	Intertoto Cup (R3)	1997–98	quarter-final
1996–97 Eredivisie	11th	–	1996–97	second round
1995–96 Eredivisie	13th	–	1995–96	round of 16
1994–95 Eerste Divisie	1st	Eredivisie (promotion)	1994–95	group stage
1993–94 Eerste Divisie	10th	–	1993–94	third round
1992–93 Eredivisie	16th	Eerste Divisie (losing prom./releg. play-off)	1992–93	round of 16
1991–92 Eredivisie	14th	–	1991–92	second round
1990–91 Eredivisie	12th	–	1990–91	second round
1989–90 Eredivisie	7th	–	1989–90	quarter-final
1988–89 Eredivisie	8th	–	1988–89	round of 16
1987–88 Eredivisie	8th	–	1987–88	round of 16
1986–87 Eredivisie	9th	–	1986–87	quarter-final
1985–86 Eredivisie	8th	–	1985–86	quarter-final
1984–85 Eredivisie	7th	–	1984–85	round of 16
1983–84 Eredivisie	12th	Cup Winners' Cup	1983–84	final
1982–83 Eredivisie	8th	–	1982–83	second round
1981–82 Eerste Divisie	2nd	Eredivisie (promotion)	1981–82	first round
1980–81 Eerste Divisie	4th	–	1980–81	second round
1979–80 Eerste Divisie	7th	–	1979–80	second round
1978–79 Eerste Divisie	4th	promotion competition: no promotion	1978–79	quarter-final
1977–78 Eerste Divisie	5th	–	1977–78	second round
1976–77 Eerste Divisie	7th	–	1976–77	second round
1975–76 Eerste Divisie	7th	promotion competition: no promotion	1975–76	first round
1974–75 Eerste Divisie	9th	–	1974–75	second round
1973–74 Eerste Divisie	5th	promotion competition: no promotion	1973–74	second round
1972–73 Eerste Divisie	9th	–	1972–73	first round
1971–72 Eerste Divisie	13th	–	1971–72	quarter-final
1970–71 Eerste Divisie	10th	–	1970–71	semi-final
1969–70 Eerste Divisie	14th	–	1969–70	first round ^{[citation needed]}
1968–69 Eredivisie	18th	Eerste Divisie (relegation)	1968–69	first round ^{[citation needed]}
1967–68 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54... ...and Sittardia)	17th 18th	Merger into Fortuna SC	1967–68	group stage ^{[citation needed]} round of 16 ^{[citation needed]}
1966–67 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54... ...and Sittardia)	14th 7th	–	1966–67	first round ^{[citation needed]}
1965–66 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54) 1965–66 Eerste Divisie (as Sittardia)	9th 1st	– Eredivisie (promotion)	1965–66	group stage ^{[citation needed]}
1964–65 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54... ...and Sittardia)	6th 15th	– Eerste Divisie (relegation)	1964–65	first round ^{[citation needed]} round of 16 ^{[citation needed]}
1963–64 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54) 1963–64 Eerste Divisie (as Sittardia)	7th 1st	Cup Winners' Cup Eredivisie (promotion)	1963–64	winner first round ^{[citation needed]}
1962–63 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54) 1962–63 Eerste Divisie (as Sittardia)	12th	–	1962–63	round of 16 ^{[citation needed]} third round ^{[citation needed]}
1961–62 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54) 1961–62 Eerste Divisie (as Sittardia)	12th 3rd	–	1961–62	? ^{[citation needed]}
1960–61 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54) 1960–61 Eerste Divisie (as Sittardia)	15th 5th (group B)	–	1960–61	? ^{[citation needed]}
1959–60 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54... ...and Sittardia)	14th 18th	– Eerste Divisie (relegation)	not held	not held
1958–59 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54) 1958–59 Eerste Divisie (as Sittardia)	3rd 1st (group B)	– Eredivisie (promotion)	1958–59	? ^{[citation needed]}
1957–58 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54) 1957–58 Eerste Divisie (as Sittardia)	4th 4th (group B)	–	1957–58	? ^{[citation needed]}
1956–57 Eredivisie (as Fortuna '54) 1956–57 Eerste Divisie (as Sittardia)	2nd 6th (group B)	–	1956–57	winner ? ^{[citation needed]}

Players

Current squad

As of 5 November 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	NED	Luuk Koopmans
4	DF	BEL	Shawn Adewoye
5	DF	AUT	Darijo Grujcic
6	DF	NED	Syb van Ottele
7	FW	SWE	Kristoffer Peterson
8	MF	NED	Jasper Dahlhaus
9	FW	NED	Kaj Sierhuis
10	MF	CRO	Alen Halilović
11	FW	FRA	Makan Aïko
12	DF	POR	Ivo Pinto (captain)
14	DF	BRA	Rodrigo Guth
17	FW	TUR	Onur Demir
20	MF	FRA	Edouard Michut
22	MF	COD	Samuel Bastien


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	MF	CPV	Alessio da Cruz
27	FW	NED	Sjors-Lowis Hermsen
28	FW	CRO	Josip Mitrović
31	GK	NED	Mattijs Branderhorst (on loan from Utrecht)
32	MF	FRA	Loreintz Rosier
33	MF	ARG	Ezequiel Bullaude (on loan from Feyenoord)
35	DF	NED	Mitchell Dijks
38	MF	NED	Tristan Schenkhuizen
50	FW	CRO	Ante Erceg
71	GK	BEL	Ramazan Bayram
77	MF	BIH	Luka Tunjić
80	MF	SUI	Ryan Fosso
85	FW	POR	Umaro Embaló

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	NED	Robyn Esajas (at MVV until 30 June 2025)
—	DF	COM	Rémy Vita (at Amiens until 30 June 2025)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	ALG	Mouhamed Belkheir (at RAAL La Louvière until 30 June 2025)
—	FW	BEL	Milan Robberechts (at RSCA Futures until 30 June 2025)

Former players

National team players

The following players were called up to represent their national teams in international football and received caps during their tenure with Fortuna Sittard:^{[nb 1]}

Cape Verde
- Deroy Duarte (2021–2024)
- Lisandro Semedo (2017–2022)
DR Congo
- Samuel Moutoussamy (2020–2021)
Finland
- Rasmus Karjalainen (2019–2021)
Greece
- Lazaros Rota (2020–2021)
Kosovo
- Arianit Ferati (2021–2024)
Luxembourg
- Antoine Kohn (1959–1963; 1964–1965)
Moldova
- Vitalie Damașcan (2019–2020)
- Alexei Koșelev (2018–2021)

Netherlands
- Henk Angenent (1954–1962)
- Bram Appel (1948–1949; 1955–1960)
- Bart Carlier (1955–1958; 1964–1965)
- Willy Dullens (1963–1969)
- Gerard Gruisen (1951–1969)
- Cor van der Hart (1954–1966)
- Wim Koevermans (1980–1988)
- Frans de Munck (1954–1957)
- Jan Notermans (1955–1965)
- Willy Quaedackers (1961–1966)
- Wilbert Suvrijn (1981–1986)
- Faas Wilkes (1959–1962)
New Zealand
- Fred de Jong (1990–1993)
North Macedonia
- Stefan Ashkovski (2016–2018)

Northern Ireland
- Phil Gray (1996–1997)
Slovakia
- Branislav Niňaj (2018–2021)
Suriname
- Justin Lonwijk (2024)
- Gavin Vlijter (2015–2019)
Sweden
- Tesfaldet Tekie (2019–2022)
Togo
- Sadik Fofana (2023–2024)
Turkey
- Burak Yılmaz (2022–2023)

Players in bold actively play for Fortuna Sittard and for their respective national teams. Years in brackets indicate careerspan with Fortuna Sittard.

National team players by Confederation

Member associations are listed in order of most to least amount of current and former Fortuna Sittard players represented Internationally

Total national team players by confederation
Confederation	Total	(Nation) Association
AFC	0
CAF	4	Cape Verde (2), DR Congo (1), Togo (1)
CONCACAF	2	Suriname (2)
CONMEBOL	0
OFC	1	New Zealand (1)
UEFA	22	Netherlands (12), Moldova (2), Finland (1), Greece (1), Luxembourg (1), North Macedonia (1), Northern Ireland (1), Slovakia (1), Sweden (1), Turkey (1)

Players in international tournaments

The following is a list of Fortuna Sittard players who have competed in international tournaments, including the Africa Cup of Nations. To this date no Fortuna Sittard players have participated in the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, CONCACAF Gold Cup, AFC Asian Cup, Copa América or the OFC Nations Cup while playing for Fortuna Sittard.

Cup	Players
2021 Africa Cup of Nations	Lisandro Semedo
2023 Africa Cup of Nations	Deroy Duarte

Club staff

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Danny Buijs
Assistant Head Coach	Adrie Poldervaart Stijn Kuijpers Roy de Decker
Striker's Coach	Toon Oijstra
Physiotherapist	Jeroen Dieteren Martijn Smeets
Team Manager	Danny van der Weerden
Club doctor	Robert van Gool
Materialman	Ronald Ronken
Video Analyst	Tjerk van Eggelen

Coaches

As Fortuna '54

1956–57: Friedrich Donenfeld (vice champion, cup winner)
1957–58: Bram Appel
1958–59: Harry Verhardt
1959–61: Friedrich Donenfeld
1961–63: Jung Schlangen
1963–65: Wim Latten (cup winner 1964)
1965–66: Max Schirschin
1966–67: Karl-Heinz Marotzke
1967–68: Bram Appel

As Sittardia

As Fortuna Sittard

Frans Debruyn (1968–69)
Henk Reuvers (1969–70)
Evert Teunissen (1970–72)
Cor Brom (1972–76)
Cor van der Hart (1976–77)
Joop Castenmiller (1977–80)
Frans Körver (1980–84)
Bert Jacobs (1984–87)
Hans van Doorneveld (1987–89)
Han Berger (1989–91)
Georg Keßler (1991–92)
Chris Dekker (1992–94)
Pim Verbeek (1994–97)
Bert van Marwijk (1997–00)
Henk Duut (2000–01)
Frans Thijssen (2000–01)
Hans Verèl (2001)
Hans de Koning (2001–04)
Chris Dekker (2004–06)
Frans Körver (2006–07)

Henk Wisman (2007)
Roger Reijners (2007–10)
Wim Dusseldorp (2010–11)
Tini Ruys (2011–12)
Willy Boessen (2012–14)
Peter van Vossen (2014–15)
Ben van Dael (2015–16)
Sunday Oliseh (2017–18)
Claudio Braga (a.i.) (2018)
René Eijer (2018–19)
Sjors Ultee (2019–20)
Kevin Hofland (2020)
Sjors Ultee (2020–2022)
Julio Velazquez (2022–2023)
Danny Buijs (2023–Present)

Women's football

In January 2022, Fortuna announced it was beginning a women's football department.^[15] The club started playing in the women's Eredivisie in the 2022–23 season. In its first season, the club finished third out of 11 teams. In the 2023–24 season, Fortuna finished in fourth place out of 12 teams, and forward Tessa Wullaert was the top goal scorer and Player of the Year.^[16] However, prior to the 2024–25 season, the club announced it had not generated sufficient revenue from the women's team and cut its player spending, with Wullaert, Alieke Tuin, and other players departing for new clubs.^[17]

References

^ "Shares of Fortuna Sittard". Fortuna Sittard. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
^ "Shares of Fortuna Sittard". Fortuna Sittard. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
^ Fortuna Sittard: geen toekomst, maar een fraaie historie - Voetbal International (in Dutch)
^ "Help Fortuna! wint half miljoen bij staatsloterij". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 6 January 2003. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ Vossers, Anna (7 December 2013). "'Geldproblemen Fortuna Sittard voorbij door verkoop stadion'". Elsevier Weekblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ "KNVB gaat licentie Fortuna Sittard intrekken". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 19 May 2009. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ "Go Ahead en De Graafschap overtuigend door". NU (in Dutch). 11 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ "De Graafschap door in play-offs". NOS (in Dutch). 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ "Özel Durum Açıklaması (Genel)". KAP (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ "Fortuna Sittard haalt speler 'met vinkje op Twitter' van Galatasaray". Sportnieuws (in Dutch). 4 January 2017. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ "Fortuna Sittard stelt Sunday Oliseh op non-actief". Fortuna Sittard (in Dutch). 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018.
^ Oliseh, Sunday (14 February 2018). Twitter https://x.com/SundayOOliseh/status/963804333618946049. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ Bergen, Dennis van (28 April 2018). "Fortuna Sittard na zestien jaar terug in de eredivisie". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
^ "Afwikkeling voetbalseizoen 2019/'20 een feit | Eredivisie". Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
^ "Fortuna Sittard start met vrouwenvoetbal: "Die gaan we benaderen"". Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
^ "Big winners of the Eredivisie Awards: Luuk de Jong, Tessa Wullaert, Johan Bakayoko, and Lily Yohannes". Eredivisie. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
^ Schreurs, Joost (27 September 2024). "Na zomer vol veranderingen beginnen vrouwen Fortuna Sittard aan nieuw seizoen". www.l1nieuws.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 October 2024.

Notes

^ The following is a consolidated list of clubs' RKSV Sittardia, Fortuna '54 and Fortuna Sittard, as a result of the merger of the two prior aforementioned clubs in 1968.