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Fortuna Sittard
600px Fortuna.png
Full name Fortuna Sittard
Nickname(s) Fortuna
Fortunezen
FSC
Fortuna Zitterd
Founded 1 July 1968; 57 years ago (1968-07-01)
Ground Fortuna Sittard Stadion
Ground Capacity 12,500
Owner Principion Holding 20%
Özgür Işıtan Gün 65%
Fortuna Sittard 10%
STAK 5%
Chairman Özgür Işıtan Gün
Head coach Danny Buijs
League Eredivisie
2022–23 Eredivisie, 13th of 18

Fortuna Sittard is a professional football club from Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club plays its home games at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion, which can hold 12,500 fans. Currently, they compete in the Eredivisie, which is the top football league in the Netherlands. The club was formed on 1 July 1968, when two older clubs, Fortuna 54 and Sittardia, joined together.

Club History

Fortuna Sittard League Performance
Historical chart of league performance

Fortuna Sittard has had many ups and downs throughout its history. In the 1990s, the club was a regular team in the Eredivisie. During this time, talented players like Kevin Hofland, Mark van Bommel, and Fernando Ricksen came from its youth academy. These players later moved to bigger clubs like PSV Eindhoven and Rangers, and even played for the Dutch national team. Other players, such as Wilfred Bouma and Patrick Paauwe, also developed at Fortuna Sittard under manager Bert van Marwijk before joining the national team and other big clubs.

Before the merger, Fortuna 54 had some great moments. They won the KNVB Cup in the 1956–57 season and finished second in the Eredivisie behind Ajax. Fortuna 54 won the KNVB Cup again in 1964. Sittardia, the other club, was not as successful and often struggled to stay in their league. In 1968, the two clubs merged to form Fortuna Sittard because of money problems.

After the 1999–2000 season, manager Bert van Marwijk left to join Feyenoord. Fortuna Sittard was then relegated to the Eerste Divisie (the second-highest league) in the 2001–02 season.

Tough Times and Comeback

From 2002 to 2016, the club faced serious money problems and was almost bankrupt several times. In 2003, two loyal fans won the Dutch lottery and gave all their prize money to the club, which helped a lot. The club also sold its new stadium to pay off most of its debts.

In 2009, the KNVB (the Dutch football association) even said they would take away the club's license to play. However, after a court case, this decision was changed. Even with these difficulties, the club slowly started to get back on its feet financially. This led to better results on the field.

In the 2011–12 season, Fortuna Sittard almost made it to the playoffs for promotion back to the Eredivisie. They missed out in the very last seconds of the season. They did qualify for the playoffs in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons, but they couldn't win their first-round matches to get promoted.

New Ownership and Return to Eredivisie

In 2016, the club faced financial trouble again. A Turkish investor named Işıtan Gün, who used to work for Galatasaray, took over the club. The 2016–17 season was difficult at first, but the club avoided relegation by changing coaches and bringing in new players, including some from Galatasaray.

In December 2016, Sunday Oliseh became the new coach. During his time, he set two new club records: eight home wins in a row and the biggest away win in the club's history (6–0 against Telstar). In January 2018, the team won a "period title" (a prize for being the best team over a certain number of games) after beating Jong Ajax 2–1. However, in February 2018, Oliseh was suspended due to disagreements with the club.

In 2018, after 16 years in the Eerste Divisie, Fortuna Sittard finally earned promotion back to the Eredivisie. They finished second in the league, just behind Jong Ajax, who could not be promoted.

Fortuna Sittard finished 16th in the 2019–20 season. However, because the season was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no teams were relegated, and Fortuna stayed in the Eredivisie for the 2020–21 season. After that, they finished 11th. In the next year, they finished 15th, just barely avoiding the relegation playoffs. Since then, the club has been more comfortable in the middle of the league table, finishing 13th in the 2022–23 season and 10th in the 2023–24 season.

Club Achievements

  • 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 Matches

Fortuna Sittard players have also taken part in international tournaments.

Cup Players
Cameroon 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Cape Verde Lisandro Semedo
Ivory Coast 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Cape Verde Deroy Duarte

Results Timeline

Eredivisie Eerste Divisie Eredivisie Eerste Divisie Eredivisie

Current Players

Team Squad

No. Position Player
1 Netherlands GK Luuk Koopmans
4 Belgium DF Shawn Adewoye
5 Austria DF Darijo Grujcic
6 Netherlands DF Syb van Ottele
7 Sweden FW Kristoffer Peterson
8 Netherlands MF Jasper Dahlhaus
9 Netherlands FW Kaj Sierhuis
10 Croatia MF Alen Halilović
11 France FW Makan Aïko
12 Portugal DF Ivo Pinto (captain)
14 Brazil DF Rodrigo Guth
17 Turkey FW Onur Demir
19 Serbia FW Bojan Radulović (on loan from Huddersfield Town)
20 France MF Edouard Michut
No. Position Player
22 Democratic Republic of the Congo MF Samuel Bastien
23 Cape Verde MF Alessio da Cruz
24 Netherlands DF Daley Sinkgraven
27 Netherlands FW Sjors-Lowis Hermsen
28 Croatia FW Josip Mitrović
31 Netherlands GK Mattijs Branderhorst (on loan from Utrecht)
32 France MF Loreintz Rosier
33 Argentina MF Ezequiel Bullaude (on loan from Feyenoord)
35 Netherlands DF Mitchell Dijks
38 Netherlands MF Tristan Schenkhuizen
71 Belgium GK Ramazan Bayram
77 Croatia MF Luka Tunjić
80 Switzerland MF Ryan Fosso

Players on Loan

No. Position Player
Netherlands DF Robyn Esajas (at MVV until 30 June 2025)
Comoros DF Rémy Vita (at Amiens until 30 June 2025)
Algeria FW Mouhamed Belkheir (at RAAL La Louvière until 30 June 2025)
No. Position Player
Portugal FW Umaro Embaló (at Vitória de Guimarães until 30 June 2025)
Belgium FW Milan Robberechts (at RSCA Futures until 30 June 2025)

Famous Former Players

Many players who played for Fortuna Sittard have also represented their national teams in international football. Here are some of them:

  • Players in bold currently play for Fortuna Sittard and their national teams. The years in brackets show when they played for Fortuna Sittard.

Club Staff

Position Staff
Head Coach Netherlands Danny Buijs
Assistant Head Coach Netherlands Adrie Poldervaart
Netherlands Wil Boessen
Belgium Patrick Creemers
Striker's Coach Netherlands Toon Oijstra
Physiotherapist Netherlands Jeroen Dieteren
Netherlands Martijn Smeets
Team Manager Netherlands Danny van der Weerden
Club doctor Netherlands Robert van Gool
Materialman Netherlands Ronald Ronken
Video Analyst Netherlands Tjerk van Eggelen

Coaches Through the Years

As Fortuna '54
  • 1956–57: Austria Friedrich Donenfeld (vice champion, cup winner)
  • 1957–58: Netherlands Bram Appel
  • 1958–59: Netherlands Harry Verhardt
  • 1959–61: Austria Friedrich Donenfeld
  • 1961–63: Netherlands Jung Schlangen
  • 1963–65: Netherlands Wim Latten (cup winner 1964)
  • 1965–66: Germany Max Schirschin
  • 1966–67: Germany Karl-Heinz Marotzke
  • 1967–68: Netherlands Bram Appel
As Sittardia
As Fortuna Sittard
  • Netherlands Frans Debruyn (1968–69)
  • Netherlands Henk Reuvers (1969–70)
  • Netherlands Evert Teunissen (1970–72)
  • Netherlands Cor Brom (1972–76)
  • Netherlands Cor van der Hart (1976–77)
  • Netherlands Joop Castenmiller (1977–80)
  • Netherlands Frans Körver (1980–84)
  • Netherlands Bert Jacobs (1984–87)
  • Netherlands Hans van Doorneveld (1987–89)
  • Netherlands Han Berger (1989–91)
  • Germany Georg Keßler (1991–92)
  • Netherlands Chris Dekker (1992–94)
  • Netherlands Pim Verbeek (1994–97)
  • Netherlands Bert van Marwijk (1997–00)
  • Netherlands Henk Duut (2000–01)
  • Netherlands Frans Thijssen (2000–01)
  • Netherlands Hans Verèl (2001)
  • Netherlands Hans de Koning (2001–04)
  • Netherlands Chris Dekker (2004–06)
  • Netherlands Frans Körver (2006–07)
  • Netherlands Henk Wisman (2007)
  • Netherlands Roger Reijners (2007–10)
  • Netherlands Wim Dusseldorp (2010–11)
  • Netherlands Tini Ruys (2011–12)
  • Netherlands Willy Boessen (2012–14)
  • Netherlands Peter van Vossen (2014–15)
  • Netherlands Ben van Dael (2015–16)
  • Nigeria Sunday Oliseh (2017–18)
  • Portugal Claudio Braga (a.i.) (2018)
  • Netherlands René Eijer (2018–19)
  • Netherlands Sjors Ultee (2019–20)
  • Netherlands Kevin Hofland (2020)
  • Netherlands Sjors Ultee (2020–2022)
  • Spain Julio Velazquez (2022–2023)
  • Netherlands Danny Buijs (2023–present)


Women's Football Team

Further information: Fortuna Sittard (women)

In January 2022, Fortuna Sittard announced they were starting a women's football team. This team began playing in the women's Eredivisie in the 2022–23 season. In their first season, they finished an impressive third out of 11 teams. In the 2023–24 season, the women's team finished fourth out of 12 teams. Their forward, Tessa Wullaert, was the top goal scorer and named Player of the Year. However, before the 2024–25 season, the club announced they had not made enough money from the women's team. They decided to spend less on players, and some key players like Wullaert and Alieke Tuin left for other clubs.

More About Football

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Fortuna Sittard para niños

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