Feyenoord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 09/2014
Full name:
Feyenoord Rotterdam
Nicknames:
De club aan de Maas (The Club on the Meuse)
De Stadionclub (The Stadiumclub)
De Trots van Zuid (The Pride of South)
Founded:
July 19, 1908
Ground:
De Kuip
Capacity:
51,177
Chairman:
Dick van Well
Manager:
Fred Rutten
League:
Eredivisie
2013-14
Eredivisie, 2nd
Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed its name in 1912 to SC Feijenoord (since 1973 Feyenoord for international reasons and moved to De Kuip in 1937.
Feyenoord is one of the most successful clubs in the Netherlands, winning 14 Eredivisie titles, 11 KNVB Cups and two Johan Cruijff Shields.
The club also has won one European Cup, two UEFA Cups and one Intercontinental Cup.
The club is historically one of the three clubs that have dominated the Eredivisie (first tier) of Dutch football, the others being Ajax and PSV.
These three clubs have always played in the Eredivisie, since its inception in 1952, and have never been relegated to lower divisions.
Feyenoord is known as a people's club, with a huge national support.
The club's most successful period in history was the 1960s and '70s when Coen Moulijn and Ove Kindvall led the club to six league titles, two European trophies, an Intercontinental cup and thereby becoming the first Dutch club to win the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.
Feyenoord has a longstanding rivalry with Ajax, as a clash between the two biggest cities in The Netherlands, which is called De Klassieker (The Classic). The club's anthem is "Hand in Hand".
HISTORY
FOUNDATION
The football club Wilhelmina was founded in the pub De Vereeniging on 19 July 1908 and played in blue-sleeved red shirts and white shorts.
Between 1908, 1910, 1911 and 1912, the club underwent a series of changes of name and team colours, becoming Hillesluise Football Club in 1909 and then RVV Celeritas.
Upon earning promotion to the National football association in 1912, the club renamed to become SC Feijenoord, after the city district in which the team was founded and again changed uniform, adopting the red and white shirts, black shorts and black socks they still wear today.
In 1917, Feijenoord were promoted to the highest level of Dutch football, 1e klasse (1st division) and moved to the ground Kromme Zandweg.
FIRST SUCCESSES
Sixteen years after the formation of the club and a mere three years after they were promoted to the highest level of Dutch football Feijenoord earned their first honours by capturing the national league championship in 1924.
The team enjoyed a string of successes in the latter half of the decade, taking divisional titles in 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1929, and winning their second national championship in 1928.
Feijenoord won their first Dutch Cup in 1930 by scoring the only goal in a derby final against Excelsior.
They continued to dominate their division with three consecutive titles, but were winless in subsequent championship finals.
Five years after their first cup win, Feijenoord took the prize for a second time in 1935, by beating Helmond Sport.
Feijenoord started to attract more fans to their stadium at Kromme Zandweg, and in 1933, they decided to build a new facility.
The club moved to the Feijenoord Stadion (nicknamed "De Kuip" or "the Tub") in 1937, playing the first match there on 27 March against Beerschot.
During this period Feijenoord won three consecutive division titles from 1936 to 1938, with their third and fourth national championships coming in 1936 and 1938.
During World War II, Feijenoord played their matches at Sparta Rotterdam's Kasteel, as the Nazis had occupied De Kuip.
When Het Kasteel was unavailable due to clashes with Sparta fixtues, Feijenoord played at their former ground, the Kromme Zandweg.
Feijenoord's again won a division title with a national championship in 1940, their fifth Dutch title.
During the German occupation of the Netherlands, play continued in Dutch football leagues, though the 1945 championship was cancelled as the war came to its conclusion.
During this period, Feijenoord's only trophy was a divisional championship in 1943.
After the war, Feijenoord did not perform as well as they had in previous decades, not seriously challenging in their division and so missing the national playoff rounds.
On 30 June 1954, the chairmen of the three biggest Rotterdam teams organised a meeting in Utrecht, which was attended by several chairmen of other clubs and a delegation of the KNVB to discuss the start of professional football in the Netherlands.
The professional era commenced with the first Eredivisie season in 1954/1955.
Feijenoord were one of the clubs participating in the inaugural Eredivisie and have never been relegated.
One of the most memorable matches in these first years of professional football was the clash between Feijenoord and the Volewijckers at 2 April 1956, which Feijenoord won 11:4 with nine goals by Henk Schouten.
Feijenoord would grow an intense rivalry with AFC Ajax. Matches between the two clubs quickly were dubbed as 'de Klassieker' (The Classic).
The first memorable Klassieker from a Feijenoord point of view took place at 11 November 1956, when Daan den Bleijker scored four times to give Feijenoord a 7:3 win over their arch rivals.
GOLDEN ERA
Feijenoord claimed their first professional Eredivisie Championship and their sixth Dutch Championship in history in 1961.
On the road to the title Ajax were beaten 9:5 in De Kuip, four of Feijenoord's goals were scored by Henk Schouten.
The following season, they played their first European Cup match facing IFK Göteborg.
The Swedes were beaten 0:3 in Gothenburg and 8:2 in Rotterdam.
Feijenoord were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur in the following round.
In 1962 Feijenoord successfully defended their Dutch Championship title and reached the final of the Intertoto Cup 1961-62.
Feijenoord faced arch-rivals Ajax in the final, which was won by the Amsterdam team 4:2.
On 12 December 1962, Feyenoord played a decisive match versus Vasas SC in the second round of the European Cup 1962-63.
The first two legs, in Rotterdam and Budapest both ended in 1:0 home victories, and a replay on a neutral ground took place.
The match was played in Antwerp, Belgium and 30,000 Feijenoord fans travelled by bus to see their team play.[17]
For the third time the final score was 1:0, with the only goal scored by Rinus Bennaars who was immediately nicknamed "The hero of Deurne" (the neighbourhood in Antwerp where the match was played).
The events in Antwerp resulted in an enduring friendly relationship between the fans of Feyenoord and Royal Antwerp FC.
In 1963, hundreds of thousands of people stood ashore by the Nieuwe Maas and the Nieuwe Waterweg to wave two ships, deGroote Beer and the Waterman goodbye.
The ships transported thousands of Feijenoord fans to Lisbon where the club faced Benfica on 8 May 1963 in the European Cup semi-finals.
The first leg, held in Rotterdam a month earlier, finished 0:0.
Feijenoord eventually lost the match against Benfica 3:1, but this turned out to be the start of the most successful period in the club's history.
Feijenoord won the double for the first time in their history in 1965, and managed to win another double a few years later in 1969.
The 1965 title secured Feijenoord a spot in the 1965-66 European Cup, where they faced multiple cup champions Real Madrid on 8 September 1965 in the preliminaries.
During the match, Hans Kraay had to leave the pitch injured after 31 minutes, without being substituted.
He returned at the start of the second half and scored the goal which resulted in a 2:1 win.
Later during the match, fans' favourite Coen Moulijn was attacked roughly by a Spanish defender.
Moulijn then chased the defender all over the pitch.
Several other players did the same, as did some fans who entered the pitch.
The referee could do nothing, but suspend the match at 2:1 in Feijenoord's favour.
Two weeks later, Real Madrid comfortably beat Feyenoord 5:0, and eventually won the European Cup that season.
As the 1969 Dutch champions, Feijenoord participated in the 1969-70 European Cup. After thrashing Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur 16:2 on aggregate in the first round, the club faced Milan.
Feijenoord lost the first leg 1:0 in Italy, but overcame the deficit in their own stadium following a 2:0 win, securing a place in the quarter-finals, where they faced ASK Vorwärts Berlin.
The tie followed the same pattern as the previous round, Feijenoord losing the first match 1:0 away, then winning 2:0 at home.
In the semi-finals, Legia Warszawa were beaten 2:0 on aggregate, earning Feijenoord their first European final.
Ajax had reached the same final in 1969, but were not able to win.
Feijenoord faced Celtic in the final, held in the San Siro stadium in Milan.
Goals by Tommy Gemmell and Rinus Israël resulted in a 1:1 draw after 90 minutes.
Three minutes before the end of extra time, Ove Kindvall scored Feijenoord's winning goal to make them the first Dutch team to claim a major European trophy.
As reigning European champions, Feijenoord faced Estudiantes La Plata in the Intercontinental Cup.
The first match in Buenos Aires' La Bombonera finished in a 2:2 draw.
Back in Rotterdam, Feijenoord managed a 1:0 victory (winning goal by Joop van Daele) to win the world club crown, the first Dutch team to do so.
Estudiantes player Oscar Malbernat got frustrated and grabbed Van Daele's glasses and trampled on them.
"You are not allowed to play with glasses... at least not in South America" was his excuse.
As the cup holders, Feijenoord participated in the 1970-71 European Cup despite relinquishing the Dutch title, which was won by Ajax. Feijenoord were eliminated in the first round, following a surprise defeat by the Romanian team UT Arad.
In 1971, Feijenoord won their 10th Dutch Championship.
In 1973, the club decided to change their name to Feyenoord, as people from outside the Netherlands found it difficult to pronounce the "ij" in Feijenoord.
Under their new name, they played in the 1973-74 UEFA Cup, reaching the final, following a 4:3 aggregate win over VfB Stuttgart in the semi finals.
The opponent in the final was Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs took a 2:1 lead in the first leg at White Hart Lane, but Theo de Jong equalised after 85 minutes and the match ended in a 2:2 draw.
Feyenoord then won their match in Rotterdam 2:0, thanks to goals by Wim Rijsbergen and Peter Ressel, and also became the first Dutch team to win the UEFA Cup.
As a result, Spurs fans started to riot, introducing Dutch football to the spectre of hooliganism in the process.
The remainder of the decade saw Feyenoord win only one more honour: the Dutch Championship in 1974.
In 1978, the club divided their professional and amateur sides to form two separate teams, Feyenoord for professionals and Sportclub Feyenoord for amateurs.
Feyenoord won their fifth Dutch Cup in 1980 by beating Ajax 3:1 in the final.
In 1984, Feyenoord had another bright season, winning the double for the third time in their history.
Key players in the squad from this period included Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit and Peter Houtman (who later became the Feyenoord stadium announcer).
Cruyff reacted to Ajax's decision not to offer him a new contract at the start of the season and signed for arch rivals Feyenoord instead.
Cruyff's move to Rotterdam was criticised and increased Ajax's motivation to beat Feyenoord.
In the Olympic Stadium of Amsterdam Feyenoord suffered one of their most heavy defeats ever 8:2.
However, Feyenoord later defeated Ajax in Rotterdam 4:1 and Ajax were subsequently beaten a second time in the Dutch Cup.
Feyenoord proceeded to win a league and cup double by beating Fortuna Sittard in the cup final.
After the successful season, Feyenoord experienced a lean period and were unable to finish the season in a higher position than third.
In the 1989-90 season, the club struggled to remain in the Eredivisie, but eventually managed to avoid relegation.
The club had financial problems, and as a result, the staff was not able to recover and their main sponsor, HCS went bankrupt.
When Wim Jansen was appointed as the interim manager to replace Günder Bengtsson and Pim Verbeek after a 6:0 defeat against PSV, the outlook began to improve for the club.
PSV, the strongest Dutch club of the period, were knocked out of the KNVB Cup by a Henk Fräser goal in Eindhoven. Feyenoord progressed to the 1991 final, where they beat BVV Den Bosch 1:0 to win the competition.
As the cup holders, they faced champions PSV again, this time in the 1991 Dutch Supercup, the first Supercup held since 1949.
PSV were beaten 1:0 by a Marian Damaschin goal to add another honour to the club's achievements.
They went on to win another Dutch Cup in 1992, beating Roda JC 3:0 in the final.
The same year, Feyenoord reached the semi-finals in the 1991-92 European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals, before being knocked out by AS Monaco on away goals, after two draws.
In 1993, Feyenoord secured another Dutch Championship by beating FC Groningen 5:0 in the last league match of the season.
The match was played at the Oosterpark Stadion in Groningen, so 40.000 Feyenoord fans watched the game on giant screens in De Kuip.
The title was followed by another two Dutch Cups in 1994 (beating NEC Nijmegen 2:1) and 1995 (beating FC Volendam 2:1).
During the 1994-95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Feyenoord reached the quarter finals after beating Werder Bremen in the second round. They eventually lost to Real Zaragoza.
In the quarter-finals in the 1995 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord visited Ajax, the team that would win the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League later that season.
Ajax was leading 1:0 when Ruud Heus equalised with a penalty just before time.
In the extra time, Feyenoord became the only team to beat Ajax the season they won the Eredivisie and the Champions League unbeaten.
The goal scored by Mike Obiku was the decider as the new golden goal rule became in use.
During the 1995-96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Everton and Borussia Mönchengladbach were beaten.
A total of 14,000 Feyenoord fans travelled to Germany to support the team against Mönchengladbach.
Feyenoord were knocked out in the semi-finals by a Carsten Jancker inspired Rapid Wien.
Feyenoord made their UEFA Champions League debut during the 1997-98 UEFA Champions League, finishing third in their group behind Manchester United and Juventus.
However, Juventus were beaten 2:0 in Rotterdam, both goals scored by Julio Ricardo Cruz.
In 1998, the FIOD-ECD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service/Economic Investigation Service) visited Feyenoord because of suspected fraud, mainly based on the signings of Aurelio Vidmar, Christian Gyan and Patrick Allotey.
This became an ongoing scandal in the years to come with chairman Jorien van den Herik as the main suspect.
On 25 April 1999, Feyenoord secured their 14th Dutch Championship. 250,000 fans celebrated with the team in the center of Rotterdam. However, later in the evening, heavy rioting started.
Before the start of the new 1999-2000 season, Ajax were beaten in their own stadium when Feyenoord won their second Dutch Super Cup title, after a free kick by Patrick Paauwe, which secured a 3:2 win.
MILLENNIUM
During the 1999-2000 UEFA Champions League, Feyenoord participated in the UEFA Champions League for the second time.
This time, the club managed to finish second in their group behind Rosenborg BK, but in front of Borussia Dortmund.
Feyenoord reached the second group stage and secured wins versus Olympique Marseille (at home) and Lazio (away).
Chelsea won both clashes and as a result, Feyenoord had to win their last group match away to Marseille to reach the knock-out stages.
The final result was 0:0, and Feyenoord were eliminated.
Feyenoord again participated in the Champions League in 2001-02, finishing third in a group containing Bayern Munich, Sparta Prague and Spartak Moscow.
This meant Feyenoord had to continue their European season in the 2001-02 UEFA Cup instead of the second Champions League group stage.
The disappointment of failing to reach the second group stage eventually resulted in optimism and celebration.
By winning over SC Freiburg and Rangers, Feyenoord faced fellow Dutch team PSV in the quarter-finals.
Both matches ended in 1:1 draws, and the clash went into extra time and a penalty shoot-out.
Pierre van Hooijdonk, who had a superb season by scoring many goals from free kicks secured Feyenoord's win by scoring in the 90th minute equalizer before finishing PSV off by scoring the last goal in the penalty shoot-out.
A 1:0 win in Milan against Internazionale, and a 2:2 return match in Rotterdam, earned Feyenoord their spot in the final, in which Borussia Dortmund was the opponent.
The final was held in De Kuip and as a result, most spectators inside the stadium were Feyenoord fans.
Feyenoord took a 2:0 lead, thanks to another free kick and a penalty by Pierre van Hooijdonk.
Early in the second half Marcio Amoroso scored a goal to make it 2:1.
Jon Dahl Tomasson then made it 3:1 and things looked good for Feyenoord.
Dortmund only managed to score one more goal and the cup was won by Bert van Marwijk's Feyenoord.
A huge party erupted in and outside De Kuip not only because of the title, but also because the final was held several days after Rotterdam's political figure Pim Fortuyn was murdered.
Lots of fans were still full of emotion, before and after the match.
As a result of Fortuyn's murder, the cup was not officially celebrated in the city center.
The 2002 UEFA Cup win was the start of a long dry spell for Feyenoord.
In the 2002-03 season, the club managed to finish third in the national league, as well as reach the final of the Dutch Cup (which was lost 1:4 to FC Utrecht), but in the following years, Feyenoord disappointed in both the national league and the Dutch Cup.
In between, Feyenoord and chairman Jorien van den Herik were found to be not guilty in 2002.
The prosecutor however appealed, but in 2005, after three years of investigations, the results stayed the same. Still, the prosecution has not given up the case yet.
The 2005-06 season ended in disappointment for Feyenoord. The team pursued the Dutch Championship for most of the season, but eventually lost out to PSV.
The newly created Dutch play-offs then proved to be gloomy for Feyenoord.
Ajax, which finished several points behind in the regular league, were Feyenoord's opponent in the play-offs.
Ajax ouclassed them and Feyenoord lost out on a Champions League place.
In the 2006-07 season, the nightmare grew even bigger. The supporters saw their two star players leave to Chelsea (Salomon Kalou) and Liverpool (Dirk Kuyt).
At the same time, it became clear that Feyenoord were in an appalling financial state despite earlier comments made by chairman Van den Herik who claimed that the club was financially healthy.
Supporters' unrest grew into anger, when Feyenoord bought Charisteas, a back-up striker of arch-rivals Ajax, with a poor track record, as a replacement for Kuyt.
After continuous protests, chairman Van den Herik resigned, and the club started managerial reforms.
The worst was not over though.
Feyenoord were banned from European competition, following hooliganism prior to and during a match with AS Nancy, despite an appeal by the club.
The season ended in bitter disappointment with a seventh place finish, causing Feyenoord to miss European football for the first time in 16 years.
While desperate supporters started preparing for a dark age, the club surprised friend and foe in the 2007 summer transfer window.
A brilliant performance of young left back Royston Drenthe at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship had investors flocking to the new investment schemes Feyenoord had set up.
The club appointed former manager Bert van Marwijk and was able to make a number of high profile signings amongst which Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Roy Makaay.
Despite the efforts, Feyenoord underperformed once again in the national league, finishing in a disappointing sixth place.
The pain was relieved by claiming the first prize in six years: 100 years after the foundation of the club, Feyenoord managed to win the Dutch Cup, beating Roda JC by 2:0.
As Bert van Marwijk accepted a job as manager of the national team, Feyenoord appointed Gertjan Verbeek as their manager for the 2008-09 season.
Financial problems
In the 2008-09 season, Feyenoord officially celebrated their 100th birthday and organised many events throughout the year.
The old "golden logo" returned as Feyenoord's official logo, which was presented at the 2007 new years brunch.
During the summer a historical tournament was held between Feyenoord and the three opponents they met in the European Cup finals, they played, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic (Feyenoord Jubilee Tournament).
Mid-way through the season manager Verbeek was sacked because of disappointing league results. His assistant, Leon Vlemmings, then took over the job as manager.
The results in this period improved slightly, resulting in securing a spot in the playoffs for the final Dutch Europa League slot.
For the 2009-10 season, Feyenoord appointed former assistant manager and Feyenoord footballer Mario Been to take over from Leon Vlemmings.
Been, after achieving minor European successes with NEC Nijmegen, was considered the ideal man for the job.
Former manager Leo Beenhakker, at that time manager of the Polish national squad, took over the role as Technical Director.
Partly because of this position, he was able to attract more investors to the club leading to some unexpected signings, such as Sekou Cissé, Dani Fernández and Stefan Babović.
On 24 October 2010, they lost to PSV with a 0:10 score.
In mid-January 2011 Leo Beenhakker resigned after multiple clashes between him and the Feyenoord Directors.
His replacement was former Feyenoord player Martin van Geel, who at the time was working as Technical Director for fellow Eredivisie club Roda JC.
In July 2011, a majority of players in the squad voted to oust Been as club manager.
Thirteen out of eighteen players voted that they had lost all confidence in Been's ability to successfully manage the club.
Been's subsequent sacking became global news, if only because reports of Been's firing quickly became a trending topic on Twitter, leaving people around the world to wonder who exactly Mario Been was.
After Louis van Gaal turned down an offer to manage Feyenoord, the club sought out legendary former Barcelona defender Ronald Koeman, who had played for Feyenoord during the late nineteen nineties.
With his eventual hiring as Feyenoord manager, Koeman became the first to ever serve as both player and head coach at all teams of the so-called "traditional big three" of Dutch football: (AFC Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord itself)
Moreover, he played and managed these teams in the same order.
At the beginning of the 2011-12 season, Feyenoord lost valuable players Leroy Fer, Georginio Wijnaldum and André Bahia to FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven and Samsunspor respectively.
In return, the club restocked with players such as Jordy Clasie, Miquel Nelom, Guyon Fernandez and Kaj Ramsteijn, who came mostly from their own youth academy.
Two other players were loaned, John Guidetti from Manchester City and Otman Bakkal from PSV.
Feyenoord started the season well and played the first game of the Eredivisie, against the other Rotterdam club in the league Excelsior.
Feyenoord ended the season by placing second in the Eredivisie, resulting in the third qualifying round for Champions League football.
THE REVIVAL
On 16 December 2011, it was revealed that Feyenoord had been placed in the more favorable second category (Categorie 2).
Meaning that Feyenoord were no longer in debt according to the KNVB.
They have earned this by the transfer of significant players and a large capital injection made by the organisation VVF (Friends of Feyenoord, Vrienden Van Feyenoord).
However to stay in the second category, Feyenoord needed to obtain the same amount of points earned rounding up to or higher than 65 points.
On 13 April 2012 Feyenoord was officially out of what has been described as the 'financial dangerzone' and was officially placed in the second category.
According to chairman of the club Eric Gudde the placing in the more favourable category came earlier than anticipated, he also congratulated the fans and promised to maintain the same policy until Feyenoord was completely healthy again and will never fall back into the first category.
Despite not having to ask the KNVB for permission to invest in new players anymore, Feyenoord kept continuing the policy for the 2012-13 season, only contracting players that were either out of contract or available for a low transfer fee.
John Goossens, Ruud Vormer and Daryl Janmaat were out of contract and signed a deal with Feyenoord over one with their old clubs.
Mitchell te Vrede played for the affiliated football club Excelsior, as well as for the highest-ranked academy team Jong Feyenoord/Excelsior and was promoted to the main senior team.
Harmeet Singh and Lex Immers are thus far the only two players who Feyenoord paid a transfer fee for.
Singh, a Norwegian midfielder and one of two non-Eredivisie players joining Feyenoord, was purchased from Valerenga IF, while Immers came over from ADO Den Haag.
The other non-Eredivisie player joining Feyenoord was Omar Elabdellaoui who was loaned from Manchester City.
On 2 July 2012, Karim El Ahmadi completed his transfer from Feyenoord to Premier League club Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of €2,600,000.
This made him Paul Lambert's first signing as Aston Villa manager, and Aston Villa's second signing of the summer (following Australia international Brett Holman's move from AZ).
On 15 July 2012, supporters of Aston Villa uploaded a picture on Twitter which showed Ron Vlaar, Feyenoord captain since season 2010/2011, visiting the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham.
Which had Martin van Geel confirm to the media that Vlaar wanted to leave Feyenoord.
After the incident Villa did not contact Vlaar, to which coach Ronald Koeman set up a deadline for The Villans, which ended on 23 July 2012, however Villa was on a pre-season tour of the US and thus not able to respond.
On 23 July 2012, Vlaar told the public that he would not leave Feyenoord after all, and said that he felt that he was kept dangling by Aston Villa.
Four days later however Vlaar told the public that he would eventually be joining Villa, as he had agreed personal terms and would sign for Villa subject to him passing a medical.
On 1 August 2012, Vlaar officially joined Aston Villa, signing a three year contract. Feyenoord supporters received the news generally mixed, with some congratulating and wishing the best of luck, others feeling betrayed by Vlaar for misleading them.
Stefan de Vrij would be taking up the vacant spot for captain, considering his time and experiences with Feyenoord, making Jordy Clasie, who because of his good play and tenacity soon became one of the most popular players among the supporters, vice-captain.
On 7 August, Feyenoord had lost the third qualifying round of the Champions League against Dynamo Kyiv in both legs, which would secure a spot in the play-offs. Feyenoord was demoted to the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League.
Ronald Koeman has said that Feyenoord was the better side over the two legs but missed a scoring striker, referring to John Guidetti, the loaned player from Manchester City one season earlier.
On 10 August 2012, Dutch-international and Málaga C.F. defender Joris Mathijsen confirmed signing a contract with Feyenoord for three years.
Málaga had made clear to Mathijsen that he needed to find a new club to generate income for the financially suffering Málaga after Sheikh Al Thani left.
Ronald Koeman has however kept de Vrij as captain, despite Mathijsen being more experienced on international and club level.
After drawing the first leg of the UEFA Europa League qualifier at home with 2:2 Feyenoord lost the second leg with a 2:0 win for AC Sparta Praha which meant that for the 2012-2013 season, Feyenoord would not be playing European football.
Following these events Feyenoord loaned Parma F.C. and old AZ striker Graziano Pellè and exhanged Jerson Cabral for FC Twente striker Wesley Verhoek, no fee was involved within this trade.
Feyenoord ends the season in third place after Ajax and PSV. Graziano Pelle surprises many people by scoring 27 goals in 29 matches.
In the 2013-2014 season, Feyenoord had the worst start in history, despite having maintained all of its important players (Daryl Janmaat, Stefan de Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Jordy Clasie and Graziano Pelle).
The first three games were all lost, against PEC Zwolle, FC Twente and Ajax respectively.
After that, Feyenoord recovers from its bad start, but its performances stay quite unstable throughout the season.
The other top teams in the Eredivisie are very inconstant as well, which keeps Feyenoord in the race for the title.
Eventually they end second, just 4 points behind Ajax.
In the Europa League Feyenoord loses in the third qualifying round against FC Kuban Krasnodar, making it Feyenoord's fifth consecutive season without European football.
On February 1st, Ronald Koeman announced he would quit coaching Feyenoord at the end of the season.
On March 3rd, Fred Rutten is appointed the new manager for the 2014-2015 season.
LOCATION
Feyenoord are located in the Feijenoord district of southern Rotterdam and is named after the district in which the club was founded.
More frequent appearances in international tournaments led the club to change its name in 1974, because foreign fans unfamiliar with the Dutch language did not know how to pronounce.
Beside Feyenoord, there are two other professional football clubs in Rotterdam: Sparta and Excelsior.
Feyenoord is currently playing in the Eredivisie, while Sparta was relegated to the second tier after the 2009-10 season.
Two years later Excelsior also relegated from the Eredivisie in the season 2011-12.
STADIA - "De Kuip"
The club's Feijenoord Stadion, located in the IJsselmonde district of Rotterdam, is nicknamed De Kuip, Dutch for The Tub.
It was built in 1937 and is one of the major European stadiums.
It has 51,117 seats and has hosted a record of 10 finals of UEFA club competitions, including the 2002 UEFA Cup Final which was won by Feyenoord.
Former Feyenoord player Mike Obiku once said "Every time you enter the pitch, you're stepping into a lion's home." Feyenoord does not own the stadium, it is an organisation on its own.
In 1935, Feijenoord player Puck van Heel hit the first pole on their way into their new stadium.
The stadium was opened on 27 March 1937 and Beerschot was beaten by 5 goals to 2, Leen Vente scored the first goal in De Kuip.
Already in the very beginning the stadium was sold out on several occasions and other events held at de Kuip also gained lots of attendance.
During the second World War the stadium was one of the few locations which was not bombed, however the Nazis occupied the stadium.
After the war De Kuip became popular location once again.
In 1949 the attendance record was broken during the match to decide the Dutch championship between SVV Schiedam and SC Heerenveen; 64,368 fans visited the match.
Besides football, there were also boxing and motorcycle speedway races in De Kuip, which were also gaining popularity. In 1953, people had to hide inside the stadium during the North Sea flood of 1953.
On 27 November 1957, Feyenoord played versus Bolton Wanderers during an evening match. It was the first time the floodlights were taken in use.
The players entered the pitch in the dark and the fans were asked to light their matchsticks when the floodlights were activated.
Since that evening, that match at De Kuip has always been special among Feyenoord fans.
In 1963, De Kuip hosted their first European final (Cup winners' Cup) between Tottenham Hotspur and Atlético Madrid.
Nine more European finals would follow in the years after with Feyenoord's win over Borussia Dortmund in the 2002 UEFA Cup final being the 10th and latest.
The attendance record of 1949 was broken in 1968 when 65,427 fans visited the Feyenoord-FC Twente match.[102]
NEW STADIUM
In December 2006, Feyenoord director Chris Woerts announced that Feyenoord were developing plans to build a new stadium which would have a capacity of roughly 90,000 seats.
The stadium would most likely be placed on the Nieuwe Maas, the river that runs through Rotterdam, and should be completed by 2016.
In May 2008, Woerts announced further details: the club is aiming for a stadium with a capacity of around 100.000 seats.
If possible, a capacity of over 130.000 should be realized according to Woerts, which would earn the title of biggest stadium in Europe.
The club emphasized its efforts to make it a true football stadium with seats close to the pitch.
The stadium will get a retractable roof so that other events can be held as well. According to plans in those days, the stadium should be ready in 2016.
Due to financial difficulties for all parties involved and the fact that The Netherlands did not get to organize the FIFA World Cup of 2018, the plans for a new stadium have been put on hold.
A new stadium will probably be built in the future, but it will likely not have a capacity of more than 70.000.
In September 2012 Feyenoord confirmed that there will arise a new stadium in 2018. The stadium will be built by builder VolkerWessels, it will cost around 300 million euros (± £242 million).
Another option was a plan made by a consortium of BAM, Eneco Energie and Siemens.
But the plan was rejected by the Feyenoord and Stadion Feijenoord direction.
The new stadium should be a 63.000 all-seater.
Despite the new plans, much of the supporters prefer a renovation of De Kuip.
One of those initiatives are 'Red de Kuip', which is Dutch for 'Save de Kuip'.
They made plans of building a 3rd tier on top of the current stadium, increasing the capacity to 68000.
This plan would cost only 117 million euros (± £94 million).
Players