Eerste Divisie 2000/01 After relegation, worse tidings are to come. FC Den Bosch are in serious financial difficulties, the board steps down, the club go into receivership and are forced to cut about a third of the budget. Several players are sold, trainer Mark Wotte leaves the sinking ship to find a job at the Dutch FA, and for a while the club don't know whether it will still exist next week let alone next month. A new trainer (Jan Poortvliet, hero of PSV and Oranje in 1978) is signed, a new board and main sponsor found, and still money is missing. The club asks for permission to sack eleven players (unsurprisingly, some of them earning good salaries), namely Harry van der Laan, Erwin Hermes, Mark Schenning, Lennar Speijer, Qualid Khemili, Krysztof Bociek, Chaly Jones, Roël Liefden, Dries Ettalaoui, Michel Ribeiro and Mourad Mghizrat. For the latter, an anonymous sponsor appeared taking over his year's salary, but the other ten were to go. On October 31, Schenning signed for NAC; Chaly Jones left for União Madeira. On November 1st, Den Bosch were given extension of payment after the new board could convince the judges that the club had a perspective; and on November 16th, the club were given permission to sack the remaining eight players (Van der Laan, Hermes, Bociek, Liefden and Ribeiro as of December 1st, 2000, and Speijer, Khemili and Ettalaoui as of January 1st, 2001). Meanwhile Qualid Khemili signed for VVV, Speijer for Heracles, Hermes for Telstar, and Harry van der Laan for Viterbese, in the Italian Serie C-1. Later Van der Laan decided to call an end to his career after all, after which Viterbese signed former PSV player Edwin van Ankeren. (He however left soon, shocked by circumstances at the club, and left for RWDM in the Belgian second level.) In spite of the uncertainty, the club started well in the season, winning the first six matches, among others away at MVV, Cambuur and Emmen, thereby virtually securing the first goal of the season (the first period title) before losing at Excelsior and then the Go Ahead Eagles. Excelsior pip Den Bosch on goal difference to win the first period title, but with 5 of the most difficult away matches gone, chances for the actual goal of the season: championship and immediate return to the eredivisie, remain looking good. In the away match at the Eagles, the club reached two milestones: the 1600th match in professional football and the 800th away match (combined records of BVV and Den Bosch). The 800th home match was won against Helmond Sport, after bottom club Haarlem had surprisingly stolen 3 points in De Vliert before. However, after a heavy defeat in Zwolle, Den Bosch trail Excelsior by 4 points - reduced to 2 after Zwolle obtain a draw in Rotterdam. The home match versus VVV on December 16 was postponed by mayor Rombouts, following the death of a Den Bosch fan, known to be part of the local hooligan scene, who was shot when resisting arrest at his home following a neighbour dispute. Fearing incidents at the match, it was called off, but there were major disturbances in the town itself for most of the weekend. After the restart, it turns out Den Bosch have hibernated very well during the winter break: handsome victories over MVV (4-0 at home) and Den Haag (4-1 away) are followed by an away win in the derby in Oss (2-0). As that day all other teams in the top-7 drew, Den Bosch can reach Excelsior by a win in the postponed match against VVV. On Valentine's Day, Den Bosch indeed beat VVV 2-0, and are only 1 goal behind (goal difference) ahead of the head-on clash with Excelsior on the 18th of February. In De Vliert, FC Den Bosch leave no doubt as to who are the top dogs: Excelsior are sent home with a 4-0 drubbing, sweet revenge for the first defeat earlier in the season. In the following round, TOP Oss do something useful for a change, making Excelsior stumble (3-0), and as Den Bosch respond by beating third-placed Volendam 2-1 away, the prospects look rosy indeed: 6 points ahead, only 5 away matches left (and apart from Helmond only at teams in the bottom third of the table - however, the only home defeat so far was at tail-enders Haarlem...), and the third period title virtually in the bag (not that that particular honour is of great interest). A golden February for Den Bosch. Meanwhile, the coach for next season has been announced: Jan Poortvliet, who had a 1-year contract only, will be succeeded by Wiljan Vloet, who signed until 2006; Arnold Scholten, who scored his first goal of the season in Volendam and is leading the V.I. ranking of best player in the eerste divisie, will become technical director. This change caused a lot of unrest in and around the club though, as most people had expected Poortvliet to get an opportunity to continue his successful work. March did not start quite as good as February finished: although the 1-1 home draw against the Eagles secured the third period, Excelsior reduced the deficit to 4 points by winning against Volendam. Another home draw, against Emmen, after 2-0 down, extended the lead to 5 again, after the Eagles destroyed Excelsior. Fortunately the sequence of home draws was stopped versus Cambuur, 1-0. Another modest home win, 1-0 against Telstar thanks to a last-minute goal, makes the gap 7 points with 8 matches to play, as Excelsior had needed a last-minute goal themselves to save at least one point at home to bottom club VVV (3-3). In the next three rounds, Den Bosch beat the Venlo club themselves, scoring their 1000th away goal in professional football by Peelen in the process, and followed up with a 2-0 win in Helmond and at home to Hearcles; as Excelsior lost twice in those 3 rounds, the gap is now 13 points with 5 matches left to play: the champaign could already be ordered. An away win at Eindhoven would have done it, but though leading 2-0 after just 10 minutes, Den Bosch could only draw that derby, marred by a red card for Deckers and a pitch invasion by Den Bosch 'fans' in injury time. When later that evening Kolmschot of Heracles equalised in the 89th minute against Excelsior, championship and promotion were in the bag anyway, with 4 rounds left to play. The last few rounds saw little inspiring play from Den Bosch, but they finished the season a clear 9 points ahead of Excelsior. Check here for more data on the regular season. All results: against home away total 00/01 overall total 54-01 Cambuur Leeuwarden 1-0 1-0 2 2 0 0 2- 0 4 56 21 16 19 74- 77 58 [Leeuwarden, S.C. Cambuur] Dordrecht '90 2-0 3-1 2 2 0 0 5- 1 4 68 28 19 21 119-101 75 [D.F.C., F.C. Dordrecht, D.S. '79] Eindhoven 2-0 2-2 2 1 1 0 4- 2 3 52 21 14 17 81- 65 56 Emmen 2-2 1-0 2 1 1 0 3- 2 3 18 5 7 6 21- 22 17 Excelsior 4-0 1-2 2 1 0 1 5- 2 2 50 17 19 14 68- 62 53 Go Ahead Eagles 1-1 0-1 2 0 1 1 1- 2 1 30 14 4 12 46- 34 32 [Go Ahead] A.D.O. Den Haag 1-0 4-1 2 2 0 0 5- 1 4 28 14 5 9 52- 49 33 [A.D.O., F.C. Den Haag] Haarlem 1-2 0-0 2 0 1 1 1- 2 1 51 21 12 18 77- 65 54 Helmond Sport 3-0 2-0 2 2 0 0 5- 0 4 52 27 14 11 111- 53 68 [Helmondia '55] Heracles 2-0 1-1 2 1 1 0 3- 1 3 52 26 17 9 89- 62 69 M.V.V. 4-0 4-1 2 2 0 0 8- 1 4 34 13 7 14 46- 49 33 Telstar 1-0 3-0 2 2 0 0 4- 0 4 38 23 7 8 56- 29 53 [V.S.V.] T.O.P. Oss 2-0 2-0 2 2 0 0 4- 0 4 16 10 3 3 29- 18 23 [T.O.P.] Veendam 3-0 1-3 2 1 0 1 4- 3 2 56 20 16 20 77- 76 56 Volendam 2-0 2-1 2 2 0 0 4- 1 4 44 15 7 22 50- 69 37 V.V.V. 2-0 2-1 2 2 0 0 4- 1 4 50 16 14 20 71- 77 46 [F.C. V.V.V.] F.C. Zwolle 2-2 0-4 2 0 1 1 2- 6 1 42 13 12 17 58- 59 38 [P.E.C., P.E.C. Zwolle] Home record 17 13 3 1 35- 7 29 812 378 218 215 1373- 981 975 corrected for 3/win 17 13 3 1 35- 7 42 812 378 218 215 1373- 981 1027 Away record 17 10 3 4 29-18 23 812 238 206 368 1005-1359 682 corrected for 3/win 17 10 3 4 29-18 33 812 238 206 368 1005-1359 729 Neutral venues 2 2 0 0 4- 1 4 Total 34 23 6 5 64-25 52 1626 618 425 583 2382-2341 1661 corrected for 3/win 34 23 6 5 64-25 75 1626 618 425 583 2382-2341 1760