Eredivisie 2001/02 In spite of the turbulences before the start of the season, such as Maikel Aerts' transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers being cancelled after his replacement (Kris Mampaey) had already been signed, FC Den Bosch started the season much better than two seasons before. After a goalless draw against Heerenveen and a narrow defeat at PSV (2-3 after leading 1-0 and 2-1), Den Bosch beat fellow relegation favourites Fortuna 4-0 at home and got a creditable draw away at regional rivals Willem II, leaving them the third best team of the province after 4 rounds, behind Willem II and PSV but ahead of NAC and RKC. A 2-1 win at home against NEC, also likely to be relegation competitors, saw the club rise to 5th in the table - it's long ago such dizzy heights were reached, and it didn't last long: a 1-4 away loss to bottom club Roda put an end to all dreams beyond mere survival. These were encouraged by a 0-0 draw against championship pretenders Feyenoord, and the next round again saw a draw against a Rotterdam team, 1-1 away at fellow relegation candidates Sparta, who could only save a point thanks to a contentious last minute penalty. But 2 more draws (0-0 at regional rivals NAC and 1-1 at home to Utrecht) made clear the struggle to keep clear of place 16 has begun, confirmed by a 0-2 loss at Groningen, yet another draw, 3-3 in Waalwijk, the first home loss against Twente (1-3) and a narrow loss in Alkmaar (2-3). At this point, Den Bosch were 9 games without a win, a worrying sequence fortunately broken by a 3-1 home win against De Graafschap and the first away win, by the same score, in Sittard. A home win (4-1!) against champion pretenders Vitesse made it 3 wins in a row and got the club back in the top half of the table until an away loss at Heerenveen; the cushion over last-placed Fortuna (12 points) is reassuring, but from places 9 to 17 everything is very close. The first match after the winter break saw a narrow home loss (0-1) against league leaders Ajax, the only team Den Bosch had not played yet, followed by a very useful derby win against RKC (1-0). The first away match was rather discouraging, a 4-0 loss to Twente after playing the entire second half with 10 men. Two more home matches, against fellow relegation candidates Sparta and Groningen, should have been used to distance the club from place 16, but instead the first one resulted in a meagre 1-1 draw and another red card, for Mourad, scorer of the one goal, and the second in a minor disaster, 1-4, and the distance to place 16 is only 1 point. That meant some points had to come from the away matches in Gelderland, and, fortunately, after a draw at Vitesse, De Graafschap were beaten in Doetinchem. Back at home, hopes were high for points against NAC, but instead an unfortunate defeat followed by the predictable 0-3 loss at Feyenoord put the club only 2 points ahead of the ominous sixteenth place. More losses (an unnecessary 1-2 at home to Willem II, a 1-3 at Utrecht and another home derby loss to PSV (0-1)) put Den Bosch 16th before a 3-1 home win over Roda JC gave temporarily relief. The last 3 matches needed to yield at least 4 points in order to avoid the play-offs, but a highly unlucky last-minute loss at NEC thanks to a dubious penalty seriously damaged the chances. Results from the penultimate round (a 0-2 loss at champions-elect Ajax) meant that Den Bosch needed to win their last home match, preferably by 2 goals, against AZ, and hope that PSV beat De Graafschap in Doetinchem (as the chances of Sparta upsetting Groningen appeared remote). Alas, it was not to be - Den Bosch lost 0-1 (the 600th loss of Den Bosch in professional football) and the other matches were drawn. Meanwhile coach Wiljan Vloet had announced he would train Roda J.C. in the new season, and the club quickly signed Gert Kruys as his replacement - coming from Cambuur Leeuwarden, where he withdrew from coaching immediately as the two teams meet in the same nacompetitie group, in which also Emmen and RBC Roosendaal play. The first nacompetitie round saw a good 3-1 home win against Emmen, and a 3-0 win in Leeuwarden set up a Brabant tussle with RBC, who also notched up 6 points from the first 2 matches. The first half of that direct battle for the one place in next season's eredivisie, at home, was lost 1-4, and the return in Roosendaal only drawn 2-2, meaning that relegation was imminent and we could only hope for a miracle. Unfortunately in round 5, the miracle only happened half, RBC twice coming back from behind to earn a home draw with Emmen while Den Bosch walloped Cambuur again. The win in the last match, 3-0 at Emmen, proved meaningless as RBC beat Cambuur by the same score - Den Bosch were once again relegated. Check here for more data on the regular season. All results: against home away total 01/02 overall total 54-02 Ajax 0-1 0-2 2 0 0 2 0- 3 0 30 2 5 23 22-86 9 A.Z. 0-1 2-3 2 0 0 2 2- 4 0 38 10 15 13 54-56 35 [Alkmaar, A.Z. '67] Feyenoord 0-0 0-3 2 0 1 1 0- 3 1 30 5 8 17 29-74 18 [Feijenoord] Fortuna Sittard 4-0 3-1 2 2 0 0 7- 1 4 50 13 13 24 68-89 39 [Fortuna '54, F.S.C.] De Graafschap 3-1 1-0 2 2 0 0 4- 1 4 36 15 8 13 54-51 38 F.C. Groningen 1-4 0-2 2 0 0 2 1- 6 0 48 11 17 20 44-65 39 [G.V.A.V.] S.C. Heerenveen 0-0 0-2 2 0 1 1 0- 2 1 30 8 12 10 28-32 28 N.A.C. 1-2 0-0 2 0 1 1 1- 2 1 18 6 2 10 28-31 14 N.E.C. 2-1 1-2 2 1 0 1 3- 3 2 20 5 7 8 19-29 17 P.S.V. 0-1 2-3 2 0 0 2 2- 4 0 30 3 5 22 35-99 11 R.K.C. Waalwijk 1-0 3-3 2 1 1 0 4- 3 3 10 3 3 4 12-17 9 [R.K.C.] Roda J.C. 3-1 1-4 2 1 0 1 4- 5 2 30 7 11 12 40-55 25 [Rapid J.C.] Sparta 1-1 1-1 2 0 2 0 2- 2 2 28 5 11 12 42-52 21 F.C. Twente 1-3 0-4 2 0 0 2 1- 7 0 30 9 8 13 33-57 26 [S.C. Enschede] F.C. Utrecht 1-1 1-3 2 0 1 1 2- 4 1 28 10 8 10 45-43 28 [D.O.S.] Vitesse 4-1 1-1 2 1 1 0 5- 2 4 40 13 11 16 50-58 37 Willem II 1-2 1-1 2 0 1 1 2- 3 1 40 18 6 16 54-43 42 Home record 17 6 4 7 23-20 16 829 384 223 222 1396-1001 991 corrected for 3/win 17 6 4 7 23-20 22 829 384 223 222 1396-1001 1049 Away record 17 2 5 10 17-35 9 829 240 211 378 1022-1394 691 corrected for 3/win 17 2 5 10 17-35 11 829 240 211 378 1022-1394 740 Neutral venues 2 2 0 0 4- 1 4 Total 34 8 9 17 40-55 25 1660 626 434 600 2422-2396 1686 corrected for 3/win 34 8 9 17 40-55 33 1660 626 434 600 2422-2396 1793 playoff Cambuur Leeuwarden 5-2 3-0 2 2 0 0 8- 2 4 58 23 16 19 82-79 62 [Leeuwarden, S.C. Cambuur] Emmen 3-1 3-0 2 2 0 0 6- 1 4 20 7 7 6 27-23 21 R.B.C. 1-4 2-2 2 0 1 1 3- 6 1 30 16 4 10 61-41 36 Home record 3 2 0 1 9- 7 4 832 386 223 223 1405-1008 995 corrected for 3/win 3 2 0 1 9- 7 6 832 386 223 223 1405-1008 1055 Away record 3 2 1 0 8- 2 5 832 242 212 378 1030-1396 696 corrected for 3/win 3 2 1 0 8- 2 7 832 242 212 378 1030-1396 747 Neutral venues 2 2 0 0 4- 1 4 Total 6 4 1 1 17- 9 9 1666 630 435 601 2439-2405 1695 corrected for 3/win 6 4 1 1 17- 9 13 1666 630 435 601 2439-2405 1806