Roda JC Kerkrade

Roda JC Kerkrade
Full name Sportvereniging Roda
Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade
Nickname(s) De Koempels (The Miners)
Founded June 27, 1962 (1962-06-27)
Ground Parkstad Limburg Stadion
Kerkrade
Ground Capacity 19,979
Chairman Harm Wiertz
Manager Darije Kalezić
League Eredivisie
2014–15 Eerste Divisie, 3rd (promoted by play-offs)
Website Club home page

Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈspɔrtfəˌreːnəɣɪŋ ˈroːdaː ˌjyliˈjaːnaː ˌkɔmbiˈnaː(t)si ˈkɛr(ə)kˌraːdə]; Kerkrade dialect: Sjport Verainiejoeng Roda Juliana Combinaatsiejoeën Kirchroa), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade ([ˈroːdaː jeːˈseː ˈkɛr(ə)kˌraːdə]) is a Dutch professional association football club located in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eredivisie. The club was founded after a merger between Rapid JC and Roda Sport in 1962. They were placed in the Eerste Divisie, and after a relegation they were promoted back to the top division in 1973, where they would stay for 41 years until relegating in 2014. In the 2009 season the added Kerkrade to the name to create brand awareness and get financial support.

Roda JC is known as a "coal-miner's club". Fans of arch rival MVV, from the provincial capital of Maastricht, pronounce those words condescendingly. In Kerkrade and surroundings however, they are pronounced with pride and respect. The last Dutch coal-mines were closed in the 1960s, but the southeastern part of the Netherlands' most southern province, Limburg, is still referred to as the Mijnstreek ('mine district') today. The coal-mines are still industrious in folk songs in the regional dialect and in the stories of old miners, reminiscing of an era that will never return. Southern Limburg will always be their home. Their team, in most cases, is Roda JC.

Roda JC's club honours include seven European campaigns and six KNVB cup finals, of which two were won. One of the predecessors in club's "family tree" of mergers, Rapid JC, were champions of the Netherlands in 1956. Ten out of eleven players on that Rapid JC team were coal-miners.

History

The history of the forming of Roda JC.

Merge (1955–1962)

Roda JC Kerkrade came into being by the merger of several football clubs from Kerkrade. In 1954, SV Kerkrade (of 1926) and SV Bleijerheide (of 1914) merged to form Roda Sport. That same year, Rapid '54 (of 1954) and amateur club Juliana (of 1910) merged to form Rapid JC. Rapid JC was one of the success clubs at the time, winning the Championship play-off in 1956. In later years they would only finish in the top 10 once, when they finished second in the 1958–59 season. Roda Sport would only relegate to the Tweede Divisie and stay there until the last merge between them and Rapid JC, to form Roda JC.

Struggling and staying at the top division (1963–94)

After the merge they would start in the Eerste Divisie in the 1962–63 season, but would relegate immediately after finishing 16th. The following season they would almost promote back, but they lost in the promotion play-off and remained in the Tweede Divisie 8 years. After their promotion back to the Eerste Divisie, it would only take two seasons to also promote to the Eredivisie, when they finished first.

They are finally at the top division, but did not manage to qualify for a European competition even though they finished in the top several times. They had only qualified for Europe once when they lost in the finals of the KNVB Cup in 1975, but they lost in the first round with 5–3 on aggregate against Anderlecht. In the 1986–87 season they'd finally finished at a desired spot for the European Cup play-offs in the Netherlands, but lost their spot against FC Utrecht. One year later they finished 15th and struggled to not relegate back to the Eerste Divisie. They did, however, lose in the finals of the KNVB Cup. Since PSV already got a spot for Europe by winning the Eredivisie, Roda JC would gain a spot in the European Cup. This would be the club's most memorable European campaign, when Roda made it through the winter in the European Cup Winners Cup before succumbing to the superb strikers of Bulgarian PFC CSKA Sofia, Hristo Stoichkov and Emil Kostadinov, who became superstars in Europe's major football leagues. Two years later they would finish fifth two times, but only once they gained an spot for a European competition. They would do well in the KNVB Cup in 1990–91, reaching the semi-finals, and a year later would reach the finals.

Dutch and European success (1994–2000)

Since 1994 they managed to make several successes in both Europe and the Netherlands. Most notable is the 2nd place in the Eredivisie in 1994–95. They had also won the KNVB Cup twice in the 1996–1997 season and 1999–2000 season. Due to all of this they qualified for several European competitions. In the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Roda was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Vicenza Calcio by an aggregate of 1 – 9. Roda's most memorable European game was played on 28 February 2002. After a 0–1 defeat to A.C. Milan in Kerkrade, Roda caused panic at the San Siro by winning the return leg by the same score. Roda even took the lead in the penalty shoot-out, but ended up losing the series, only being one penalty away from eliminating A.C. Milan.

Since then they only had qualified twice for the Intertoto Cup in the 2003–04 and 2004–05 season. In later years they did manage to qualify for the play-offs but never won it.

Roda's position in Dutch football is best illustrated by their history in the KNVB Cup. Roda were good enough to make it to six finals, but the first three times and the last time the opponent in the final was one of the 'Big Three' – and Roda went home with the silver medal: PSV won in 1976 and 1988, Feyenoord in 1992 and 2008. In two of the club's cup finals, however, a 'non-Big Three' side was the opponent. Both times the cup went to Kerkrade: Heerenveen were beaten in 1997, NEC in 2000.

Decline (2000–2013)

Since 1992 Roda have been in discussions with neighbours Fortuna Sittard, as well as MVV and VVV-Venlo, with a view to merging to form a new club, named F.C. Limburg.[1] A statement of intent was published by Roda and Fortuna in November 2008 and in early 2009 financial backing was found for the scheme.[1] All attempts, however, were stranded.

In 2008 the club gained its final notable success by reaching the KNVB Cup final. In the final, opponent and home team Feyenoord Rotterdam proved to be too strong (2–0). A year later, the two teams met again in De Kuip for the final round of the 2008–2009 season. Roda JC needed a win to avoid direct relegation. Against all odds, Roda JC beat Feyenoord and qualified for the Promotion/Relegation Play Offs. Roda eventually won the Play Offs by beating Cambuur Leeuwarden in a penalty shoot-out.

In 2010, the club added "Kerkrade" to its name, so the full new name of the sports club is now Roda JC Kerkrade. This was one of the condition of the municipality Kerkrade, in exchange for financial help.

Roda JC finished 16th in the 2012–2013 season and was again forced to play Promotion/Relegation play offs. The Coal Miners came out victorious again after a late free kick winner by Mark-Jan Fledderus against Sparta Rotterdam, extending the club's stay at the highest level with another season.

Relegation and Eerste Divisie (2014–2015)

Roda JC finished 18th in the 2013–2014 and relegated directly in May 2014, ending a 41-year period of football at the highest national level in Kerkrade. They bounced back from the Eerste Divisie however on the first attempt after beating NAC after extra time in a promotion/relegation play-off final.[2]

Stadium

Since the establishment of the club, Roda JC Kerkrade played in Sportpark Kaalheide with a capacity of 21.500 people. The current stadium is the Parkstad Limburg Stadion, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 19,979. It was opened on August 15, 2000 with a match against the Spanish side Real Zaragoza, ending in a 2–2 draw.

Statistics

Club honours

Before the merge, Rapid JC had won the top league title once, in the 1955 season.

Achievements

  • 1997, 2000 (as Roda JC)

Domestic results

Below is a table with Roda JC's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.

Current squad

As of 1 September 2015

For recent transfers, see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2015

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

No. Position Player
1 Netherlands GK Benjamin van Leer
2 Slovenia DF Martin Milec (on loan from Standard Liège)
3 Netherlands DF Jordy Buijs
4 Australia MF Rostyn Griffiths
5 Netherlands DF Ard van Peppen
6 Netherlands MF Nathan Rutjes
7 Belgium MF Tom Van Hyfte (captain)
8 Netherlands MF Hicham Faik
9 Australia FW Tomi Juric
10 Australia MF Daniel De Silva
11 Sweden MF Kristoffer Peterson (on loan from FC Utrecht)
14 Netherlands FW Rydell Poepon
15 Belgium FW Maecky Ngombo
No. Position Player
16 Spain MF Marcos Gullón
17 Netherlands DF Henk Dijkhuizen
18 Netherlands FW Brian Jacobs
19 Netherlands FW Mike van Duinen (on loan from Fortuna Düsseldorf)
21 Belgium GK Bram Verbist
22 Netherlands GK Yannick Derix
23 Netherlands DF Arjan Swinkels
24 Netherlands MF Farshad Noor
25 Netherlands MF Jorrit Smeets
26 Netherlands GK Nick Wolters
28 Belgium DF Martijn Monteyne
30 Kazakhstan MF Georgy Zhukov (on loan from Standard Liège)
31 Turkey MF Uğur İnceman

On loan

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

No. Position Player
Belgium DF Bart Biemans (at FC Den Bosch until 30 June 2016)
Netherlands DF Daryl Werker (at MVV Maastricht until 30 June 2016)
Netherlands MF Jens van Son (at Fortuna Sittard until 30 June 2016)
Netherlands MF Mitchell Paulissen (at VVV-Venlo until 30 June 2016)
No. Position Player
Curaçao FW Rigino Cicilia (at RKC Waalwijk until 30 June 2016)
Belgium FW Nayib Lagouireh (at Fortuna Sittard until 30 June 2016)
Mexico FW Santiago Palacios (at MVV Maastricht until 30 June 2016)

Managers

Roda JC Manager From To
Netherlands Piet Thomas 1962 1963
Germany Michel Pfeiffer 1963 1965
Netherlands Wiel Coerver 1965 1966
Netherlands Adam Fischer 1966 1968
Netherlands Breur Weyzen 1969 1971
Netherlands Jacques Koole 1971 November 1972
Netherlands Hennie Hollink November 1972 February 1974
Germany Fritz Pliska February 1974 1974
Netherlands Bert Jacobs 1974 1980
Netherlands Piet de Visser 1980 1983
Netherlands Hans Eijkenbroek 1984 November 1984
Netherlands Eugene Gerards November 1984 December 1984
Netherlands Frans Körver December 1984 1986
Netherlands Rob Baan 1986 October 1987
Netherlands Rob Jacobs October 1987 1988
Netherlands Jan Reker 1988 1991
Netherlands Adrie Koster 1991 March 1993
Netherlands Huub Stevens March 1993 9 October 1996
Netherlands Eddy Achterberg 9 October 1996 1 November 1996
Netherlands Martin Jol 1 November 1996 7 March 1998
Netherlands Theo Vonk 28 February 1998 30 June 1998
Netherlands Sef Vergoossen 1 July 1998 1 July 2001
Netherlands Jan van Dijk 1 July 2001 19 September 2001
Belgium Georges Leekens 19 September 2001 30 June 2002
Netherlands Wiljan Vloet 1 July 2002 30 June 2005
Netherlands Huub Stevens 1 July 2005 2 February 2007
Netherlands Raymond Atteveld 2 February 2007 7 October 2008
Netherlands Martin Koopman (interim) 7 October 2008 19 November 2008
Belgium Harm van Veldhoven 20 November 2008 30 June 2012
Netherlands Ruud Brood 1 July 2012 15 December 2013
Netherlands Regillio Vrede & Netherlands Rick Plum (interim) 15 December 2013 26 December 2013
Denmark Jon Dahl Tomasson 26 December 2013 26 May 2014
Netherlands René Trost 1 June 2014 8 April 2015
Netherlands Regillio Vrede & Netherlands Rick Plum (interim) 8 April 2015 11 June 2015
Bosnia and HerzegovinaSwitzerland Darije Kalezić 11 June 2015 present

Supporters

Although not the most vocal, the supporters of Roda JC are generally considered to be among the most loyal and well behaved in the Netherlands. In the early days of the club Kaalheide was the club's home ground. Initially, supporters could roam free over the terasses. However, in the 70s fences were placed between the various sections, preventing supporters to move from one stand to the other. The fanatical supporters decided to unite at the covered north side stand, creating an old fashioned, atmospheric stand. Kaalheide became an infamous stadium for visiting teams.

Since moving to the Parkstad Limburg Stadium in the summer of 2000, the more fanatical supporters can be found behind the goal on the West side. The West Stand was renamed 'Koempel Tribune' (Miner Stand) in September 2014 to honour the fans who remained loyal to the club after the relegation four months earlier.

Since 1989, there is a close friendship between the supporters of Alemannia Aachen and Roda JC Kerkrade. Fans of both clubs regularly visit each other's games.

Rivalries

Roda JC has three provincial rivals, namely Fortuna Sittard, MVV and VVV-Venlo. The arch rival is MVV, the team from the provincial capital of Maastricht. The Roda JC-MVV rivalry is considered to be the number one rivalry in the Province of Limburg by both sets of supporters.

During the 1990s, the rivalry between Roda JC and Fortuna Sittard intensified, as both clubs were relatively successful during that period. Fanatical supporters of both clubs clash regularly ever since. The increased rivalry also created animosity between hooligans of Roda JC and the Belgian Limburg side Racing Genk.

Due to the distance between Kerkrade and Venlo, the rivalry with VVV-Venlo is considered to be a minor one by the majority of the Roda JC supporters.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Schaerlaeckens, Leander (9 February 2009). "Merger mania as Roda JC and Fortuna Sittard prepare to join forces". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  2. Roda JC promoveert naar eredivisie – Telegraaf (Dutch)

External links

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