Vitesse comes into American hands: Common Group new owner Arnhem football club | Dutch football

The Common Group is led by business magnate Coley Parry. The investment company is active in healthcare, start-ups, data and sports.

For example, the football clubs Leyton Orient in England (partly) and Patro Eisden Maasmechelen in Belgium (entirely) are already part of the company’s portfolio.

The Common Group is committed to Vitesse until 30 June 2027. The Americans will cover the deficits of the club. These amount to millions in Arnhem every year. In this context, ‘intended investments’ are financed.

That is very important for the Premier League. The club wants to ‘keep the ambition level high’. The aim is, with financial support from the new owner, to compete again for European football in the coming years.

On behalf of Vitesse, General Director Pascal van Wijk and Commissioner Henk Parren conducted negotiations with the Americans. They are assisted by an army of lawyers. The club now has to go to the KNVB for the takeover. Approval is required from Zeist for the share transfer. The Eredivisionist wants to hand over all necessary documents to the football association as soon as possible. The license commission must then approve the acquisition. This procedure is expected to take a long time.

Vitesse gets a new owner because of the departure of the Russian Valeri Oyf, in March, due to the war in Ukraine. The oligarch has renounced all his shares on his exit and also cancels a debt of 155 million euros. He was locked up in the letterbox company Performance Management Holding BV.

This brings an end to an era of twelve years under the Russian flag in Arnhem. In that period Vitesse played European football several times. The Eredivisionist also conquered the KNVB Cup in 2017, via a 2-0 win over AZ in De Kuip. That is also the only prize in club history.

Vitesse has been working on the acquisition under strict secrecy in recent months. The club reported that it had reached an agreement with the new owner through general director Pascal van Wijk at the end of August.

That offered clout in the final week of the transfer period. But Vitesse had to rely on the rental market under time pressure. For example, the Poles Bartosz Bialek (VfL Wolfsburg) and Kacper Kozlowski (Brighton & Hove Albion) and Bayern Munich talent Gabriel Vidovic were brought in. Mitchell Dijks was still attracted as a transfer-free professional after the deadline.

Vitesse has to get up again with the foursome after a failed start to the season. The Arnhem club is in fourteenth place in the Eredivisie after five rounds. Last Sunday, the first league win was achieved at FC Groningen (1-0). This weekend the confrontation with FC Utrecht awaits in Stadion Galgenwaard.

Coley Parry is a member of the Vitesse supervisory board on behalf of the Common Group. The Russian Andrey Soloviev, the last Russian on the supervisory board, will soon be stepping down.