FC Volendam played for the last time under coach Matthias Kohler tonight against PEC Zwolle. A charged match and yet another chapter in the soap opera surrounding the Volendam team, which ended in a disastrous 0 – 5. “A proud Volendammer is good for the club,” say disappointed supporters before the match.
Despite the dismissal of the board and the resignation of the technical staff, FC Volendam supporters told NH that they were positive and convinced that their club – despite all the commotion – would win.
But she was not allowed to do that either. PEC Zwolle scored five times and defeated FC Volendam. Yet tonight’s match seems a little less important than a major fear that has become true for many supporters, and that is the departure of Team Jonk.
Proud Volendammer
“Jan Smit must come back”, many Volendam residents agreed at the start of the match. “A proud Volendammer is good for the club.” Others speak of ‘a drama’. “It’s disappointing, let’s hope for a good outcome,” says another supporter.
The defeat is yet another disappointment for the fans, who watch helplessly as the soap opera around FC Volendam unfolds.
The FC Volendam soap: what preceded it?
Last Monday, FC Volendam chairman Jan Smit announced on X (former Facebook) that he and the other three board members of the Supervisory Board (SB) had been told that they have to leave.
The Volendam singer has been on the club’s board since 2013. He became chairman a year and a half ago.
There had been rumblings in the club for some time. For example, annual figures showed that there was a deficit of more than three million euros on a budget of eleven million euros. These figures were significantly worse than the loss of two million that Supervisory Board chairman Jaap Veerman warned about.
Mutual struggle
The Supervisory Board has been at odds for some time with a number of key figures, known as Team Jonk. Last but not least From a sporting point of view, things are not going great for the club, which is facing relegation. According to the Supervisory Board, the situation between the board led by Jan Smit and the Supervisory Board has been difficult for some time.
“The period under Jan Smit was characterized as a continuous battle between the board and the Supervisory Board. This resulted in an irreparable breach of trust and mutual struggle over the management of the club. There have been several confrontations,” says Supervisory Board chairman Jaap Veerman during a press conference.
Turkey for Christmas dinner
That ‘frontal confrontations’ with Smit had culminating in a telephone conversation on November 21. “It is now a war,” Chairman Smit said to the chairman. “I never want to speak to you one-on-one again.” This telephone conversation meant the third yellow card for Jan Smit and so the Supervisory Board took a decision on a proposed dismissal.
During an extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board on Thursday, it was decided that in addition to Smit, Hans Bond (technical), Gerben Matroos (commerce) and Corn Veerman (treasurer) must leave the club.
Smit wrote on X that he accepted the resignation: “We have no choice but to accept it. A turkey doesn’t go to Christmas dinner.”
Size is full
Technical manager Wim Jonk and his entire staff announced in a press release on Friday afternoon that they are leaving FC Volendam. This is due to the decision of the Supervisory Board not to continue with the management.
In this message they called the press conference of Supervisory Board chairman Jaap Veerman ‘a play full of contradictions, half-truths and full lies’. FC Volendam coach Matthias Kohler also believes that the limit is full: he is right behind Jonk.
Volendam residents are not happy about the departure of Jan Smit, they told NH. They want the singer to stay on. “We think that Jan Smit is the perfect poster boy, we should not forget that. Although he is sometimes too emotional in his first reaction,” said Hekside spokesperson Henk de Boer in NH’s De Kick-off.