Relegation is almost certain for FC Groningen. It means that the club is waiting for emergency surgery to prepare its own organization for the first division. Financially, the club does not take off a jacket, but a whole coat. These are the consequences.
The action plan is ready in the drawer of general director Wouter Gudde, but will be hidden from view for the outside world until relegation is a fact. After all, giving up is not an option until the curtain has finally fallen, even though the chance of survival in the Eredivisie has become so small for FC Groningen. Next week in Deventer it could already have happened against Go Ahead Eagles.
Nevertheless, the package of measures is under construction. It is common for a club to work with a shadow budget from the moment relegation threatens. This is even highly recommended in the ‘handbook promotion relegation’ of the Federation of Professional Football Organizations (FBO).
Tear in the pants
FC Groningen will have to tighten its belt on many fronts. A big tear in the pants results in the decline in TV money. The northern football pride was still proudly in seventh place in the TV ranking, which is compiled on the basis of the results of the last ten seasons. The last season counts the most heavily and the tenth season counts the least.
Also in terms of enforcement, FC Groningen, which received 4.3 million euros over this season, should have taken a step back. SC Heerenveen and FC Twente are lurking to overtake the northerners in the ranking of the TV funds. The consequences of relegation to the first division are even greater.
Small consolation
If the Eredivisie clubs jointly distribute about 74 million euros this season, the TV pot in the first division is many times smaller with a sloppy 7 million euros. A small consolation, FC Groningen will lead this ranking based on past results, unless Vitesse is still relegated.
There is also a compensation payment available for relegated clubs to make a somewhat soft landing in the Kitchen Champion Division. In the first season, this amounts to six hundred thousand euros and in a possible second and third season, 400,000 and 200,000 euros respectively. Yet. With a total amount of approximately 1.5 million euros, including the compensation payment, FC Groningen is falling sharply in terms of TV income.
receipts
Subsequently, FC Groningen must take into account a decrease in sponsorship income and turnover from ticket sales. The past shows that relegated clubs have to deal with a drop of 30 percent. Top posters such as the matches against Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord are of course no longer there. According to the annual report, FC Groningen earned 3.4 million euros in receipts (including season tickets) last year and 7.3 million euros in sponsorship and advertising income. In the hope of retaining the bulk of supporters, season tickets will become cheaper in the first division. The fans also get more matches for their card. After all, the number of clubs in the first division is twenty instead of eighteen.
For their own account
The sponsors of FC Groningen were previously promised an increase in their contribution of 10 percent in connection with inflation, but the plan is that the club will waive this increase in the event of relegation. FC Groningen will then bear the higher costs, again in the hope of retaining as many sponsors as possible. It is often contractually stipulated that the club will discuss the conditions with the sponsors in the event of relegation and whether or not to continue their agreement.
The damage can be less than expected if the mentality of the FC Groningen supporters is the same as, for example, that of FC Twente or NAC Breda. In those cities, the supporters remained loyal to the club after relegation. Partly because of this, the pain in Enschede had disappeared after a year. Whether the FC Groningen supporters and sponsors are in the same position as the Tukkers will have to be seen in the coming months. Season ticket sales have not started yet.
Housing costs
What hangs around FC Groningen like a millstone in the first division, even more than is already the case, are the sky-high housing costs of the club. The club pays more than 5 million euros per year for the rental of the Euroborg stadium and the Topsport Zorgcentrum with the associated training fields. That amount alone exceeds the total budget of many first division clubs. With housing costs, FC Groningen is at the top of the premier league. Director Wouter Gudde will have to talk to the landlord about whether it is possible to go one step lower, perhaps an ounce less.
Another ‘windfall’ is the fact that relegation clauses are included in most player contracts. It is laid down in advance what salary a player is entitled to in the Eredivisie and what happens to his wages if the club unexpectedly relegates. In most cases, the salary is adjusted downwards by about 30 percent in the case of continuous contracts.
John Hove
There is reportedly only one player in the selection of FC Groningen who has a clause with a limited transfer fee in the event of relegation. That’s Johan Hove. The Norwegian midfielder, who joined FC Groningen in the winter, can leave the club for 1.5 million euros, according to well-informed sources, if FC Groningen drops to the first division.
Relegation will probably not be without consequences for the other staff either. Although attempts will be made to keep the organizational structure intact, FC Groningen will be able or obliged to manage a step lower with fewer staff. The aforementioned ‘handbook promotion relegation’ contains advice from then financial director Matthijs Dam van De Graafschap, who left the staff behind when the Superboeren were relegated in the expectation that the Doetinchemmers would return to the highest level within a year. level.
‘Poulting and keeping wet doesn’t work’
,,We should never have done that”, Dam regrets that decision. “You have to be tough in that area. Poulting and keeping wet doesn’t work. Every month with overcrowding costs a lot of money.”
All in all, FC Groningen will suffer financially considerably due to relegation to the first division. Lucky in an accident is that director Wouter Gudde and the dismissed technical man Mark-Jan Fledderus have provided a lot of bacon on the ribs in recent years, mainly thanks to the millions of sales of players such as Azor Matusiwa, Bjorn Meijer and Jørgen Strand Larsen. As a result, investment funds were repaid and there is a nice pocket money in the bank account. Millions that FC Groningen will desperately need in the near future.