The era of chairman Jan Smit at FC Volendam is over. The singer announced this himself on his social channels on Monday afternoon. According to Jaap Veerman, chairman of the Supervisory Board (SB), this is “an intention to make a decision”. The departure is therefore not yet final. He adds: “This decision is a hundred times harder, because Jan Smit is the chairman. With the previous chairman it would be a ripple in the ocean. With Jan Smit it is a tsunami.”
Jan Smit from Volendam has been on the board since 2013. Barely a year and a half ago he succeeded Piet Kemper as chairman. The 37-year-old Smit made no secret of his ambitions. With the help of his idol Wim Jonk and his allies (known as Team Jonk), FC Volendam had to follow the pace of the nations. The club, which was almost dead and buried a few years ago, was brought back to life.
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After promotion in 2022, coach Jonk managed to maintain FC Volendam at the highest level in his first season. That did not go without a hitch, because with a small budget, Volendam dangled disconsolately at the bottom of the Premier League at the start of the winter break.
With a more conservative style of play, they managed to score points in the second half of the season. With a score of thirty points from twenty games, Volendam rose to a safe, fourteenth place in the final ranking. The stadium was also full every two weeks for the first time in years.
Deflation
This season started without too many reinforcements and the selection was hollowed out by the departure of the basic players Filip Stankovic, Derry John Murkin, Carel Eiting, Gaetano Oristanio, Daryl van Mieghem and also Henk Veerman. Moreover, Jonk made a surprising move from the field to the stands. He became technical manager, while his assistant Matthias Kohler was put forward as ultimately responsible along the line. The result: after thirteen games, Volendam is dangling at the bottom of the Premier League with Vitesse.
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In the meantime, the club presented the annual figures for the ’22/’23 financial year, in which a loss of over three million euros was incurred on a budget of ten million euros. During the controversial information evening in De Jozef this spring, Supervisory Board chairman Veerman had warned of an increasing deficit of two million euros, while the board spoke of 1.2 million. Smit, who came out strong and emotional on the evening in question, said he would personally guarantee if the gap would be as big as Veerman then claimed.
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New stadium
Moreover, Smit believed that Volendam had to invest in order to professionalize and grow into a position as a stable Premier League player. In that light, he also presented the plans to a new and larger stadium want to build just outside Volendam.
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Now that the Supervisory Board is pulling the emergency brakes, the question is what will happen next. With his statement on X and Facebook, the chairman seems to be taking flight. Veerman has taken note of this and refers for his response to a statement that the Supervisory Board will release tomorrow.
“Jan and the other board members know where the problem is. There is something to talk about”
Veerman says that he was not surprised by Smit’s action to immediately come out. He knows Jan Smit well enough for that. “It is his right. In accordance with the articles of association, the four board members have been invited to the extraordinary Supervisory Board meeting four days in advance. It states that we intend to dismiss the board members, but we want to discuss this with the members. Jan knows what needs to be done to turn it around. Jan and the other board members know where the problem lies. That is something to talk about.”
Chairman (SB) Jaap Veerman about the current situation
Should the board resign because of the recently presented figures?
“No, I can’t say anything about that now.”
What does this mean for Team Jonk’s contracts?
“Unfortunately, I can’t say anything about that. The problem is that I am forced to walk a bit ahead of the troops due to Jan’s statement.”
Jan Smit and Team Jonk are two hands in one, right?
“Jan Smit is Jan Smit. What is now on the table is the issue of management – Supervisory Board.”
But does this intention to decide to dismiss lead to a domino effect, causing Team Jonk to also leave?
“Those are your words. That is not an issue at the moment. Just like Jan Smit, I am also a fan of Wim Jonk.”
Does this make you sleep worse?
“Of course, you can imagine anything about that.”
Tomorrow the Supervisory Board will issue a statement providing more explanation, after which a meeting with the six members of the Supervisory Board and the four board members is on the agenda for Thursday. If a dismissal actually occurs, Veerman will provide an explanation in a press conference on Friday morning and answer questions from the press.
Jan Smit says that he sticks to the statement he made on his social channels. “I have said enough for now,” he answers when asked to respond to the management crisis.