Fortuna Sittard

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 36
KNVB Beker Cup Final
18th April 2027

So here we are and my first chance to lift a trophy as Fortuna Sittard manager. We will face Sparta Rotterdam in the final!

Runs To The Final

It's no surprise to see us as the favourites for the game as we have only lost once in nine games against them under my management, winning the other 8. Our goals record against them is really impressive too!

However, we don't go into this in full strength. Having to play 120 minutes against Feyenoord in the Europa League just 4 days earlier was not ideal and there is some tiredness amongst the side. On top of that, my number 1 keeper and my top goalscorer are both out injured!

Lineups

Watch The Game (In Extended Highlights)

12' Big save from Verrips.
25' Big chance missed from Tigges.
30' Rots gets up at the back post but head over.
33' Tigges heads just over. Close!
35' Reisinho shot produces good save.
37' FORTUNA GOAL - Pablo Torre (Assist; Pierini)
38' FORTUNA GOAL - Pierini
77' Pierini chance from a narrow angle. Saved.
81' FORTUNA GOAL - Reisinho (Assist; Vita) - what a goal!
91' Tigges head over from close range.

So there we have it. A comprehensive performance in the final and we lift our first trophy under my management...and the first Dutch Cup for Fortuna Sittard ever! A proud day for me and for the side!

 

[leckuno]

nice and easy win there and great to get your first piece of silverware and hopefully will be the first of many now

 

[FM_TNSSO]

nice and easy win there and great to get your first piece of silverware and hopefully will be the first of many now

Great to get the first one under our belts! Onwards and upwards from here I hope!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 37
Final Four Games
17th May 2027

With us out of the Europa League and having won the Dutch Cup, we had the small matter of just 4 league games to play to finish off the season! And that started with a home win against 4th placed AZ!

We have had our best season ever...which is obviously amazing! But in our league game with Ajax, they were keen to remind us that we are still miles off the pace of the best team in the country!

All I could ask is that the team respond in the right manner and they did just that against NAC.

Our final game of the season is against Feyenoord and I feel like we have had a bit of a rivalry brewing with them this season. We knocked them out of the Dutch Cup, whilst they knocked us out of the Europa League. Now we have an opportunity to have the last laugh of the season and keep them from having any chance of winning the Eredivisie.

It feels great to beat them on the last day and have the final say of the season! A great performance in front of our home support to finish off an excellent season!

Feyenoord can take some solace in the fact that Ajax won their final game so even if they'd have beaten us they still wouldn't have pipped them to the title. We can also feel a little sorry for ourselves for finishing 3rd as our 80 points would have been enough to secure 2nd in any of the last 3 seasons!

Pablo Torre scored in our last game and with him returning to Barcelona this Summer after the season on loan with us, it's worth taking a look at a player that has been a star for us this year. 21 goals and 17 assists in all competitions is incredible for any player at any level and it's just a shame I don't have nearly £11 million to be able to buy him!

That victory over Feyenoord does also see us break two more club records!

With all the deals I have done over the past few years having clauses where we need to pay fees in future years (combined with the fact we now have £21 million loan to pay back on the new stadium project), we actually start next season with a negative transfer budget, which means players need to be sold before I can buy anyone!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

END OF SEASON 2026/27 REVIEW

Our best league campaign ever, which resulted in a number of club records being broke. Enough said!

Our first ever Dutch Cup win!

Finishing top of the league phase of the Europa League was an impressive achievement, winning 7 of our 8 games. Unfortunately, the run came to an end via a penalty shootout against Feyenoord but again I feel like we have done ourselves proud this season in Europe.

The New Arrivals

The Best 11

Club Awards

League Awards

Despite winning our first trophy this year and our best ever performance in the Eredivisie, we have lost nearly 50,000 social media followers this year, which seems strange to me. On the flip side, we now have over 5,000 fans on the season ticket waiting list, so when our new stadium is built, we should have no issue selling those extra tickets which will bring extra income to the club.

As far as the board are concerned, we need to ensure we continue finishing in the top 3/4 places in the league year on year now.

Commercial Summary

The Finances

As a club, our reputation is on the rise and we are into the top 40 in Europe!

Domestically, only the official big three have a better reputation than us now too!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 38
Sales Are Required
6th August 2027

Incoming: This is a deal I secured a few months ago, signing English centre back Kaelan Casey on a free transfer as his contract with West Ham comes to an end. Hopefully, he will go on to be as much of a success as Will Fish has been for us! Casey spent last year on loan with VVV-Venlo so already has a year of Eredivisie football under his belt.

He comes in as the replacement for Rodrigo Guth who leaves the club at the end of his contract. He's been a decent squad rotation option without ever being my first choice.

We haven't improved the facilities at the club for a little while, so I was pleased when the board approached me to discuss upgrades to the youth setup at the club!

Unfortunately, we have an early setback to our new season. Steffen Tigges has scored 37 goals in 82 league games for us since signing for the club, but he will miss the first couple of months of this season after picking up an injury in our first pre season friendly.

Outgoing: My first sale of this window is of the transfer listed, Tijani Noslin. His game time has become less and less with each season as we have improved the squad and he spent the second half of last season on loan in Belgium, so I was happy to let him go. He joins St Etienne for a fee of £3.7 million.

On a personal level, I am still receiving approaches from some of the biggest clubs in Europe and the latest are the Italian champions.

Followed up quickly by their biggest rivals!

Incoming: I have managed to even out the negative transfer budget already and it left me with a hugely oversized wage budget (I'd transferred nearly £6 million I didn't spend on transfers last year into the wage budget at the end of the season). That meant I could start looking at signings and adjust budgets as necessary. Rasmus Henriksen is a 19 year old Dane, who has come through the ranks at FC Kobenhavn and he had a minimum fee release clause of £3.2 million which I have met to bring the promising youngster to Holland.

Pre-season was unbeaten again this year and included a mini tour of England. We should feel suitably prepared for the new season.

Outgoing: I wasn't planning on selling Jobe Bellingham this Summer, but when Norwich started sniffing around and were prepared to pay more than double what we paid for him (£7.25 million), I decided that I felt we could replace him with a better player so let him return to England.

Our first competitive game of the season would be our first ever appearance in the Johan Cruijff Schaal (basically the Dutch Community Shield) against last year's Eredivisie winners, Ajax.

Considering Ajax had home advantage on their side and were backed by a full house of fans, we actually gave it a decent go against them and although we lost, I'm not too disappointed with this and can take plenty of positives from our performance going into the new season. Especially when I consider that 2 of their 3 goals were absolute bangers from well outside the box that we couldn't really do much about!

The new Eredivisie season is just around the corner and as we take a look at the preview, the bookies have us at the shortest title odds they've ever had us at just 18/1. That does still only have us down for a 4th placed finish though.

We kick off the season with 4 winnable fixtures!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 39
Ajax Away Early In The Season
5th September 2027

Our first game of the season is against Vitesse, a team we put 10 goals past in 2 fixtures last year!

And we didn't muck about on the opening day here either.

Incoming: I had money from the Jobe Bellingham sale and needed a replacement for him. Lucas de los Santos joins us as I activate his minimum fee release clause of £4.3 million and on paper he is better than Bellingham so it looks like a good deal initially. The Uruguayan adds some aggression to our defensive midfield role which is something I feel we've been missing a little in that area.

I expected us to win against FC Emmen, but in the end I think I have to accept a draw as a good result based on the fact we pulled back from 2-0 down!

The commentator said at full time that we were never in doubt of losing this game and I think that's testament to just how dominant we were from start to finish. We didn't have our best day in front of goal, but we were certainly always in command.

This year's Europa League 'league phase' fixtures are released and without a doubt, the highlight fixtures for us are Juventus and Spurs!

Back to domestic action for now though and it was FC Groningen up for us. There were two things to note from this game...first, I made the call to give 18 year old product of our academy, Marcenl van der Plas, his first start up front and he rewarded me with 2 goals!

Second, I mentioned when I signed new DM Lucas de los Santos that he would bring some much needed aggression to the midfield. Well, he got sent off!

But despite going down to 10 men, we still won the game!

And followed that up with another win against Heracles, with a young striker getting on the scoresheet again!

Transfer Deadline Day: There was very nearly a huge influx of cash into the club on deadline day as I had accepted a bid of £22 million for Filippo Ranocchia from Bournemouth. However, the player failed to agree personal terms and instead remains at the club. I'm not disappointed as I'd rather keep the player anyway - it was just an offer that was too good to refuse!

Here's the biggest deals from around Europe over the last few months (over £20 million).

Feyenoord raked in a ridiculous £204 million from sold players this Summer! But have reinvested half of that back into the side. This is what we are up against in the Dutch league!

With the window now closed, that would lead us on to our second encounter of the season already with Ajax. It was a case of the only two unbeaten sides after the opening 5 games playing each other.

At full time, both sides still remain unbeaten! A good result for us as we go toe to toe with the champions.

I'm pleased that we have started the season in good form and it's nice to get the Ajax away fixture out of the way nice and early.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 40
Moving Towards State Of The Art Facilities
4th November 2027

Our first game in the Europa League this year would on paper be the toughest opponent we have ever faced in the competition. Juventus may not be the side they were 6-7 seasons ago, but they're still massive when compared to us. We actually gave a very good account of ourselves and it's gutting to come away with the defeat...the ref adds on 5 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game and they score on 95:22!!

I almost felt a bit sorry for RKC Waalwijk who suffered the wrath off the back of our unjust Juventus defeat.

After losing our opening game to Juventus, it's so important not to kick off the league phase with back to back defeats and put immediate pressure on ourselves. However, we don't have to worry about that as we cruise past Partizan on matchday 2.

We picked up a decent point away at PSV in the Eredivisie as well, although it was a bitter sweet point after we threw away a 2-0 lead.

We had nearly a month without a game now and I used that time to source a new affiliate club with the board.

During my time with the club, I have encouraged the board to try to build our network across different countries and we now have affiliations in Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium and Croatia.

We'll also make further improvements to our training facilities as well.

We returned from a near 4 week break with 3 Eredivisie games in a week! I think it's fair to say it was a good week, rounded off by a big win over NAC which saw Steffen Tigges scoring on his return from injury in his first appearance of the season.

We carried our domestic form into Europe as well as we spanked Croatian side, Hajduk Split! This was a walkover from start to finish and was a very, very impressive victory!

Another strong start to this year's competition has us firmly in amongst the top 8 in the league phase after the opening 3 games.

Then came a surprise result as we are beaten by Go Ahead. However, I'm not quite sure how as the stats show we were in complete control of the game for pretty much the entire 90 minutes. They just managed to score on a couple of breakaways and we had a bad day in front of goal. A bad result but I'm putting it down as a fluke.

That defeat saw us relinquish our unbeaten record in the league and top spot to Ajax.

We were much better against Luzern in the Europa League and chalk up another win in this year's competition.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 41
Back To Back 10.0 Match Ratings
31st December 2027

Our first encounter with Sparta Rotterdam after beating them in the cup final last year ended in another resounding victory for us. Great result!

It was a game that saw Rasmus Henriksen score a hat trick and one of our newest players has made a really impressive start to life at the club!

Another win over newly promoted De Graafschap followed after the International break.

And that is back to back 10/10 performances for Rasmus Henriksen. I don't think I've ever seen two perfect 10.0 match ratings back to back!

We knew Tottenham (now managed by the legend that is Zinedine Zidane) would present us with an altogether tougher proposition, especially coming into the game having won all 4 of their Europa League games. We didn't get anything from the game, but the performance was respectable!

Against lesser opposition in the Eredivisie we hammered in 6 goals, with Anwar El Ghazi having an exceptional game scoring a hat trick and getting 2 assists as well!

Rasmus Henriksen was then at his very best against FC Utrecht again! This kid is turning out to be an amazing signing!

Massive game up next against Feyenoord. We have already gained ourselves a draw away at Ajax this year and beaten PSV at home...can we get a decent result against the last of the big 3?!

We did get another valuable point away from home, but it was disappointing to throw a 2-0 lead!

There was no such complacency in the Europa League though as we beat Lodogorets out in Bulgaria pretty easily.

There's only 2 games of the league phase left to go and we will need to get results in possibly both our matches against Vikingur and Sturm Graz to ensure our place in the top 8 and safe passage to the knockout phase.

Our last league match of 2027 ends in a disappointing draw at home to FC Emmen. Bad performance, bad result!

After just going through the half way stage of the season, it would seem to be a two way title race between us and Ajax. Feyenoord and PSV could easily catch up if we lose a couple of games though, so we need to keep on our A game!

Our final game of the calendar year was our first game in the TOTO KNVB Beker as we start the defence of our trophy! And we had no problems getting through to the 3rd round.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 42
January Window In Full Swing
28th January 2028

Vitesse away in the Eredivisie was our first game back after the Winter break and a nice strike into the bottom corner from 25 yards out from Nicholas Pierini earns us all 3 points. Very relieved to take the win here after letting a 2 goal lead slip!

Outgoing: The January transfer window has brought about a lot of interest in a lot of my players. The first one to leave the club is striker, Steffen Tigges. He has been a good player for us over the past 3 and a half seasons and has scored 38 goals in 91 league appearances for the club. However, I just feel we have outgrown him a little and when Los Angeles Football Club were willing to pay a fee of £14.5 million (which could rise to £18.5 million with add ons), I just couldn't refuse.

He breaks the record for the club's biggest sale.

Incoming: His replacement is a young Scot who has already been making his mark on the Cinch Premiership in his home land. 19 year old Bob Monaghan signs from St Johnstone as we activate his £4.8 million minimum fee release clause, where he has already scored 35 goals in the top tier in Scotland.

I'd have loved to play the youngster against lower league opposition in the Dutch Cup, but he had a small injury that will keep him out for a couple of weeks. Instead, it was our own product of the youth academy, Marcel van der Plas who led the line who gave a decent account of himself (without getting on the scoresheet) in a 2-0 win as we progress to the quarter finals.

The shock of the round was FC Emmen knocking out Feyenoord! That's PSV and Feyenoord both out in the early stages of the competition this year.

Outgoing: Remy Vita is a player I wasn't planning or expecting to sell this window. The left back has been the ultimate rotation player for us in that position since my arrival, without ever really being first choice. He's always done well when he steps into the team though, but when Bournemouth were willing to pay £13.5 million for him, again it was an offer too good to refuse.

During my years at the club already, we have managed to put 8 past a couple of teams in Europe and 9 past PSV in a freak result in the Eredivisie. However, I genuinely felt that we had a good opportunity to hit double figures for the first time as we went into the Europa League fixture against Icelandic minnows, Vikingur Reykjavik....and I wasn't wrong!

I think it's the first time ever that I have had three players in a single match score 10.0 match ratings.

And the win was a new record high for the club!

Willem II have seen some gradual improvement year on year since I took over as Fortuna manager. During the last 4 seasons, they have won promotion, before steadily improving their Eredivisie position. This year they are doing even better and sit 5th at present and come into our game on a 5 match unbeaten run.

And they pulled off the win against us as well! We were poor here though and despite creating some excellent chances, we just couldn't get that equalizer and even missed a pen as well!

The result not only hands the initiative to Ajax in the title race, it also allows Feyenoord and PSV to close in on us!

Incoming: After the departure of Remy Vita, I needed another left back in the squad. The player I turn to is Greek international, Vasilis Zagaritis, who joins from Salernitana for a fee of £2.7 million (all paid up front).

Zagaritis went straight into the starting lineup for the Europa League clash with Sturm Graz and bagged himself a debut assist on our way to an easy win. Young striker Marcel van der Plas scored a brace as our youngster continues to enhance his reputation.

It ensures we finish in the top 8 of the league phase and we are successfully through to the last 16 of the competition for the 3rd year running.

 

[leckuno]

Good to see you joining the big boys now with selling players for a decent value which can then be reinvested into the squad

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Good to see you joining the big boys now with selling players for a decent value which can then be reinvested into the squad

It's a massive step in being able to compete in Holland, but has taken a good 4 seasons to build the squad to a level where we can develop players for decent fees. It's all about replacing them with good quality for cheap now to keep that cycle going.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 43
Deadline Day Goalkeeper Business
25th February 2028

New striker Bob Monaghan has been injured since joining the club, but is long awaited debut came in the Eredivisie against FC Groningen. He came off the bench on 63 minutes when we were 3-0 up and the youngster scored our 4th in stoppage time to bag a debut goal for himself!

Incoming: Transfer deadline day was all about the goalkeepers. First up, I moved to bring in a better quality backup keeper as Owen Goodman joins the club from Crystal Palace for a fee of £2.7 million. He is better than Verrips and strengthens us in the goalkeeper position.

Outgoing: Then something happened that I was not prepared for, with just 4 hours of the deadline remaining. Antwerp approached me with a £21 million offer for number 1 keeper, Fabian de Keijzer. I didn't want to sell, so I went back with a stupid counter offer of £33.5 million thinking they would pull out, but they agreed to the deal. It's a sum of money that I just can't reject so he moves to Belgium!

Incoming: But it did leave a void between the sticks. I had a huge amount of money to spend, but instead I feel I picked up a bit of a bargain. 20 year old South African keeper, Spike Brits, looks like a great keeper already and will only improve. I've managed to pick him up from Manchester City for a fee of just £6.5 million (all paid up front) and with him being worth more than double that on his first day at the club, it's an amazing deal for us. Now the 20 year old just has to show that he can step up to first team football despite his young age.

It does also leave the club's bank balance in an incredibly healthy position and a transfer budget with plenty of cash in it, although I didn't have many plans to spend much of it.

Incoming: Although I did use £3.1 million of it to bring in one of Feyenoord's promising young midfielders. Samu Oversier could have a decent future in the game and we will monitor his development closely over the next few years.

Here's the biggest deals across Europe for the January window.

Our first game back after the hectic deadline day was a Dutch Cup Quarter Final clash with Go Ahead Eagles. They're a team we've had some mixed fortunes against of late, but on this occasion it is us that get the better of the battle and progress to the last 4.

And that sets up a massive semi final against Ajax. We find ourselves in a very similar position to last season...if we can beat the favourites in the semi then we will be hot favourites to win the final.

Back in the Eredivisie, we enjoyed an absolute goalfest against Heracles, eventually getting a couple of late goals to seal a good win away from home from one of this season's overachievers.

The following week would be the biggest of our season so far. We will face off against Ajax twice in the space of just 4 days. With home advantage on our side in both matches, we have an opportunity to jump Ajax to the top of the Eredivisie and potentially knock them out of the cup as well...although it will be anything but easy!

The league game didn't go our way, but mostly due to our own downfall as we went down to 10 men so early in the game with Lucan de los Santos red card.

The result has allowed Ajax to open up a 5 point lead over us at the top of the table and we've fot Feyenoord now breathing down our necks as well!

On a more positive note, we did get immediate revenge on Ajax and progress to the cup final again. Can we make it back to back domestic cup wins?!

And we have a massive opportunity to do so as our opposition will be from the division below!

Meanwhile in the Europa League, we got the worst possible draw available to us in the last 16. Juventus beat us in the league phase of the competition and will be amongst the favourites to lift the trophy, so we will be up against it to progress past them.

 

[misterioBean]

I can tell you with confidence Spike Brits is a quality pick up. He looks even better in your save when compared to mine so you shouldn't have many problems when you do call him up

 

[FM_TNSSO]

I can tell you with confidence Spike Brits is a quality pick up. He looks even better in your save when compared to mine so you shouldn't have many problems when you do call him up

Going straight into the first team lineup mate so I hope you're right

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 44
Another Underwhelming Youth Intake, But We Do Have One Of The Best Youngsters In The World!
2nd April 2028

Sitting 5 points behind Ajax in the league meant that we really couldn't afford to drop anymore points, so it was really disappointing that we did exactly that in our very next game against opposition we should have beat!

At least we went out and battered PSV in our next game as the lads bounce back in spectacular fashion.

Incredibly, I've never lost to PSV in the whole time I've been manager of Fortuna Sittard. Our record against them is quite something considering they are one of the 'big three'.

Things have quickly tightened up at the top again as Ajax have lost back to back games!

We headed out to Italy for the first leg of our Europa League last 16 tie. We lost to a 96th minute goal out there in the league phase of the competition earlier in the season, so we know we can give them a game!

And again we matched them and this time, it was us who edged the game by a single goal. A massive result in the away leg, although we will still need to be at our best to see the tie out.

Rotation was required as we faced Heerenveen between the two Juventus games, but we still managed to chalk up another 3 points. A good result against one of the better sides in the division on their home turf, with a weakened 11 fielded.

I wanted us to play on the front foot in the 2nd leg against Juventus as I was confident that if we scored the first goal of the game, we would be in a strong position to go on and win the tie. However, things didn't go to plan at all and within 5 minutes, it was actually Juve that had levelled up the tie through ex Arsenal man, Emile Smith Rowe. However, we responded well and by half time we'd scored twice and took a two goal lead in the tie with 45 minutes to play. We knew the Italian side would come hard at us and they did just that, but we managed to hold them to just 1 goal and win the tie 3-2 overall! A massive scalp for us as we knock out one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

It's another side we played in the league phase for us in the quarter final as we take on Swiss side, Luzern. We beat them 3-1 earlier in the season and have every reason to feel confident we can progress to the semi final with this draw.

We'll return to the Eredivisie for three games first and that kicked off with an encounter with AZ who were top of the form table, having taken 13 points from an available 15 in their last 5 matches. But we still proved a bit much for them and replace them at the top of the league form table with this win.

I didn't really have any doubt that we'd beat 16th placed NAC and we had no issues whatsoever. Great to see our young striker Marcel van der Plas gettning on the scoresheet again as the 18 year old nets his 11th goal of the season.

And that leads us on to this year's youth intake, with my assistant again overestimating the quality of the young players coming through. A golden generation is again announced, but I just don't see it.

English central midfielder, Lyall Felgate, might go on to make it but he still needs to improve a lot over the coming years!

Talking of top youngsters, our very own Rasmus Henriksen is 2nd on the list of best wonderkids in the world!

Go Ahead Eagles have given us some tough games over the last couple of years and have beaten us on a couple of occasions too and again they proved to be a thorn in our side here as we drop points.

Just five games of the season remain and the title is still very much up for grabs between us, Ajax and Feyenoord.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 45
The Most Tense & Important Run In We've Ever Had
15th May 2028

With the 1st leg of our Europa League Quarter Final on the horizon, there are persistent rumours flying around that there is an impending board takeover at the club. I hoped the speculation wouldn't cause any lapse in concentration out in Switzerland.

But I clearly had nothing to worry about and with 90 minutes of the tie still to play, we should already have safe passage through to the semi finals already secured!

Back in the Eredivisie, we know that we'll probably have to win all 5 of our remaining games if we are to lift our first ever title (and hope that Ajax slip up in the process). We did kick our run in off with a win away at Sparta.

I wanted to rest as many players as possible for the upcoming Dutch Cup Final and with a healthy lead over Luzern in the Europa League, I had the opportunity to do so. Despite the heavy rotation, we still win easily, with 6 different goalscorers getting on the scoresheet.

So next up was the KNVB Beker Cup Final and we will take on Cambuur from the division below, so we'd go into the game as heavy favourites. We've knocked them out of the competition twice before under my leadership, whilst also beating them in a couple of pre season friendlies. Surely this will be a walk in the park right?

Lineups

The game did prove to be relatively easy for us. We dominated from start to finish and although Cambuur did managed to score twice from just 3 shots, we had Daan Rots in a sensational form and his hat trick and man of the match performance will be a day he will never forget! We are officially Dutch Cup champions for the second time!

Back in the league, we displayed some fine attacking football against a De Graafschap who drop to the bottom of the division and look destined for relegation now. Another game with 6 goals from 6 different scorers!

In the Europa League, we had drawn Napoli in the semi final. Having already knocked Juventus out of the competition, could we claim another massive Italian scalp in the competition? Well, if we are going to then it's gonna have to be the hard way after losing the first leg 2-0. We will be at home for the return leg though and we've been strong in front of our own fans all year, so I don't quite feel this is over just yet!

Defensively we were terrible back in the league against Excelsior, but luckily that doesn't matter when you can go up the other end and score 5 goals! Another win to keep up our title challenge.

And would you look at that! Ajax were beaten by PSV, which means we go 2 points clear at the top of the division! It's now simple...win our last 2 games and Fortuna Sittard win their first ever Eredivisie title!

The excitement around the title challenge had to be put on temporary hold though as we faced off against Napoli in the second leg of our Europa League tie. In 90 minutes, we managed to turn around the 2-0 deficit from the first leg and take the game to extra time! No matter what happened from here, my lads had done me proud!

And in extra time, a Will Fish headed effort from a corner ensured the turnaround was complete and we progress to the final of the Europa League!! What a game!!

It's Tottenham for us in the final! They won the Champions League as recently as 2025 and will now be looking for their second European trophy in just 3 years!

With the Dutch Cup already won, being top of the league with 2 games to go and being in the final of the Europea League, we have a chance at an incredible treble this year! And we took another step closer to making that a reality with a win over FC Utrecht!

It's firmly in our own hands. We play Feyenoord on the final day of season and a win guarantees us the title, although with our superior goal difference a draw will probably do as well! Ajax will go away to 6th placed AZ. No matter what happens though, we will be playing Champions League football next season for the first time ever!

When we went 1-0 down in the 72nd minute, it wasn't looking good and the fear set in that we were going to lose it on the very last day of the season! However, I issued a fire up shout from the sidelines and it immediately spurred my players into life and the reminder of what was at stake saw them rally to score 3 times in the last 16 minutes and you know what that means...

Yes, we are Eredivisie champions for the first time in the club's history! And in the process, we complete a domestic double!

After completing such a feat, the Fortuna Sittard fans apparently worship me like a God!

 

[leckuno]

What an end to the season and hopefully this is the first of many league trophies. Now onto the Europa League Final. Good Luck

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Chapter 46
Europa League Final
17th May 2028

We go into the Europa League Final with a domestic double already in the bag and an opportunity to win an unbelievable treble!! The fans and pundits can't split us and this is very much seen as a 50/50 match that could go either way!

After beating us in the competition earlier in the season during the league phase, Tottenham may have a little more confidence on their side coming into the game though.

Tottenham Hotspur Route To Final

Fortuna Sittard Route To Final

Lineups

12' Spurs Chance; A cross comes in from the left side and Pape Sarr rises at the back post but his header is saved by Spike Brits.
16' Spurs Chance; This time Sarr crosses from the left, Kulusevski heads back across goal where Son meets the ball with his head, but straight into the arms of Brits. Should have scored.
18' Fortuna Sittard Chance; Pierini picks up the ball in the Spurs half, beats his man and strikes low and hard from 25 yards out. The ball is just inches wide.
29' Fortuna Sittard GOAL; Outwswinging corner from the right is met by the head of Mbuyamba who rises highest in the box, heads his ball down into the ground and it beats the keeper. 1-0 Sittard!
35' Spurs GOAL; Son puts through Galeno on goal. Brits is off his line and Galeno expertly chips the keeper and the ball dips just under the bar and lands in the back of the net. 1-1!
HT' All square after an even first half where Spurs have had more possession, but both sides have had 4 shots at goal each.
53' Fortuna Sittard Chance; Daan Rots is free in the middle of the box and a cross comes in. He has all the time in the world to bring it down if he wants, but he wastes the chance with a weak header that is easily saved.
56' Spurs Chance; Pape Sarr runs past two Fortuna defenders far too easily and enters the box, strikes, but pulls his shot wide. Poor effort!
68' Spurs Chance; James Maddison hits a free kick from 28 yards, which fizzes just over the crossbar. Close!
70' Fortuna Sittard Chance; Gijs Smal take a free kick from 19 yards out. Curling towards the top corner, it looks like it is going in before the Spurs keeper comes out of nowhere to pull off an amazing save!
79' Fortuna Sittard Chance; Fortuna win the ball back in the Spurs half with the high press. It ends up with Halilovic who hits a left footed curled effort from 20 yards, but again the Spurs keeper is equal to it and pulls off another great save!
84' Fortuna Sittard GOAL; Wow what a strike from young substitute, Bob Monaghan. Ball passed into him from Halilovic and Monaghan hits his shot hard and low from about 25 yards out and this time the strike is just too good for the Spurs goalie. 2-1 Sittard!
90+5' Fortuna Sittard Chance; Reisinho has the ball at his feet around the penalty spot. He gets the ball out from under his feet and gets his strike off but it just goes over the bar.
FT: And that's it! Fortuna Sittard are Europa League champions!!!

Europa League Performances This Season

What a ******* season!!!!

 

[misterioBean]

Congrats on winning the treble!
Let's see how you do next year in the Champions League!