2018–19 FC Twente season
# 2018–19 FC Twente season

The 2018–19 season is FC Twente's second visit to the Eerste Divisie following their relegation from the 2017–18 Eredivisie. It marks their return to the second highest division in Dutch football after spending 34 consecutive seasons in the top flight of Dutch football. Marino Pusic was promoted to head coach after filling in as interim manager after the departure of Gertjan Verbeek during the 2017–18 season.

FC Twente were confirmed as champions of the 2018–19 Eerste Divisie season on 22 April 2019, finishing top of the Netherlands' second-highest tier of football for the first time in the club's history.

## Season review

### Pre-season

FC Twente's pre-season got off to a rocky start. Following the relegation to the Eerste Divisie, the club was forced to slash spending after reducing the overall budget from 30 million to 18 million euros. In late June it became apparent that FC Twente was in dire need of financial help, leaving the club in great uncertainty about the future. The club even threatened to file for bankruptcy if the Enschede city council does not stand guarantee for 7 million euros. A few weeks later FC Twente announced it staved off bankruptcy after the city council agreed to a rescue plan. City officials agreed to freeze interest and repayments of a loan made to the club over a two-season period. In addition, some 30 of the club's sponsors have agreed to invest 10 million euros in the club.

On 31 May, FC Twente announced their first signing of the summer; the return of Dutch midfielder Wout Brama from Australian side Central Coast Mariners, signing him on a free transfer. Brama previously played at Twente between 2005 and 2014 where he won the Eredivisie in 2010.

## First team

    As of 6 May 2019

| Squad No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of Birth (Age) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Goalkeepers |||||
| 13 | Nick Hengelman | GK | (1989-11-15) 15 November 1989 (age 33) |
| 16 | Joël Drommel | GK | (1996-11-16) 16 November 1996 (age 26) |
| 22 | Jeffrey de Lange | GK | (1998-04-01) 1 April 1998 (age 25) |
| 26 | Jorn Brondeel | GK | (1993-09-07) 7 September 1993 (age 29) |
| Defenders |||||
| 2 | Ricardinho | LB | (1984-09-09) 9 September 1984 (age 38) |
| 3 | Xandro Schenk | CB | (1993-04-28) 28 April 1993 (age 30) |
| 4 | Nacho Monsalve | CB | (1994-04-27) 27 April 1994 (age 29) |
| 21 | Cristian González | CB | (1996-07-23) 23 July 1996 (age 27) |
| 25 | Peet Bijen | CB | (1995-01-28) 28 January 1995 (age 28) |
| 27 | Rafael Ramos | RB | (1995-01-09) 9 January 1995 (age 28) |
| 28 | Jeroen van der Lely | RB/LB | (1996-03-22) 22 March 1996 (age 27) |
| Midfielders |||||
| 6 | Wout Brama (captain) | DM | (1986-08-21) 21 August 1986 (age 36) |
| 10 | Haris Vučkić | AM | (1992-08-21) 21 August 1992 (age 30) |
| 11 | Alexander Laukart | AM | (1998-10-25) 25 October 1998 (age 24) |
| 17 | Tim Hölscher | AM/RW/LW | (1995-02-21) 21 February 1995 (age 28) |
| 18 | Ulrich Bapoh | AM | (1999-06-29) 29 June 1999 (age 24) |
| 19 | Javier Espinosa | CM | (1992-09-19) 19 September 1992 (age 30) |
| 20 | Matt Smith | DM | (1999-11-22) 22 November 1999 (age 23) |
| 23 | Jelle van der Heyden | CM | (1995-08-31) 31 August 1995 (age 27) |
| Forwards |||||
| 7 | Aitor Cantalapiedra | RW | (1996-02-10) 10 February 1996 (age 27) |
| 8 | Oussama Assaidi | LW | (1988-08-15) 15 August 1988 (age 34) |
| 9 | Tom Boere | ST | (1992-11-24) 24 November 1992 (age 30) |
| 14 | Rafik Zekhnini | LW | (1998-01-12) 12 January 1998 (age 25) |
| 15 | Fred Friday | ST | (1995-05-20) 20 May 1995 (age 28) |
| 24 | Jari Oosterwijk | ST | (1995-03-03) 3 March 1995 (age 28) |
| 47 | Mohamed Hamdaoui | LW | (1993-06-10) 10 June 1993 (age 30) |

## Transfers and loans

### Summer

**Transfers in**

| Entry date | Position | No. | Player | From club | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 June 2018 | MF | 6 | Wout Brama | Central Coast Mariners | Free transfer |
| 24 June 2018 | MF | 17 | Tim Hölscher | Esbjerg fB | Free transfer |
| 26 June 2018 | FW | 39 | Tim van de Schepop | PEC Zwolle | Free transfer |
| 16 July 2018 | DF | 3 | Xandro Schenk | Go Ahead Eagles | Free transfer |
| 31 July 2018 | FW | 7 | Aitor Cantalapiedra | Sevilla Atlético | Undisclosed |
| 1 August 2018 | DF | 2 | Ricardinho | Oxford United | Free transfer |
| 3 August 2018 | DF | 4 | Nacho Monsalve | Rayo Vallecano | Free transfer |
| 6 August 2018 | DF | 27 | Rafael Ramos | Chicago Fire | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2018 | CM | 19 | Javier Espinosa | Levante UD | Undisclosed |

**Loans in**

| Start date | End date | Position | No. | Player | From club | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 25 June 2018 | 1 July 2019 | MF | 18 | Ulrich Bapoh | VfL Bochum | Undisclosed |
| 3 July 2018 | 1 July 2019 | MF | 20 | Matt Smith | Manchester City | Undisclosed |
| 15 August 2018 | 1 July 2019 | DF | 21 | Cristian González | Sevilla Atlético | Undisclosed |
| 29 August 2018 | 1 July 2019 | FW | 14 | Rafik Zekhnini | Fiorentina | Undisclosed |

**Transfers out**

| Exit date | Position | No. | Player | To club | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 29 May 2018 | MF | 21 | Danny Holla | Den Bosch | Released |
| 1 June 2018 | FW | 34 | Adnane Tighadouini | Málaga | Loan return |
| 1 June 2018 | FW | 27 | Luciano Slagveer | Lokeren | Loan return |
| 1 June 2018 | DF | 15 | Cristián Cuevas | Huachipato | Loan return |
| 1 June 2018 | DF | 3 | Thomas Lam | Nottingham Forest | Loan return |
| 1 June 2018 | FW | 29 | Mounir El Hamdaoui | Excelsior | End of contract |
| 1 June 2018 | DF | 4 | Jos Hooiveld | Orange County | End of contract |
| 1 June 2018 | MF | 20 | Adam Maher | AZ | End of contract |
| 14 June 2018 | MF | 18 | Michael Liendl | Wolfsberger AC | Undisclosed |
| 14 June 2018 | MF | 17 | Marko Kvasina | SV Mattersburg | Undisclosed |
| 15 June 2018 | DF | 2 | Hidde ter Avest | Udinese | Released |
| 24 June 2018 | DF | 5 | Stefan Thesker | Holstein Kiel | Released |
| 27 June 2018 | MF | 19 | Fredrik Jensen | FC Augsburg | Undisclosed |
| 10 July 2018 | DF | | Jelle van Benthem | Heracles | Undisclosed |
| 23 July 2018 | DF | 14 | Richard Jensen | Roda JC | Undisclosed |
| 26 July 2018 | MF | | Delano Grootenhuis | FC Emmen | Undisclosed |

### Winter

**Loans in**

| Start date | End date | Position | No. | Player | From club | Fee | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 28 January 2019 | 1 July 2019 | LW | 47 | Mohamed Hamdaoui | De Graafschap | Undisclosed | |
| 30 January 2019 | 1 July 2019 | FW | 99 | Fred Friday | AZ | Undisclosed | |

**Loans out**

| Start date | End date | Position | No. | Player | To club | Fee | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 29 January 2019 | 1 July 2019 | FW | 30 | Dylan George | Helmond Sport | Undisclosed | |

### New contracts

| Date | Pos | Player |
| - | - | - |
| 8 August 2018 | MF | Mats Wieffer |
| 8 August 2018 | MF | Redouan Taha el Idrissi |
| 8 August 2018 | MF | Ramiz Zerrouki |
| 8 August 2018 | FW | Xhelal Terziqi |

## Friendlies

FC Twente revealed pre-season fixtures against Heerenveen, FC Emmen, VVV-Venlo, Göztepe S.K. and Al-Taawoun.

### Pre-season

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions

### Overview

| Competition | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Competition | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Eerste Divisie | 32 | 23 | 3 | 6 | 64 | 30 | +34 | 071.88 |
| KNVB Cup | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 075.00 |
| Total | 36 | 26 | 3 | 7 | 74 | 35 | +39 | 072.22 |

Updated to match played 2 April 2019 Source: Competitions

### Eerste Divisie

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Twente (C, P) | 38 | 25 | 5 | 8 | 72 | 39 | +33 | 80 | Promotion to the Eredivisie |
| 2 | Sparta Rotterdam (O, P) | 38 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 78 | 47 | +31 | 69 | Qualification to promotion play-offs second round |
| 3 | Jong PSV | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 77 | 59 | +18 | 63 | |
| 4 | Den Bosch | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 64 | 49 | +15 | 63 | Qualification to promotion play-offs second round |
| 5 | Go Ahead Eagles | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 63 | 57 | +6 | 63 | Qualification to promotion play-offs second round |
| 6 | TOP Oss | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 62 | Qualification to promotion play-offs second round |
| 7 | Almere City | 38 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 60 | 63 | −3 | 62 | Qualification to promotion play-offs first round |
| 8 | RKC Waalwijk (O, P) | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 69 | 57 | +12 | 59 | Qualification to promotion play-offs first round |
| 9 | NEC | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 73 | 60 | +13 | 58 | Qualification to promotion play-offs first round |
| 10 | Cambuur | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 61 | 48 | +13 | 58 | Qualification to promotion play-offs first round |
| 11 | Jong Ajax | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 81 | 67 | +14 | 56 | |
| 12 | MVV | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 49 | 53 | −4 | 54 | |
| 13 | Roda JC Kerkrade | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 57 | 59 | −2 | 53 | |
| 14 | Eindhoven | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 52 | 48 | +4 | 48 | |
| 15 | Telstar | 38 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 45 | 58 | −13 | 48 | |
| 16 | Volendam | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 46 | 62 | −16 | 41 | |
| 17 | Dordrecht | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 54 | 84 | −30 | 36 | |
| 18 | Jong AZ | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 46 | 67 | −21 | 33 | |
| 19 | Jong Utrecht | 38 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 47 | 90 | −43 | 23 | |
| 20 | Helmond Sport | 38 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 37 | 72 | −35 | 22 | |

* ↑ Winner of the Third Period (games 21–29).
* ↑ Winner of the First Period (games 3–11).
* 1 2 3 4 Reserves teams aren't eligible to be promoted to the Eredivisie
* ↑ Winner of the Second Period (games 12–20).
* ↑ Winner of the Fourth Period (games 30–38).

Ten teams, two from the Eredivisie and eight from the Eerste Divisie, play for two spots in the 2019–20 Eredivisie, the remaining eight teams playing in the 2019–20 Eerste Divisie.

| First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| NEC | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | |
| RKC Waalwijk | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | |
| RKC Waalwijk | 0 | 3 | 3 | RKC Waalwijk | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| | | | | Excelsior | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | RKC Waalwijk* | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | Go Ahead Eagles | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| | | | | Go Ahead Eagles | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | FC Den Bosch | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | TOP Oss | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | |
| | | | | Sparta Rotterdam | 2 | 3 | 5 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Sparta Rotterdam* | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | De Graafschap | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| SC Cambuur | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | De Graafschap | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Almere City | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Almere City | 2 | 1 | 3 | SC Cambuur | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | |
| | | | | De Graafschap | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | |

Key: * = Play-off winners, (a) = Wins because of away goals rule, (e) = Wins after extra time in second leg, (p) = Wins after penalty shoot-out.

**Results by matchday**

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ground | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | D | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | L | | | | | | |
| Position | 4 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | |

**Matches**

On 15 June 2018, the Eerste Divisie fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced.

### KNVB Cup

Win  Draw  Loss

## Statistics

### Appearances and goals

    As of 2 April 2019

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Eerste Divisie | Eerste Divisie | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2 | DF | BRA | Ricardinho | 31 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | NED | Xandro Schenk | 9 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Nacho Monsalve | 24 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | CUW | Michaël Maria | 10 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | NED | Wout Brama | 25 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | ESP | Aitor Cantalapiedra | 35 | 16 | 31 | 13 | 4 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | MAR | Oussama Assaidi | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | NED | Tom Boere | 30 | 13 | 27 | 13 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | SVN | Haris Vučkić | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | GER | Alexander Laukart | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | NED | Nick Hengelman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | NOR | Rafik Zekhnini | 24 | 5 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | GK | NED | Joël Drommel | 35 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | GER | Tim Hölscher | 22 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | GER | Ulrich Bapoh | 11 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Javier Espinosa | 31 | 7 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 20 | MF | WAL | Matt Smith | 32 | 2 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | URU | Cristian González | 31 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | NED | Jeffrey de Lange | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | NED | Jelle van der Heyden | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | NED | Jari Oosterwijk | 28 | 9 | 25 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| 25 | DF | NED | Peet Bijen | 33 | 7 | 29 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| 26 | GK | BEL | Jorn Brondeel | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | POR | Rafael Ramos | 19 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | NED | Jeroen van der Lely | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | NED | Mats Wieffer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | NED | Godfried Roemeratoe | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | FW | NED | Mohamed Hamdaoui | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | NGA | Fred Friday | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who left the club during the 2018–19 season ||||||||||
| 30 | FW | NED | Dylan George | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

As of 2 April 2019

| Rank | Player | Position | Eerste Divisie | KNVB Cup | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Aitor | FW | 13 | 3 | 16 |
| 2 | Tom Boere | FW | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| 3 | Jari Oosterwijk | FW | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | Javier Espinosa | AM | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | Peet Bijen | DF | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | Rafik Zekhnini | FW | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | Nacho Monsalve | DF | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Ulrich Bapoh | AM | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Wout Brama | CM | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Matt Smith | CM | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Xandro Schenk | DF | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Tim Hölscher | AM | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Michaël Maria | DF | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Ricardinho | DF | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | Total | Total | 64 | 10 | 74 |
