Intermezzo.
Although PEC Zwolle have been refreshing parts other Eredivisie clubs haven’t
been able to reach in the past two seasons, they would be having a
Dutch mountain to climb to eventually being tagged as an established
‘subtopper’ in the category of AZ, Vitesse and FC Twente; and
Heerenveen and FC Groningen to a slightly lesser extent. As far as I’m concerned clubs the likes of FC Utrecht and ADO Den Haag are also potentially bigger than PEC Zwolle.
Having said that; Ron Jans is a ‘didacticus pur sang’ and ‘blender’ with a refreshing vision & focus with a limited budget. Ron Jans really has taken things a step further. He is in his third season
and is coaching his third almost completely different squad. It takes a
coach of not inconsiderable talent to constantly mould a new,
entertaining, effective and successful team with next to no money each
season and Jans has it.
He has an uncanny knack of picking up loan signings with something to
prove. In the last couple of seasons, Mateusz Klich and Thomas Necid to
name two who were very successful. This season he has picked up Lars
Veldwijk from Nottingham Forest and Ouasim Buoy from Juventus. Veldwijk was languishing in the Nottingham Forest reserves after falling out with
Dougie Freedman. He scored a hat trick for PEC last weekend. Ouasim Buoy has
never held a consistent starting place for Juventus after arriving from
Ajax and had an excellent debut last week for PEC.
Jans is an alchemic genius, and there I fear is the problem. I’m pretty
sure this will be his last season (he is in a one year contract
extension). Whoever takes over cannot possibly maintain this level of
success with the budgetary constraints imposed.
Dutch football clubs are financially graded Class I, Class II or Class III by the licensing commission of the Royal Dutch Football Association. Every club that partakes in professional Dutch football needs to have a professional football license.
This license is given to a club by the KNVB’s own licensing commission after a long and hard procedure, in which the club has to prove it can self-sustain through multiple financial reports. During the possession of the license, the licensing committee has the right to randomly check upon the club’s financial position. This check-up results in a graded report, with points given for every aspect of the club’s finances. Based on the total of points a club receives, they are then placed into financial Categories I, II or III. Category III contains the healthiest sides, Category I contains the clubs that have a sub-par score.
Publishing this categorization creates transparency about the financial position of Dutch professional clubs. The KNVB believes that transparency contributes to efforts to ensure the continuity of Dutch leagues because it leads to more attention and commitment to sound financial management.
Clubs in Category 1 must focus on financial recovery. They are responsible for getting their finances in order and must determine themselves how they go about doing this. Category 1 clubs are to draw up a plan of action detailing specific measures that will take them to category 2 or 3 within a period of three years (measurements will be made three times a year). During this period, the KNVB licensing commission will monitor strict compliance with the action plan. Any deviation from it without prior permission from the licensing commission can lead to sanctions ranging from reprimands to points deduction.
In other words:
Clubs that fall under Category I are considered to be in direct danger of bankruptcy and are put under a strict regime, meaning they have to provide the KNVB with financial status reports more often and have to set up and follow through a plan of action to improve their financial position. This usually includes downgrading wage-scales, letting go of expensive personnel and sign free agents only. If a club does not act by their own plan of action without permission from the KNVB, they are penalised. Penalties can vary from a warning to a points deduction, depending on the severity of actions. Each club gets a 3-year time-frame to realise their plan and return to Category II. Failing to do so will result in a direct loss of the professional football license, which will result in a direct bankruptcy and end of the football club.
The current classification is based on the budget figures submitted for the 2015-16 season. PEC Zwolle failed to meet their financial requirements and have therefore now ended up in category 1, having allegedly resorted to ‘creative bookkeeping’.