The Netherlands has had an absolute drama year regarding its coefficient points. Portugal has already surpassed the Netherlands, while even countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic are not far from the Eredivisie. That causes problems for every club in the Netherlands.
“Last summer we still had a 95% chance of retaining our sixth place after 2027,” Eredivisie CV director Jan de Jong told Algemeen Dagblad. “We were really well ahead of our attacker Portugal. But that lead completely evaporated within a handful of months.”
This has disastrous consequences for all clubs in professional football in the Netherlands. “It means that we will miss out on 70 to 80 million euros from next year,” says De Jong. “That is felt deep in the Kitchen Champion Division.”
The European income obtained goes to all Dutch clubs, currently 3.75% of the total, but that amount will decrease. “Do the math: from 2027 onwards, this will be significantly less due to the loss of roughly 70 million euros in income.”
“And then I haven’t even mentioned the UEFA pot of twelve to thirteen million euros for the so-called non participating clubs”, continues De Jong. “That will also be a lot lower. The KKD clubs also shared from that pot, on average accounting for about one and a half euros.”
The Premier League clubs now receive an average of around €900,000 in European income, increased through a solidarity contribution. “That will soon be several hundred thousand less,” says De Jong. “As a club, you cannot easily make up for that loss.”
And much of this could have been prevented, for example by Feyenoord not playing with its strongest players in the Europa League on several occasions. “The fact that some in Europe did not play with their strongest team imaginable, even against direct competitors, has led to a lot of misunderstanding.”
“Apart from that, it also has an impact on the transfer value of our players,” De Jong continues to list the problems. “That is partly determined by the number of matches in the Champions League, that is well known. That value will also decline. And less money will also be available on the domestic transfer market.”
Every club must make every effort to undo this disastrous year. It must be a top priority for all clubs as well as for the KNVB, the Eredivisie CV and the CED (first division, ed.) to return to the top 6 as quickly as possible. This should be at the top of all policy and strategy documents in the near future.”
