Enschede saves FC Twente from bankruptcy
The Enschede city council agreed to a support plan for FC Twente to prevent the football club from going bankrupt. The council agreed to write off part of the municipal loan to the club, and to convert another part of the loan into a subordinated loan on which no interest or repayment has to be paid. The condition to this agreement is that FC Twente returns its youth- and women's teams from Hengelo to Enschede as soon as possible, AD reports.
The city council will write off 5 million euros of the 17 million euro loan the municipality gave to FC Twente. Another 9 million euros will be converted into a subordinate loan. No interest or repayment is due on this part. This greatly improves the club's capital position.
This support plan had the Enschede city council divided. The entire opposition, with the exception of CDA councilor Mart van Lagen, voted against. But the plan still passed with a voting ratio of 23 for and 16 against. No fewer than 21 changes were made to the proposal.
The biggest amendment made to the plan is the added condition that FC Twente must bring its women's and youth football teams back to training at Het Diekman in Enschede. They're currently training in Hengelo. The office of mayor and aldermen must also talk to FC Twente about bringing its first team back to train in Enschede by 2027 at the latest.
The club must also guarantee a budget of 400 thousand euros for women's football. FC Twente wanted to halve the women's budget, and then get the other 200 thousand euros from "the market". But the city council believes that the club should guarantee 400 thousand euros for the women. The council also agreed that the club must make nearly 2 thousand tickets per season available to Enschede residents with little money, according to NOS.
"FC Twente can look to the future again", Koen Groenewold, member of the club's supervisory board, said to AD about the support plan. "There is still a lot of work to be done. We're not done yet. The next step is that we, together with the management, must ensure continuity."