The KNVB’s professional football license committee has approved the planned new shareholder structure of FC Den Bosch. The club management received that confirmation from Zeist on Tuesday morning. The adjustments in the structure and statutes of the club desired by FC Den Bosch meet all license requirements and guidelines of the KNVB. With the green light from the football association, the process of redistribution of the shares of FC Den Bosch can be formally completed this week.
The total package of ordinary shares of FC Den Bosch is divided among several, existing and new shareholders. The existing shareholders are united in Forza FC Den Bosch B.V.. This group of (local) entrepreneurs – also FC Den Bosch supporters – has been associated with the club in various capacities for much longer. On July 23rd , FC Den Bosch announced that five American investors would join the existing shareholders, namely Pacific Media Group, Partners Path Capital, Randy Frankel, Chien Lee and Krishen Sud. Nothing changes for the so called priority share. That remains the property of the Stichting Behoud Betaald Voetbal ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
FC Den Bosch on the way to a healthy future
Due to the new situation, FC Den Bosch’s future prospects are changing drastically in a positive sense. “FC Den Bosch has never known financial stability in the last two decades. With the new structure and additional partnerships, that situation will come to an end and we can finally close these troubled times. FC Den Bosch is given the opportunity to set up an independent, professionalized football organization, still rooted in its own identity. This evolution is accelerated by the idea of collectivity among the shareholders. We speak one language, but have multiple registers. From here we can take joint action. Precisely because everyone has properly estimated their own strengths, and therefore added value for the club. To expand the club is looking for initiatives on a local and regional scale, but with a far beyond reach. In football, a Friday win is what counts. That is where any gain is most visible to the outer world. FC Den Bosch now seems far removed from the top of the table in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, but we know we can climb fast. From a healthy basis, that is,” says FC Den Bosch director Rob Almering shortly after the KNVB came to terms with the new shareholder structure.
Nevertheless, the director is wary of overstated ambition: “We want to make progress at a normal pace. Nothing stands in the way of the development of local talent either. In fact, especially our home-grown players have shown lately that you can grow by training, toiling and competing with each other. No wonder, that the newcomers also want to invest in talent development within the clubs own academy. That fits seamlessly into the overall vision.”
Member of the Supervisory Board, Rob Kleijzen LL.M. shares the words of his namesake: “As I see it, this way fits the identity of the club. There is a deep connection between FC Den Bosch and the people in Forza FC Den Bosch B.V. That relationship has never lost its warmth. Their love of FC Den Bosch is authentic and from the heart. That same heart also beats faster when it comes to entrepreneurship. Success is not achieved alone and not without a connection with the community. We are aware of this at FC Den Bosch. The American investors each bring their own expertise, motivation and network opportunities. The common denominator between them is that they want to ensure targeted talent development and better sporting performance based on data analysis. The world of modern football can no longer be understood without data. But it also cannot be understood with data alone. Therefore, the dynamics and combination of shareholders who are emotionally and culturally very close connected to FC, and shareholders with some more distance to the club, is really ideal.”
“We are in it together and we bring out the best in each other,” continues Kleijzen. That we-feeling can push FC Den Bosch to great heights in the long run. The annoyance about missed equity trajectories from the past is nothing compared to the relief about the many new opportunities that the future offers FC Den Bosch. The financial relief, through the investments of the shareholders, means that we have the time to focus on other critical success factors as well. Besides a sporting and economic importance, FC Den Bosch also has a social function for a wide audience. Especially in the region. We want to link this function more closely to our core football functions. FC Den Bosch has now stumbled out of the negative survival context. We can take the initiative again and think a step ahead where until recently we were more or less forced to stand still.”
Due to the complicating entry and exit covid measures, only Paul Conway (Pacific Media Group) traveled to the Netherlands on behalf of the American investors.
He will speak later today in an informal setting with some media invitees. Joost Eijsink then speaks on behalf of Forza FC Den Bosch B.V. and Rob Almering and Rob Kleijzen respectively on behalf of the club’s management and supervisory board.
An own anthology from this meeting will be shared with the supporters and other interested parties on Tuesday evening via the communication channels of FC Den Bosch.
