Chairman Jan Smit of FC Volendam first called his native village the eighth wonder of the world during an introductory talk at a meeting for supporters. Then the singer went in like a tough defender with a straight leg. “This village is also poisoned by jealousy, stupidity, incitement and rancor,” he said. “They spread lies and stab a dagger in a back laughing. We are here to tell the truth.”
Smit, also known as a singer and television presenter, does not understand much about it. Volendam was promoted to the Eredivisie last season after thirteen years with trainer Wim Jonk and is now the proud number 14 in the Netherlands. Yet there is criticism of Jonk, technical director Jasper van Leeuwen and director of football development Ruben Jongkind, who call themselves Team Jonk together with a few confidants. They would take over the club, spend too much money and underperform the youth academy.
The Supervisory Board recently wanted to terminate the contracts of Team Jonk as of April 1 and prevented the appointment of Keje Molenaar as vice-chairman. Chairman Smit says he felt ‘screwed’ and reacted last Tuesday with the message that the commitments of Jonk, his staff members and management will be extended until 2026. That same evening, the board and the supervisory board sat at the table for more than four hours. That conversation resulted in a temporary truce in the power struggle.
Some of the approximately three hundred supporters in De Jozef in Volendam shared the criticism of the supervisory body. “Why do all youth teams play so low,” one fan wanted to know. “Because we let talents play football against older boys,” Jongkind replied. “Just like Ajax does with guys like Matthijs de Ligt.”
Volendam has a deficit of 1.2 million euros on a budget of more than 9 million euros. “But that can be almost 2 million euros”, president Veerman of the supervisory board suddenly shouted from the audience. “What if we stay in the Eredivisie, then we have to pay bonuses.”
Smith guarantees a shortage
“I think this is so low of you Jaap”, Smit responded. ‘We talked for four hours on Tuesday and you from the Supervisory Board approved everything. Then we smoked a peace pipe and now you start like this. I prefer not to say it, but I personally guarantee a deficit of 1.2 million euros.”
It is also highly questionable whether everything will work out between Jonk and the supervisory board. “You didn’t want to renew our contracts Jaap”, said the trainer. “While the club is finally doing well again. The stadium is full again and children wear orange shirts. You think it is also a passed station that Keje Molenaar is on the board. But that is not it for us.”
Source: ANP
