Utrecht continues to make do with three paid football clubs. The concentration, about which so much has been spoken and written in and around Utrecht in recent months, has been rejected. The extraordinary membership meetings of DOS, Elinkwijk and Velox proceeded to voting last night after lengthy deliberation. The result was that only the members of DOS were in favor of the concentration of professional football in Utrecht and the members of both first division clubs were against it by a large majority. This was reported by the Utrechtsch Nieuwsblad on Wednesday, April 29, 1964.
The members have rejected the work that has been built up over months to bring the financial and technical situation in Utrecht to a higher level, with the overwhelming majority ‘against’. Moreover, the opponents at Elinkwijk immediately came up with counter-proposals, which will be discussed at the next core meeting.
At the last minute, the municipal council of Utrecht intervened to prevent the already expected unfavorable development. The Elinkwijk association would have immediately lost its worries if it had accepted the concentration.
Yesterday morning it was announced that the municipality was prepared to take over the field and all buildings on the Elinkwijk site for an amount of 82,000 guilders. This means that this enormous amount includes almost a complete cancellation of the municipal debt. It can only be seen as a gift, with which the municipality once again clearly proved that it does recognize the need for a merger between associations. Nevertheless, chairman J. Littel could not get a higher percentage of ‘in favor’.
The DOS meeting in the Casino was characterized by the relatively quiet atmosphere in which matters were discussed. There were seven speakers who all had the opportunity to say their piece.
Their arguments were many. All acknowledged the difficulties DOS was in, but it turned out to be less clear to identify the culprit. There were those who pointed to the former board members; others thought the cause was an incorrect trainer and transfer policy; still others blamed the municipality with its abysmally high stadium rent and entertainment tax.
It was notable that a number of members among the members were willing to give an amount of more than €100,000 (further information revealed that it was 165,000 guilders) to DOS under certain conditions of participation. A large part of this amount would have already been deposited in the bank.
In a detailed overview, the board once again pointed out to the meeting the precarious financial situation of DOS. Finally, just after eleven o’clock, a written vote could be taken, with, as mentioned, a small majority in favor of merger.
However, the members’ meeting of Elinkwijk – in the Erasmus House – had realized that the way it is currently done, professional football is not possible in a healthy and responsible manner. The board was immediately confronted with counter-proposals.
In the NV. The turnout at Velox was satisfactory at home. About thirty percent of the voting members were present. But the number of supporters of the concentration of professional football in Utrecht was small. The arguments against the merger were mainly emotional.
After the individual meetings, DOS chairman Kernkamp announced at a joint press conference in the Noord Brabant hotel that DOS will now focus fully on making the professional football department within the association independent.
Mr Looten believed that even if the merger had not gone through, an important advantage had still been achieved: the very close cooperation between the three clubs. ‘Hold it in the future!’ said Mr. A. Looten, ‘then you will notice that you have given your time and effort to a cause that was worth it and that in the end it was not in vain.’
