Reijntjes fears that Vitesse will no longer exist next season: “That chance is quite high”

Vitesse’s new interim director, Edwin Reijntjes, does not beat around the bush: the club’s survival is seriously threatened. The number seventeen of the Eredivisie must submit a well-founded plan to the KNVB licensing committee in the short term. If that doesn’t work, Vitesse will not receive a professional license and the 132-year-old club will be done for.

Reijntjes has only just started a day and still has to read up on everything that goes wrong behind the scenes at the club. “We can jump high or low. But I’m here for one purpose. That is trying to convince the licensing committee that we should continue to exist with Vitesse,” says Reijntjes determinedly. “We just have to hold on to that license.”

That is what Reijntjes is all about, he does not respond to media speculation. None of that makes sense if the main goal is not successful. “The goal is to keep that license intact. That’s the main goal. Otherwise it makes no sense, because then Vitesse will no longer exist.” Reijntjes succeeded in the same licensing trick at ADO Den Haag.

When asked what the chances are that Vitesse will no longer exist next season, the new interim director responds realistically. “The chance is quite high. Otherwise they wouldn’t have asked me to solve it. If it takes you so long to hold on to a license, then something is going wrong. Vitesse dates from 1892, but the licensing committee looks at the facts. And not to history with feelings.”

Kitchen Champion Division

It sounds unlikely that the club will collapse, but Reijntjes warns the football romantics. “Everyone here will say: it’s not possible. But it is possible. We will have to convince the licensing committee that we are working on a plan. That we will implement a plan that is realistic so that the club can move forward. Because the situation is so complex, we still have not guaranteed that license.”

Reijntjes basically assumes football at the second level. Where the club last played in 1989. “The plan is based on the basic scenario in the Kitchen Champion Division. If you stay in the Eredivisie, it provides extra income. It would be very unrealistic to submit a plan based on the Eredivisie. That is not realistic.”

He has not yet spoken to rejected owner Coley Parry. The Telegraph reported on Wednesday morning that the American would claim the money involved in the sale of Million Manhoef to Stoke City. Reijntjes does not want to comment on that yet.

It is a big task for the interim director. “I knew that. It’s a mission and I’m going to fight for it. It is now or never. I also said that internally. We’re not going to beat around the bush. We don’t have much time.”