Football Season Guide

Excelsior secured their place in the Eredivisie for the upcoming season with a few rounds left to play in the previous campaign. A disappointing first half of the season saw them being ranked in a relegation play-off place during the winter break but a string of good results in February and especially in March and April saw them climb out of the danger zone. They finished the season in 12th spot and they would immediately sign up for a repeat of this achievement ahead of the upcoming season. The main aim for Excelsior will yet again be to stay out of the danger zone to avoid the relegation play-offs or even worse, immediate relegation. With one of the smallest budgets in the Eredivsie, Excelsior have to be creative in every single season at the highest level of Dutch football. Several players were added to the squad, on loan from other clubs, before the start of the previous season and during the winter break. All of them have left the club. Goalkeeper Warner Hahn played for Excelsior on loan from Feyenoord but he has now made a transfer to Heerenveen. Fredy Ribeiro has returned to CF Belenenses, while Jordy de Wijs has returned to PSV Eindhoven. These two were regulars during the previous season as were Bas Kuipers and Henrico Drost, who have been snapped up by ADO Den Haag and RKC Waalwijk respectively. The club's top scorer, Nigel Hasselbaink, has been transferred to Kiryat Shmona in Israel. Jinty Caenepeel has been taken from FC Eindhoven to deal with the departure of Hasselbaink, while Zakaria El Azzouzi has been added to the squad on loan from Ajax. Wout Faes, who played for Heerenveen during the first half of 2017, has been added to the squad on loan from Anderlecht while Desevio Payne came over from FC Groningen. Lorenzo Burnet and Ali Messaoud, who both played for NEC Nijmegen during the first half of 2017, on loan from other clubs, have also signed for Excelsior. Several players have left the club while only a few new players have been signed but coach Mitchell van der Gaag has already announced that he is fine working with a smaller squad than in the previous campaign.