In football, being rewarded for good behavior sounds like a noble concept, but the “De Tegenstander” (The Opponent) profile on page 6 of the March 2013 programme reveals how it can actually destroy a season. The article attempts to explain the bizarre collapse of FC Twente, a team that was joint top of the Eredivisie during the winter break but had since plummeted, leading to the resignation of manager Steve McClaren.
The root cause of this collapse is buried in the second paragraph: the UEFA Fair Play ticket. Because Twente was one of the most disciplined teams in Europe the previous year, they were “rewarded” with a spot in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. This meant their season officially started on July 5th. While other Eredivisie players were still resting on beaches in Ibiza, the Twente squad was embarking on a grueling, unglamorous continental tour, playing obscure teams like UE Santa Coloma (Andorra), Inter Turku (Finland), and FK Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic) just to reach the group stages. The programme notes that by the time spring arrived, the team looked “futloos” (lifeless). The physical and mental toll of a season that started in early July had completely drained their championship ambitions.
A Look into the Future
By 2026, the specific scenario described in this article is no longer possible. UEFA eventually abolished the practice of awarding European qualification spots based on Fair Play rankings, largely because clubs and managers complained that the absurdly early start dates functioned more as a punishment than a prize, ruining pre-season preparations and causing mid-season burnout. FC Twente‘s 2012/2013 campaign stands as a textbook historical example of why the system was fundamentally flawed, proving that in modern football, a proper summer holiday is worth more than a Fair Play trophy.