New Member: FC Utrecht, inspiring from the heart

New Member: FC Utrecht, inspiring from the heart

EFDN is happy to announce that FC Utrecht has joined the network. The Dutch Eredivisie club wants to share knowledge and experiences with other EFDN members from across Europe, and hope to join European-run programmes. Their main objective is to inspire, encourage and motivate the residents of the Utrecht area to get moving and thus to become the fittest region of the Netherlands.

FC Utrecht is a professional football club situated in the heart of the Netherlands. The club was created in 1970 from a merger between local clubs DOS, Elinkwijk, and Velox and play their home games in Stadium Galgenwaard. Since its birth, FC Utrecht always has competed in the Eredivisie, the highest Dutch football division. The Red and White club has won four domestic trophies as they were three times Cup winners (1985, 2003, and 2004) and conquered once the Dutch Super Cup, the Johan Cruijff Schaal (2004).

Apart from its sporting results, FC Utrecht also focuses on its guiding principles for the club’s activities. They are convinced to give a positive contribution to a more vital city of Utrecht, as the club is positioned in the heart of the society. They are sincerely committed to people and make connections in neighbourhoods, cities, and regions. They do this by inspiring and encouraging Utrechters, the residents from Utrecht, to get moving.

From the heart
In cooperation with FC Utrecht and other social partners, FC Utrecht organises various activities for the benefit of an inclusive society. Through their conviction: heart for football, heart for the province, and heart for each other, FC Utrecht want to win the hearts of their supporters, the city, and the province. FC Utrecht plays a connecting, enthusing, and inspiring role in this to help people and organisations in the surrounding area. With their social commitment, they want to seize the opportunity to contribute directly to the physical, social, and mental development of inhabitants of the province of Utrecht and to help build the most vital region of the Netherlands.

They will achieve this by always going the extra mile so that they can surprise and reach the people’s hearts. FC Utrecht does this by using knowledge and experience in the field of football and health. Here they created the U4U programme, a unique platform where FC Utrecht offers reintegration programs in a professional, equal, and accessible way for people with a bridgeable distance to the labor market. They also enrolled the Side-by-Side [Zij-aan-zijtraject] programme which focuses on undesirable and discriminatory language and behavior in and outside the stadium. With this, they want to change the culture of offensive language and chants to a more positive atmosphere in and around the Galgenwaard Stadium. As a result, the accessibility of visiting FC Utrecht matches, and the feeling of safety for everyone increases again. Regardless of origin, colour, age, orientation, and gender.

One of the objectives of FC Utrecht is to promote an inclusive society. With all its activities – in the stadium, in the neighbourhoods, and at clubs – the club is building an FC Utrecht Community. A community of people with a shared love for football and for the club, ready to do something for another.

EFDN CEO Huberts Rovers: “We are very pleased that FC Utrecht, as 20^th Dutch club joins the network. FC Utrecht has a strong focus on improving the health condition of the people living in the heart of the Netherlands. We are looking forward to supporting them in their goal to make this area the most active one in the Netherlands and where we both can benefit from each other’s knowledge in this domain.”

“We see our membership of EFDN as a next step in the realisation of our social mission,” says Manager Supporters Affairs & Participation Robert Junier of FC Utrecht. “We are convinced that thanks to this network we can connect with and learn from other organisations in the field of social programmes. In turn, with our knowledge and expertise, we hope and expect to be a valuable addition for the other EFDN members as well.”