At KFC Uerdingen, the new year 2024 begins with a horror story: the Oberliga club is short of 500,000 euros!
This club just can’t catch a break: year after year, there are new negative reports surrounding KFC Uerdingen. The days when presidents like Agissilaos “Lakis” Kourkoudialos, Mikhail Ponomarev or Damien Raths made headlines are over.
But the headlines that say that KFC lacks money remain constant year after year. In this respect, nothing has changed at the Grotenburg Stadium in years.
And 2024 started with a bang: According to board member Bernd Limberg, the Krefelders need half a million euros in the near future to finish the season in the Lower Rhine Oberliga. The financial expert revealed this in an interview with the club radio station “Blau-Rot”. “We need the 500,000 euros now and not on May 30. We need to get the substance that will enable us to continue playing,” emphasized Limberg.
Coach and sports director Marcus John, who got the team on track, sent a rather relaxed message from his vacation in Seefeld, Austria.
John commented on a possible automatic relegation that would result from another insolvency: “I’m really confident that we can manage that. And these are not just words of encouragement. I have complete confidence in those in charge. There are really good signs. The KFC supporters are also tirelessly generating new funds. It’s just great. In the meantime, there is also a great sense of solidarity in the club. We will make it!”
KFC Uerdingen: 22 men in the squad – additions are not excluded
On January 8, 2024, the coach will ask his team to return to the pitch. Then, after the five departures of Maurice Haar (Wattenscheid 09), Furkan Baydar (SC St. Tönis), Fabio di Gaetano, Anton Riegert, Aaron Schreck (all destinations unknown), only 22 men will be left in training. Leonel Kadiata, who is still in rehab after his cruciate ligament rupture, will soon be one of these players. “I think he’ll be ready to join the group in February,” predicts John.
It is quite possible that the Krefelders will be active on the transfer market again. John: “We could do with a man for the left, but also for the right side. We’ll have to wait and see how the market develops in January.”