K.V. Oostende like we say Iraklis FC

A few hours ago a strange but at the same time moving video was released. This shows the fans of a relatively small Belgian team lined up in a stadium, in front of a coffin in their team’s colours. This is because on May 14 it became known that this team, Oostend, is disbanding due to debts. But let’s see what happened exactly.

Who are Oostend?

Oostend, or, as the full title is, Royal Football Club Ostend (K.V. Oostende), were founded in 1904 in the relatively small, coastal town of Ostend, in West Flanders, Belgium. The only thing Iraklis have in common with that side of Europe is when they faced the same city’s basketball team in the 2000-01 Suproleague group stage (no relation as an organization to the football club of Ostend). Otherwise, the city’s football team was generally in the 2nd division with a few flashes. All this until 2013, the year the team was promoted to the first division.

Then, the multi-millionaire Marc Coucke appeared, who bought the club. During his days, the club stabilized in the first division, improvements were made to the team’s stadium and the club’s best run in history was also achieved, i.e. 4th place in the league and exit to the Europa League qualifiers.

Despite the team’s strong run, owner Mark Kuke left in December 2017, retaining a small portion of the shares. Peter Callant became the new owner, but not for long. In 2020 a group of American investors bought the majority of the club’s shares. This was the beginning of the end…

What the Americans brought to the club

This group consists of Chien Lee and some, not particularly strong, companies. Chien Lee is one of those people that no one ever fully understands what their occupations are (something this reminds us of). Anyway, he currently owns 7 different European teams, all mid-range. All his teams go from bad to worse, deep in debt. Let’s mention here an incident which proves how… demonic this gentleman is. In the 21-22 season, Ostend bought Mikael Biron from Nancy for 5 million euros. The point is that Nancy also belongs to Chien Lee, who was then struggling with debts and to avoid relegation. So, Chien Lee took 5 million from Ostend’s coffers and put it into Nancy’s, for an unnecessary and obviously overpriced transfer.

Bankruptcy and Dissolution

A few months ago, a board member, Paul Conway, locked himself in the stadium toilets. The reason? That the team found itself at the bottom of the second division after only 4 divisions and that the board does not even agree to sell the shares. In fact, at Conway’s own fault, not even any selling attempt was made. As a result, Conway got hunted by the fans into the stadium. In the end, he agreed to give away the shares symbolically for 1€, only to take it back and ask for 600 thousand, of course giving the club full of debts. Except the debts are so great that the club can’t take license to play in the proffesional leagues. Thus, the club is led to the amateur divisions, which however makes them unsustainable due to the amount of debts. So, two weeks ago, Oostend filed their last papers, those of bankruptcy and dissolution.

The fan’s funeral

A few days ago, the fans made a shocking move. They draped a coffin in team colors and mourned it with chants and torches on the field. Three and more generations of fans cried in each other’s arms. Children, young, middle-aged, elderly. All in scarves, hugging, for one last time to sing their chants, to see their pitch, their colors… In this way we had the last dance of a club with a 120 years history (1904-2024).

The… common points

Obviously, much of what the Belgian team faced is familiar to Iraklis. What should one remember first? The exorbitant debts accumulated over the years? The Canadian and American investors that destroyed the club? The Canadian even boldly stated that even his mother did not know what job he did. In the end, no one found out. The licenses that didn’t come? The 3rd Amateur Division of Thessaloniki? There are many things that make us feel close to the fans of Oostend.

The greatest similarity, however, perhaps lies in the way in which all these developments came about. Just as in Oοstend a powerful businessman, Coucke, left abruptly and without a successor situation, as a result of which the club was led to dissolution, so it happened to Iraklis. We remember the arrival of the mighty businessman, Evangelos Mytilineos in 2000, the good progress of the team then, his departure in 2003 and then… the chaos. Those who came after, only created debts for Iraklis and as a result, we had the relegation from the first, directly to the fourth division in 2011 and then we had the same thing, with a second relegation, this time from the first to the third division in 2017. All this, while the team had won their stay in the first division both times.

Characteristically, the concession of the Oostande shares for €1 is very reminiscent of the departure of Mytilineos, who sold the shares for the same amount to his friend, Spanoudakis.

The differences…

Of course, it is not implied that Herakles and Oostend are the same. Iraklis is one of the biggest teams in Greece, with hundreds of thousands of fans around the world. Iraklis was fought like no other club by the Greek football, which is so rotten that we get the stench of its corpse. Iraklis have a long presence in the first division, from which they have never been relegated due to the final standings. They have been relegated three times, all because of factors that had nothing to do with football.

But the name of Iraklis is so great that the club has not been dissolved and will never be dissolved. Their incredible fans won’t allow it, as they have already proven. We recall the €200,000 required to pay Bogdan Mara, which were collected by the fans within a few days to keep the team from disbanding. We are reminding the huge marches of the fans from time to time in Thessaloniki, marches that reached up to 20,000 people per time. Who forgets Kallikrateia, the first matchday from the first to the fourth category with 5000 people in a stadium with a capacity at around 500? Iraklis established their three relegations as awards and a reason to become a fan of the team. They are three huge stars, illuminating the reasons why it is special for someone to be an Iraklis’ fan.

…that must become similarities

Obviously, these comparisons are not made so that we prove Iraklis to be bigger than Oostend but because the fans of Oostend must organize themselves against injustice. It is not possible to let a few mischievous scoundrels destroy the concepts of centuries. Nor should concepts be compared. After all, for every fan, the biggest concept is his club.

If the fans of Oostend love their club, which they certainly do, they should not let the concept die. Do anything to save the club. If there is no hope, then find some other solution. We don’t know the legislation in Belgium, but in other cases we have seen fans save their concepts, such as Wimbledon fans and, more recently, Gate 9 of Omonoia Nicosia who created a new Omonoia, parallel to the old one. This year, the new Omonoia was promoted to the first division of Cyprus and from the coming season both Omonoias will compete in the same division and face each other.

Closing

Solutions exist, as long as there is will from the fans. Also, it is certain that the fans of Oostend have the support and solidarity morally and, if requested, in practice from the fans of Iraklis. As a well-known red party motto in Greece says: Only the people save the people. We will also add that concepts never die!

ΧΙΛΙΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΗΡΑΚΛΗΣ – ΧΙΛΙΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΟΣΤΑΝΔΗ
DUIZEND JAAR IRAKLIS – DUIZEND JAAR OOSTENDE

PS: the link of the funeral video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2CP_90qRAg
PS 2: If you open the pics in new tab, you can see the full size and scale