In a tense interview with the press, Coley Parry revealed that he had received offers of just €1 to buy struggling Eredivisie side Vitesse. Not surprisingly, these were never taken up by the American whose takeover of Vitesse was rejected by the licencing committee. The American, who is in charge of Common Sports Group, now owns just under 25% of the club and is put forward as a minority shareholder. In Dutch football, you can bring in an investor without approval from the licensing committee if the share’s they own is under 25%.
Yet, as reported by De Telegraaf, the press were not holding back in their questions to the American. There are concerns around the plan that involved a bank guarantee of just €10m for the next five seasons. This was quite a modest sum when you consider that the club has racked up deficits of €7m in recent years. Parry was also quizzed about how his investment of €11m should be assessed in recent years, with the club rock bottom of the league and set to be relegated to the second tier unless they can drastically turn their form around. This would be a return to the second tier of Dutch football for the first time since the late 1980s.
