De Graafschap

Heartbreak#3795.8

Doetinchem, Doetinchem · Netherlands · Eredivisie

Power-ranking history

Rank (1 = best)1615Score (per-season normalised)0.00.51.074/7579/8084/8589/9094/9599/0004/0509/1014/15

Against expectation

Every Dutch top-flight match this club has played in the Eredivisie, scored against the odds an Elo rating gave it before kick-off. Over 21 seasons from 1973-74 to 2018-19 it has fallen short of them by −28.6 match points.

1973-74 to 2018-19one bar per season · height in match points

Best season against expectation
1996-97 +6.1 league pts
45 points on 38.9 expected as De Graafschap
Worst season against expectation
1981-82 −12.7 league pts
12 points on 24.7 expected as De Graafschap

Season points use that season’s own scoring, two for a win before 1995-96 and three from it; the bars use match points so the whole series is comparable.

Doetinchem against expectation →How this is measured →

What the squad was worth

Total market value of the squad, EUR millions, by month; the player count beside it is the size of the priced squad.

How this is measured

Drawn as a step, not a curve: Transfermarkt reprices every squad in December and June (marked with a small tick on the axis) and revalues continuously between, so the line only moves when a real valuation changed, never by interpolation.

A month renders no value at all once the priced squad falls below 15 players, so a thin squad is never shown as a cheap one. The series is floored at July 2012 on purpose: earlier Transfermarkt totals reflect which players happened to be priced yet rather than the squad’s real worth, and are excluded rather than shown misleadingly low.

Upstream (dcaribou/transfermarkt-datasets) has been paused since July 2026, so the series ends where the source ends rather than where the season does.

Player valuations from Transfermarkt via github.com/dcaribou/transfermarkt-datasets (CC0).

What the squad was worth€5m
071413-1415-1617-1819-2021-2223-24

Peak
€13m in Jul 2019 · 38 players valued
Most recent
€5m in Jan 2025 · 16 players valued

Doetinchem on the rankings →

The money ledger

Fees paid and received each season, and what the squad was worth once the trading is netted out.

How this is measured

Spent is the fees paid for players arriving, received the fees for players leaving, both in EUR millions by the July-to-June season of the move. A move with no fee on record (a free, a loan, an undisclosed sum) is counted, never priced: the small figure beside each total is the moves with a fee, plus those without (so 4+3 is four priced arrivals and three unpriced), and a quiet window is not mistaken for a cheap one. Wages are not here: they are estimates nobody licenses, and fees are documented.

Appreciation is the season’s change in squad value with the net spend taken out: buy 100m of players and finish 100m higher is zero; finish 120m higher and the club made 20m of players better, or the market repriced them. It needs a priced squad at both ends of the season (the same 15-player floor as the value chart), so it is blank rather than guessed for a season that lacks one.

The source has been paused since 6 July 2026, so the final row holds only the opening days of its window.

Transfer fees and player valuations from Transfermarkt via github.com/dcaribou/transfermarkt-datasets (CC0).

The money ledger+€5m
Spent
€0m
1 arrivals with a fee
Received
€6m
10 departures with a fee
Net
+€5m
60 moves with no fee
Appreciation
+€3m
9 seasons with a priced squad

Grown or bought: in 2025-26, trading +€3m and appreciation —. Over the last 5 seasons (2021-22–2025-26), trading +€4m and appreciation unpriced.

The director’s ledger: 14 arrivals graded since 2022-23, 100% EV-positive. No fee-paying arrivals to grade a multiplier on.

2025-26 spent — received €3m
out: Othniël Raterink €1m
—
unpriced
2024-25 spent — received €1m
out: Başar Önal €1m
—
unpriced
2023-24 spent — received €1m
out: Camiel Neghli €1m
—
unpriced
2022-23 spent — received —
3 moves, no fee on record
€0m
squad gain
2021-22 spent — received —
5 moves, no fee on record
−€2m
squad gain
2020-21 spent — received €1m
out: Branco van den Boomen €0m
+€1m
squad gain
2019-20 spent €0m received —
in: Branco van den Boomen €0m
−€6m
squad gain
2018-19 spent — received —
9 moves, no fee on record
+€6m
squad gain

Money against football

Every priced club-season in the six leagues: points against expectation across, squad value gained beyond the net spend up. This club’s seasons are joined.

● the frontier: no other club-season beat it on both axes · ● this club, season by season, the largest dot the latest

Every club’s return on the transfer window →

Greatest games

De Graafschap's top matches by the club Game Score: closeness, stakes, quality and upset over one unified rating of league and European play. H, A and N mark home, away and a neutral venue; a ★ is a curated all-time classic (tap it for the model's own score).All-time board.

1
2003-05-29 · Eredivisie
50.4
game score
2
2003-05-02 · Eredivisie
50.3
game score
3
2009-03-04 · KNVB Beker · Quarterfinals
50.0
game score
4
2003-02-04 · KNVB Beker · Round of 16
49.6
game score
5
1974-04-15 · Eredivisie
49.4
game score
6
2009-01-20 · KNVB Beker · Round of 16
48.7
game score
7
2001-04-15 · Eredivisie
48.7
game score
8
2002-04-25 · Eredivisie
48.4
game score
9
2016-05-08 · Eredivisie
47.6
game score
10
1993-11-10 · KNVB Beker · Third Round
47.3
game score

Footprint

Tiers played
L1
Top-flight (L1) seasons
21
First season
1974
Most recent season
2019

The Heartbreak Index5.8 · #379

The Tortured · Never won it, waiting since 1974

5.8
Heartbreak
#379
of 1,138 clubs
#244
in Football
5.8
agony
The clocks
  • First major trophy since 19747.7
Heaviest wounds

relegated from the top flight, 2003 · relegated from the top flight, 2019 · relegated from the top flight, 2009 · relegated from the top flight, 2012

One formula, every club the site covers. See the whole board →

Season-by-season

Most recent season first. Covers Eredivisie only. Rows tagged "national playoff" are pre-modern formats where the workbook records only playoff participants, not round-robin standings.

2019
Eredivisie (1) · P17↓
34 P · 8-5-21 · 38:75 · -37
29
pts
2016
Eredivisie (1) · P17↓
34 P · 5-8-21 · 39:66 · -27
23
pts
2012
Eredivisie (1) · P17↓
34 P · 6-6-22 · 36:74 · -38
24
pts
2011
Eredivisie (1) · P14
34 P · 9-11-14 · 31:56 · -25
38
pts
2009
Eredivisie (1) · P17↓
34 P · 7-9-18 · 24:58 · -34
30
pts
2008
Eredivisie (1) · P16PO
34 P · 7-9-18 · 33:64 · -31
30
pts
2005
Eredivisie (1) · P17↓
34 P · 4-7-23 · 32:78 · -46
19
pts
2003
Eredivisie (1) · P18↓
34 P · 6-5-23 · 35:84 · -49
23
pts
2002
Eredivisie (1) · P14
34 P · 10-7-17 · 43:55 · -12
37
pts
2001
Eredivisie (1) · P15
34 P · 9-4-21 · 44:66 · -22
31
pts
2000
Eredivisie (1) · P14
34 P · 8-9-17 · 41:60 · -19
33
pts
1999
Eredivisie (1) · P13
34 P · 8-12-14 · 40:57 · -17
36
pts