Eredivisie End of Season Review: RKC Waalwijk | OneFootball

Final Position: 17th

Overview:

RKC Waalwijk finished the 2024-25 season 17th, and found themselves relegated to the Keuken Kampioen Divisie after several years intermittently battling a slide down to the lower reaches of the Eredivisie table.

Unfortunately, the club ultimately failed to learn their lesson following the 2019–20 season’s relegation that was scrapped due to the Covid pandemic, and now they take to the second tier to regroup.

Henk Fraser’s side saw a record of six wins, seven draws, and 21 losses in 34 matches. Although they scored a semi-reputable 44 goals (in comparison to the clubs around them), they still registered the worst defence in the top-flight, conceding 74 goals in that time. In the KNVB Beker, league form eventually translated to the cup competition as RKC Waalwijk departed at the round of 16 following a 2-1 defeat to Utrecht.

Player of the season: Richonell Margaret

Recently-capped Suriname international Richonell Margaret stood out as a rare bright spark for RKC Waalwijk in an altogether dim season. The 24-year-old, who can play both out wide and up front, scored five goals and registered seven assists.

Despite his team’s difficult run of form in the top tier, Margaret showed great promise this term and no doubt attracted a number of Eredivisie clubs to his services for next season.

Young Player of the Season: Mohamed Ihattaren

Although his being a year younger than our POTS Margaret stretches the boundaries of this piece, 23-year-old Mohamed Ihattaren has arrived as yet another promising player in the RKC Waalwijk ranks.

Ihattaren has shown great maturity to take a sideways step in his career, coming back to the Netherlands to focus on his personal development after somewhat empty and frenetic spells with Juventus, Sampdoria, Ajax, and Slavia Prague after his PSV breakthrough.

Notching four goals and four assists in 24 matches (17 of those being starts), the former Jong Oranje starlet has put his name on the minds of bigger clubs around the country. He will move on at the end of this season, yet with the knowledge that RKC have been a great place for him to recalibrate his potential.

Summer needs:

With the likely departures of Margaret, Ihattaren, and potentially even Yassin Oukili and goal-getting forward Oskar Zawada, RKC will need to have a solid summer window if they’re to get themselves back into the big time. Reinforcing their midfield and attack will be a large part of their rebuild, and keeping youngster Chris Lokesa could prove particularly important.

A club-wide reshuffle could commence upon relegation, as the following players’ contracts expire this summer: Jeroen Houwen, Joey Kesting, Dario Van den Buijs, Aaron Meijers, Julian Lelieveld, Kevin Felida, Oukili, Patrick Vroegh, Ilias Takidine, Alexander Jakobsen, Silvester van der Water, and Michael Kramer.

Grade: F

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield