De Graafschap was actually expected to start in the Eredivisie this season, but a surprising play-off defeat against Go Ahead Eagles saw them drop to the Jupiler League instead. The Doetinchem outfit was one of the title contenders at the start of the season, but things went rapidly downhill in the Vijverberg Stadium, which was one of the biggest surprises of the campaign. Manager and club icon Jan Vreman actually had a squad full of quality, but De Graafschap somehow failed to adjust to Jupiler League football. This resulted in an early crisis and the title dream already got destroyed after a couple of games.
De Graafschap even dropped to the 17th spot at some point and Vreman's departure wasn't a surprise with that in mind. Henk de Jong, a former SC Cambuur coach, took over at the start of 2017 and he managed to get the team back on track. It all started in February when De Graafschap managed to bag five wins in a row. This restored the confidence completely and the Doetinchem outfit even pushed for the play-offs near the end. They even had the chance to claim that play-off spot on the last day of the season, but RKC Waalwijk grabbed that last reward instead.
The start of the campaign completely wasted the season for De Graafschap, but De Jong's arrival in Doetinchem and the better performances and results after the Winter break changed the mindset in a positive way. Some players are set to leave the club though. Piotr Parzyszek for instance, who bagged 25 goals this season, is expected to play for a better club next year. De Graafschap will want to forget this season as soon as possible and push for glory after the summer.
