Excelsior have ensured themselves of playing in the Eredivisie for a fifth consecutive season, which is a feat that the Rotterdam side has never been achieved before. Finishing the season on the 11th spot on the Eredivisie league table was a more than decent achievement. Excelsior had even been ranked in the subtop of the league table for a while during the first half of the season.
A striking fact is that Excelsior did extremely well in away games this season. On a league table based on away games, the Rotterdam side would have been ranked amongst the subtop teams in the Eredivisie. The results at home were quite disappointing, compared to the results in away games. Only two home games resulted in victories. Excelsior have been in with a chance of qualifying for the Europa League play-offs for quite a long time this season, but a lack of consistency towards the end of the campaign proved costly, as a result of which Excelsior had to settle for a gap of six points towards those play-off places in the end.
Coach Mitchell van der Gaag will leave the club after two successful seasons, in which Excelsior finished 12th and 11th on the Eredivisie league table. Van der Gaag will become the new coach of NAC Breda. The name of his successor as the Excelsior coach has not been announced yet.
Hicham Faik was the player of the season for Excelsior. He scored some important goals with his characteristic left-footed strikes from outside the box. Faik will leave the club, though, for a new adventure at Zulte Waregem in Belgium. Regular players Khalid Karami and Milan Massop will make transfers to Vitesse and Waasland-Beveren, also in Belgium, respectively, so it looks likely that there will be several new faces amongst the starting eleven at Excelsior in the new season.
