of goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen, first-team players went canvassing with FC Utrecht merchandise and recorded a single entitled "We geven het niet op" ("We don't give up"). The municipality of Utrecht eventually decided to respond to the massive local support and covered expenses. The early 1980s, under the leadership of head coach and former player Han Berger, were successful. The team finished in 5th place in 1980, 3rd in 1981 and 5th place in 1982 of the Eredivisie and in 1982 the club also reached the KNVB Cup final, which was lost to AZ '67. The team also played European football for the first time in club history. The success was in large part due to the large number of youth players that broke through to the first team during these years. Out of eighteen first-team players reaching the cup final in 1982, fourteen were academy players, including van Breukelen, Gert Kruys, Willy Carbo and Ton de Kruijk. Many of these players, such as Leo van Veen, Frans Adelaar, Willem van Hanegem, Ton du Chatinier and Jan Wouters, would later return to the club as managers. Although the club went through a golden era results-wise, the club was far from healthy financially. To keep the club afloat, key players were let go every season. Van Breukelen left for Nottingham Forest in 1982, Carbo for Club Brugge in 1983 and Rob de Wit for Ajax in 1983. As a result, FC Utrecht dropped from a near-top side to more mid-table finishes in the Eredivisie table in the mid-1980s. On 1 April 1985, Utrechts Nieuwsblad published an article about an imminent takeover of the club. A consortium of, among others, the English newspaper magnate Robert Maxwell, Philips, KLM and Johan Cruyff, were said to have plans to invest heavily in FC Utrecht and acquire a majority shareholding. The supporters of the club were strongly against the takeover, however, especially due to the interference of Ajax legend, Cruyff. Ultimately, the takeover failed. 1991–2005: Troubled 1990s, success and tragedy After a number of weaker years, FC Utrecht reached 4th place in the Eredivisie in 1990–91, led by manager Ab Fafié and with players such as Johan de Kock, Jan Willem van Ede and Rob Alflen and top goalscorer of the season, Włodzimierz Smolarek. After this, however, things went downhill for the club. Because Utrecht missed out on European qualification, incomes were lost. Between 1989