A plane crash, fireworks disaster & car tragedy - how Twente shaped Ten Hag

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag faces a club close to his heart in the Europa League on Wednesday, but also one where tragedies shaped his fledgling career.

At FC Twente a team-mate of Ten Hag's died in a plane crash. A year later another player was killed in a car accident.

When Ten Hag was captain a fatal fireworks disaster stunned the club's city.

These three moments have shaped United's upcoming opponents Twente. They also made Ten Hag into the man he is today.

Andy Scharmin was captain of the Netherlands Under-21 side. He was supposed to be the next superstar in Dutch, and European, football.

"Scharmin and Erik were similar ages, they came from the same village," ex-Twente goalkeeper Theo Snelders told BBC Sport.

On 7 June 1989 Scharmin and 16 other young footballers were flying to Suriname for a pre-season friendly, to raise awareness of Dutch-Surinamese players when their plane crashed on its approach to landing.

In total, 176 people on board were killed, including Scharmin, 13 of his team-mates and their coach.

"It was a huge tragedy for the club," said Snelders, who played with Scharmin for two years.

Ten Hag and other Twente players were pallbearers at Scharmin's funeral and the United manager has a day of mourning on 7 June every year.

"Scharmin was an unimaginable athlete and my friend," Ten Hag said a few years ago.

"I will never forget my team-mate Edwin Hilgerink standing on my doorstep to tell me that a plane had crashed with Andy and his mother on board."

A late developer, Ten Hag was still in the youth set-up at Twente when Scharmin was killed.

He played two seasons with the first team before transferring to second-tier De Graafschap in the summer of 1990.

That summer Twente signed promising midfielder Tom Krommendijk, 23, from Feyenoord.

After the first match of the season Krommendijk was driving home when he lost control of his car and died in the resulting crash.

Two players dying in 14 months, at one club.

Ten Hag had only just left Twente but his connections were still deep - indeed, he would rejoin in 1992.

"Twente brought me a lot," Ten Hag said in his news conference on Tuesday before United's match. "[There is] a great deal of history there."

"I was part of their first youth team. Twente is the team I follow the most. I watch them as a fan, not as an analyst."

In 1994, Ten Hag left his boyhood club again to play for fellow Dutch club RKC Waalwijk. He then spent a season at Utrecht but returned to Twente in 1996, where he finished his playing career six years later - at the age of 32.

In May 2000 the city of Enschede, where Twente play, was the scene of a catastrophic disaster after an explosion at a fireworks warehouse.

Twenty-three people were killed, 950 were injured, and the suburb of Roombeek had to be rebuilt.

Ten Hag was captain of Twente at the time and three days later led out his side before an emotional 2-2 draw at NAC Breda.

Twelve months after the disaster Ten Hag skippered Twente to the Dutch Cup, the club's first trophy in 24 years.

"That brought so much joy to the area," said Snelders. "These tragedies, that’s why Twente now is so close.

"There’s a [Dutch] word called Noaberschap. You look after your neighbours, to help each other, keep an eye on them. That's what the east of Holland stands for. That's Twente."

Ten Hag retired from playing at the end of the following season. He was made head of youth development and, along with Snelders, now back in the Netherlands, started to earn his coaching badges.

"Me and Erik had to do 18 sessions and we always drove together, except when the carnival was around and Erik wanted to go, so he chucked it," said Snelders.

Despite his occasional absence, Ten Hag still got his coaching badges because he was "well-liked" and pretty much "knew his knowledge already" added Snelders.

"He wasn't quite the teacher’s pet, but the teachers were always asking 'do you agree with that Erik?'"

By the time of his final season with Twente, 2008-09, Ten Hag was so embedded with the club that manager Steve McClaren - formerly England boss - let him take training sessions for the first two months of his tenure, so as to not upset the side's culture.

Ten Hag left to become a coach at PSV Eindhoven in 2009, having helped shape the modern Twente. But how did the club influence him?

"He cares about people. He is a very caring soul," said Snelders. "He is not just interested in the player but also the person, and their families.

"I didn't think he'd be managing Manchester United [when he left Twente]. But he made the right steps to develop and he's very good with young players.

"He's got the talent. At Ajax he grew again. What he did there was unbelievable."