The sports editors traditionally close the year with the Toppers & Tobbers, the overview of winners and losers of the past twelve months. Before we present the highlights of 2023 tomorrow, we’ll kick off with the unlucky ones. FC Groningen, FC Emmen, Donar, even in Monaco there were tears. Will you grieve with us?
1. FC Groningen
May 7: Disaster year complete with relegation
Tears are flowing in the stands, in the dressing room, everywhere at FC Groningen. In De Adelaarshorst by Go Ahead Eagles, the curtain finally falls on the heavily decayed Pride of the North. After almost a quarter of a century of uninterrupted Premier League football, relegation is a fact. It is the sad conclusion of the biggest disaster year in club history. From the dismissal of technical director Mark Jan Fledderus, who is held responsible for the negative spiral, to the struggling of inexperienced trainer Dennis van der Ree and the rebellious supporters who throw smoke bombs and even hit their own player Jetro Willems on the head. It is one big and shameful funeral march in Euroborg.
2. Donar
July 31: Groningen basketball club bankrupt
He has been presenting his gullible fellow board members with the best figures for years, but in reality the club appears to be a lot less prosperous. Seven-time national champion Donar goes bankrupt with millions in debt, because the treasurer is playing tricks on everyone. Due to loopholes in the regulations, a rescue committee led by former banker Jakob Klompien managed to give the club a fresh start, but Donar has taken off a few jackets.
3. FC Emmen
June 11: Drenthe descends to the first division
FC Emmen once again appears not to be here to stay in the Premier League. The season is already off to a bad start with the injury of intended strongman Maikel Kieftenbeld. The people of Drenthe sometimes manage to pull off a stunt against top clubs, but they lose points against their closest competitors. While chairman Ronald Lubbers disappears from the stage with his own troubles, Dick Lukkien tries to find the exit with a positive feeling. Vain hope, Almere City is too strong in the play-offs.
4. Jur Vrieling
October 26: Horse sold, crosses Paris
It is the fate of a show jumper who does not ride his own horse. His beloved Long John Silver 3, with whom Jur Vrieling won many prizes, is sold by the owner for the price of the Groninger. A rich Swiss is the lucky one. For Vrieling it means crying out and starting over. The Olympic Games are suddenly far away. “Thank you for the wonderful time together. You were a friend and one of the best partners I ever had,” Vrieling said emotionally.
5. Bauke Mollema
June 22: Groningen climbing goat passed for Tour
It is not the year of Bauke Mollema. The legs of the 37-year-old cycling professional do not want to. He goes from illness to crashes to form crises. This means that he is passed over for the Tour de France after twelve Tour starts in a row. Mollema still rides the Giro and the Vuelta, but success is also lacking during those expeditions. During ‘his own’ European Cycling Championships in Drenthe, he goes hard in the opening phase. Yet the veteran does not know how to give up. “In 2024 I want to show that I can do better than this.”
6. Leekster Eagles
June 10: Plug from the famous indoor football club
Sweet are the memories of the time when hot battles were fought in front of a thousand people in Sports Center Leek with big clubs like Bunga Melati, but it is all in the past. The indoor football club will not make it to the golden anniversary that Leekster Eagles would celebrate in 2024. The best players run away to top club Hovocubo, their own youth make different choices, the main sponsor stops, spectators stay at home and fresh driver blood cannot be found. In short, end of story.
7. Groningen Marathon
October 5: Initiative thwarted by municipality
It’s a fantastic plan. In honor of the opening of the new Ring Road, which will soon run under the southern part of Groningen, there should be the Groningen Marathon along the same route. An appealing event that suits a place of the size of Groningen. 42,195 legendary meters in a city that would like to have the appearance of City of Talents. Organizer Elske Dijkstra sees almost all lights turn green, except those of… the municipality. He only sees obstacles to the new path.
8. vv Musselkanaal
October 3: drug incident is not without consequences
As if it were the most normal thing in the world. A player from VV Musselkanaal cuts cocaine on an unfolded table in the players bus. A fellow player laughs and another takes a photo. It appears on social media and is shared en masse. The bomb bursts. Trainer Wessel Woortman is immediately done with it. “This feels like three stabs in the back,” he says and steps down. The team leader, the caretaker and the linesman follow. The board firmly distances itself and suspends the player for two years.
9. vv Meedhuizen
February 20: Match gets terribly out of hand
Amateur football shows its worst side during vv Meedhuizen-Muntendam. Just before half time, the match in the fifth division degenerates into an ordinary brawl. There are strong blows, even a kick to the head of a Muntendam player lying on the ground. A report follows and the KNVB starts an investigation. The association is not lenient in its assessment. Meedhuizen must surrender five points, receive a 750 euro fine and three Meedhuizers receive a suspension of more than one year.
10. Kevin van Veen
October 24: Striker ends up on the bench at FC Groningen
He is very proud when he takes office. Kevin van Veen promises the supporters of FC Groningen thirty goals in the first division. “At least,” the goalgetter who came over from Scotland adds, full of bravado. In reality, the adventure is very disappointing. Van Veen still scores five goals, but cannot meet the demands of running and applying pressure that coach Dick Lukkien sets for him. The highly paid worker ends up on the bench and it remains to be seen whether he will return in green and white in 2024.
Not quite
Tobbers’ list is democratically compiled based on the votes of the employees of the sports editorial team Dagblad van het Noorden . The following athletes and trainers just missed out on the Tob 10 of 2023: the disappeared Martini Sparks, the demolition of the cycling criteria, Bas Dost who suddenly fell over on the football field and the HZVV supporters who attacked SVBO players during the Protos Weering tournament.