For the documentary With the Red Pants into Europe Let’s go back 40 years in time. In the 1981-82 season, the tiny HFC Haarlem managed to surprisingly qualify for European football thanks to a fourth place in the Eredivisie, behind Ajax, PSV and AZ.
A still young Ruud Gullit, who was immediately snapped up by Feyenoord, and veteran Martin Haar, who was voted the best player in the Eredivisie in 1982, were the star players of the team. The achievement was quite remarkable because the year before Haarlem played football in the first division, became champion there and immediately pushed through to the top of the Eredivisie.
When the Belgian AA Gent became the opponent in the draw for the UEFA cup, it was a big disappointment for some players. “That is not European football, by bus to Belgium”, Martin Haar expressed the feelings at the time.
football thriller
As the matches against Ghent got closer. the tension of a European match was definitely felt. The home game was narrowly won: 2-1.
When Joop Böckling in the return already scored in the second minute, the Red Pants seemed to be able to finish the game without any worries. But things turned out differently. The Belgians scored three times and at one point were virtually in the next round. This turned out to be the beginning of a true football thriller that is still talked about in Haarlem, after all these years.
“I was crying, I was so emotional”, supporter Edwin Struis now says, while he is once again struggling to keep it too dry.
The documentary With the Red Pants into Europe is becoming tuesday 20 september televised on NH. The first time at 5:10 PM, with reruns every hour.