It all started among the ruins of the Second World War. This is how football club TPO in Moerdijk got their name: Tussen Puinhoopen Opgericht. Now the members fear that it will become: Between Ruins Abandoned. On Sunday, the threatened closure of the village at the football club caused a lot of fighting spirit. “We will go through fire for this village.”
TPO board member Jaap has been around the club in Moerdijk since he was 12. he fears that the club will soon end as it once began: among the rubble. “That’s ironic about the situation,” he says with a wry smile. “But we have to continue, no matter how difficult that is. The club is a family, and it does not just lay down the hatchet.”
He can’t live without his ‘cluppie’. “I wouldn’t know what to do with my time. I open the gates here and I close them again. Football is my passion and my life. It would be a shame if they took that away from me.”
It causes mixed feelings for bartender Henny. “I definitely don’t want to leave here. I have my friends, family and of course the football club here.” Still, she keeps hope for a good outcome. “On the one hand, I think: it’s just a proposal and they can’t just send us away. On the other hand, I haven’t heard any solutions yet, and that creates tension.”
“The closure of Moerdijk is the talk of the town everywhere.”
The club means a lot to the members, says Henny. “They come here every Sunday to have fun, both on the field and in the canteen. We also regularly organize a quiz, a party or other activities for young and old. It really is a place of solidarity here.”
Yet it does not escape the bartender’s notice that the past week has only been about Moerdijk’s disappearance. “Everyone is talking about it. They are angry and sad that this decision was just made on our backs.” It goes beyond the football canteen. “It’s the talk of the town everywhere. You just can’t avoid it, even when you’re walking the dog.”
The board and volunteers want to keep the club going for as long as possible. “We keep all the balls in the air and won’t just leave,” Hal says belligerently. “We are just going to fight for our place. The neighborhood app has already exploded, everyone is ready to go through fire for Moerdijk.”
“Sometimes you don’t have a choice.”
If disaster does strike, TPO is prepared to cooperate. “With some reluctance, but sometimes you have no choice. If a solution is found for us, we would be happy to move. It doesn’t matter where, as long as we can stay together with everyone.”
Chairman Ludo van Gils looks ahead to the 85th anniversary in 2031. “These beautiful fields will remain here for at least another six years,” he says determinedly. “Some said we would be ‘lifted from the ruins’, but we won’t let that happen.”
You can read all the stories about it here the disappearance of the village of Moerdijk.