Complex Purmersteijn transformed for cup evening: “You have to look good”

Despite the late hour, the match is attended by approximately 1500 spectators. Remarkably enough, many Sparta fans have also found their way to Purmerend. Geoffrey de Bruin is one of the visitors from OFC. “My son is a ball boy tonight and plays in the O-11. That was a good reason to go to this game. It’s now perfect because of the holiday, although he could have gone otherwise.”

According to De Bruin, it is ‘fine to do’ that OFC plays in Purmerend. “It’s a nice outing for us, haha. It also strikes me that many people have traveled with them from Rotterdam. More public came than I expected in advance,” says De Bruin while looking around.

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A striking spectator is Nick Mulders, indeed the son of OFC trainer Pieter Mulders. He does not mind that OFC does not play at its own complex.
“It often happens in the cup tournament that clubs have to move. Yesterday USV Hercules played at the FC Utrecht training complex. If you don’t have your own facilities, you have to look for opportunities in the area.”

Hoping for a stunt

Mulders often visits his father. “When it comes out, I always try to be present. It would be fantastic if OFC stunt against Sparta. For many players it is already a dream to play against a club from the Eredivisie. They came behind after three minutes, but fought back well.”

In the end, Mulders’ hopes do not come true, because Tobias Lauritsen scores twice in the final phase. The trainer’s son is not standing by the dugout. “I don’t have to. Everywhere next to the field where I am, I can hear him”, Mulders concludes with a wink.

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The cup match was played in Purmerend, because the OFC light installation was not sufficient. The second divisionist first looked at other options. For example, sports park Goed Ook (AFC), sports park Kalverhoek (Jong AZ) and the Volendam stadium (FC Volendam) were on the wish list. They dropped out, so Purmersteijn was allowed to organize the game. “It takes some getting used to that we have to play at another club, but it is all super arranged,” says Bauke Krijgsman, board member at OFC.

Security Measures

“They receive the canteen income, we keep the ticket sales”, Krijgsman continues. “We also had to arrange stewards from the KNVB. You have to call up one steward from the association for every hundred supporters. That is why we hired six, because we hope for six hundred supporters. Sparta also had eight stewards with them, so you will come automatically. on a high number of security guards.”

Business card

For Purmersteijn it is an ideal evening to present their business card, Marco Daman also knows. He is a board member of commercial affairs and was approached to organize the competition. “FC Volendam has played here in the preparation, but that was different. I must confess that I thought OFC had to play against Jong Sparta. Only later did I find out that it was about the first team. All the more beautiful is it that you can then receive a premier league club.”

A large group of volunteers spent all day trying to keep the complex looking spic and span. “Your club is of course in the spotlight, so you have to look good. It is also great for the city of Purmerend that such a cup match can be organized here. We are a club with ambition and through this evening we can radiate that.”

Shutdown

It was not the preparations and measures, but the cup dream shattered for OFC. After a quick deficit, Pieter Mulders’ team fought back via Niels Butter. He was allowed to reserve for a penalty after a foul by Shurandy Sambo. The tie (1-1) also remained on the scoreboard for a long time and a stunt seemed in the making. Sparta, however, brought in Vito van Crooij and Lauritsen after seventy minutes. The latter scored twice, which means that the team from Rotterdam will be in the box for the next round tomorrow.