What a mega stunt! Good: beating one club from the Eredivisie (FC Groningen) in the cup tournament okay. But two? Spakenburg did it by again mocking all football laws outdoors and taking FC Utrecht in the Galgenwaard: 1-4.
As a result, the ‘Blauwen’ from Bunschoten were the third amateur club to reach the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup. And who knows what else is in the fish keg. Because all trusses are loose in Spakenburg.
Because unbelievable but true: two of those three clubs come from the fishing village of Bunschoten, since IJsselmeervogels was the first amateur club to reach the semi-final in 1975 under the leadership of legend Jaan de Graaf. VVSB from Noordwijkerhout followed in 2016.
And what a most charming football Spakenburg displayed in the cold Utrecht showcase. The young trainer Chris de Graaf (no relation) and his players deserve a big compliment for that. With guts and a good portion of fighting spirit, they put the players of the home club to the test. Anyway, De Graaf had warned his men in advance, as he usually does every match since he held sway in November in the blue part of the fishing village. ,,My players know: if they play cowardly, I will go home at halftime”, said the success coach.
Nevertheless, given the difference in level of two divisions, the Spakenburg bickering seemed to go down in advance with the opponent as the word of God in an elder. However, the ‘Blues’ from the famous football village turned out to be tougher than expected. Much tougher even.
The number seven of the Eredivisie should have known better, since the number seven of the Second Division had spectacularly knocked FC Groningen out of the cup tournament in January (2-3). Even then the Spakenburgers scared the hell out of the Groningen people and were rewarded for their courage.
This century, the top amateurs from Bunschoten visited a renowned Eredivisionist three times before: at AZ (2009), at PSV (2010) and three years ago at Ajax, where Spakenburg received football lessons from the team from Amsterdam (7-0) on a evening when player Thomas van den Houten discovered upon arrival at the Johan Cruijff Arena that he had left his kicks at home.
Chris de Graaf, then right-hand man of Eric Meijers, will not soon forget the match. “Actually, I wanted to stop as an assistant before Christmas, but when Ajax came out of the box, I thought: ‘I’ll take that one with me’. Well, there was nothing wrong with it. We didn’t even hold the ball for three seconds, it was like F1 playing against A1.”
Anyway, Spakenburg came out many times better in the Domstad, against a club that reached the cup final three years ago after a 2-0 win, a final (against Feyenoord) that would never be played due to the corona outbreak . In an equal first half, it was Wimilio Vink who put Spakenburg in the lead with a beautiful volley, after which Admiraal doubled the score after an hour’s play, from a fantastic pass by captain Floris van der Linden. Tasos Douvikas seemed to make it exciting with the 1-2, but Maties Artien and Van der Linden dealt the final blow to the home club.