Former HFC-Haarlem chairman Aad Goedhart passed away last week. Goedhart held several positions at the now defunct football club and was known as a remarkable bon vivant. “Goedhart was HFC Haarlem. A real club man, who did everything out of club love,” says HFC Haarlem connoisseur Edwin Struis.
Goedhart was a footballer at HFC Haarlem from 1957 to 1962. He fell short for the absolute top and at the age of 24 he started to focus on a social career. Goedhart returned to HFC Haarlem as a director in two periods (1980 – 1989 and 1995-2007).
In both periods, Piet Keur also played football for the Haarlemmers. “A special man, but a real Haarlemmer. He had a heart for the club. I have had collisions with him, but that was always respectful. I have had a fine from him and I have also We never got stuck in that. A little later we shook hands again and drank a beer,” says Keur.
Economical
Goedhart was also known as a thrifty driver. A nice anecdote is that of Dick Advocaat who was a trainer of HFC Haarlem from 1987 to 1989. “Lawyer had stated in his contract that he would get a new BMW. Well then Goedhart went looking for a second-hand car, because nowhere in that contract did it say that it should be a new one,” says Struis with a laugh.
Struis does not entirely agree with that frugal image. “Not much came in at Haarlem and nobody was queuing up to give the club a financial boost. He also had to be frugal. He also worked a lot with one-year contracts with an option for another year. I think that is rather smart.”
At the beginning of 2010, HFC Haarlem went bankrupt. “Without Goedhart, the bankruptcy would have happened sooner,” says Keur. “He kept everything going with art and flying. All credit to Goedhart.”
In 2007, Goedhart received the golden KNVB pin for his services to the football world. The Golden Pin is the highest award for volunteers awarded by the Football Association. At HFC Haarlem, only Henk Hut previously received the golden pin.