The old hard core of NAC supporters and the police: they were not always good friends. But now they’re going to drink a beer together and tell anecdotes, reminisce about the good old days. Richard Kanters, retired police officer and ME’er, talks to the fanatical fans of the time. “The NAC supporters were not sweethearts”, he says in advance. They see each other at the reunion ‘Old Boys Krentenbrood’.
The reunion is intended for supporters who were born before 1980 and is therefore also called ‘Ouwe Jongen Krentenbrood’. The meeting is organized for and by the somewhat rawer supporters who know the tricks of the trade.
At the successful previous edition in 2020, more than 300 supporters gathered to listen to former players Pierre van Hooijdonk, John Smit and Gerard den Haan, among others. Also this time there will be ex-pros again, but the highlight will undoubtedly be the presence of former agent Richard Kanters (69). From 1975 to 1991 he was a member of the mobile unit and the so-called NAC team of the Breda police.
“He will still know a lot of supporters,” laughs Hellen Go, the only female member of the organization. “With a large number he has undoubtedly been in contact with or has been after them.”
“A drunk guy came up to me, but I stepped aside and he fell right off the train.”
Richard Kanters has to laugh about this and confirms that. He looks back on that time with pleasure and will share his stories and experiences from the point of view of the police with the older members of the hard core during the reunion. He wants to make a pass.
“NAC played an away game in Rotterdam”, he says, “and when we returned we received a report that there was fighting in the supporters train. It had therefore come to a halt just in front of the station and we had to go with the mobile unit. “
“The first problem turned out to be a fairly high fence that we had to climb over. That was quite difficult with shield and bat and at one point we even fell over with the whole fence. Then we also had to get into the train. We noticed that the entrance is quite high without a platform and had to help each other upstairs.”
“The moment I had just entered, an overconfident, well-drunk NAC supporter came storming towards me. I calmly took a step aside and the guy shoots right past me through the door and thunders out. A fall of one and a half meters, so we didn’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“As police officers at NAC, we were sometimes bullying the referee.”
One more then. “In the old stadium on Beatrixstraat, we as police officers were still sitting on a wooden bench at the edge of the field. I must admit that we were sometimes a bit bored there. injured party. At one point we were messing around so much that we all fell through the bench again. The audience liked that, yes. ”
The funny thing is that organizer Marco accidentally ran into the former police officer in his neighborhood while walking the dog. They recognized each other immediately and the anecdotes soon surfaced. There is no old pain.
“We knew our Pappenheimers and they knew us” concludes Richard Kanters. “You shouldn’t romanticize it, but I’ve never had any problems with those guys on a personal level. It’s going to be a fun evening.”
Those interested in the reunion can register here Sign Up.