With three goals, Henk Veerman shot his club FC Volendam to the championship last night. The promotion to the Eredivisie was safeguarded two weeks earlier, but with the victory awarded Volendam last night an extremely successful season.
“I am very proud, the spirit was in this year,” says a fish seller today at De Dijk. “A skilled group with good guidance.”
But the Volendammers are a lot less enthusiastic about the chances in the Eredivisie in the coming season. “Do I have to be honest? I think a year. When I see how they play, I think they are doing better in the first division,” predicts a supporter.
And that is, given the football history of Volendam, quite realistic. It is not for nothing that the boat on which the team will be honored on 11 May is called the back and forth. Because although the North Holland club has been able to promote for years, survival in the Eredivisie always turns out to be a bridge too far.
A small wallet
According to Cor Tol, archivist of FC Volendam and former press chief, is the simple answer: a small wallet. As a small club, Volendam has little chance of the big money, making the budget relatively small. Where Ajax has more than 140 million euros to spend next season, Volendam has to do with a sloppy three million.