When Jan Nordström became the first keeper of the newly founded FC Groningen in 1971, the Swede was faced with an impossible task. Still, the club always held a warm place in his heart until his death.
It was an unmitigated disaster on that rainy Tuesday, June 15, 1971. Tonny van Leeuwen had been awarded the evening before in Rotterdam by the KNVB for being the least passed goalkeeper in Dutch professional football that season. He only let seven through in GVAV’s shirt. Partly thanks to him, the Groningen football club returned to the highest level after a season and would continue under the name FC Groningen.
Big shoes
Van Leeuwen was destined to become the first goalkeeper of the newly founded club when that night, on his way back from the gala of the football association, he collided head-on with a truck carrying concrete pipes at Rijksweg 32 near Meppel, with fatal consequences. The legend died and FC Groningen had to look for a replacement goalkeeper in a hurry, because second keeper Geert Schuurman did not enjoy the full confidence of trainer Ron Groenewoud.
They were big shoes to fill. It was already certain in advance that no goalkeeper could stand the comparison with the popular club hero Van Leeuwen. Groenewoud therefore thought it best to get a closing post from abroad, so that it would not be burdened with the entire history.
Looking in Sweden
FC Groningen went looking in Sweden and initially found Ronnie Hellström, the keeper of Hammarby IF and the Swedish national team. It seemed to be a successful trip. A three-year contract was soon ready for Hellström when the Scandinavian suddenly came up with additional requirements. He wanted to be able to leave on a free transfer after three seasons. Groenewoud and board member and team leader Menno Boon refused to agree to this because of the club’s interests.
In the meantime, the Groningen duo had received a tip that IFK Göteborg also had a good keeper under the crossbar. His name: Jan Nordström. Boon and Groenewoud descended to southern Sweden to watch the goalkeeper at work, but were unlucky. The Göteborg match was canceled due to heavy rain.
‘Just arrange a ball’
However, Groenewoud could not be caught for one hole. He told Nordström to ‘arrange a ball’, after which some balls were fired at the intended new closing post in the park. The trainer had seen and heard soon enough. ,,Of course there was something there”, Groenewoud would say later. Nordström was taken to the Oosterpark without FC Groningen ever officially seeing him in action.
The Swede had an incredibly difficult start in Groningen. Exactly what everyone feared happened. With every ball that the keeper let through, the comparison was made with his illustrious predecessor. ,,Tonny had had that one”, it sounded, not only from the stands, but also among his fellow players. No matter how hard Nordström tried and how hard he studied night after night to master Dutch as quickly as possible, he seemed to have embarked on a hopeless mission.
Classic goalkeeper blunder
Illustrative was an incident later that season during the away match at DWS in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. Nordström let a long shot slip through his legs, a classic goalkeeper blunder. He could sink through the ground. The goalkeeper was so embarrassed that he wanted to walk off the field. With his head bowed, he started towards the dressing room. Fellow players tried to stop him, but in vain. Until Nordström ran into trainer Groenewoud at the sideline, who sent him back to goal in no uncertain terms. FC Groningen lost 3-0.
It was and remained an incredibly difficult task to replace the world keeper Tonny van Leeuwen, who was still on everyone’s mind. The criticism continued until the widely respected club icon Piet Fransen stepped into the breach for Nordström. The deceased in 2015 Mister FC Groningen , at the time one of the veterans of the team, called the selection together one day and broke a lance for the Swede. ,,We had Tonny, a great keeper, but he is no longer there”, Fransen told his teammates. ,,Now there is Jan, whom we should not compare with Tonny, but whom we should help.”
Everything turned for the better
From that moment on everything turned for the better for Nordström, who was eternally grateful to Fransen for his intervention. Nordström turned out to be a flexible and agile goalkeeper, who, according to the public and the press, was most like a handball goalkeeper, although he himself did not agree. Yet he often rusted the balls out of the goal with hands and feet.
Especially with free kicks and shots from close range, Nordström held his own. The goalkeeper eventually stayed in the Netherlands for three seasons and stood under the bar at FC Groningen during a total of 106 official matches. In 1974 he waved off at the then financially distressed northern football pride and returned to his old club IFK Göteborg.
Jan Nordström recently passed away at the age of 74. His wife Mona says from Sweden that the goalkeeper always thought back to his time at FC Groningen with a good feeling.