Last week, PSV added Ruud Gullit to the Walk of Fame, where players who previously wrote history for the club are honored. Willy and René van de Kerkhof already had a spot and are starting a campaign to add their old trainer Kees Rijvers. “And they shouldn’t wait too long. The good man is already 96.”
“Kees Rijvers was the man who took PSV to great heights in the 1970s,” says René in the Willy and René Podcast of Omroep Brabant. “He now lives with his wife in a care home. PSV should not wait too long to give him this honor. Together with Guus Hiddink, Rijvers has brought PSV real successes.”
Hiddink already has a place in the Walk of Fame, but Rijvers does not yet and Willy also thinks this should change. “No discussion.”
“No idea what really happened.”
According to the brothers, a place in the Walk of Fame would bring Kees Rijvers’ story at PSV to a close. It has been a story with ups and downs, with the absolute low point being the dismissal of Rijvers in 1980 by then manager Ben van Gelder.
“They were always a unity. Something must have happened and I never found out what,” says Willy. “Rijvers was terribly disappointed and did not want a farewell gift from us. He is also so stubborn. I also mistake him for not wanting to be in the Walk of Fame at all.”
The brothers think it is completely justified that Ruud Gullit has been a member of the select group since last week. “Ruud was a phenomenon. Really great. He often moved forward from the back and then I took his place.”
Gullit’s departure from PSV also did not deserve a beauty prize. To force a transfer to Milan, he publicly quarreled with everyone, even the mild-mannered Willy. “But that has long been forgiven and forgotten,” Willy assures.
“You just want to play against Arsenal.”
In the future, it could be that a player like Luuk de Jong will also be immortalized in the Philips Stadium. The brothers expect the captain to kick off against Arsenal, even though the match no longer has any direct sporting importance.
“For a player, there is nothing better than playing football three times a week, even if you have aches and pains,” says Willy. “A Luuk de Jong just wants to play against Arsenal.” To which René adds: “They also have something to put right against Arsenal after that 4-0 in the away match.”
In the podcast, the brothers revisit Thursday’s match against Heerenveen and also look ahead to the matches against Arsenal on Tuesday and against AZ next Sunday. And they will tell you which opponent they hope PSV will draw for the eighth finals of the Champions League next Monday.
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