Jumping and singing, the PSV players celebrated in front of the sections with ‘their’ fans after winning the KNVB Cup. With striking green bathrobes around their shoulders, under which the PSV shirt was hidden. Wearing the bathrobes after the cup final has become a tradition. But where does it come from?
Sports historian Jurryt van de Vooren says that the Netherlands had the Silver Ball Tournament in 1912, which was organized by Sparta. This disappeared in the late 1950s when the football schedule became too crowded.
In 1912 the final was between the Haarlem team from HFC and Haarlem. Organizer Kees van Hasselt of Sparta then came up with the idea to give everyone bathrobes after the final. That was mainly for practical purposes. Everyone had to stay on the field to wait for the mayor’s speech. Then they might catch a cold.
That remained a tradition at the Silver Ball. “But I sometimes come across the bathrobes at KNVB cup finals in the sixties and seventies. I don’t know where that came from exactly,” says the sports historian.
“I stole this idea from England.”
The current tradition was devised by sports marketer Frank van den Wall Bake: “I stole this idea from England. I lived there for a while and saw those bathrobes. Back in the Netherlands I got Amstel as a customer. That beer brand then became the namesake of the cup tournament: the Amstel Cup. I introduced those bathrobes.”
The winning team then received a red bathrobe, the color of Amstel. It said winner. The loser received a white bathrobe with the Amstel logo on it in red.
At the time, they were awarded before the players went on stage. At the photo opportunity, the players wore the bathrobe with that advertisement. Many clubs were disappointed, because their own shirt sponsor then disappeared under it. “The shirt sponsors didn’t like that very much,” Van den Wall Bake recalls.
On one occasion, the sports marketer himself had problems with the bathrobe. His company had arranged the shirt advertisement for FC Groningen and that team reached the final.
“Then I had doubts. Amstel sponsored the cup final and one of my clients was in the final. FC Groningen was on the podium, but their sponsor was not visible. That was resolved with a lot of talking, but I didn’t feel comfortable with it I was kind of a victim of my own success back then.”
“I think it’s a nice tradition and sport thrives on traditions.”
“Now this has rightly changed and they don’t get the bathrobes until they’ve passed the podium and received their medal and the cup.”
Over time, the bathrobes disappeared from view for a while, but they have since been restored. Much to the delight of Van den Wall Bake. “I saw that green has become the predominant, with TOTO and Heineken as sponsors of the cup tournament. I think it’s a nice tradition and sport thrives on traditions.”