On Sunday evening, Thijs Slegers said goodbye in the Philips Stadium in Eindhoven. The press secretary of the Eindhoven football club recently died at the age of 46 from the consequences of leukemia. PSV estimates that about 2500 people walked past the coffin.
Slegers’ coffin was placed in the players’ tunnel, through which the football players normally enter the field. There people could say goodbye to the former journalist of, among others, Voetbal International. Many flowers were placed near a fence with a picture of Slegers on it. A message could also be left in a condolence register.
Red flares
In the stadium, the text ‘Thijs Slegers 1976-2023’ was written on the boarding and dozens of fans stood around the field with red torches. PSV general manager Marcel Brands, among others, was present in the Philips Stadium.
The stadium opened at half past six in the evening. The queue was closed around 8:30 PM. Slegers’ funeral will take place privately this Monday.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of Slegers on Saturday before PSV’s away match against NEC. Before the European Championship qualifier of the Dutch national team against Gibraltar last Monday, there was also a minute of silence for Slegers.
Blood or stem cell donor
Slegers was a familiar face in the Dutch football world. But he also became known for his appeal, when it was known that he himself was no longer curable, to people to become blood or stem cell donors. “I can no longer be saved, but others can,” he emphasized.
His call was heeded en masse. Thousands of people registered with Matchis, the Dutch center for stem cell donors.
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