Rivalry at rugby derby ‘t Gooi – Hilversum now hard to find: “Too much blood used to be on the post”

The rugby match RC ‘t Gooi – RC Hilversum has a long history and especially in the past there was great rivalry. “It was sometimes a bit too much blood on the post and it sometimes went over the edge,” says former chairman Peter de Graaf van ‘t Gooi.

Both boards took the initiative about twenty years ago to limit the rivalry between the teams. “We deliberately worked on that. We have much more contact with each other. The old guard of both clubs play a golf match every year and they do fraternize,” says De Graaf.

“The old people have had more pain about the split than the current youth,” says former Hilversum chairman Wieger Schotanus.

Establishment of RC Hilversum

And that old pain is from long ago. RC ‘t Gooi was founded in 1933. 21 years later, RC Hilversum saw the light of day. “Hilversum was founded from members of ‘t Gooi. They no longer felt like cycling to Naarden and decided to set up their own club,” says Schotanus. That split caused the necessary rivalry about seventy years ago. “That was not comfortable and that caused rivalry,” says De Graaf.

The battle in the North Holland derby between ‘t Gooi and Hilversum has leveled off quite a bit these days. The Naarders were clearly too strong last weekend and won 43-7 against the record champion.

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