While the whole of FC Emmen dries the tears, a Groninger screams his lungs out with joy: Thomas Poll from Wehe-den-Hoorn, who was at the basis of the opening goal of Almere City FC with a beautiful pass.
In contrast to Tuesday’s game in Almere, Poll, who was born on ‘Bommen Berend’, grew up in Wehe-den-Hoorn and was trained at FC Groningen, now not in the starting eleven of coach Alex Pastoor. But when he came in as a left back after the break, he immediately left a strong mark on the game.
Point pass
In the 50th minute, Poll got the ball and saw Anthony Limbombe make a run just in front of him on the left flank. He gave his teammate the ball flawlessly, Limbombe was able to give a cross completely free, which was shot by Rajiv van la Parra behind Emmen goalkeeper Mickey van der Hart: 0-1. Shortly afterwards, Jorrit Smeets made 0-2 and the match was largely over.
Afterwards, Poll is jumped on all sides, sprayed with champagne and dragged to the Almere fans in the section of the Oude Meerdijk. ,,This is great”, the young Groninger laughs. “I have danced, sung, everything. I didn’t know what was happening either. I come into the team, the second half has barely started and we score twice, game over. Although we still had to be alert. But after that 0-2 it was over, I think.”
Billionaire Bamberger
While Poll and his teammates go wild for the club, Lesley Bamberger, the club’s wealthy owner, watches with satisfaction. “This is fantastic,” says the billionaire, who became wealthy as a real estate entrepreneur. “Now we are going to take the next step. Let’s just keep ourselves clean in the Premier League. We need to expand the stadium in terms of seating. I think this promotion will do a lot for Almere, I am convinced of that. Just like it did here in Emmen, I’m sure. Professional football provides a kind of identity for the city, doesn’t it.”
Ten meters away, former FC Emmen attacker Jeredy Hilterman is partying. The striker of Almere City, who told the supporters a year ago as an NAC player at FC Emmen’s championship party that he had ‘made a mistake’ by going from FC Emmen to NAC, was now allowed to drink champagne himself. He came on in the second half and said afterwards, in the festivities, that he seriously doubted whether he would cheer if he scored in Emmen.
Jeredy Hilterman has ‘double feeling’
,,Because FC Emmen is still in my heart. I had a great half year there. It was short but sweet. I met a lot of beautiful people in Emmen. But I am now employed by Almere, and not by Emmen. So I guess I would have cheered. I also think we deserved to win. We were dominant, especially in the first game in Almere, now we have beaten Emmen on the counter. But my feeling is a bit mixed: very happy that we are going to the Eredivisie, but I think it’s sad for Emmen.”