It has been the conversation on the dike for days. FC Volendam will be promoted tonight and the Back-and-Weather will be allowed to cross the dike again after fourteen years. If FC Volendam wins the next three matches once, promotion is a fact. For the first time since 2008, The New Orange on the threshold of the Eredivisie. Fourteen years ago, Jeroen Verhoeven and Rowin van Zaanen were there. “You will never forget such days. For me it was one of the best days of my career,” said former Volendam keeper Jeroen Verhoeven.
In the 2007-2008 season, Volendam was at the top for the last round and the team of trainer Stanley Menzo visited ADO Den Haag. “That adds a lot more pressure. It was an exciting series, really ticklish. We had to win that match to win the championship”, Van Zaanen recalls. “It was very lively at the time. You could see that in the branch. At ADO it was packed with a huge number of buses.”
“Even if you play dramatically and you win, you won’t hear about it”
The championship seems out of reach this season, but the number two of the first division has also been promoted for a number of years. Led by trainer Wim Jonk, Volendam is now in second place with a seven point lead over the pursuers. “The goal was to get promoted. They have expressed for a long time that they wanted to become champions. That failed, but I assume they want to achieve it as quickly as possible,” said Van Zaanen.
extra pressure
Verhoeven felt that there was extra pressure on the game against ADO Den Haag. “I always liked those kinds of matches,” says the keeper, who also became champion of the Netherlands with Ajax. “You have to do everything you can. I thought that was great. After the match, Volendam knows whether it will play in the Eredivisie.”
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In 2008 Volendam won 1-0 in The Hague thanks to the winning goal by Jack Tuijp. Verhoeven: “No one is talking about how you played. Even if you play dramatically and you win, you will not hear about it. That was the case with us then. So they just have to make sure they win tonight.”
Party on the dike
Captain Mathieu Boots stood with the bowl in his hands after the victory. That will not happen this weekend, because FC Emmen is currently the leader. Van Zaanen thinks the discharge will be comparable to then. “We played on Friday, but what happened next at the weekend was completely crazy. The dike was a bit full in the beginning, but then packed.”
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“It’s a shame that they can’t celebrate it now as they did then. For Volendammers, that’s a real tradition.”
“You will never forget such days”, Verhoeven continues about the tour through the village. “I enjoyed the party so much. For me it was one of the best days of my career. The party was very pleasant and the village longed to go back to the Eredivisie.”
Van Zaanen has been on De Heen en Weer twice, the well-known fishing boat on which the promotion is traditionally celebrated. In 2003 he succeeded with FC Volendam to promote via the play-offs and in 2008 he became champion. “It’s a shame they can’t celebrate it now as they did then. For Volendammers, that’s a real tradition.”
tribute
If FC Volendam win tonight, they will be honored in Volendam on Sunday 8 May. The municipality of Edam-Volendam announces that the organization is in the hands of the FC with partly a return and a subsequent ceremony in the stadium.
You can hear everything about FC Den Bosch – FC Volendam on Friday from 7 p.m. on the radio at NH Sport. Edward Dekker and Frank van der Meijden report directly from stadium De Vliert. Stephan Brandhorst and Tom van Midden follow the possible promotion among those left behind in Volendam.
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