WKE ’16 champion, several days of celebration in Emmen. Jannes and Bouke turn the camp upside down

In minute 88, WKE top scorer Harold Wolters got the ball right at his feet in a promising position. Little bird free for Helpman goalkeeper Milan van Bommel, the Emmer attacker remained calm; he pushed the ball low into the goal and shot WKE to the title in the second class of Sunday football.

It led to frenzied scenes on the Esserberg in Haren. Because WKE had to win to stay ahead of pursuer Valthermond. Wolters didn’t know where to look after the goal out of craziness. He was not only chased by cheering fellow players, dozens of WKE fans dressed in orange also stormed the field to celebrate the party in the absolute final phase of the duel with number three in the ranking Helpman.

Overjoyed Emmenians

The bump with overjoyed Emmen residents was so big that WKE players needed time to recover from all the craziness. They didn’t have to play for long after that, because referee Alkema blew the whistle after exactly 90 minutes of playing time and thus gave the go-ahead for the championship party.

In addition to the ‘we are champion, we are champion’ and ‘nothing at all in Valthermond’, the necessary people also shrugged, including defender Harm Hindriks. He was also honored with a banner. The experienced Hindriks actually wanted to stop last season, but decided to stick to it for another year due to a tight selection. ,,And that was worth it”, he said laughing in the middle of all the dancing orange shirts.

Press the player group

,,We have incredibly good supporters behind us”, the upcoming assistant coach continued. ,,If you see what this championship has brought about at WKE ’16, that is really not normal. Perhaps that unintentionally put some pressure on the group of players. That led to us dropping some stitches. Quite frankly, I didn’t give a penny for it during the game.”

Indeed, it didn’t look like WKE would beat Helpman. In fact, Helpman had the best chances of a goal. If the Groningen people had been smarter with the spaces and remained calmer in the completion, they would have kept the three points at their own sports park. WKE, on the other hand, looked languid, sometimes even panicky. The stress of a possible title hit the legs. In desperation, hundreds of supporters shouted their men forward, for a long time against their better judgement.

WKE survives

But WKE survived and came out on top. That happened again in the final phase, just like last week against Annen. ,,This is already the fourth match that we did this”, Hindriks exclaimed. ,,Bizarre”, added coach Albert Koops.

Koops also went on his shoulders and was jostled in the festivities. “During the game I thought: this is not going to work out. But it worked and that makes me very proud. Football is experienced so intensely at WKE ’16. I’ve never experienced that anywhere else. People live for it that way. I wish them this title from the bottom of my heart.”

Several days of celebration

WKE has planned several days of celebration. The champions go through Emmen with the flat cart. In addition, there is live music with performances by numerous singers. Jannes and Bouke, among others, turn the camp upside down with their golden throats.