FC Groningen sees Assen as an option to move to if women’s football continues to professionalize. This is what director Wouter Gudde says in the RTV Noord podcast The Coffee Corner.
The people of Groningen now have a training group with girls under the age of 13 and 14. The age category above that – the under-16 – has also been playing competition matches for the first time this season. The group plays football against boys’ teams that are a year younger.
Last weekend the team played for the first time at Sportpark Corpus den Hoorn in Groningen-Zuid. “This match was almost impossible to plan, let alone if there were two more women’s teams,” says Gudde.
Because FC Groningen has plans to further roll out women’s football. The intention is that there will be a promising team next time. The following year the club also wants to have a first team for the ladies. “As it seems now, a first division is being established because more teams want to participate,” Gudde explains. “There are now twelve teams in the Premier League, which would mean that we start in the first division and have to be promoted.”
Besides being a financial challenge, so is finding a place to play. “We will always choose to play a number of matches in the Euroborg stadium. But not all matches, because the turf cannot handle that.”
FC Groningen is looking for a location where they can train and play. “Because we also have to comply with licensing conditions that also apply in women’s professional football.” Then you should consider, for example, a grandstand and a camera platform.
Because it is difficult to find space in the city of Groningen, Gudde Assen suggests. “That is in Drenthe,” the presenters of the podcast point out to him. But according to Gudde it is not a bad idea at all. “Most of our supporters naturally come from the city of Groningen. But Assen is in second place.”
Staying within the provincial borders is therefore not necessarily sacred to Gudde. “I understand the feeling,” he agrees. “But as a club we are bigger than the province. An incredible number of our supporters come from the north of Drenthe.” According to Gudde, many players also come from Drenthe. “So Assen could be a location.”
A spokesperson for FC Groningen emphasizes that there are currently no concrete plans to move to Assen.