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FC Volendam

PROMOTION #8 OF 'THE OTHER ORANJE'

No other club in Dutch football got promoted and relegated as frequently as 'The Other Oranje', as FC Volendam is generally known. The club got promoted no less than 8 times since the start of the Eredivisie (1956). Subsequent relegation to the First Division (sooner or later) seems to be equally inevitable as a new promotion after that. The people in the village of Volendam - a highly recommendable bicycle ride north of Amsterdam - can see the irony of it. The village built a special boat which is traditionally used to celebrate promotions of the local football pride. Its name: the Heen en Weer, to be translated as 'Back and Forth' or 'Up and Down'. What a surprise it was that the young, inexperienced team of 2003 got to embark.

The boat-ride on the Heen en Weer is only one out of many remarkable traditions of Volendam, a picturesque fisherman's village on the shores of the IJsselmeer lake. Quite remarkably in an open, modern society like the Dutch, the community of less than 20,000 is so tight that you can still recognize Volendammers by their family names. Ask an average Dutchman for a 'typical' Volendam line-up and he will rattle off a series of typical Volendam names: Molenaar, Veerman, Mühren, Zwarthoed, Jonk, Tol, Tuyp, Schilder, Sier, Bond, Kras, and so on. So many players in Volendam history had the same family and first names that a list of illustrious and hilarious nicknames was the result: 'The Gnarl', 'The Chicken', 'The Gambler', 'The Cow', or meaningless nicks such as 'Kof', 'Kits', 'Barre' and 'Pinkel'. Even in the totally 'internationalized' world of modern football Volendam's side for this season will include Ajax loanee, but born and raised Volendammer Ruud Kras, and young Jack Tuyp, possibly the club's next star.


Obviously 'The Other Oranje': FC Volendam in 1958.

There has always been a special bond between tiny Volendam and its massive neighbor, Amsterdam. Football games between FC Volendam and Ajax are regional derbies, but they usually 'feel' like friendlies, even though the Amsterdammers do not always win at Volendam's always windy home ground. The 1-0 defeat in early 1989 cost Ajax a possible championship and is still legendary.

Numerous legendary Volendammers made the 'big step' to Ajax, like Gerrie Mühren and his cousin Arnold in the 1970s, Wim 'The Nail' Jonk in the late 1980s. They all won at least one European trophy with Ajax. Jonk, by the way, returned to his old love as a board member. It is no coincidence the Volendam Ajacieden were all high-skilled and artistic players, as that's what Volendam's renowned youth system is known for. Gerrie and Arnold Mühren are cousins of old Pé, who has been Volendam's stadium announcer for as long as anyone can remember. His poems and announcements-in-verse made him Holland's most famous announcer.


'The Dike' in Volendam on an ordinary day...

In a small and tight community the local football club is the village - and vice versa. Everyone in Volendam was hit in the heart by the tragedy that occurred in a packed Volendam pub on New, only a few minutes into the year 2001, as the Christmas decorations hanging from the ceiling caught fire. The short but devastating fire killed fourteen teenagers and scarred dozens of others for the rest of their lives. The 'pub inferno' was commemorated by two winter-break friendlies against (and this is no coincidence)... Ajax. It only increased the sense of fraternity between the two clubs from the Noord-Holland province.


Ajax and Volendam players line up together before the Memorial Match
in January of 2002. [Photo: Louis van de Vuurst/Ajax.nl]

Those tribute games for the victims of the pub inferno were the only games Volendam and Ajax played against each other in recent years. Every Ajax fan will agree that it will be fantastic to come to Volendam for the 'real thing' this season. Volendam vs Ajax, especially if played in spring or summer, is a typical 'Dutch treat', with Volendam and Ajax supporters drinking beers and enjoying Volendam's famous smoked eel and raw herring outside of the pubs along 'The Dike', in Volendam's picturesque old harbour.


Arguably the two most legendary Volendammers to have played
for Ajax: cousins Gerrie and Arnold Mühren, pictured in the mid-1970s. 

Volendam never won the Dutch championship or the national cup and it's a safe bet that they never will. The club never came as close to qualification for 'Europe' as in 1990 and 1993, as 'The Other Oranje' clinched historic 6th slots on the Eredivisie table. There were a few memorable cup campaigns as well: in 1978-1979, for example, when Feyenoord was eliminated and Ajax required a replay in the semi-finals, only to advance on away goals (3-3 and 1-1). Who cares? A boat ride on the Heen en Weer once every few years is good enough to keep the unique village happy. (MP)

FC VOLENDAM FACTS

Founded: 1 June 1920 as RKSV Volendam. Name changed into FC Volendam on 1 July 1977.
City: Volendam
Stadium: Veronica Stadium
Capacity: 6,200
Official website: www.fcvolendam.nl

Honors:

  • No national or international trophies won.

Recent History: Ajax vs FC Volendam


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