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NAC Breda

THE COMING AND GOING OF THE 'NAC NIGHT'

Een avondje NAC (best translated as 'an NAC night' or 'a night out at NAC') used to be a standard expression in Dutch football. It referred to the roaring, somewhat English atmosphere at NAC home games. The club from the atmospheric southern city of Breda used to be one of the exceptional Eredivisie sides to play most of their home games on Saturday evenings, at their old ground on Beatrixstraat, home of one of the loudest fan sides in the country: the B-Side. The annual 'NAC night' was ususally a tough one for Holland's established top teams, although the actual number of defeats they suffered in Breda is not as high as the myth might suggest.

The yellow and black army from Breda definitely belongs to the core of Dutch football, but NAC's history is - for a club of such popularity and standing - one of remarkable ups and downs, relegations and promotions, triumphs and tragedies. The story started in 1912, when local Breda outfits NOAD and Advendo merged to become NAC: the NOAD Advendo Combination. Several regional championships were won, followed by (still the golden year in club history!) the Dutch championship in 1921. The team's superstar in those golden years around 1920 was Antoon Verlegh, nicknamed 'Rat'. Having had a couple of hideously commercial names (such as Fuji-Film Stadium and MyCom Stadium) the club in 2006 decided to name their home ground Rat Verlegh Stadium. De Rat ('The Rat') is also the name of NAC's independent fanzine, one of the best and funniest in The Netherlands.


The best fans in Holland? Maybe so: the NAC B-Side.

NAC's history shows a fascinating conjuncture of success and failure. Look at the eventful 1960s, for example: NAC reached the Dutch Cup final in 1961, got relegated in 1965, returned to the highest level in 1966 and made it to the Dutch Cup final again in 1967. Just like in '61, Ajax were too high a hurdle in that final, but the Amsterdammers also won the Eredivisie championship that year, so that the Breda side qualified for 'Europe' for the first time. Their short campaign was terminated by Cardiff City in the second round. Two more Dutch Cup finals were played by NAC in the 1970s (including, finally, a succesful one in 1973). It underscored NAC's cup fighting reputation.


An American in Breda: Ernie Stewart,
an NAC fan favourite from 1996 to 2003.

The 1980s and 1990s saw more of the inconsistency that typifies the Breda club: relegation in 1983, promotion in 1984, relegation in 1985, an eight year stay in the First Division, followed by a return to the top flight and some of the best years NAC ever fielded. Strikers John Lammers and Pierre van Hooydonk formed one of the most lethal couples in The Netherlands and almost brought NAC back into 'Europe'.

NAC slowly but surely seemed on their way to a steady existence just below the top of Dutch football in the latter half of the 1990s. A brand new stadium was built: a beautiful small version of Genoa's Luigi Ferraris, although it must be said that NAC and the B-Side needed some time to get used to their new environment. Shortly after this major investment the club's ambitions were frustrated by another, totally unexpected relegation. But, in good NAC tradition, the First Division championship was grabbed the year after... Triumph and tragedy walk hand in hand in Breda and they usually occur in quick succession. Sometimes they even coincide, like in the 2002-2003 season: NAC almost went bankrupt that year and had to be legally re-founded under a slightly different name (NAC Breda), but the team played some wonderful football and finished fourth in the Eredivisie, clinching the club's second ever ticket to 'Europe'. The games against Newcastle United were a memorable highlight (although the 5-0 spanking in the away leg, with well over 5,000 Breda fans in attendance, surely did hurt...). Quite typically, the season thereafter NAC could only just avoid relegation...


Back where they belong! NAC players celebrate the club's 2000
championship of the First Division - and promotion to the Eredivisie.

The loyal fans in yellow and black are used to their club's flabbergasting inconsistency and will always optimistically look forward. Their team usually plays attractive football and Rat Verlegh Stadium is one of the most beautiful of the new grounds in The Netherlands, where the loyal Breda fans are now feeling at home and Ajax were played off the park in stunning style in 2003 (4-2). Let it be clear: the legendary 'NAC night' still exists in many ways, except that those 'nights' now take place on Sunday afternoon. (MP)

NAC BREDA FACTS

Founded: 19 September 1912, merger of NOAD (1894) and Advendo (1894). City name added in December 2002.
City: Breda
Stadium: Rat Verlegh Stadium
Capacity: 17,064
Official website: www.nac.nl

Honors:

  • Dutch champions: 1921
  • Dutch Cup winners: 1973

Recent History: Ajax vs NAC/NAC Breda