Steve van Dorpel

Stephen Ceciel "Steve" van Dorpel (born December 13, 1965 in Amsterdam , † June 7, 1989 in Zanderij , Suriname ) was a Dutch football player of Surinamese descent. He died with other players of the Kleurrijk Elftal , a selection of players with Surinamese roots, in the crash of Surinam Airways flight 764 on June 7, 1989 near Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport .

biography

Van Dorpel was born in Amsterdam as the son of Surinamese immigrants. His biological father, with whom he had little contact, was a goalkeeper for the Surinamese record champions SV Robinhood . Steve van Dorpel grew up in the Amsterdam district of Bijlmer , a residential area designed with numerous high-rise buildings in the early 1970s, in which many emigrants from the former colony found apartments after Suriname's independence. This origin earned him the nickname de parel van Bijlmer ("the pearl of Bijlmer").

In the 1986/87 season van Dorpel played at FC Volendam in the Eerste Divisie , where the striker contributed four goals in eleven games to the second division championship and promotion. He caused a stir when he scored three times alone in the 4-2 win in the first round of the KNVB Cup at sc Heerenveen . After promotion, he was first used in eight games for the Volendam in the following season and was then loaned to DS'79 from Dordrecht , where he completed another eight games in the Eredivisie and scored one goal. In the Eredivisie season 1988/89 he was the best shooter at FC Volendam with twelve goals. In total, he scored 22 goals for the North Holland. His partner in the storm and best friend was the future national player Wim Jonk .

In addition to his professional career, van Dorpel was involved in the Kleurrijke Elftal of Racing Club Heemstede coach Nick Stienstra , who, like van Dorpel's father, had played for SV Robinhood. In this team there were professionals and semi-professionals with a Surinamese background from the Dutch leagues, including national player Henny Meijer and Ajax goalkeeper Stanley Menzo . At the end of the 1988/89 season van Dorpel was in negotiations with Roda JC about a possible change. But before an agreement was reached, Stienstra called the 23-year-old to a trip with his national team to Suriname. The aircraft crashed on approach. Van Dorpel and 13 other players of the "Colorful Elf" were among the 176 victims of the aircraft accident. On June 16, 1989, Steve van Dorpel was buried in the De Nieuwe Ooster cemetery in Amsterdam. His grave is modeled on a soccer field with a ball on the kick-off circle.

→ Main article : Suriname Airways Flight 764

Steve van Dorpel was an uncle of the football professionals Kevin Bobson and Etiënne Esajas . Since the Esajas family, from which his mother came, had several successful football players in their ranks, van Dorpel considered changing his name to Steve Esajas.

souvenir

To commemorate Steve van Dorpel, a statue made by the artist Nelson Carrilho was placed behind the police station at the Amsterdamse Poort shopping center in Amsterdam-Zuidoost in 1991 . A year earlier, a sports hall near the Volendamer Kras Stadium was named after Steve van Dorpel hal .

Steve van Dorpel statue in Amsterdam

Web links

• Biography on an FC Volendam fan website
• A friend's memories of Steve van Dorpel

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bekerwedstrijden FC Volendam
2. ^ Scorers list of FC Volendam
3. ↑ Photo of the grave
4. ↑ Portrait at the Esajas Roetoe Family Foundation ( Memento of the original from June 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Nelson Carrilho's website ( memento of the original from November 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.