Watersnoodwedstrijd

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Under the name Watersnoodwedstrijd ( Dutch - "flood victims Game"; literally Watersnood = "flood disaster" wedstrijd = "competition") one was charity - football game known, the proceeds to the victims and survivors of the flood disaster of 1 February 1953 in the Netherlands determined was. The competition was held in Paris on March 12, 1953. The game is now seen as a decisive step towards the introduction of professional football in the Netherlands.

Official international charity match

The first of two charity games in favor of the flood victims (also known as Rampenwedstrijden in the Netherlands ) took place on March 7, 1953 in Rotterdam . Here the Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbal Bond , the Dutch football association KNVB, held an official game for the benefit of the Stichting Nationaal Rampenfonds ("National Disaster Fund Foundation"). The national team , organized by the KNVB and still only made up of amateurs, met Denmark in the 198th international match in Dutch history . In De Kuip the hosts lost 1: 2 in front of 63,000 spectators; Holger Seebach scored the two goals for the Danes before Abe Lenstra scored the next goal . 200,000 guilders were raised for the fund.

Benefit game in Paris

Preparation for an unforeseen encounter

The team lineups Substitute players
: v. Lent ( Lens ), Röhrig ( Roubaix-T. ) For NL; unknown for F

Five days after the official game, a selection of Dutch international professionals faced the French national team around Raymond Kopa with Roger Marche as the team captain . Theo Timmermans , who played in Nîmes and had initially tried to organize a charity match against a selection of players from southern France, had taken the initiative for this match . But it got even more after he submitted the proposal to the French Football Association : the FFF promised a game in Paris against the national team. Bram Appel from Stade Reims , who was closer to Paris in the Champagne region and closer to home in the Netherlands, then became Timmermans' co-organizer.

Professionals from all over France and - with goalkeeper Frans de Munck from 1. FC Köln - from Germany traveled to compete for the Dutch selection. Only Faas Wilkes was not released from his Italian club AC Turin . The then coach of Stade Français , Edmond Delfour , stepped in as coach of the mixed team, whose members had never played together in a team . The KNVB had enforced that the national anthem Het Wilhelmus was not played and that the players were not allowed to wear orange shirts; Instead, they competed in the Prinzenpark in red shirts, white pants and blue stockings, the colors of the Dutch flag . Instead of the Wilhelmus , the former national anthem Wien Neêrlands Bloed was played . On the scoreboard, the teams were named Pr. Holl. and France , referred to as France and "Pros" Hollandais on the Dutch official team photo .

Game announcement from L'Équipe on March 12, 1953

“The atmosphere was unique; shivers ran down my spine, ” Cor van der Hart later recalled . The Dutch team was a strange mix - some of the players didn't even know each other personally and there were only midfield and attacking players besides de Munck, so that the two defenders Vreeken and de Vroet played in these positions for the first time.

Course of the game

In front of 5,000 to 10,000 Oranje fans and more than 30,000 French supporters who had only had two days to get to know each other in a Paris hotel, the Dutch professionals began to be cautious, but without nervousness, Timmermans later recalled:

“Of course we really wanted to win against the French, we didn't just go onto the field. But it wasn't about prestige. We just wanted to play nice football. "

The elf tried to find each other; the two outside runners were asked to defend, the half-strikers Rijvers and Timmermans played withdrawn in midfield. "Their focused defense, their restrained actions and their apparent fearfulness worked like narcotics on our representatives," wrote L'Équipe about the Elftal the following day . After the French had their first chances through Kopa , the Dutch scored the first goal of the game in the eleventh minute of the game. However, Van Geen's goal was disallowed by Luxembourg referee Elschen because the center forward was offside . In the 34th minute Saunier received a pass from Kopa, played around van der Hart, dribbled around de Munck and put the ball in the Dutch goal - also from an offside position. But this time referee Elschen recognized the hit and thus the lead for the Bleus . Another chance Kopas thwarted just minutes later de Munck, who in Timmermans' opinion "could not have played a better game after this" so that it went with the narrow lead of the Équipe tricolore into the break. In the second half, “the storm flag was hoisted at Appel's instructions”. They took control of the game out of the hands of the "pale, fearful and insecure" French. Thanks to the advances and the tactical overview of an outstanding Bertus de Harder , who now kept moving from the left flank to the middle, the Dutch professionals got their chances and equalized in the 58th minute. Kees Rijvers set up the goal with a shot on goal; Ruminski couldn't control the ball and de Harder converted. The Dutch had more chances and consequently came in the 81st minute through Bram Appel to their second goal. De Kubber , fouled by Gaulon , shot the due free kick in front of Timmermans, whose extra time landed at Appel, who scored the 2-1 from close range and thus the winning goal. L'Équipe declared the defeat of the Bleus the following day with the words

"The French caressed the ball. The Dutch played it."

Post-match reactions

After the final whistle it was almost a minor matter that another 110,000 guilders were collected for the flood victims; The unanimous reaction of the Dutch newspapers was true hymns of praise: “What a speed, what a technique, what body control and, above all, what a will to fight”. How long would the Dutch public be denied this wonderful game from their professionals? Abe Lenstra, who had played for KNVB five days earlier, was also in the press box. At the invitation of the magazine Sport en Sportwereld he was supposed to write an article about the game. His report raved about the Dutch professionals who, not only in his opinion, have improved enormously technically, tactically and physically since they left the Netherlands. Cor van der Hart told the French newspaper L'Équipe immediately after the game:

“We beat the French national team; this is fantastic. But we have also shown what we are capable of as professional footballers. Will our amateur association understand the importance of this great achievement? "

According to Kees Rijvers, the French wanted a revenge match, if possible in a full De Kuip in Rotterdam, so that even more money would come in for the flood victims. "The KNVB said no, no professionals on our soil."

Significance for Dutch football

The KNVB, which was also responsible for the league operations in the Netherlands, continued to stick to pure amateur football in early 1953 in the spirit of its chairman Karel Lotsy, who resigned in January of that year , even if smaller payments in kind or through payments “under the Hand ”were the order of the day. While professional leagues emerged all over Europe, Lotsy persisted in the "noble and true spirit" of amateur sport. Players who signed a professional contract abroad were seen as "dirty professionals", "money wolves" or "traitors to the fatherland". They were banned for all KNVB games and of course also banned from the national team - a practice that was also viewed critically in the local press:

“When the Paris Opera offers a musically gifted young Dutchman a contract as a violinist, we consider it an honor. It is very different with soccer players ... The Dutch professionals in France are seen as inferior beings because they earn their living playing soccer ... even though they show real talent by exercising their skills. "

- Sportief , January 8, 1953

While Gerrit Keizer and Beb Bakhuys were already active outside the Netherlands before the war , Gerrit Vreeken (1946) and Faas Wilkes (1949) followed immediately after the war . Various reasons were responsible for these pioneers - Bakhuys, for example, was banned from gambling in the Netherlands because his club had set up a tobacco shop for him; Vreeken fled because he was accused, probably wrongly, of having been a member of the NSB - at the beginning of the 1950s, a few more followed the call of paid football, primarily to France. But one or two former or future Dutch national players have also played in Germany, such as goalkeepers Frans de Munck and Bart Carlier at 1. FC Köln . Accordingly, the Oranje Elftal lost its greatest talents; of the most important players of the time, only a few, like the Frisian Abe Lenstra, held the rod in amateur football. The results of the national team were also correspondingly during this time: of 28 international matches between November 1949 and October 1954, the team won only three, three times there was a draw and in 22 games the opponents had the better end for themselves - as did the benefit game was lost to the Danes.

After it became known that the international professionals wanted to carry out their own benefit game, the KNVB initially responded to “forbid” this match and to deny it even the slightest hint of officiality. Appel and Timmermans contacted Lo Brunt , treasurer of the KNVB and its only board member who wanted to repeal the amateur statutes, to whom they found an open ear. Brunt proposed to get Prince Bernhard , who had recently also taken over the chairmanship of the disaster relief fund, on their side. Timmermans telegraphed the Prince Consort, and after his intervention the KNVB gave up the resistance. The game did not get any official status, but at least it lost the reputation of the forbidden.

Immediately after the game, KNVB board member Lo Brunt admitted to the professional players that professional football could no longer be stopped in the Netherlands either. After the enthusiastic reactions from the press and the public, the KNVB could not hold back against its introduction for long. Within the following year, Limburg entrepreneur Gied Joosten , who had been one of the Dutch spectators in Paris, founded Fortuna'54 in Geleen , the first professional club and the Nederlandse Beroeps Voetbalbond ("Dutch Professional Football Association"). Ten new professional football clubs were organized in the NBVB; most of the professionals playing abroad have now returned to the Netherlands and joined one of these clubs. In the first professional football game in the Netherlands were in Alkmaar in 1954 on August 14 Alkmaar'54 and Sports Club Venlo in the professional league of NBVB opposite; Klaas Smit scored the first goal in front of 13,000 spectators . The games of the professional league now attracted a lot more spectators than those of the KNVB amateur leagues, and after only eleven match days the NBVB and KNVB had agreed on a merger. The seasons of the two highest leagues were canceled and a joint competition, the Kampioenscompetitie , started; most of the new NBVB professional clubs subsequently merged with established KNVB members. The Landkampioenschap , the national championship round , became the Eredivisie , the first Dutch professional league , in 1956 .

Already on March 13, 1955, almost two years after the Watersnoodwedstrijd , the first international match with professionals in orange shirts had already been held. After initial integration difficulties - the match against Denmark ended 1: 1 - the selection committee of the KNVB found a successful mix of old and new professionals, their greatest success again almost exactly one year later, on March 14, 1956, a 2-1 victory in World champion Germany was in the Rheinstadion .

Fifty years after the flood, there were for the NOS radio conversation between four veterans of Watersnoodwedstrijd - Schaap and van der Hart in Hilversum , Vreeken and Rijvers switched from France - where also Herman Kuiphof participated, the 1953 sports editor of the Haagse Courant was . In this, van der Hart expresses how important the game was:

“Even today, at the age of 75, I am recognized on the street and asked about the Watersnoodwedstrijd . Then you know that he was pretty important. "

Half a century after the match in Paris, Kuiphof drew the conclusion:

“This game cannot be summed up in one word. It was a great meeting and a great success for the Dutch professionals. We have to be grateful to them for that. "

On March 31, 2004, this “game of the century” was commemorated with a friendly match between the Netherlands and France, which this time ended goalless in Rotterdam . Of the 15 Dutch players used in this match, ten were earning their money abroad at the time.

literature

  • Watersnoodwedstrijd , in: Frans Oosterwijk, Voetbal in de jaren vijftig, in 99 beelden , ANP Photo / Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-90-468-0264-9 , pp. 2–21
  • De Rampenwedstrijden en hun grote followed , in: Johan Derksen et al., Het Nederlands Elftal 1905-1989. De historie van Oranje , Weekbladpers BV / Voetbal International, Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-236-7211-9 , pp. 162ff.

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ "De Benefiet is een stap cruciaale the leidt dead het invoeren van betaald voetbal in Nederland." Christiaan Ruesink, "Wedstrijd van de eeuw" , krant A4 , Algemeen Dagblad , June 2003, p 9/10
  2. ↑ Game statistics with reference to the fund on the picture of an admission ticket
  3. ↑ While the game is included in the list of official international matches at the KNVB, this is not the case with the Danish association DBU, cf. International match search at the DBU
  4. ↑ The sum corresponds to a purchasing power of around € 640,000 in 2008; calculated with the purchasing power converter Waarde van de gulden / euro of the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Christiaan Ruesink, “Wedstrijd van de eeuw” , A4 krant , Algemeen Dagblad , June 2003, pp. 9/10
  6. ^ Dutch "professionals" against France , viewed September 9, 2008
  7. ↑ As in the Netherlands, the game is not counted as an official international match in France (see L'Équipe / Gérard Ejnès: La belle histoire. L'Équipe de France de football. L'Équipe, Issy-les-Moulineaux 2004 ISBN 2 -9519605-3-0 , p. 366f.); nevertheless, the French federation offered a strong team, from which only Gaulon and Saunier never played an official A match and of which six of the players were included in the final World Cup line-up 15 months later .
  8. ↑ Watersnoodwedstrijd , in: Frans Oosterwijk, Voetbal in de jaren vijftig, in 99 beelden , ANP Photo / Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-90-468-0264-9 , p. 18, gives Marches first name in the signature Photo of the pennant exchange as René . A similar photo of ANP and the first name Rene can be found in Christiaan Ruesink, “Wedstrijd van de eeuw” , A4 krant , Algemeen Dagblad , June 2003, pp. 9/10
  9. ↑ a b c d Watersnoodwedstrijd , in: Frans Oosterwijk, Voetbal in de jaren vijftig, in 99 beelden , ANP Photo / Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-90-468-0264-9 , p. 5
  10. ↑ Watersnoodwedstrijd , in: Frans Oosterwijk, Voetbal in de jaren vijftig, in 99 beelden , ANP Photo / Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-90-468-0264-9 , p. 14
  11. ↑ ANP Photo, in Watersnoodwedstrijd , in: Frans Oosterwijk, Voetbal in de jaren vijftig, in 99 beelden , ANP Photo / Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-90-468-0264-9 , p. 2/3
  12. ↑ ANP Photo, in Watersnoodwedstrijd , in: Frans Oosterwijk, Voetbal in de jaren vijftig, in 99 beelden , ANP Photo / Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-90-468-0264-9 , p. 10/11
  13. ↑ "De sfeer what uniek, de rillingen Liepen me over de rug," quoted by Christiaan Ruesink, Wedstrijd van de eeuw , A4 krant , Algemeen Dagblad , June 2003, p 9/10
  14. ↑ 'We wilden natuurlijk wel dolgraag winnen van het Franse elftal, we went niet zo maar even het veld in, maar prestige, nee. We went lekker voetballen. ' Theo Timmermans, in De Rampenwedstrijden en hun grote followed , in: Johan Derksen et al., Het Nederlands Elftal 1905-1989. De historie van Oranje , Weekbladpers BV / Voetbal International, Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-236-7211-9 , p. 167
  15. ^ Gabriel Hanot, Les français caressèrent le ballon , L'Équipe of March 13, 1953
  16. ↑ L'Équipe of March 13, 1953; also http://www.arbeiter-zeitung.at/cgi-bin/archiv/flash.pl?seite=19530313_A08;html=1 ; a Dutch website lists Raymond Kopa as the goalscorer.
  17. ^ Theo Timmermans, in Johan Derksen et al., Het Nederlands Elftal 1905-1989. De historie van Oranje , Weekbladpers BV / Voetbal International, Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-236-7211-9 , p. 168
  18. ↑ 'Op aanwijzing van Appel will be heard in de tweede help de stormvlag.' Theo Timmermans, in Johan Derksen et al., Het Nederlands Elftal 1905-1989. De historie van Oranje , Weekbladpers BV / Voetbal International, Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-236-7211-9 , p. 168
  19. ^ Gabriel Hanot, Les français caressèrent le ballon , L'Équipe of March 13, 1953
  20. ^ Gabriel Hanot, Les français caressèrent le ballon , L'Équipe of March 13, 1953
  21. ↑ The sum corresponds to a purchasing power of around € 350,000 in 2008; calculated with the purchasing power converter Waarde van de gulden / euro of the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis
  22. ↑ "De persverhalen vormden één grote Lofzang op het Nederlands prof team. Wat een tempo, wat een techniek, wat een lichaamsbeheersing en vooral wat een vechtlust. ” , From: De Rampenwedstrijden en hun grote gevolgen , in: Johan Derksen et al., Het Nederlands Elftal 1905–1989. De historie van Oranje , Weekbladpers BV / Voetbal International, Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-236-7211-9 , p. 168
  23. ↑ a b Johann Mast, Abe. Het levensverhaal van Nederlands eerste grote sportidool , Tirion Uitgevers, Baarn 2007, ISBN 978-90-439-0983-9 , p. 149
  24. ↑ Quoting from the article "Devroedt:" Le plus beau jour de notre vie sportive! "" By Max Urbini in l'Équipe of March 13, 1953
  25. ^ Het Gouden Binnentrio , in: Johan Derksen et al., Het Nederlands Elftal 1905–1989. De historie van Oranje , Weekbladpers BV / Voetbal International, Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-236-7211-9 , p. 157
  26. ↑ Watersnoodwedstrijd , in: Frans Oosterwijk, Voetbal in de jaren vijftig, in 99 beelden , ANP Photo / Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-90-468-0264-9 , p. 4
  27. ↑ “From het ene op het Andere Moment they are branded as 'vuile prof', 'geldwolf' or 'NSB'er' en uitgesloten van het Nederlands elftal”. Watersnoodwedstrijd , in: Frans Oosterwijk, Voetbal in de jaren vijftig, in 99 beelden , ANP Photo / Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-90-468-0264-9 , p. 4 (NB: The translation "Vaterlandsverräter" for "NSB'er" comes from the first author of this article. NSB'er are the members of the Nationaal-Socialist Bewegungsing , which was the only authorized party to collaborate with the Germans during the occupation .)
  28. ↑ op. Cit. in Alfred Wahl / Pierre Lanfranchi: Les footballeurs professionnels des années trente à nos jours. Hachette, Paris 1995 ISBN 978-2-0123-5098-4 , p. 133
  29. ↑ Gijs Nass oer-VVV'er ( Memento from May 17, 2008 in the web archive archive.today ), at Alle heej is VVV , viewed on September 29, 2008
  30. ↑ “Vreken zou NSB-lid zijn geweest tijdens de oorlog. Maar dat klopt niet, weet ik na een bezoek aan deze man in 2003. Letterlijk huilend vertelde hij voor NOS Langs De Lijn dat hij in feite are dwongen om bij de NSB te gaan, maar dat hij dat nooit heeft gedaan. Wel will hij sympathizing lid, omdat hij different naar Duitsland zou been afgevoerd as dwangarbeider. Hij is nooit op een vergadering geweest en heeft ook geen contributie betaald. Maar toch blijft het hem achtervolgen, toe dead in the 2005th " Jurryt van de Vooren, De geschiedvervalsing rond ADO Den Haag ( Memento of 30 December 2006 at the Internet Archive ), spotted on 29 September 2008
  31. ↑ "Ik word nu, op 75-year leeftijd, nog op straat herkend en aangesproken over de Watersnoodwedstrijd. Dan weet je dat het een hele belangrijke is geweest." , Een sentimenteel feest van de herkenning , NOS nieuws from January 2003, viewed on June 10, 2009; There is also a link to the audio recording of the conversation from which the quote comes.
  32. ↑ "Deze wedstrijd is niet in één woord seed te vatten" besluit Kuiphof. "Het was een glorieuze ontmoeting en een groot succes voor de Nederlandse profs. Daar must we hen Erkentelijk voor zijn." , Een sentimenteel feest van de herkenning , NOS nieuws from January 2003, viewed on June 10, 2009; There is also a link to the audio recording of the conversation from which the quote comes.
  33. ↑ Game statistics at voetbalstats.nl
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on November 2, 2008 .