By Liset Hamming, Managing Editor, Story Terrace
‘I am crazy about football,’ says Geurt Rozendaal, smiling. He was six when his father took him to the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam for the first time. When he was sixteen, in 1969, he witnessed Ajax’s legendary game against Benfica. Today he travels the world with his wife Janny to see the Dutch national team play. He hasn’t missed a match in the last twelve years. ‘The Netherlands against Australia is the 309th match for me and the 151st in a row.’
And then that giant football field
His hobby started with a passion for sports in general and football in particular. But for Geurt it is more than keeping lists and having a beer. It’s about being a part of history in the making. Of course, he collects his and Janny’s tickets and programmes. But he also picks up small souvenirs from the places they visit. ‘Whenever possible, time and moneywise, we combine the games with holidays or at least a visit to other stadiums or a museum.’
He was six when, holding his father’s hand, he walked to the Olympic Stadium for the first time. ‘Seeing the Olympic Stadium for the first time, that’s very impressive for a small kid.’ The first thing he and his dad always did was to buy themselves a programme. ‘On the corners of the street when we arrived, there’d be people selling those little booklets. We had to have one; that was part of the fun. And it still is. Whenever we arrive at a foreign stadium, the first thing we do is try to get ourselves a programme.’ It’s that feeling of being a kid and holding his father’s hand that he carries with him whenever he enters a stadium, wherever in the world he goes.
‘And then, with that booklet, we enter the stadium. You walk up the stairs and finally see that giant football field. The first impression of the field when I enter a stadium – that still is what it’s all about for me. That green field, preferably in the evening, when the lights are on and everything around it is dark. A magical sight.’
Ajax’s final in Madrid
The first cup match Geurt saw was in 1961 at that same Olympic Stadium. The Dutch played against Mexico. ‘I re
member this Mexican supporter with an immense sombrero making a deep bow in front of the Dutch audience when we scored.’
The hooliganism that exists today was never heard of in the old days. ‘And the football players are like movie stars now. Not my thing. It’s all about the game for me, not that craziness surrounding it.’
When he was sixteen, he was working at a Dutch bank where they had tickets for every Ajax game. ‘One day, on 12 February 1969, they had a spare ticket and gave it to me. Ajax was playing against Benfica that evening. It was cold and had been snowing. We all thought the Portuguese couldn’t win in those conditions, but they did.’ Ajax had their revenge in Paris. ‘Of course I wanted to be there as well! My father didn’t agree at first, but because I joined a group of supporters he allowed me to go.’ So there he went. Sixteen and alone, in a bus full of supporters. ‘Ajax won and had to play the final match, the first ever played by a Dutch team, against AC Milan. In Madrid.’ That meant Geurt had to take a plane to see the finals. That would have been too much for his father, if Geurt’s sister hadn’t offered to join him. The two of them went together and saw the final. ‘Ajax lost but it was amazing to be there and be part of it all.’
Brazil 2014
For a tournament like a World Championship you can plan ahead for the first games, but from then on it is all about
improvising. ‘That’s part of the fun. You don’t know what kind of adventure you’re on.’ If the Dutch, after their great victory over current world champion Spain last Friday, win against Australia and Chile as well, Geurt and Janny, together with his brother and his wife who have joined them for this tournament, will have to travel all the way to Fortaleza. Two thousand kilometres, up to the north of Brazil. ‘We’ve booked a car in advance, but we don’t know what the conditions of the roads will be. We obviously want to be on time for the match, so maybe we will have to take a plane. We will book our hotel once we’re there. The other supporters have to do the same and we’ll probably meet up with them again there.’
On Wednesday 18 June, in the match against Australia, Geurt will see the Dutch play for the 309th time, but he looks forward to it as if it were his first game. ‘We never know what to expect, but we always go to win the title!’
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This month we celebrate World Cup memories. Also see our interview with Spanish field hockey players Santi Freixa (31) & Ramon Alegre (33) and other articles. What’s your favourite World Cup memory?
