Some people might
remember me making a reference towards the Dutch glory hunters from
Feyenoord who suddenly came crawling towards us – Manchester City –
after we got blessed with our ownership by Sheikh Mansour since 2008.
I am going to tell you a story of something that not only happened to
me, but also contains some background history regarding Feyenoord's
support. It's funny how certain people can become hateful if you're
having a different point of view. Read on.
Let me start by telling
you that I used to live in the Netherlands. An error by birth so to
say, as I've always had my heart belonging to England. It wasn't that
long after I started to like football that I began to follow the
Premiership, trying to watch as many highlights (and games) as
possible. Arsenal and Liverpool were then the two main teams, with
Man United suddenly buying players for mind blowing transfer fees. I
can remember that £8m was an over-the-top amount back in the early
90s.
It was in 1994, at the
age of 13, I discovered Oasis. I was an early bird coming to them, as
not only English football but also the music fascinated me – the
whole culture. I read an interview in which they mentioned the
Gallagher brothers were supporting City. I was curious, who were
City, where did they play and so on.
I only started to use
the internet from 2000 onwards, but managed to find some football
magazines at car boot sales during holidays as well some – but very
rarely – in the Netherlands. I already noticed the huge attendances
while checking the BBC ceefax scores/results, and it impressed me big
times how many fans turned up at every City (home)game. That loyalty,
the Manchester accent, the pride: I felt very certain to devote my
heart to the club and follow it no matter where, which league or
position. I learned quite fast that the club culture is that one of a
family spirit.
But while still living
in the Netherlands, I wanted to see some live football as well. I
wanted to smell the grass and feel the excitement. It was in the
summer of 2000 when I bought my first season ticket at Feyenoord,
where I stayed for 5 full seasons. I went for Feyenoord as their fan
base have – like Man City – got a very loyal nature. However,
that is the only thing you can compare the two clubs with. Inside of
the ground I always have noticed a lot of Liverpool and some Celtic
jerseys and scarves, with “You'll Never Walk Alone” being sang
prior to every single game. Something they're still doing nowadays by
the way. On YouTube you can actually find a lot of clear videos.
It was 2003 when
influential midfielder Paul Bosvelt moved from Feyenoord to
Manchester, and I couldn't believe my delight: he went to my City!
After first a struggling start, he finally gained a cemented position
into the first team.
I knew what he was
capable of, and on the stands in Rotterdam I already told some people
about my pride of City and tried to educate them a bit about the
background. They weren't that impressed, to say the least. Things
like “nice he plays in the English Premier, but it's only at a
little club” were some of the snubbing replies I received. The
crowd was more proud of goal keeper Jerzy Dudek, who had joined the
Merseysiders back in January 2002.
The problems really
started around 2005, after Bosvelt had left City when his two year
contract expired – to finish his career off in the Netherlands. On
a main Feyenoord forum I 'dared' to state that City were like the
Feyenoord of England (again, based on to loyalty only), in which
someone replied “City are City, we got nothing to do with them”
and he was immediately backed by others. I was then 'kindly asked' to
'get lost and never come back' with my 'annoying talk about City'.
That was the final straw for me, that aggression. I cancelled my
season ticket and let them all be. I was due to move to England
anyway in 2006 on a permanent base, but would had enjoyed one more
final year of normal live football action.
Oh, but how things have
changed ever since. No need to explain our current wealth and
Liverpool's decline. Suddenly Liverpool are not playing Champions
League football any longer and we took over their place. Not only
have we took over their place, we also took over their Dutch glory
hunters – who 'suddenly realised how much we have in common'. Of
course they knew it, from during the Paul Bosvelt era they no doubt
heard some stories [not just from me] as they weekly checked on their
former player his matches. Fact is that when you're doing well, you
gain a lot of new 'fans', that's unavoidable. But with them, I simply
have so much first hand knowledge – I'm a front row witness indeed
– that I wish to stand guard and at least speak my heart out
towards my fellow Citizens.
Very simple: what would
happen if our owners would suddenly leave us and we'd slip back into
poverty and as well into a lower league? The Dutch would just simply
walk away from us as easily as they've came over – most likely
digging up their old Liverpool jerseys and state “hey mate, long
time no see, how's it going?” while crawling back towards
Anfield.
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