SV Spakenburg, a third division team from a
fishing and bakery town
in the Dutch province of Utrecht, has qualified for the semifinals of the Dutch Cup, but its eventual arrival in the final comes with controversy: the club's statutes Cristiano
is not allowed to play on Sunday.
Spakenburg's refusal to play a football match on a Sunday is unanimous, even the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) knows it.
Religion still plays an important role in this town of
21,000 inhabitants
, where many go to mass that day and dedicate the rest of the day to rest or visit family, but without disturbing or making noise.
Now that SV Spakenburg has qualified for the semifinals along with Feyenoord, Ajax and PSV, the two groups that go through to the final will have to face each other for the cup on Sunday, April 30
at
De Kuip (Stadion Feyenoord), the stadium of the city of Rotterdam.
On Sundays the team's fans go to mass and rest (Facebook).
"No, that's not possible," Spakenburg president Marc Schoonebeek said when asked about this scenario.
The KNVB assured the public channel
NOS
that it does not rule out adjusting the match day in advance and ensures that there will be a consultation meeting between representatives of the clubs that are in the semifinals to decide on a specific date.
"Our approach is to make it a
Saturday night
game . If it's a Sunday, I think we'll say no, but that's not clear yet," Schoonebeek said.
This is even enshrined in the statutes of the Christian club: "The purpose of the association is the practice and promotion of sport in general and football in particular, every day of the week, except Sunday," it
says
.
Sunday to mass or rest
This is the general written rule, but the club president admits that not all players see this as a problem because "the boys within the group of players are different, although he also knows that it wouldn't be the first time that you have to stick to the statutes," he said.
They will expand the stadium with temporary stands for the around 8,000 spectators who are waiting for their special day (Facebook).
Sunday rest is still taken seriously in several places in the Netherlands, especially in religious towns around the Bible Belt.
The neighbors do not drill, or vacuum,
or play loud music
, and even less do their shopping on a Sunday in many towns because the shops have always been closed on this day.
Spakenburg coach Chris de Graaf is also not sure if his team will reach the final.
He will play the semifinal at home against PSV on April 4, after obtaining permission from the municipality on Tuesday to expand the stadium with temporary stands for the around 8,000 spectators he
expects
for his special day.
A party town
The coach believes that having reached the semifinals is already "great for the people", which in reality is divided between fans of the reds (IJsselmeervogels) and the blues (Spakenburg), two rivals now united in the celebration of a common victory: the defeat last week of FC Utrecht in the quarter-finals at the hands of
local footballers.
De Graaf, 36, has been with Spakenburg since he was 5 years old, was a player for the club, and in November signed a 2.5-year contract as manager.
He believes that reaching De Kuip would be legendary for his team and his people.
Spakenburg is the third amateur team to reach the semifinals of the national tournament since the introduction of professional soccer in 1956 (Facebook).
The club, which has its origins in
1931,
survives thanks to local members and volunteers, but also to its nearly
300 patrons
, who include local businesses (from bakeries, fishmongers, florists and other shops in the municipality), but also companies with a more international character, such as Domino's Pizzas or Amstel.
With their qualification, Spakenburg is the
third amateur team to reach the semifinals
of the national tournament since the introduction of professional football in 1956. VVSB, a club from the Dutch town of Noordwijkerhout in South Holland, reached the semifinals in 2016, preceded by the IJsselmeervogels in 1975. But neither reached the Dutch Cup final.
The other semifinal will be played between Feyenoord and Ajax, first and second respectively in the Eredivisie, the Netherlands Division of Honor, and these eternal rivals will meet on April 5 or 6 in De Kuip, but, as usual in recent years,
they will play without an audience
in the stands to avoid serious disturbances, the municipality of Rotterdam confirmed.
EFE Agency.
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