On moving to The Netherlands in 1994 I found it very hard to keep in touch with our great club. There were no flights to Liverpool except on expensive journeys via that unmentionable place.
There was no Liverpoolfc.tv as I recall, indeed I believe we were the last team in the Premier League to have a website. To see how great it has become and how important it is to Reds fans the world over is brilliant.
When I saw the Dutch branch listed for the first time I was ecstatic, even more so when I saw the Chairman was Mike Kennedy, my childhood friend. We used to follow Liverpool together throughout the late 1960s up until 1978, when Mike moved to Holland and we lost touch. Thanks to Liverpoolfc.tv we are reunited and thanks to Easyjet discovering Speke we are on the road with the Reds once again.
The Dutch branch is growing quite spectacularly now and interest in LFC is phenomenal. We are most definitely back on our perch! The treble season revived interest in Liverpool all over Europe but that night in Istanbul won us so many new admirers. Dutch people saw that comeback as a sign of mental strength in adversity, a typically British characteristic. The Dutch are very pragmatic people but they love the romance of football. Even Johan Cruyff, who had previously described LFC as assassins of football, said he was overcome with emotion that night.
After Istanbul we had many requests for membership and trips to Anfied. It is very common for Dutch fans to follow a favourite player even after he has left their club, but these fans were coming to us to sample the Anfield atmosphere. Amazingly, many now travel regularly all over Europe to watch the Reds though they maintain their allegiance to their Dutch clubs.
Feyenoord fans are renowned for their loyalty to favourite sons, thus our signing Dirk Kuyt has led to an explosion of interest in the Dutch branch from Rotterdamers.
I suppose I should mention the pronunciation of Dirk’s name. In Holland it rhymes with shout, so Kopites need to get to work on new songs. ”Shout” by Tears for Fears perhaps or the much livelier “Shout ”by Lulu.
“YOU KNOW HE MAKES ME WANT TO SHOUT (KUYT),
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.”
The fact that Dirk doesn’t mind how his name is pronounced shouldn’t let you think you can sing a certain song from “Mary Poppins”!
Dirk is a modest, hardworking and totally dedicated footballer. He was loved at Feyenoord as much for his great team ethic as his goals (71 in 101 games). Rotterdamers and Scousers share more than the world’s two greatest port cities, they admire players who work for the team and never cheat the fans. In return, their support is unwavering. As at Anfield, they never walk alone at De Kuip.
Dirk has just won the prestigious Dutch Player of the Year award. This great honour, previously won by Ronaldo, Jari Litmanen (loved here as much as in Liverpool) and Denis Bergkamp, was presented by Dirk’s dad, a nice touch. After the presentation our golden boy got up to sing for Dutch TV - a very confident lad he is. Those of us who have seen a lot of Dirk are really excited that he has signed for Liverpool. Koos De Haan, a lifelong Feyenoord fan, has been telling me for two years that Liverpool and Kuyt were made for each other.
From the first time he visited Anfield Koos was certain that Kuyt should only play for the greatest supporters, a nice compliment to you Scousers! Feyenoord fans, though sad to lose Dirk, seem happy that he’s chosen the Reds.
I should mention another aspect of Dirk’s life, the Dirk Kuyt Foundation, his charity working with some of the world’s poorest children. The Foundation supports various sports development projects around the world. These are run by local people to improve the health and welfare of deprived kids and to promote social cohesion. Dirk believes team sports teach children to think of others and to become more socially aware. The Foundation offers hope of a brighter future but as Dirk says “die kids hebben een lol met elkaar” - those kids have a right laugh together!
The Foundation website is www.dirkkuytfoundation.org. It is in Dutch but there are pictures which give an idea of the great work going on. Dirk’s latest fundraiser is an official Dutch post office stamp of him with all proceeds going to the Foundation.
Dirk Kuyt will be a sensation at Liverpool. He has everything Rafa looks for in a player including an unbelievable fitness record. He’s already a sensation in The Netherlands to the extent that now Liverpool scores are being given out on non-sport Dutch radio stations! I’ll need a secretary to cope with the workload but I can live with that.
Kuyt-mania shouldn’t obscure the fact that we have another Dutchman at Liverpool. Bolo Zenden is of course very well known in England. It was a great shame he was so badly injured last season, just as he was turning in some great performances. Rafa is encouraging the versatility common in Dutch footballers and Bolo certainly has the brain to function well in various positions. In what is likely to be a long, hard and successful season Zenden could have a very important role to play.
So that’s our Dutch update. Liverpool Football Club is more popular than ever. Mikael Roufosse, Chairman of the Belgian branch reports the same. So here’s to success in Eindhoven and the bandwagon rolling again.
"We'll win it six times, we'll win it six times, in ancient Greece we’ll win it six times."
Please note our website - www.liverpoolsupporters.com (English)
and www.liverpoolsupporters.nl (Dutch) are both being reconstructed to cope with Kuyt-mania. For the moment all enquiries should be directed to [email protected]
anyone with his workrate, passion and skill and playing for Liverpool is destined for great things. He wants to be a legend and his wish will come true IMO.
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