Fear no giants
Words: Han Balk
Images: Han Balk
Spakenburg is a fishing village, South of the IJsselmeer, in the Bunschoten municipality, in the province of Utrecht.
Although the fishing fleet almost disappeared, fish processing and the seafood trade still play an important role in the local economy.
You will find Spakenburg’s fish on many markets across the Netherlands.
Spakenburg is a village made louder by local football teams VV IJsselmeervogels and rivals SV Spakenburg, who play one of the most popular local derby games in Dutch amateur football.
Both teams perform at the third level and share Sportpark De Westmaat, with IJsselmeervogel fans on the red Westmaat and Spakenburg supporters on the blue side.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
But village life became all the more exciting when little old SV Spakenburg made the semi-finals of the Dutch KNVB Cup alongside Dutch giants in Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven.
It is not only Grimsby Town in England, to make a cup run from a fish processing centre.
The ‘Blauwen’ of SV Spakenburg became just the third non-league team in history to make it to the semis of this historic competition.
The first to achieve this, were ironically, local rivals IJsselmeervogels, who played FC Twente in 1975.
Spakenburg’s blue side had been buzzing for weeks since they beat FC Groningen and then won 1-4 away at FC Utrecht.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
But the question remained whether semi-pro Spakenburg could do it again versus PSV Eindhoven on a cold Tuesday night on the border of the Eemmeer?
Unlike IJsselmeervogels in 1975, who switched venues to play FC Twente at the larger Go Ahead Eagles stadium in Deventer, Spakenburg decided to keep home advantage and play at their own ground.
Temporary stands increased the Red Westmaat’s capacity to 6300, including a bespoke following of 300 PSV supporters by buscombi.
1800 limited edition semi-final half and half scarves sold out before the game and after the tractor pulled DJ show left the pitch and the smoke had cleared, it was up to the players to remove the debris from the fireworks show on the artificial pitch.
Following a delay of a few minutes, they finally kicked-off.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
Not all fairytales need a happy ending. SV Spakenburg had an excellent cup tournament and went toe to toe with the Philips club from Eindhoven.
They had a run to be proud of, including beating two Eredivisie teams and finally matching their red neighbours after 48 years.
Spakenburg went down fighting 1-2 against their illustrious visitors who are third in the Dutch top tier and the match earned nearly €300,000 in TV fees and prize money.
A Dwayne Green top scorer screamer for the home side gave hope of an upset but it was not to be.
Like Grimsby, the energy of this smaller club, swimming against the current, caught the imagination of football lovers.
PSV Eindhoven will meet Ajax Amsterdam, who won 1-2 at Feyenoord, in the KNVB Cup final.
A final including SV Spakenburg truly would have been a net buster.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. SV Spakenburg.
You can find Han on Twitter and Instagram: @hanbalk
