NEC

NO LONGER THE EREDIVISIE'S UGLY DUCKLING

The beauty of Nijmegen (officially Holland's oldest city!) is beyond dispute: every visitor will appreciate the picturesque town of some 150,000 inhabitants near the German border, in the greenest parts of the south-eastern Netherlands. Nijmegen's origins were built over two thousand years ago by the Romans on the south bank of the river Waal. For a long time, however, the beauty of the city contrasted sharply with the reputation of NEC, the local football club. The gray cycling-track around the pitch made old, concrete De Goffert stadium one of the ugliest football grounds in The Netherlands, according to most players and visiting fans. Attendances were low. NEC were usually a bit 'gray' themselves, too.

But times have changed: the cycling-track has disappeared from De Goffert, which kept its name but was totally re-built on the same location at Nijmegen's beautifully sloping Goffert Park. Moreover, NEC (a club with black, green and red as their unusual colours) have been playing entertaining football since the era of head-coach 'Johan the Second' (Ajax and Holland legend Johan Neeskens, at the helm from 2000 to 2005). The most important side-effect of all that: NEC finally know what it feels like to not be the underdog in the emotionally charged derbies against neighbours Vitesse. The derby of the Gelderland province, between Arnhem and Nijmegen, is probably Holland's second biggest grudge game, after Ajax vs Feyenoord. Football fans are generally prone to nostalgia and tend to think that everything was better in the 'old days'. NEC are an exception to that rule: modern times have made NEC prettier and by all accounts more likeable.

Quite a metamorphosis: Goffert stadium in its old (above) and its current form (below).

For the record: NEC fans pronounce the name of their club as three separate letters: N-E-C. Don't say 'neck'. NEC (an abbreviation of Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie) was founded as a merger of two local clubs, although no living supporter is old enough to consciously remember either Nijmegen FC (of 1900) or Eendracht ('Unity', of 1908). The merger took place in 1910, which makes NEC one of the respected old-timers in Dutch football.

Just like their 'near-namesake' from Breda (NAC), NEC went up and down quite regularly in recent decades: there was relegation in 1983, promotion in 1985, relegation in 1986, promotion in 1989, relegation in 1991 and, finally, promotion in 1994. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s NEC were almost constantly fighting for survival when they were fortunate enough to be at the top flight. They did not even dare to think about trophies or even modest glory. Staying up was the main goal.

NEC goalkeeper Goldewijn in Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium. In spite of
the plain facts on the score-board (FC Barcelona 2, NEC 0) the 1983
Cup Winners Cup games were arguably the highlight in NEC history.

The club's historic achievements include four Dutch Cup finals (1974, 1983, 1994 and 2000) that were all lost. What makes NEC unique, however, is the fact that two of those finals were reached in a year of relegation from the Eredivisie (1974, 1983), whereas NEC made it to the 1994 cup final as a First Division team. The 1983 final was lost to Ajax, but since Ajax also won the championship that year NEC pulled into the European Cup Winners Cup, to represent Holland as a First Division side. It's a remarkable aspect of NEC's club history: the highlights occurred in some of the darkest seasons.

The second round clash with the FC Barcelona side of Bernd Schuster and Diego Maradona, in the fall of 1983, is regarded as NEC's all-time finest hour. In front of a crowd of 25,000 in Nijmegen, Anton Janssen and Michel Mommertz gave NEC (who were to be found halfway down the First Division table at that point) a shock-lead of 2-0 within 25 minutes. Barcelona ended up winning the game (2-3) and easily wrapped it up at Nou Camp (2-0), but it's a nice story anyway. The club returned to 'Europe' exactly twenty years later (in 2003), coached by Johan Neeskens. Even though recent seasons have been rather disappointing, NEC are now proud and well-organized, and in no way reminiscent of the ugly ducklings they once were. (MP)

NEC FACTS

Founded: 15 November 1910, merger of Nijmegen (1900) and Eendracht (1908)
City: Nijmegen
Stadium: De Goffert
Capacity: 12,500
Official website: www.nec-nijmegen.nl

Honors:

• No national or international trophies won

Recent History: Ajax vs NEC