While the trains were racing through the polders, the party in Rotterdam was already in full swing. The heroes of Milan had already been welcomed back. The plane carrying the European champions would land at Zestienhoven. When that was made public, tens of thousands of fans raced over there. In no time the airport was flooded. It looked like an ocean of red and white supporters.

It had become impossible to land and the plane had to avert to Schiphol. Upon hearing that, the supporters left to go to the sides of the Rijksweg 13 to greet the buses with their heroes. Zestienhoven ebbed empty again and the plane turned around. It was able to land after all. The bus with players and supporters drove, first via the normal route and then via a non-designated route, to the back door of city hall in Rotterdam. Hundreds of thousands of people were already waiting at the front end, when their heroes appeared on the balcony. When that happened the chorus of “Hand in hand” went over the stadhuisplein, over the Hofplein, and over the Lijnbaan and further still, all the way to Dordrecht, Delft and The Hague or Schiedam, Vlaardingen, Maassluis. All of the Netherlands knew about it.

The expectation was that Feyenoord´s tour of victory could only continue. Even Ajax-chairman Jaap van Praag was convinced that Feyenoord would be unbeatable the coming ten years. So the disappointment was great when puny UT Arad of Rumania knocked Feyenoord out of the European Cup. Fortunately the winning of the World Cup on September the 9th 1970 healed some wounds. Estudiantes de la Plata was beaten in the Kuip.

Two weeks earlier Feyenoord had drawn the match 2-2. Now the clash of the titans ended in a 1-0 victory for Feyenoord with the only goal coming from Joop van Daele, replacement for Coen Moulijn. That cost him his glasses. In his rage over Van Daele’s goal the Estudiantes player Malbernat ripped it of his nose and trampled on it. You weren’t allowed to play with glasses, was his excuse, at least not in South America. That night the Coolsingel was, naturally, packed again. Out of the European Cup and winners of the World Cup. Joy and despair lay close together. That went for both the players, as well as the supporters.


Years passed. Players came and went. Feyenoord won the League in 1971 and 1974 and on May the 29 1974, it also won the UEFA-Cup, after a final against Tottenham Hotspur in the Kuip. Still May the 29th wasn’t a joyous day. For the first time the stadium was host to the football hooligans from England. When defeat seemed inevitable, they started fighting and demolishing their section of the stadium, causing many injuries.

After a couple of years the memories faded. In any event a new generation of supporters came to the stadium. They also wanted to join in on the successes of the club. They didn’t care about the stories on Puck van Heel, Ove Kindvall or Coen Moulijn. They were aching for a new title.

That title came in 1984, and a world famous Amsterdammer took care of that. Written off by Ajax, Cruyff wanted to show the world that he could still make a team champion of Holland. And so he did, though not all on his own. Under his captaincy Feyenoord won the double: League and cup in 1984. The revival was a short-lived one. In the years to come Feyenoord would drop down a long way.

Sorce: o.a. Feyenoord Compleet, Waanders Uitgevers / Mr. J. Oudenaarden