Hangin’ with the Kozakken Boys: The back alley of Dutch football

Alex Dieker

17th November 2018 | 11:39 PM

Our in-house Dutch football writer visited semi-pro club Kozakken Boys. While the spectacle was small, an important lesson was learned regarding the future of Dutch football.
Kozakken Boys
Art by Charbak Dipta

“Sorry, ik spreek geen Nederlands goed.”

It’s true: my Dutch is not very good. But when I heard the man murmur something to me, I became excited; perhaps I can show off my three months of Dutch DuoLingo lessons! But the grey-haired Dutchman, in response to my carefully-crafted reply, looked perplexed. His soft smile told me that I shouldn’t have tried to speak Dutch in the first place. We both returned our attention to the pitch.

The man’s confusion was understandable. We were in Werkendam, a somewhat secluded Dutch town over three hours south of Amsterdam. Why would a young foreign man travel down here for a football match? To be honest, I didn’t really know myself.

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