It's that time of the month that I'm bored again... Founded: 16/6/1971 Stadium: Oosterpark Stadion Website: www.fcgroningen.nl Although the team has never won any domestic prizes - apart from the 2nd division championship in 1980 - there have been times that the club has had some good runs in the different competitions: .almost reaching the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup in the 1988/1989 season .getting to the the Amstel Cup final in 1989, in which they lost to PSV .finishing 3rd in the 1990/1991 season, where they were a big contender for the championship well untill the end of the season One of their results in better times: I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned on the board yet, seeing as it's an American board and all, America's #1 FC Groningen fan visiting the team: This actually made the news all around the country because of it's weirdness. A New York taxi driver who likes football, who likes a Dutch club, which is FC Groningen? Unbelievable! Rana Khan became a fan of the team when he saw them beat Inter Milan in 1983, awestruck that this little team from Holland could beat the European powerhouse that is Milan. A few friends of his decided to fly him over here so he could see the team again, and when he arrived the club gave him a pretty good welcome; apart from presents and a tour they even let him walk on the field. Shocking! He of course also attended a game, which was the home game against RBC: Groningen won with 1 goal, which was loudly celebrated by the Americano. LINK to Dutch article
When you mention FC Groningen... mention their clash with Atletico Madrid (at that time European top) in... god knows when.
Yes...why? Tell me.....Perhaps you can mention some of the fantastic milestones of Heerenveen? Actually, I wanted to post something about Rana Kahn but I was skiing in Austria at the time, and I didn't think it was relevant anymore.....Thanx for doing it anyway, Oscar 2 weeks ago he visited his first EVER FCG game, vs. RBC Roosendaal. The game kind of sucked but he had a great time anyway.... After the match he was interviewed by local TV (TV Noord) when the players showed up...he got all emotional, it was funny to watch.....like he was looking at the Real Madrid squad or some other top team......
It's under statistics in 'archief' here it is... Eerste ronde 14-09-1983 Atletico de Madrid - FC Groningen 2-1 28-09-1983 FC Groningen - Atletico de Madrid 3-0 Tweede ronde 19-10-1983 FC Groningen-Internazionale Milan 2-0 02-11-1983 Internazionale Milan-FC Groningen 5-1
I feel a rant coming on... What surprises me is how often pro sports teams miss opportunities like this. Consider how much FCG spent on this 'promotion' (~ nothing) and how much positive and free press they've received as a result. Clubs like FCG (and Ajax, by the way) should bend over backwards to enable the well-intentioned nutters of the world (of which I am one -- what else explains an Irish-American supporting an Amsterdam team that's practically never even on TV in the States), to encourage them, to fan up the flames of fanatical loyalty. A few people get it. Monique, who edits the official Ajax web site, never fails to take pictures of our boys when we visit each year and stick them up on Ajax.nl. But it is still painful to arrange for match tickets and accomodations with the official Ajax travel bureau from the U.S. The communication is downright poor; Americans are treated like afterthoughts, and the package prices are inflated to a ridiculous degree. (How much am I paying for that drink at De Toekomst?) It should be very efficient and very inexpensive, cuz lets face it: they won't get enough Americans at the Arena to generate significant profit. But helping foreigners to see games in the Arena does other, much more important things: it creates good publicity domestically and in the country of origin. And it generates support; it enlarges the circle of support. When I go to Holland, I inevitably come home with pictures, stories, souvenirs. My co-workers know about Ajax and Amsterdam, and think of it as a potential tourist destination, or as a potential replica shirt to buy, partly because of my stories. That is an organic, and extremely effective, method of long-term brand building. You can make a similar argument about Ajax merchandise. Raise your hand if you've recently had an extremely satisfying experience buying on-line from Ajax.nl's Wehkamp store. Nobody? 'Course not. It's a mess. And it might be that the market outside of Holland is not significant enough to merit a more efficient, and efficiently supported, commerce system. (But I doubt that.) Even so, Ajax should find a way to make it easy and affordable for foreigners to buy Ajax stuff on line. Not for the direct profit, but for the advancement of an overall, long-term marketing and brand-building strategy. End of rant...
When I was visiting FC U they treated me like the plague. I give kudos to FC G for the nice work, and would like to see better jobs by the rest of them.
Re: I feel a rant coming on... Except tickets (not even all my tickets ) and my seasonticket don't buy squat from Ajax. Since 1996 Ajax is big business. They don't have supporters anymore but clients you know. And Ajax should be a fashionable product