MEANWHILE IN …
…the Netherlands, fans of De Graafschap have been busy turning the second tier into the real Farmers League
WEIRD WORLD OF FOOTBALL
1
AGRICULTURAL TACTICS
When Dutch team De Graafschap hit the road for a key promotion fixture at Jong Ajax, their supporters gave them quite the send-off.
Based in the small city of Doetinchem close to the German border, the club were relegated from the top flight in 2019, then suffered heartbreak last year as coronavirus led to promotion being cancelled – when they were second in the Eerste Divisie table.
Cambuur were the leaders then, and responded by winning the title in 2020-21 – players celebrated with a helicopter parade instead of an open-top bus tour, to discourage fans from gathering in large numbers.
De Graafschap sat second again this season, and the team known as the Super Farmers would confirm promotion with a game to spare if they won at Ajax’s reserves. As the team bus departed, fans took to the roads in tractors to wave them off, but it didn’t do De Graafschap any good – they drew 1-1 and eventually missed out on automatic promotion, before going into the play-offs and losing to Roda JC, who finished 20 points below them. The local farmers probably felt like pelting them with manure after that.