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De Graafschap football club has a chance to earn promotion to the Eredivisie tonight competing in the second division Dutch league for the last two years. The club hails from Doetinchem, which sits on the eastern border of the Netherlands and Germany and is considered the countryside when compared to the metropolises of Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam.
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As a result of their rural location, De Graafschap (which translates to “The County”), is nicknamed the “Super Farmers.” While not a large club by European football standards, The County Super Farmers have become a fairly permanent fixture in the Eredivisie and carry a passionate fan base that is equal to or greater in size than many other Dutch teams.
Supporters were out in full force on Friday as the De Graafschap set off to Amsterdam for their crucial promotion-clinching match against Young Ajax for a match that pits “The Farmers” against “The Urban.” Around 1:00 p.m., the team bus left from Doetinchem with a special send off. Nearly 150 tractors led a caravan out of De Vijverberg stadium and onto the A18 highway, where they lined the outermost lanes and let the bus drive down the center.
It caused quite the traffic jam.
At a bridge about 20 minutes outside of the club’s home city near Didam, supporters lined the streets with flares and met the bus to boost moral.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions in the country, no official ceremony could be held, but general manager Hans Martijn Ostendorp had called on his club’s fans to show up and show out. He had hoped for a sea of tractors and was not disappointed.
If you were not a De Graafschap Super Farmers fanatic before, you are now. This tremendous display is everything that is great about sports and fandom. Nothing else in the world can inspire such joyful, hopeful passion.
