G-Football Players shine in the Johan Cruijff ArenA for the 1st Time

On Sunday 22 May, a match round of the Special Eredivisie was played in the Johan Cruijff ArenA for the first time. The G-footballers, led by trainers Gert Willems and Jan Dijkgraaf, travelled with the real FC Emmen players bus to Amsterdam.

Around 12.30 pm, the FC Emmen players’ bus arrived at the Johan Cruijff Arena and it was soon clear that the players were impressed. Just like the real professional footballers, the teams entered the field one by one from the tunnel. With loud cheering from the accompanying parents and supporters, the teams were welcomed! The last tactics were discussed and then it was time to play the first match.

Ajax
Where most teams sometimes play with their tail between their legs in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, this was absolutely not the case for FC Emmen. The G-footballers got off to a flying start against Ajax and thanks to good teamwork a comfortable 3-0 lead was soon on the scoreboard. FC Emmen kept playing good football and could easily extend the score. After the final whistle, the scoreboard showed a 7-0 (!) victory for the Emmen players.

ADO The Hague
The second and last game of the day was against ADO Den Haag. Encouraged by the accompanying parents, FC Emmen again started the match strongly. The score ran up quickly and early in the match it became clear that the team of Gert Willems and Jan Dijkgraaf was much too strong for ADO. In a fun game, the Emmen players left the field with a large 7-1 score and so the second game was also concluded with a win!

The day ended with a penalty shootout against the team from The Hague. Subsequently, all participating teams received a cup for their participation, because participating is more important than winning! On the way back, the players received a treat from the parents who had travelled along, and while enjoying these delicious snacks, they looked back on the day until the bus arrived back at De Oude Meerdijk.

Last week, the Special Eredivisie season was organised at FC Groningen where FC Groningen and Go Ahead Eagles had to compete against each other.

Young Stars at 1st Edition EFDN Special champions League

The FC Emmen youngsters were also present at first edition EFDN Special Champions League in Breda, on November 6th, 2021. The young stars of SL Benfica from Portugal, Everton FC from England, Bohemian FC Dublin (Ireland), Bayer 04 Leverkusen and SV Werder Bremen (Germany), Inter Campus Kraków (Poland) and three Dutch clubs: FC Emmen, Excelsior Rotterdam and two teams of N.E.C. Nijmegen gathered together to compete with each other during the tournament.

The Special Champions League is a new project of EFDN that will provide a safe, inclusive, and active environment where young people between 10 and 18 years old with an intellectual disability can come together and play football at a level, they are all comfortable with.