The death of Feyenoord icon Wim Jansen is hard on Jan Boskamp. The club icon of the Rotterdammers passed away on Tuesday at the age of 75. Jansen was a bosom friend of Boskamp, while Robin Van Persie also recently indicated that he has warm memories of his conversations with the former football player. Feyenoord has learned with great sadness of the passing of De Jansen, one of the greatest players to ever play for the club.
It may sound strange, but I just love that man,” says Jan Boskamp in conversation with The Telegraph. Wim is my bosom friend, my buddy, with him I have experienced everything from the age of fourteen. Then he came to pick me up at home as a sixteen-year-old to go to Varkenoord together to train with the paid youth of Feyenoord. I did everything, said everything, Wim always thought a little longer, was a bit smarter.” For Boskmap, the death of Jansen is a heavy blow, as he also lost his nineteen-year-old grandson in November. “It’s a terrible time. People you love are lost on you… Honestly, I’m closer to crying these days than laughing. I’m just having a k..year.”
Wim Jansen passed away on Tuesday at the age of 75.
Wim Jansen suffered from dementia, the former football player revealed in November in his biography, which was published in honor of his 75th birthday. The former trainer of the Rotterdam team had suspected for some time that something was wrong and therefore had an extensive investigation halfway through the corona crisis. “On Friday I was able to personally say goodbye to Wimpie. That felt good, actually as usual,” Boskamp continues. “Old-fashioned crispbread, so to speak. Wim was a bit slower because of his illness. It was about everything, but we mainly spent two hours talking about football. Of course about Feyenoord, about Messi, De Bruyne. We had the same club, the same passion. You know, I’ve had a lot of respect for Wimpie all my life, just really loved him and that’s why it’s so hard for me that he passed away.”
Robin van Persie also has warm memories of his encounters with Jansen. “I can still see him. With the B’s from Feyenoord we were allowed to play on the main field. That was in the old Varkenoord, with the canteen on the right in the corner,” says Van Persie in the Wim Jansen Meesterbrein biography. “Wim was standing at the corner flag. Every Saturday. I knew who he was. I always hoped he would come and see. The more knowledgeable people along that line, the more motivated I became to show what I could do. Then I thought: today I will do my best, because Wim is there.”
Van Persie states in the book that he has benefited a lot from the conversations with Jansen. “Some inspire you and some tire you. Then you have been talking for hours and you go home empty, without the feeling that you are really triggered. I never have that with Wim. During the time I played at Arsenal and had to report to the Dutch national team, I sometimes drove to Wim early in the morning for a cup of coffee and a good conversation, because he always manages to get to the heart of the matter.”
Feyenoord loses an icon and child of the club with Wim Jansen. He became a member of Feijenoord at the age of ten, after which he played in the first team for no less than fifteen years and won many prizes. Even after his playing career, Jansen remained loyal to the club and was, among other things, assistant and head coach, technical director and advisor. “I left Feyenoord a few times, but always came back. You could call it a blood tie,” he said in his biography. Feyenoord announced on social media that it was with great sadness that they learned of Jansen’s death. “A wonderful person and a great Feyenoord player is no more. Wim Jansen, rest in peace…”, the Rotterdam club wrote on Twitter.