International football writer Martijn Krabbendam appeared in episode two of the second season of Leaders from Bar & Restaurant NOLA in Utrecht with the ins and outs of his own career. After the strict selection procedure, not all his stories made it to the final episode, but they should not be lost with that. In the bonus episode Fragments & Facts Krabbendam tells, among other things, about a dying breed of journalists and he stands up for the supporters of Feyenoord, although there are ‘a few crooks among them’.
Despite Krabbendam’s long track record as a club watcher for Feyenoord, there is no question of club love with him. He doesn’t understand much about supporters’ life anyway, but that doesn’t make him any less a football fan, in his own words: “I’ve been to every stadium and can tell you everything, but I’m not going to wear shirts.” He would rather enjoy the game than the sentiment anywhere. “I still want to be everywhere. Also in the Kitchen Champion Division. If you don’t have that anymore, you better stop.”
Krabbendam lacks that urge to experience everything in his field these days. “I’ve been around for a while. I actually see a lot of the same faces in the work I do.” The so-called field worker sees enough young colleagues gather expertise and write pieces, but his own breed is dying: “Do they want to be there? You can know everything about every club via Wikipedia, but it is different when you are somewhere and talking to people.”
Martijn Krabbendam tells an anecdote from his rich career as a guest at Kopstukken
It is the work he has been doing at Feyenoord for years. “Johan said one day: ‘So, you are going to follow Feyenoord!’ Fine, I’ll report to training tomorrow,” Krabbendam recalls. His network of people within the club makes his work possible. “Because I came there every day, people thought along. I would sometimes get a call when I was absent: ‘Lazovic just broke his ankle.’” In the end it is the club watcher’s job to look at the club critically, something that is not always appreciated.
Although Krabbendam is quite numb to criticism, the fact that he was boycotted by the players in 2015 did something to him. In particular, he didn’t like the reason behind it: “As if I was a slob who didn’t check his facts.” Although Krabbendam never stays angry for long: “Raymond Salomon gave me that boycott, I thought that was a huge horse cock at the time. But now he’s gone. I actually think that’s a shame.” Fans are also not always happy with his critical note. Supporters who are sometimes discredited when it comes to administrative problems at the club. “But fans are sometimes abused for that. Look, what they have done is indefensible,” he says about smashing the windows at departed general manager Mark Koevermans. “But, afterwards you heard that Feyenoord itself wanted to get rid of him.”
With all his knowledge about the Rotterdam club, Krabbendam was asked to make a podcast about Feyenoord. Since the Ajax equivalent scored well, the great rival also had to be discussed extensively. “It’s a bit of coffee time for football fans. It certainly shouldn’t be too pretentious. If you listen to that NOS podcast… as if four scientists are fighting each other.” The only question was who could join him at the Dick Formekaar Podcast† “Then I thought, I can call Michel van Egmond. He said: ‘Ah, isn’t it nice? And if it’s nothing, then we’ll just give up again, right?’”
Justus Dingemanse is a full-time presenter and program maker at Voetbalzone and makes contributions in the form of exclusive interviews, reports, documentaries and programs.