Willem II will be active again at a lower level next season for the first time since 2014. The club from Tilburg relegated on Sunday despite a resounding 3-0 victory over FC Utrecht to the Kitchen Champion Division. The catch-up that was started under Kevin Hofland, appointed in March, came too late. He does not know whether there is a future for Hofland at the club. The trainer will soon talk to the club management.
Willem II trumped Utrecht on all fronts on Sunday afternoon, but was no longer in control of enforcement. In the end, a 3-0 victory was not enough for their survival. “Resignation, emptiness, that prevails,” Hofland said afterwards in front of the camera of Football zone† “This is the worst thing you can experience in football. There are worse things in life, but this is part of the game. They once introduced that you can be relegated and promoted. It is a shame that we are now and You hate that. I went to the players personally and said something in the group. That was it.”
Watch the interview with Kevin Hofland here.
Hofland was appointed in March to succeed the fired Fred Grim. “The intention was to turn it around and stay in it. We let the feeling speak,” says Hofland. “In the end we took eleven points, which turned out to be too few. There are several clubs in the Kitchen Champion Division that do not belong there with their supporters. How to proceed with the club is what the people above are about, not me. “I have no idea what will happen to me. We will talk to each other soon, when we will see. We have to see how and what. But it’s not about me, it’s about the club. Look at the emotions that come up.”
Freek Heerkens was convinced that something else would happen on the other fields. “Unfortunately, that was not allowed to be,” said the defender, who had to wait for the result at NEC – Fortuna Sittard (0-1) after their own game. “I have never experienced that before. That is very crooked, very strange. We have called everyone together. A number of them look at the telephone, you get some reactions from the stadium. We put down a very bad series before the winter break. After RKC it took too long before we took three points again, but it turned out not to be enough.”
Kalum van Oudheusden is a full-time video journalist, presenter and program maker at Voetbalzone and makes exclusive interviews and various programs.