The last time an amateur club from the village reached the last four was in 1975, when IJsselmeervogels eliminated AZ on penalties. Now it’s the turn of SV Spakenburg, who surprisingly knocked out FC Groningen at Euroborg in mid-January. After this match, pride reigns again in the village of Utrecht. “And it has only increased since. Tonight we can write a piece of history,” Schoonebeek looks to the future. He’s not nervous. “But let’s face it, the class difference is big. It doesn’t change the fact that we are fearless and uninhibited on the pitch.”
The quarter-finals can be followed on the big screen at the club, but it will not be busy there, expects the president. The vast majority of supporters are in the stadium. According to the president, around 3,500 to 4,000 supporters travel from Bunschoten-Spakenburg to the Galgenwaard in Utrecht. And although he considers Spakenburg unlikely to win, Schoonebeek is ready to make a move if it comes to that. “Then bursts a madness that I cannot describe,” he says. “I don’t know where it ends.”
The cup match between FC Utrecht and Spakenburg starts at 8 p.m.