orange picturesTess van der Flier (left) is under contract with PEC Zwolle
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 10:38
Jady van Leusden
editor NOS Sport
Jady van Leusden
editor NOS Sport
In the morning she trains as a goalkeeper at PEC Zwolle, in the afternoon she works as a gym teacher. Tess van der Flier is one of the many football players in the Premier League who is forced to have a job on the side.
“I can’t make a living from football alone,” says the 25-year-old goalkeeper. “That doesn’t cover all my costs. So I train in the morning and then go to work.”
What applies to Van der Flier applies to the majority in the Premier League. This weekend the teams will protest at all matches. ‘Professional football = getting paid’ can be read on the shirts of the captains. In a joint statement they call on the KNVB, clubs and sponsors to do something about the low payment of professional football players.
Watch the protest at the Telstar-Fortuna match and an interview with two players about the low payments in these videos:
Most football players in the premier league play for an expense allowance. Van der Flier signed a part-time contract with PEC Zwolle in 2022.
“I have my own house with a mortgage. Football simply does not cover all the costs,” says Van der Flier. “That’s why I work as a gym teacher after training. That is accepted at PEC.”
That work rhythm is still manageable for her, but the Zwolle native sees that some of her teammates are having a harder time. “They work until late in the evening and are then back in the field early in the morning.”
At PEC Zwolle, the football players train and play six days a week. “But I don’t see myself 100 percent as a professional footballer,” Van der Flier says firmly. “Of course, when you play in the stadium and children cheer for you, that is very special. But really professional? It feels more like I have two jobs.”
300 spectators
The Eredivisie Women has officially been part of the professional section of the KNVB for two years now. But the majority of players still do not get paid.
‘Little has changed at small clubs’
NOS analyst Leonne Stentler played football for ADO Den Haag and Ajax between 2007 and 2015. “At ADO I only received a travel allowance. Nowadays the players at Ajax, Twente, PSV and Feyenoord have a collective labor agreement, but little has changed at the smaller clubs in all these years.”
According to her, this depends on the licensing requirements. “The clubs must now have at least four players under contract. This does not even have to be full-time, in practice it is sometimes contracts for 16 hours a week.”
“In England, strict licensing requirements were drawn up about eight years ago that all clubs must meet. The result is that only really strong clubs now play in the Super League. Football there has grown rapidly, a club like Arsenal is attracting regularly tens of thousands of spectators.”
The big question is: how should the players be paid? Home matches of PEC Zwolle, the number six in the Premier League, sometimes only attract 300 spectators. The matches are broadcast live on ESPN, but do not achieve high viewing figures.
Due to the lack of interest, it is impossible for the smaller clubs in the Premier League to employ the players full-time. Van der Flier also realizes this: “It would be ideal, but not every club can afford that yet. You can of course strive for that.”
It gives her mixed feelings: “On the one hand you sympathize with the clubs, but you also want the best for yourself.”
Fuses?
The PEC goalkeeper had already considered quitting professional football when she suffered a serious knee injury in November. “There are more things to life.”
ANPTess van der Flier was seriously injured in November and considered quitting
“But leaving the football world due to an injury? You don’t want to end up like this. Ultimately, it is worth it for me. Your hobby has partly become your job.”
But whether she still feels the same way in a few years remains to be seen. “I want children one day, for example. Will the club still support you?”, the goalkeeper wonders out loud.
She looks at it from year to year as to whether she will remain a (semi-)professional footballer. “I say to the young girls: go study. The chance to break through as a girl has increased nowadays. But living from sport is now simply not possible for most of them.”
2024-03-23 09:38:35
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