Friends from Rhone, rest assured: no link exists with John Textor’s Eagle group. Far from the affairs of the tumultuous American businessman, the Go Ahead Eagles are only a modest resident of the Dutch championship, largely unknown to the general public. However, the club is well placed in the race for qualification in the Europa League play-offs and will try to accelerate against Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday evening (9 p.m.).
Based in Deventer, a small port town of 100,000 inhabitants in the northeast of the Netherlands, Go Ahead Eagles remains one of the most historic stables in the country. In 1917, it was the first workers’ club to succeed in winning the championship. Before continuing to shine during the interwar period by winning three additional titles in 1922, 1930 and 1933.
A title which offers them Europe almost a hundred years later
Founded in 1902, the club from the Overijssel province also makes its charm thanks to its very particular name, with British connotations despite its country of origin. A name which means “Forward the Eagles”. Its founders, fans of English football, first chose the name “Be Quick Eagles” – translation of “Être Rapide les Aigles” – at the time of the creation of the current 10th Eredivisie.
The four-time champion then had to wait 92 years before tasting success again and being returned to the forefront of Dutch football, with the first Dutch Cup in its history last season. The Red and Yellow completely overthrew AZ Alkmaar in the final by equalizing in the ninth minute of added time, before winning on penalties. A coronation allowing the club’s direct qualification for the Europa League, where it currently occupies 27th place, in eliminated position.
“We always play every game to win and it’s no different on the European stage. However, we must be realistic and mature: in each match, we will have to be very good to score points,” coach Melvin Boel lucidly assured after the draw. Beaten by Steaua Bucharest (0-1), Salzburg (2-0) and Stuttgart (0-4), the Dutch still enjoyed two prestigious successes in October, against Panathinaikos (1-2) and Aston Villa (2-1).
A stadium always sold out
“For everyone at Deventer, it’s a wonderful thing to be able to host such great teams. It really creates something in the city. The big names drawn for away games all have huge stadiums, and we’re really looking forward to going there. We’re going to have a great time,” rejoiced Go Ahead Eagles captain Mats Deijl after the draw. It must be said that De Adelaarshorst, the name of his team’s stadium which means “the eagle’s nest” in Dutch, has a capacity of only 10,400 seats which spectators are constantly snapping up: the enclosure is almost full for each Eagles match.
And the Dutch club’s players don’t benefit from immense experience either. Only four of them are international: Surinamese striker Richonell Margaret (13 caps), Indonesian defender Dean James (5 caps) as well as two Swedish midfielders, Oscar Pettersson and Victor Edvardsen (1 cap). The latter was also noticed at the end of November by creating a lively controversy in the Netherlands for having made fun of the nose of Stuttgart player Angelo Stiller. He was fined 500 euros.
With six points, the Go Ahead Eagles can still dream of the final phase of the Europa League and are preparing to migrate to France twice in the space of six weeks, first to Lyon on Thursday, then to Nice on January 22. The Eagles must now prove that they can still fly higher than anyone imagined.
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