Football Legend Dies: Remembering a True Artist

From the newspaper of August 24, 1970. Lugdunum – Ter Leede (4-0). It 1^ste goal is scored in spectacular fashion by Hans v/d Starp. Falling, he heads the leather against the ropes.

Hans van der Starp (1943-2025)

At the last minute of the old year, one of Leiden’s very best football sons ever passed away. Hans van der Starp. In December, the ambulance drove to his house three times at high speed. Twice he was returned to the cozy home with an optimistic ‘things are getting better’ Adrie and Fayatheir four-legged friend, wanderer from Romania. To continue recovery. But 3x charm did not apply to him. In the presence of his Adrie, daughter Cindy and granddaughter Loïs, Hans slipped away in peace, with a smile on his face. It was fine. LeidenAmateurVoetbal (LAV) looks back with Adrie on her life with Hans, on their more than 50-year marriage, which started with ‘love at first sight’ in ‘t Diefje and had a sporting continuation at Lugdunum via UVS and LFC. It was a memorable afternoon. Not to be forgotten quickly. With a laugh and a tear, with a disarming Adrie, emotional, candid, realistic and oh so strong. Also with piles of newspaper clippings, which testify to Hans’ great talent and his unfortunately modest ambitions. Conclusion: an intensely likeable ‘guy’. Farewell to ‘An artist in football boots’, that’s how friend Wim de la Rie described him on the Lugdunum Facebook pages.

One of the last photos taken of Hans v/d Starp was on the coffin when he said goodbye.

Up & Down

The welcome is warm. Faya greets the visitors dancing on two legs, yapping and asking for attention. The brown rascal with his healthy glowing skin feels that ‘those two’ from LAV have been approved by his mistress. Faya, a wanderer from Romania, is a great comfort in these sad times.

That is also correct. From the very beginning it is ‘old boys’ raisin bread’. Adrie is an open book, she wears her golden heart on her sleeve. “It goes up and down,” she says. ‘One day I can handle everything, the next day I’m crying all the time.’

Despite the loss of her Hans, Adrie manages to put a smile on her face. Her phone is chock full of photos, one by one moments from their beautiful life together.

A beautiful scene: Faya, on the lap of ‘the lady’.

Its arrival has been anticipated. Newspaper clippings and photos are spread out on the table. Most from the time when newspapers were published in large format and the headlines of the reports were the size of chocolate letters. With a lot of attention to UVS, Roodenburg, LFC, Lugdunum. Those clubs then played at a high level, with thousands of supporters on the sidelines. The Glibbers came for Gerard Désar, Bart Lardee, Aad Koren (UVS), for the Rootjes, Henk de Cler, Gijs Collé (Lugdunum), for Mat Keereweer, Sam den Os, etc. (Roodenburg), the Heymansen, Bouk Pijnakker, Gilles van der Heijden, Piet Gubler (LFC). Celebrities in the city. Among all those names, that of Hans van der Starp should not be missing and should be written in capital letters. A growth brilliant24 carats. An ordinary boy, a tiler, a whirlwind in the fields.

UVS – VELO (5-0). Sjoerd Teske (left) in a duel, the ball falls at the feet of the remarkably slim Hans v/d Starp, who easily scores. Is the ball that big or does it just seem that way?

First at UVS, then at LFC (‘Hans received a moped from LFC legend Flip Massaar when he came over to the Canaries) and finally found his home at Lugdunum. Literally his home. He felt happy within the Kikkers family, made friends for life and enthroned his Adrie, whom he had met in the Leiden nightlife and listened to the joys and sorrows behind the bar at Lugdunum as a social worker. ‘Of course I prepared salads in the kitchen, croquette and ball sandwiches, and baked fries, but my favorite thing to do was talking to all those people who came to drink their beer. A wonderful time.’ How long? “About forty years.” Club loyalty? Yes, more importantly, a loving marriage. ‘You take it upon yourself and you know: without a canteen there is no club.’

1962 – 1963 UVS 1. Standing from left to right: Piet Kantebeen (trainer), Hans Blankemeijer (his father was chairman of Feyenoord) Wim v/d Kaay, Koos v/d Voorn (later known as a sports presenter at the AVRO), ?, Peter Witteman, Herman Vermeer, Bart Lardee, Kees Vermeulen (lines judge); crouching from left to right: Kees v/d Berg, Aad Koren, Sjoerd Teske, Koos Veefkind, Hans v/d Starp, Herbert Zuma.

UVS 1 – 1962 – 1963. Standing from left to right: Hans Blankemeijer, Piet Ravensbergen, Herman Vermeer, Wim v/d Kaay, Peter Witteman, Bart Lardee; crouching from left to right: Koos Veefkind, Herbert Zuma, Sjoerd Teske, Hans v/d Starp, Aad Koren. With 25 goals to his name, Hans is in the UVS Top Scorers list of all time.

Famous Canaries in their characteristic V-shirts. Gilles v/d Heijden with his fiancée next to him, 2^e from the left goalkeeper Leen de Hoed and 4^of from left Piet Gubler. Behind the lady is Leo de Jong, he was called ‘professor’ because of the glasses. And then ‘our’ Hans v/d Starp (2^of from the right).

Champion. The year and names are clearly visible in the photo, which was rejected by the editors. Anyway, if you press on, you can find a nicer champion photo.

Medical secretary

It all started with Hans in 1971. One evening in ‘t Diefje she lost her heart, grew and blossomed her love for that ‘excellent’ footballer Hans van der Starp and for Leiden. ‘I am originally from Oegstgeest, born in Geverstraat, a few streets behind the ASC field.’ Adrie had no interest in football. Yes, she sometimes went to the Duivenvoordestraat, in the heart of Oegstgeest, where ASC played its matches at the time. ‘Not for the football players. I was too young for that. At most to collect bottles with friends and return them to the canteen for the deposit.’ At the age of seventeen, after Adrie obtained her MULO diploma, she went out with her best friends. Not in Oegstgeest. There you only had the Gouwe, the Rode Leeuw and Café Sport. Not for girls who wanted an adventure. With the yellow tram to Leiden, you had your choice. Samantha, Club ’58, Bliksem and Scarabee. Hotspotscozy tents, quite exciting at first for the only child in the family. ‘Just out of high school, I didn’t know what I was going to do. My dad brought me to the LUMC.’ It went like this: Adrie’s father was an ambulance driver, a child at home in the hospital. He asked if there was a nice job available for his daughter. Sure enough, Adrie was hired, she became a medical secretary. To be able to type all the complicated, unpronounceable medical words and terms blindly, she took courses and internal training. She mastered the profession so quickly and so thoroughly that it would become her first and only job. Adrie thought it was ‘fantastic work with great colleagues’. The appreciation turned out to be mutual. She would work for one of the most renowned university medical centers in Europe for forty-three years. She still talks about it with visible enthusiasm. Euphoric. Colleagues from then became friends, who still regularly meet for dinner or to go to a musical together.

Adrie and Hans get married. A commitment that will last until Hans’ death (December 30, 2025).

Drrrrie oktoberrr, then Adrie and Hansie go on the rrrroll.

Massive interest

‘They also attended Hans’ farewell,’ says Adrie, ‘those who couldn’t come really had a reason for it, they sent very sweet cards.’ Talking about interest. More than a hundred people, (sports) friends, representatives of football clubs, ‘boys’ from the city, came to Rhijnhof, where they spoke on behalf of Lugdunum and also Adrie’s girlfriend Nel, the wife of Togetheranother quintessential Lugdu song, spoke movingly. ‘Everyone was equally sweet and kind, a truly worthy farewell.’ The postal service also delivered stacks of cards, as many as sixty, with condolences. Former chairman Phil Verstraaten called from Spain. Adrie has no complaints about the run-up since then. All very comforting. At the same time, she knows very well that this compassion will not last on such a massive scale. ‘I understand that well. Life goes on.’ Fortunately, she knows she is surrounded by dear friends, with whom she can express her sorrow again and again. ‘A grief coach’ is not for her.

Sworn comrades. Hans v/d Starp and Koos van Egmond, the conscience of Lugdunum.

During the day Adrie is busy like a bee, in the evening the curtains are closed, she curls up on the couch and watches with Faya feel good series. ‘I also did that together with Hans, he had become a homebody, we had such a good time together.’ It was remarkable that there was little talk about football. Of course Adrie knew that her Hans was crazy about the game, but in a way that not everything had to give way to that. “He didn’t like training and sometimes he would arrive too late for the preliminary meeting,” she remembers clearly. ‘Then he ended up on the couch. But he didn’t care. Hans accepted that, he knew he would come in anyway.’ Too bad, such a talent. How far he could have come. “That’s true,” Adrie agrees, “but he wasn’t interested in that.” Did he think the cigarette and beer and the fun were more important? ‘Yes, and nothing else.’

What not many people know is that Van der Starp also played a season at LDWS. Adrie: ‘He had an argument with the trainer, which got out of hand and Hans ran after the man who ran away like a hare. That became a huge riot. He handed in his bag of clothes, said ‘figure it out’ and left. After a while the cold was gone and it just came back, as if nothing had happened.’ Adrie does not remember at which club this incident took place. She does know that two great people at LDWS took care of the ins and outs. Hans took off his hat to Henk Piket and Hans Verver.

Swift – ‘t Winkeltje, the indoor champions, with Wim van Duivenbode (squatting, with moustache). Piet Gubler (crouching left), Hans v/d Starp (crouching, 3^of from the left).

The Swift – ‘t Winkeltje indoor football team made it to the newspaper every week. Piet Gubler (front right), Above Piet sits Hans v/d Starp, above Hans a smiling Wim van Duivenbode, who surprisingly resembles André v/d Louw, former VARA chairman and former mayor of Rotterdam.

Always busy

Sitting still and doing nothing was something Hans van der Starp hated. When he finished working, retired and became a state pensioner, but even before that, he always had to get out for a while. On the scooter through the city, have a chat everywhere. ‘That went a long way with Hans,’ says Adrie, ‘he delivered the mail to the mailboxes at Praxis for fourteen years. Spits and Metro, you know those free morning newspapers, he handed out at the station. He had to have something to do during the day.’

Among the champions, For special competitions Hans v/d Inter always ready to be poked. This photo was taken before the match Football Presidents against Leiden Prominenten. Standing around Wim Rijsbergen, general practitioner Har Meijer, ‘Kale’ Jan Oudshoorn (KNVB consul) and Henk Bolstere; squatting: Phil Verstraaten (chairman Lugdunum), Hans v/d Starp, Gé v/d Hoed (chairman VNA), Aad v/d Luit (Sports Company Leiden).

The interview flies from place to place. ‘Can you make something of that?’ Adrie asks. “Can you still read what you wrote down?” To naturally switch to the music that was played during Hans’ farewell. André Rieu, Herman van Veen (‘If love can last so many years’), Piet Veerman of The Cats (‘Sailin’ Home’), Rob de Nijs (‘Photo from the past’) and ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’. Faya jumps on Adrie’s lap. She pets him and says softly, “He is so affectionate, sweet, obedient and so loyal.” Tonight ‘the lady’ will sleep again.

On the way to the hallway: ‘Yes guys, hospitalized three times in four weeks. It all started with a burst appendix. To think that Hans had recovered some time earlier from cancer in his tongue but could no longer swallow properly. And never complain, right? After her: ‘Put on your scarf properly, otherwise you will catch a cold,’ Adrie herself stands at the door, freezing, without a scarf. The next day Adrie emails: ‘There is still a lot to be found about Hans on the Lugdunum Historie website. It was fun. Bye.”