Exactly 500 meters behind the Aalsmeerrunway of Schiphol Airport, one can see the football fields below where the players of R.K.S.V. Pancratius play soccer almost every day. The planes accellerate over the runway and pull up over the sports fields to higher spheres. The club is named after 1 of the four ice saints. Pancratius was not born that way, he was developed that way. After his death. That’s how they do it in the Catholic Church. Only after your death you get your rewards. Pancratius lived in Roman times around the year 304; he was 14 and a Christian follower, the latter not an unimportant condition to become a saint. The Roman emperors then in power wanted to hold on to their own gods and so forbid those of another religion. They demanded sacrifices from the people, as a sign of surrender. Pancratius stuck to his own beliefs and had to pay for it with his own life. Pretty lousy for a 14-year-old but it proved not to be invain. It is then that the church’s marketing department springs into action: “Ho wait, this job is for us.” Like a Mr Wolf from Pulp Fiction. Pancratius immediately got elevated to status martyr. He became an example for some people. Someone who is taunted, challenged but nevertheless sticked to his values. The roles in this story are clear: the executioner and the victim, the Catholic underdog. David against Goliath. Normally the big guy wins, but sometimes, very rarely, the roles are reversed. And what’s better when the underdog wins. That we get to experience that!
Nowhere is that more visible than in soccer, like at R.K.S.V. Pancratius, that small club in Badhoevedorp. The fields are just barely visible as the plane speeds up to jump into the air. How easy it is to be a fan of a much richer club like the one a few miles east; with them you are always a winner. Guaranteed to get your stake back, don’t worry! Luxury, comfort zone, and less ability to put things into perspective; it all seems easy when you always win. An audience that quickly dismisses their own players when things don’t go their way.
But not with NAC Breda. After another lost match, the defeated players leave the pitch, losing 6-1 or 4-2. As a supporter you get used to it, you persevere in your support even though the results prove otherwise. In Breda that agony is felt almost every week. Renunciation is part of the club culture. Like suffering in the Catholic Church. Us against the rest. The stadium counts 16,000 martyrs this week.
But sometimes, after years of suffering, the perseverance is rewarded. The derby is finally won. The relief, the celebration, the reward and the beer. The players are idolised, as saints. NAC Breda is such a club! Here in Breda losing is not an art, the players on the field are worshipped as martyrs.
With this shirt, Poeha pays tribute to one of Europe’s greatest clubs of martyrs. Pancratius would have felt at home.
