Mitch Apau has completed his transfer from promoted Telstar to amateur side SV Spakenburg on Tuesday. The defender is opting for more time with his family.
Apau was promoted to the Eredivisie with Telstar a week and a half ago. The 35-year-old captain played all matches for the club from Velsen-Zuid last season.
Apau had signed a contract with Spakenburg even before the promotion. It was agreed that he could back out if Telstar were to be promoted to the Eredivisie. Yet, he is now leaving for the club from the Second Division, the highest amateur level.
Where most footballers would be eager to show off their skills in the Eredivisie, Apau has other thoughts. The defender became a father for the third time fifteen hours before Telstar’s promotion: son Moses.
“After a few days of thinking, I have made a decision,” Apau says in a video message on X for Telstar supporters on Tuesday. “I am going to play football at Spakenburg. I put my family first and want to spend more time at home.”
‘We were looking for a type like Mitch’
Spakenburg is happy with Apau’s arrival. “We were looking for a type like Mitch in defense,” technical director Peter Kroonenberg reports on the club’s website. “Experience, leadership, calmness and reliability were the key words in this.”
Apau enjoyed part of his youth training at Ajax and had a rich professional career. This took him to clubs such as RKC Waalwijk, KVC Westerlo, Olimpija Ljubljana and Slovan Bratislava. Apau has played for Telstar since 2022.