Oranje can count on the support of Dweilorkest ‘t Spult at the first European Championship match on Saturday. The musicians from Zutphen have been providing the atmosphere during the matches for years, but that doesn’t always go smoothly. “Then my trumpet was torn in half.”
Johan Nieuwenhuizen instinctively knows when to take action at the Kooi Stadion in Leeuwarden. In the seventeenth minute of the send-off match, a few supporters cautiously start the wave, whereupon he immediately gets up and puts his trumpet to his mouth.
Soon the other musicians follow and play the melody Hup, Holland hup. The party on the stands breaks loose. It has become second nature for the musicians of ‘t Spult to set the atmosphere in sold-out stadiums. For their debut, we have to go back to 2017, when the European Championship for women was played in the Netherlands.
Via the evening four-day march of Zutphen, ‘t Spult ended up in the stadium for the first time. A councilor from Doetinchem had seen the brass band play there and thought: I also want that before the start of the European Championship matches at De Vijverberg. That was such a success that the KNVB arranged for even two trumpeters to be allowed in at the Oranje match.
Nieuwenhuizen was one of them and says that they were actually only allowed to play a short piece four times. “But then I said to the other trumpeter: someone should try to grab my trumpet, we’ll see what happens. Well, with the first song the whole stadium joined in and we did that throughout the match.”
“From Wij houden van Oranje to Viva Hollandia, we played everything that had to do with football. Everything we played was joined by the whole stadium. The KNVB came to us immediately after the match. They said: whatever happens, you will be at every match from now on.”
‘The KNVB called that we shouldn’t play that song anymore’
Since that first introduction, ‘t Spult hardly misses a home match of the men and women of Oranje. If possible, the brass band also travels with the national teams to major final tournaments. Last year they were at the European Championship in Germany, now they are heading for Switzerland.
Anyone who tunes in from 6:00 PM on Saturday for the match between Oranje and Wales cannot miss the sound of Nieuwenhuizen, two other trumpeters and a big drum. It is important for the musicians that Oranje does well, because playing a cheerful football song when they are behind does not go down well.
“That’s annoying. If a stadium is completely silent, the fun is quickly over,” says Edwin Papen, another trumpeter who is present in Switzerland. But ‘t Spult sometimes has to be careful which song they play. “There was a match where Germany was 2-0 ahead, so I played Alle Duitsers zijn… Then we immediately received a phone call from the KNVB during the match, that we should not do that anymore,” says Nieuwenhuizen laughing.
He also remembers a moment before a match in France. During a pee break, he gave his trumpet to his wife. “She didn’t dare to tell me that she had dropped my trumpet then. I wanted to blow, but it was shaking on all sides. It turned out to be torn in half. Fortunately, my son had also brought his trumpet, so I could use his in the stadium.”
Children learn ‘t Spult football songs
You can’t just play as a musician of ‘t Spult in the stadium, there is a whole learning process involved. Thanks to volunteers, the youngest children can get free lessons at a young age at kleintje Spul(t).
A look at the rehearsal of the youth brass band in Zutphen shows that the party and football songs are instilled from an early age. Upon entering, Links Rechts by Snollebollekes is playing and they also practice jumping from left to right fanatically.
Fifteen-year-old Lune is one of the older children and is occasionally allowed to play in the stadium. “I was allowed to come along once when I was twelve. I won that as a prize because I had sold the most oliebollen. It always seemed fun and special to me. I don’t even like football that much, but I really like the vibe in the stadium.”
Flying hours is necessary to be able to play in the stadium, because it is much harder work than at a normal concert. After all, you have to rise above thousands of supporters.
“In such a stadium you only have to do one thing: blow as hard as possible, but then you completely ruin your lips. When I drive back after a match, my lips always burn off,” says Nieuwenhuizen. That will not stop the musicians from building a party in the stands in Lucerne on Saturday evening.