The joy among Willem II fans was so great on Saturday that they stormed the field after the play-off match with FC Dordrecht. But despite the first victory of 2025, the Tilburgers are far from assured of staying in the Eredivisie.
A few seconds after his decisive penalty in the penalty shootout against FC Dordrecht, Jesse Bosch sees hundreds of supporters coming onto the field from the stands. “It’s hard to stop it,” the Willem II captain says half an hour later. “And the joy was understandable.”
On Friday at Telstar-FC Den Bosch – the other semi-final in the play-offs for promotion/relegation – a field invasion led to fierce fights between fans. In Tilburg, there is no fighting a day later, but the explosion of joy is premature.
Willem II still has to survive another round to avoid relegation. Next week, a double confrontation with Telstar awaits. “It wasn’t the intention for people to come onto the field, because we still have a final to play,” says interim coach Kristof Aelbrecht.
“But luckily everything seems to have gone calmly, also towards the Dordrecht players. We must not forget that these fans have had to wait so long for a victory. They were craving a success. Then there is also emotion involved.”
Final Play-Offs
Willem II had not won in Eighteen Games in A Row
On December 22, Willem II won 4-1 against NEC in the seventeenth round of the Eredivisie. After that, 154 days and eighteen games followed without a win for the Brabant club. The promoted club dropped from ninth to sixteenth place, saw trainer Peter Maes leave and a return to the Keuken Kampioen Divisie suddenly come very close.
The 3-2 victory over FC Dordrecht – followed by a successful penalty series – puts an end to that dramatic period on Saturday evening. “Winning has been very difficult for us for a very long time,” says Bosch. “Fortunately, it worked today.”
Some players let themselves be overwhelmed by the field invasion in euphoria. For example, midfielder Amin Lachkar takes a selfie while being taken on the shoulders by a number of fans (see the main photo with this article). But according to Aelbrecht, that same Lachkar emphasizes a few minutes later in the dressing room that Willem “hasn’t achieved anything yet”.
“It was noisy in the dressing room. I heard players shout ‘finally’. That seems like a normal comment to me,” says the Belgian coach. “But I told the boys that this is only a small success and that we are not there yet.”
Bosch: “I think everyone realizes that we really have to get to work twice more. It is not that we are going to play football differently against Telstar because the fans came onto the field today.”
Willem II Trained Extensively On Penalties
The field invasion is the end of an exciting game, in which everything happened. “Play-offs, eh,” says Bosch. “You often see crazy things in them.”
It is fitting that a penalty shootout had to provide the decision. At Willem II all five penalties went in, while FC Dordrecht substitute Igor hit the post. The 25-year-old Bosch had cramps for the first time in his career in extra time, but still took the last penalty.
“I had never taken a penalty in professional football before,” says the midfielder with a smile. “So this was fun to experience.”
Willem II had thoroughly prepared for a penalty shootout. “We trained three times on penalties in the stadium,” says Aelbrecht. “On both sides of the field a group of five players, who had to walk from the halfway line to the spot. Everything the same as during a match, except for the audience.”
The interim coach is happy and proud of his players after the game. “I think it’s fantastic how they reacted after the 2-1 defeat in Dordrecht last Wednesday. But now we have to work hard for another week. No excuses, because the goal is to stay up.”