Photo: Olaf Knook By: Wies van Erp Sun 11 Aug, 15:50 General
THOLEN/ROOSENDAAL – The premier league football starts again next weekend. For Bart Nieuwkoop this means, after a Flemish adventure, a new season with the main team of Feyenoord. The 28-year-old right back from Tholen played in the youth of RBC in Roosendaal since he was nine, for six years, but he left after the bankruptcy: “I had a fantastic time there, but it was a shame that it went bankrupt then”
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The Flying Dutchman. Bart grins when his nickname is mentioned. Made up by the Belgian media. “I wouldn’t dare give myself a nickname like that, haha.” His friends don’t call him that, but he can appreciate it. “It suits how I fill in my position on the field. Making a lot of meters.” The 28-year-old from Thole returned to Feyenoord last summer after playing in Flanders for two years. He is on the eve of his eighth season at the Rotterdam club, he looks back on a successful return. “Nice to be back. A great year behind us with the cup win and a second place. After the winter break I got a lot of playing time and played my 100th match for the club. Also scored a goal. That’s great.”
Bart made his debut at Feyenoord in 2015. Not much later, he and his girlfriend Susan moved to Bergen op Zoom. They lived in an apartment on the Bergse Plaat for two years before moving to the Maasstad. “That place was a conscious choice. Susan comes from Steenbergen and there we were close to Tholen and Rotterdam. Bergen is a pleasant town with many terraces, but we built our lives in South Holland.”
Living in Belgium
Three years ago Bart left Rotterdam. There was a lot of uncertainty about the extension of his contract at Feyenoord. “Then Union Saint-Gilloise came my way very quickly. They were still playing at the second level of Belgium, but showed a lot of interest in me. After ten years at Feyenoord I was looking for a place where I could play everything. In the end I fell for Union’s plan.”
The professional footballer moved with his family to an apartment in Brasschaat, a green and prosperous village near Antwerp. The golden mean between work and private life. “The Union training complex was in Lier, so it was easy to drive to from Brasschaat. Moreover, the village was also close to my parents in Tholen. That was ideal. My daughter Zoé was just one year old at the time. It was nice for grandpa and grandma to be able to see her.” He enjoyed his time in Flanders. However, it took some getting used to at first. When he arrived, the neighbours were a bit hesitant. “They wondered what a Dutchman was doing here. But as soon as I explained why I was here, they understood.” Bart still maintains good contact with an older couple who lived next door. “They sometimes send a message to ask how things were going and even sent a card once. They were friendly people who were very involved with Union and football.” In his first season, they were immediately promoted to the highest Belgian competition, where they also competed for the title and reached European football.
Tholen Boys and RBC Roosendaal
He has been playing in the port city for a year now. “When Feyenoord calls, you want to go back. You can’t say no to that. I am from Thol and Rotterdam.” Bart played for Tholense Boys until he was nine. He doesn’t have many memories of Sportpark de Bent. “I was still too young for that. I only know that I played early on Saturday and then spent the whole day at the club to play football and watch the first team. My 5-year-old nephew has started playing football there now. And my brother wants to start again, so maybe I’ll come and watch when I have time.”
From Tholense Boys he moved to RBC Roosendaal in 2005, which at the time still played at the highest level in the Netherlands. Bart experienced the entire bankruptcy of the club in 2011. “I had a fantastic time there, but it was a shame that it went bankrupt then. For me it had a positive effect. Because of the bankruptcy I was able to go to Feyenoord. But I also saw that many boys I played with and who, like me, had fought for six years to become professional footballers, fell back to the amateurs. That was painful to see.” Thirteen years after the bankruptcy of RBC, the Brabant club became champion in the first division after a restart. Bart was slightly involved. “Very nice for the club.”
‘Tholen is home’
Bart regularly visits Tholen. His parents and brothers still live there. “It is a village where I grew up. I have friends there with whom I played football or went to school. It is also not far from Rotterdam. On a day off I can easily have a coffee and then drive back.” Despite his many years in Brabant and South Holland, he still feels like a Zeelander. “I will not leave Rotterdam anytime soon. But if I were to move again, it would be to Tholen. You know almost everyone in the village. When I return to Tholen I almost always run into someone I know. Tholen still feels like home.”
Outside of football, Bart is not a couch potato. “I can’t sit at home for long and I like being around people. That’s why I like living in Rotterdam. That’s a bit more difficult in Tholen. I like to walk through the city or have a cup of coffee in the city centre.” But he can never let go of football. “I grew up with it and I don’t know anything else. As a child I was always busy with a ball. Ball sports are the best sports and I think football is the best.” Although Bart lives in a dream, we still ask him about his ambition to play for the Dutch national team. “I’m not thinking about that at all now. I’m focusing on Feyenoord.”
