Yesterday we received the news that former coach Hans Eijkenbroek has passed away. Eijkenbroek was at the helm of Roda JC in the 1983-84 season and part of 1984-85.
In his first season, Roda finished ninth under the leadership of ‘De Eijk’. In the season in question, Eijkenboom remained unbeaten for seven matches and John Eriksen scored 23 goals in his last season for Roda. In the summer of 1984, Eijkenbroek won the DSM Limburg Cup. The start of the new season with relatively many newcomers, including Edwin Gorter and Ron Jans, started off sluggishly. Shortly after the lost cup match against first division club Vitesse, Eijkenboom and Roda JC parted ways. Several former players responded to the death notice, for example Leo Degens remembers his former trainer as one of the better trainers he had the privilege of working with, who was above all a good person.
In the rest of the country, Eijkenbroek gained fame through more than 350 matches for Sparta, as an international for the Dutch national team (18 caps between 1967 and 1970, most of them as captain) and as the ‘cleaner’ of the seagull that Feyenoord goalkeeper Eddy Treijtel shot out of the sky during the Rotterdam derby of 1970.
Eijkenbroek was 84 years old. The Roda JC family wishes family and friends much strength in this sad time.
Posted on: 20-08-2024
