Before football clubs had dedicated smartphone apps with integrated biometric logins and instant fan-engagement polls, the voice of the terraces was measured in text messages. Page 18 of the December 2014 matchday programme offers a delightful glimpse into this transitional era of fan interaction with the Essent Speler van het Jaar (Player of the Year) election.
To vote for their Man of the Match, fans inside the Euroborg (and those watching at home) were instructed to text “SMS GRO [space] SHIRT NUMBER to 4040.” The cost? A hefty 60 eurocents per vote. In this specific edition, Brazilian defender Eric Botteghin took the honors against SC Heerenveen, securing 38% of the paid votes. But the true treasure on this page lies in the small grey box at the bottom left: the list of previous winners since 2009.
Reading that list is like looking at a scouting masterclass. The winners from 2009 to 2014 were: Andreas Granqvist, Dusan Tadic, Maikel Kieftenbeld, Virgil van Dijk, and Filip Kostic. It is a staggering collection of talent. For a mid-sized Dutch club to have consecutive Players of the Year who would go on to captain their national teams, win the Champions League, or dominate top European leagues is a testament to the incredible recruitment engine FC Groningen possessed during this era.
A Look into the Future
By 2026, the idea of paying 60 cents to send an SMS to a shortcode feels as archaic as teletext. Fan voting is now free, frictionless, and heavily data-mined through official club apps. Yet, looking back at that list of winners, one realizes the sheer privilege the fans at the Euroborg had during those years. They were paying premium SMS rates to vote for future global superstars before the rest of the world even knew their names. Botteghin, the winner on this specific page, would soon follow the path of his predecessors, securing a transfer to Feyenoord and winning the Eredivisie title.