Referees are usually only remembered by football fans for controversial decisions, but occasionally, their names become permanently attached to specific historical milestones of a club. Page 21 of the February 2014 matchday programme highlights exactly such a connection with the appointed referee for the match against Go Ahead Eagles: Tom van Sichem.
The “Arbitraal Kwartet” block lists the full officiating team tasked with keeping order at the Euroborg: Van Sichem in the middle, assisted by Coen Droste and Edwin de Vree, with Jeroen Sanders acting as the fourth official. But the editorial text below Van Sichem’s portrait reveals his unique place in Groningen history. It notes that this is his tenth time officiating in the stadium, but his second visit is the one that stands out. On November 26, 2006, Van Sichem refereed FC Groningen vs ADO Den Haag. The result was a 2-5 defeat for the hosts.
Why is this significant? Because, as the programme points out, that was the very first league defeat FC Groningen ever suffered at the Euroborg. The stadium had opened in January 2006 and had quickly gained a reputation as an impregnable fortress. It took nearly eleven months for a visiting team to conquer it in the Eredivisie, and Van Sichem was the man with the whistle who oversaw the fall of the fortress.
A Look into the Future
Tom van Sichem eventually retired from professional refereeing, but his name remains a quirky trivia answer for hardcore Groningen historians. The Euroborg continued to be a notoriously difficult place for away teams to visit, but the aura of absolute invincibility from that magical 2006 opening year was broken on his watch. This 2014 programme serves as a neat little reminder that the history of a stadium is written not just by the players who score the goals, but by the officials who record them.