Every time a team steps onto the pitch, they are adding to the club’s history, but some matches carry a much heavier statistical weight than others. Page 21 of the March 2014 matchday programme against SC Cambuur reveals that the fans walking into the Euroborg that afternoon were on the verge of witnessing a monumental milestone.
Tucked into the bottom right corner of the “Match Facts” page is a block titled “DUIZENDSTE DOELPUNT” (Thousandth Goal). The text explains the tantalizing situation: in the previous home match against Go Ahead Eagles, playmaker Tjaronn Chery scored a goal. That specific strike happened to be the 999th home goal that FC Groningen had ever scored in the Eredivisie. “The next goal for FC Groningen in Euroborg is therefore the thousandth Eredivisie home goal of the club,” the programme proudly announces.
This number wasn’t just achieved at the modern stadium; it was a bridge across eras. The text notes that it took 591 home matches to reach this point, spanning the gritty, romantic decades at the old Oosterpark stadium and the modern successes at the Euroborg. For the players warming up against Cambuur, there was a unique, unspoken pressure: whoever found the back of the net first would have their name permanently etched into the club’s history books.
A Look into the Future
The tension didn’t last long, and the narrative resolution was absolutely poetic. In the match against SC Cambuur that followed the publication of this programme, the historic 1,000th Eredivisie home goal was indeed scored. The honor fell to none other than Tjaronn Chery himself—the exact same player who scored the 999th. After publicly promising in previous interviews that he would handle the pressure of the number 10 shirt, Chery delivered in the most historic way possible, cementing his legacy in the club’s statistical pantheon before eventually moving on to a globe-trotting career in England, China, and Israel.