Football is a game of streaks, but some streaks are so historically awful they become a psychological burden for an entire city. Page 6 of the September 2014 matchday programme features an interview with Willem II manager Jurgen Streppel, who had just guided his newly promoted team through a bizarre rollercoaster of extreme highs and embarrassing lows.
The interview highlights a staggering statistic: before their recent trip to Rotterdam, Willem II had endured a run of 44 consecutive away matches in the Eredivisie without a single victory. It was a curse that spanned multiple seasons and relegations. Yet, Streppel dismisses the weight of history with pragmatic coolness. “Those statistics don’t interest me at all,” he claims. “I played with Willem II in the Jupiler League for two years and we won almost every game, so to speak. It doesn’t say much to me. But it’s nice that it’s no longer a topic of conversation.”
They broke the 44-match curse in the most spectacular fashion possible: by beating traditional giants Feyenoord away at De Kuip. However, the euphoria was incredibly short-lived. Just days before traveling to the Euroborg, Streppel’s side suffered a humiliating KNVB Cup exit at the hands of amateur side Deltasport from Vlaardingen. It is the ultimate encapsulation of the unpredictability of Dutch football—conquering De Kuip on the weekend, only to be eliminated by part-timers on a Tuesday night.
A Look into the Future
By 2026, Jurgen Streppel‘s tenure at Willem II is remembered as a highly successful period of stabilization. Despite the chaotic cup exit mentioned in this programme, his pragmatic approach achieved exactly what the headline stated: “Ons doel is handhaving” (Our goal is survival). They comfortably avoided relegation that season. The 44-match away curse remains a dark piece of trivia in the Tilburg club’s history books, but Streppel’s ability to navigate his squad through the extreme emotional whiplash of beating Feyenoord and losing to Deltasport in the same week proved his mettle as a top-flight manager.