As FC Groningen prepared to face Vitesse in the playoff final, they were riding a wave of momentum that hadn’t been seen in the city for over a decade. Page 12 of the matchday programme highlights a specific, incredibly difficult statistical achievement that the team was on the verge of breaking: consecutive away victories.
The text block titled “ZES UITZEGES OP EEN RIJ” (Six away wins in a row) explains that if Groningen managed to win their upcoming away leg against AZ Alkmaar, it would mark their fifth consecutive away victory (following wins against PSV, PEC Zwolle, Roda JC Kerkrade, and Vitesse). To find a longer streak of away dominance, the club’s historians had to dig back 14 years.
The programme prints a list of matches from the spring of the year 2000, when Groningen won six consecutive away games. However, there is a crucial contextual difference: that legendary 2000 streak occurred in the Eerste Divisie (and the subsequent promotion playoffs) as the club fought desperately to return to the top flight. The 2014 squad was achieving similar dominance, but they were doing it against the absolute elite of the Eredivisie. It was a statistical bridge connecting the gritty, promotion-chasing heroes of the past with the European-chasing stars of the present.
A Look into the Future
The 2013/2014 squad did not manage to equal the six-match away streak of the year 2000, as their subsequent away leg against AZ Alkmaar ended in a 0-0 draw. However, that draw was more than enough to secure their aggregate victory and punch their ticket to the UEFA Europa League. While the specific away-win record remained intact, the sheer fact that Erwin van de Looi’s team was statistically rubbing shoulders with the most legendary, momentum-heavy squads in the club’s history proved that this playoff run was a truly generational achievement.