To the untrained eye, page 21 of the May 2013 matchday programme is just a dry spreadsheet of numbers. Titled “Statistieken per 5 mei 2013”, it lists the squad’s appearances, goals, and cards. However, for a football historian, this specific table is a bittersweet document. If you sort this list by the “MIN.” (Minutes played) column, a stark and somewhat tragic narrative emerges: the players who spent the absolute most time bleeding for the shirt that season were all about to walk out the door.
At the very top of the endurance list is the veteran defender Kees Kwakman, an undisputed iron man who clocked a staggering 2,872 minutes across 32 starts. Right behind him is the 21-year-old defensive prodigy Virgil van Dijk with 2,689 minutes. Further down, but still among the absolute core, is homegrown midfield engine Leandro Bacuna with 2,391 minutes. Together, these three formed the physical and tactical spine of FC Groningen during the 2012-13 campaign. They were the first names on the manager’s teamsheet week in and week out.
Yet, the harsh reality of being a sub-top club in the Eredivisie is that stability is often an illusion. As soon as the final whistle blew on the playoffs that summer, this carefully constructed foundation was completely dismantled. The club’s reliance on these specific players made them highly visible targets in the transfer market. The reward for being the most reliable players on the pitch was a one-way ticket out of the Euroborg.
A Look into the Future
The summer transfer window of 2013 scattered this core across Europe. Virgil van Dijk famously moved to Scottish giants Celtic, taking his first major step towards becoming a Champions League winner and global icon. Leandro Bacuna secured a lucrative move to the English Premier League with Aston Villa, where he would spend several years before moving through the English divisions. Meanwhile, the ultimate iron man, Kees Kwakman, opted to stay in the Netherlands, transferring to NAC Breda. Looking back from 2026, this statistics page perfectly encapsulates the modern football food chain: for clubs like FC Groningen, building a reliable core is merely the first step in preparing for their inevitable departure.