When a football club lifts a major trophy, history immortalizes the starting eleven. The goalscorers get the statues, the captains lift the silver, and the photographs of the celebrations are plastered across the walls of the Euroborg. But if you look closely at the official 2014/2015 team photograph, behind the rows of seated players, you will find the quiet, relentless machine that actually built FC Groningen‘s greatest modern triumph: the Technische and Medische Staf.
Under the leadership of head coach Erwin van de Looi, this was a coaching staff built on deep local understanding and tactical pragmatism. The list of assistant trainers reads like a roll call of northern footballing intellect. Among them was Dick Lukkien, a tactical sharp-mind who played a crucial role in translating Van de Looi’s vision onto the training pitches of Corpus den Hoorn. Alongside him stood Marcel Groninger and goalkeeping coach Sierd van der Berg, ensuring that every defensive block was watertight and every set-piece meticulously planned.
Equally important to the cup run was the medical team. A grueling Eredivisie season, coupled with the pressure of a deep KNVB Cup run, required peak physical conditioning. The Medische Staf, featuring long-serving club icons like Henk Hagenauw—a man whose hands have taped the ankles of generations of Groningen legends—worked tirelessly alongside Stijn de Bruin, Reinoud Brouwer, and Peter Eppinga. They were the ones working late into the night in the treatment rooms, ensuring that key players were miraculously fit for the grueling semi-finals and the ultimate showdown in Rotterdam.
A Look into the Future
By 2026, the names listed in this unassuming column of the matchday programme have taken on legendary status. The most striking evolution belongs to Dick Lukkien. The man who stood quietly in the back row as an assistant in 2015 would eventually return to the Euroborg as the Head Coach, tasked with leading a new generation of FC Groningen players and restoring the club’s pride after turbulent years. The foundation he helped build in 2015 shaped his managerial DNA, proving that the true strength of the Trots van het Noorden has always come from the men working tirelessly in the shadows.