Almere City debuts in premier league next season: ‘Great development’

Almere and the province of Flevoland get a club in the premier league for the first time in history. After the 2-0 home victory, Almere City FC also won the return against FC Emmen in Drenthe in the final of the nacompetition: 1-2.

That means Almere City promotes and Emmen relegates.

Despite Almere City’s wide margin throughout the match, coach Alex Pastoor found it nerve-wracking until the final whistle. “Maybe for the independent viewer it was less exciting, but for the main players it was exciting,” he said.

Pastoor thinks Almere deserves to be promoted. Also based on the previous nacompetition games, in which FC Eindhoven and VVV-Venlo were swept aside. “We have developed wonderfully this season. We weren’t always able to win games easily, but if you look at the six playoff games, we put ourselves in a great position.”

It is not yet 100 percent certain whether Pastoor will stay with Almere. “I signed with my full mind until 2024 and I had an offer from another country last week. Then I said I won’t. It may well be that once there is a country in between which you think you should do it.”

Pastoor: “With that remark we also signed the contract. If it is really a sporting and financial offer is that you can’t refuse, financially or athletically, then it is possible to negotiate with Almere. That’s just not my approach at all. I just want to be able to work nice and well and that’s what we did this year.”

The match went according to Almere’s plan. In the first half, although Emmen had an abundance of ball possession, the home team created almost nothing with it. Five minutes before halftime, Emmen attacker Jeremy Antonisse did go close to a goal with a hard shot on the post.

Almere held on easily and struck mercilessly five minutes after halftime. After a long pass from substitute Thomas Poll, Anthony Limbombe crossed and Rajiv van La Parra shot Almere into the lead.

A quick second goal followed two minutes later with a diagonal shot into the far corner by Jorrit Smeets and Emmen was broken.

The home team did come back into the game through Jari Vlak (rebound), but the belief in a real turnaround in two games was not on the faces of Emmen’s players. A shimmy by Ole Romeny after a duel with Poll did not result in a late penalty after VAR intervention.

For Emmen, the return to the premier league lasted only one year. The club relegated back to the first division after one season. There the club will next season meet trainer Dick Lukkien, the new coach of FC Groningen.