Boudewijn de Geer, the attacker who shot De Graafschap to the Premier League in 1981, has died at the age of 68.
De Geer died on Saturday morning after a short illness. He will go down in history as the player who played a major role in the promotion of De Graafschap in the only season he played in Doetinchem: 1980-1981.
Jonkheer Boudewijn de Geer, grandson of former Prime Minister Dirk Jan de Geer, came to the Achterhoek in 1980 on the advice of trainer Huib Ruijgrok. The attacker was not very popular with the supporters. During the play-offs he ended up on the reserve bench. When the supporters heard from the announcer that De Geer was in the starting line-up before the decisive post-competition match with FC Den Bosch, there was a stirring whistle concert.
That completely stopped when De Geer defeated FC Den Bosch (2-0) with two goals and De Graafschap personally achieved promotion. In the 79th minute he was substituted to thunderous applause from the 13,000 spectators and afterwards he was lifted on his shoulders. De Hagenees no longer played in the Premier League, because he left.
De Geer later became a well-known trainer in amateur football in the The Hague region.
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