Story added: 8th April 2019
The tour of Holland as-it-happens...
Hup Holland Hup! 🇳🇱 Our Boys Football Development Programme EPDC U13-16s and Girls Football Development Programme ADP U14-16s are on tour from Monday 8th April to Friday 12 April.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest on their five day tour of Holland with our very own dedicated feed below…
Day Five
9:22pm Slow progress: the Sat Navs are now indicating an ETA of 11:45pm. It’s going to be a late one!
2:24pm TRAVEL UPDATE: Due to traffic along the route, the groups are catching a later ferry and are currently expected to arrive back in Norwich at 11pm.
10:22am Looking majestic this morning is the recently renamed Johan Cruijff Arena. The tour group get to snoop around the 55,000-seater stadium, the home of AFC Ajax.
Not a bad way to end what has been a memorable tour.
08:02am Home time! The tour has checked out of the hotel, and the long journey back to Norwich begins.
There is still one big treat in store, however…
Day Four
8:42pm It’s been a great evening of fixtures with DVS ’33 Ermelo and there was even a goal for birthday girl, Freya!
3:15pm Food, and then a light training session for our boys and girls ahead of the 40-minute drive to tonight’s hosts DVS ’33 Ermelo.
2:52pm Happy birthday, Thuli!
12:02pm Tommy and Matthew were the lucky recipients of a pair of Eduardo’s goalkeeper gloves and Martin Odegaard’s boots.
Look after those boots, Tommy!
11:44am The visit included the opportunity for photos with:
Chelsea loanee and England U21’s Jake Clarke-Salter
…the gaffer Leonid Slutsky (once the manager of the Russian national team)
…Portuguese international (and Chelsea loanee) goalkeeper Eduardo…
…and, much to the excitement of the FIFA players in the group, Real Madrid wonderkid Martin Odegaard, who is on a season-long loan with Vitesse.
11:14am A special start to the day for our boys and girls today, with the opportunity to watch top tier Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in training..
Day Three
5:14pm Here are some more photos from today’s fixtures.
3:58pm Game time! After a 40-minute coach ride to the small town of Veenendaal, fixtures get underway against our opponents: Door Ons Vrienden Opgericht FC. That’s VV DOVO to you and me.
12:01pm Lunch time, and great to see lots of healthy food being loaded onto plates. Just as well, with fixtures fast approaching.
9:55am Goedemorgen! The tour of Vitesse Arnhem’s GelreDome is under way. The stadium was opened in 1998 and replaced the Nieuw Monnikenhuize Stadion, which was of course the scene of the second leg 0-0 draw between Norwich City and Vitesse Arnhem in the 1993-94 UEFA Cup.
Day Two
8:12pm Well, as you’d expect…it’s Champions League night and everybody’s glued to the screen.
3.01pm And right on schedule, here are the girls…
2:41pm Apparently the Dutch national team have trained on this pitch before; and it’s easy to see why.
The boys have been enjoying a two-hour training session on the pitch (1pm-3pm), with the girls getting their turn next (3pm-5pm).
12:58pm Beach volleyball, Dutch-style. The older boys are making good use of the on-site facilities.
12:21 With some big games coming up tomorrow and Thursday (and not to mention training this afternoon), Ray is running a physio/gym class with the girls to streeeeeeeetch out that day of travelling.
8:19am – The boys and girls have arrived at the hotel, their home for the next three nights.
There’s an introductory briefing for our weary travellers, then they’ll get to enjoy some much needed rest time before a training session this afternoon.
Day One
3:02pm – Not a bad way to break up the journey, eh? Here’s the visitors suited and booted before their first fixtures of the tour.
10:46am – And they’re off! Our three coaches are on the way down the A11.
First stop is South-East London, where the sides will kick off the tour with fixtures against Millwall.