Beerschot supporter Frank goes viral with a video from 2018 and is eagerly looking forward to Sunday’s match: “We’re going to make it!” (Challenger Pro League)

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You may have already seen Frank Vercammen, active in daily life as a maintenance technician, on your Instagram or Facebook feed. “We’re going to make it, we’re going to first! Stress, stress!”, sounds extremely enthusiastic in an ATV video from 2018 that has been going viral for several weeks and is widely shared in purple and white circles. His beloved Beerschot then had one foot in the first class. Too bad for Frank and those thousands of other supporters, but their club just didn’t make it and was defeated in the final phase by Bruges. Cercle to first, Beerschot back to square one.

Frank’s enthusiasm and love for his club are perfectly captured in the video. He thinks it’s all fine that it got a second life on social media. “After the match against Jong Genk, I came down the stairs from the stands,” says Frank, surrounded by almost all the Beerschot memorabilia you can think of. “Suddenly a group of supporters started saying ‘we’re going to first, we’re going to make it!’ to sing. Such a wonderful thing. Would I give that interview again? Naturally. Although perhaps I was a little too enthusiastic. Oh well, that’s who I am.”

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The motto at Kiel is: if you want to be in the newspaper or on screen, you have to stand next to Frank. “That’s right,” he laughs, as we carry a folder full of newspaper clippings pollen get pushed. “I have no idea why, but the cameras always know where to find me in the stands. I was once even summoned by the football team because a photo of me on the balustrade had appeared in the newspaper. That joke cost me 250 euros.” Even in an article about the funeral of Beerschot celebrity Rik Coppens, who died in 2015, the journalist also posted a photo of… Frank. “Great, huh. You can say that almost everyone at Kiel knows me.”

“My boss knows all too well: my football weekend starts on Friday at 2 p.m. and then no one has to call me”

Frank Vercammen

Diehard Beerschot supporter

Weapon

Frank is therefore a supporter of the fiercest kind. “I’ve been going to den Beerschot since I was 15,” he says. “I worked in the catering industry and came into contact with football there. Since then, Beerschot has been an extremely important part of my life. In fact, I made a career change then, as I was behind the counter when it was football. I never work when Beerschot is playing. My boss knows all too well: my football weekend starts on Friday at 2 p.m. and then no one has to call me. I also always take leave the day after the match. Sometimes even two. If a woman were to ask me to choose between her and Beerschot, she could leave.”

“I still know the team from my early years by heart,” Frank continues. “Jan Tomaszewski in goal, Julien Cools at the back, Leon Nollet as coach… A few years earlier, in 1979, we won the Belgian Cup against Club Brugge, but as a youngster I was not there. What I do remember well is a Friday evening match against Antwerp, sometime in the eighties. Barry Hughes, the singing Beerschot coach, against George Kessler of the red and white. We won 5-1. I still have that match report somewhere, on an old videocassette.”

Enough about the past. Beerschot is once again at the gates of the highest football class. On Sunday, the Purple & White will travel to the coast, where – if all goes well – they will celebrate the title in the KV Oostende stadium. Is Frank stressed yet? “Of course,” he laughs. “But I’m afraid we won’t finish it until next week. Being able to promote on the field of Ostend is not strange to us. In the early nineties we already played for the final round by the sea. Things went terribly wrong there between the supporters and the police. So much so that several Beerschot fans drove back to Antwerp with a dog bite in their leg. A local pub owner even pulled out a gun during those riots. Those were different times… I have never been a hooligan myself. Heavy and loud, yes. But fighting? No, not for me.”

“I cried a lot and laughed often at Kiel, although the misery our club has experienced does not outweigh the good moments”

Frank Vercammen

Diehard Beerschot supporter

Chapelle pubs

In his more than forty years as a passionate Beerschot fan, Frank has experienced some craziness. It is never a quiet day there in the Olympic Stadium. “I cried a lot and laughed often at the Kiel,” he says. “Although the misery our club has experienced does not outweigh the good moments. I still remember that in 1992 – Beerschot had to be relegated to the third division that season due to ‘suspicions of bribery’ – we were able to play champions in Tienen. The Purple & White did not get further than a scoreless draw, and that was not enough for the title. That’s why we all went to first pursuer Cappellen FC, which was still playing football that evening. Our fellow countrymen were also stuck at a draw. Beerschot was champion, and the festivities immediately started in the Kapelse bars.”

“Actually, the best year was the first provincial one, after our bankruptcy. Okay, you don’t play against top clubs, but it was always a party.”

Frank Vercammen

Diehard Beerschot supporter

Finally: will Beerschot play at the highest level next season? “Yes, we’re going to make it!”, Frank sounds extremely convinced. “Although a lot will have to happen behind the scenes if we want to be there little guy to stand. Of course, we are also looking forward to the matches against Antwerp: there is nothing more fun than being in the series together. You know, actually the best year was the first provincial one, after our bankruptcy. Okay, you don’t play against top clubs, but it was always a party. Not difficult, it was a heyday for those small teams when we showed up with two thousand supporters. In addition, during that period you had a real bond with the players, whom you often met in a café after the match. Such things don’t happen anymore once the club plays higher.”

But those are worries for later. On Sunday, Frank leaves from Café Athletiek, in the shadow of the Beerschot Stadium, for Ostend. Who knows, maybe he and his comrades from supporters club Club 13 will be in the newspaper again on Monday morning. Drunk to victory and back among the country’s football elite.