Simone Schoofs with her bear Luc on her lap between her bears in her bedroom. — © Joren De Weerdt
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Previously, Beerschot Friends Atletiek wanted to buy a few bears from collector Simone Schoofs (85) from Zandhoven for the clubhouse. Now football club Beerschot wants to make an offer for the total collection of Simone. The lady is getting rid of her 650 furry friends because she is moving into an assisted living facility. “May they come by”, says Simone, who prefers the short pain and prefers to sell her collection en bloc.
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Kristin Matthyssen
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It may well be the winter transfer of the year: 650 grizzlies. Simone already has some appointments with interested parties on Armistice Day and Friday, but there are plenty of bears, because there are still at least 600 teddys in her moving boxes. And her house is full too. That number of 650 is therefore an underestimate.
Beerschot chairman Francis Vrancken read the appeal from Simone Schoofs. As the name suggests: the Antwerp first division team has a thing for bears. “We already have a large white mechanical bear”, says chairman Vrancken. “For us, this is an opportunity to acquire a huge bear collection in one go. We could exhibit the bears in our museum, by year, at memorable moments in our club history, with team photos from that period next to them, as bears from the past six decades are included. In this way we could, for example, receive classes for a bear walk. Beerschot also has many youth players. We can auction part of it for charity: we see plenty of opportunities with 650 boars.”
Francis Vrancken now wants to make a fair offer. “We don’t know if Simone is a football supporter? Maybe we can also make her happy with a subscription? She isn’t by chance for den Antwerp, is she?” laughs Vrancken.
In block
Simone likes the proposal. “I would prefer to get rid of them ‘en bloc’. Then for a week I’m going to yell ‘like when a dog dies, but then it’s the short pain. There are already some people looking for specific brand bears, but I have enough bears.” Whether Simone with her Kesselse roots might be a Lierse supporter? “Football means little to me, none of that existed in my time”, she says with a sense of exaggeration, because she is not that old yet. “But I do have a nephew who supports, I don’t know exactly for which team. It could be for Beerschot, but it could just as well be for Antwerp.”
Tonight Simone’s sister-in-law will at least help her with praising the most special bears. “I still count in Belgian francs. That conversion is difficult for me, especially since I survived a serious accident a few years ago where they had to free me from the wreckage, and also a small ‘attackske’. But that will be okay.”
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