The refurbished football pitch in the Koningin Fabiola Park in Sint-Niklaas aims to unite young and old around football, make sport more accessible and promote social cohesion.
Jan Vertonghen signed with a smile in his hometown. “It is a wonderful initiative. It is fantastic to be able to give something back to this generation. This is a credible project, this is where our heart is.”
Playing football in the park, on the street or in the squares: Vertonghen likes it too. “It started with my brothers in the garden and in Amsterdam I played a lot in the squares. At school during the day, then at football.”
“Now I live in Antwerp and have a small urban garden, but I am also looking for parks. My children love to play outdoors and I will be the first to bring them here.”
Vertonghen is committed to the social and community project, but he is and will obviously remain a professional footballer. To Anderlecht and the Red Devils.
“The national team? I focus on club football and I do my best there. When it’s time for the Devils, I focus on that team.”
“They are on the agenda,” says Vertonghen. And he doesn’t seem very pleasant given Anderlecht’s malaise.
“We have a great core. Of course I see it’s going well. I prefer not to experience a period like this, but it is part of it. We are in it and we will come out together.”
“I have only recently been here and I have missed matches due to the flu, but I am part of the club and I feel very responsible.”
