The Dutch fan says Villarreal CF is the ‘love of his life’
Maurits de Jong is a die-hard Villarreal CF fan. He has been a supporter of the club since 2004, when Juan Román Riquelme’s magical performances in yellow attracted him to the Submarine.
He lives in Maastricht, Netherlands, but being nearly 1300km away has not stopped him from following the Yellows. “My girlfriend has to share the title of ‘love of my life’ with the club. Every since we first visited the club, I was convinced it was true love. I became a fan because of the magician from Argentina, Riquelme. He was my favourite player for the national team, and through him I found Villarreal, but I’ve stuck around a lot longer than him in the end.”
Maurits has been president of the Dutch fan club Los Piratas Amarillos for more than ten years and says being a ‘groguet’ is a key part of his life: “Supporting Villarreal since 2004 and starting Los Piratas Amarillos in 2009 were some of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The things I’ve done and the friends I’ve made thanks to club probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I have seen semi-finals, a promotion, I’ve celebrated victories and cried after relegation. I cried after the promotion too, to be honest. Tears of joy!”
He loved the club so much, he briefly lived in Spain and went to all of the home games during the 2015/16 season, and his also a regular visitor to European games, both home and away. While he has enjoyed supporting the team in continental competition, he says his best moment following the Yellows was the promotion game against Almería in 2013 to return to the top flight: “We gathered a group of nine people, and booked flights and hotel a few weeks before the game. It was a weekend to never forget. Not only did we see the game, the win and the promotion, we got to be part of the celebrations in the town centre the day after. It was unforgettable.”
Here at Villarreal CF, through the #YellowsAroundTheWorld series, we will tell the stories of some of the Submarine’s biggest international fans.
