How a fan's dying wish led a Dutch football team to a tartan kit

How a fan's dying wish led a Dutch football team to a tartan kit

Billy Hodge, who makes the trip from Stranraer to Enschede to follow the team, was the model for the new shirt.

Dennis Van Unen’s final wish was to see an Old Firm match in person.

The FC Twente supporter, who had terminal cancer, fulfilled that dream in 2006 thanks to the help of two Stranraer fans.

That sparked an unlikely friendship between supporters of the Dutch club and the Scottish town, and it has lasted ever since.

The connection has now been preserved in cloth through a special tartan-inspired shirt, which will be worn for the first time in FC Twente’s Dutch Eredivisie away match against AZ Alkmaar this weekend.

The unusual bond began in 2006, when Dennis met Stranraer supporters Jim McKie and James Hilton during a match at Twente’s De Grolsch Veste stadium in the eastern city of Enschede.

Living with skin cancer, Dennis told them his dream was to witness one of football’s fiercest rivalries, a game between Celtic and Rangers.

Jim, who also backed Rangers, and James, a Celtic fan, arranged tickets and joined him on a football trip that included Ibrox, Celtic Park and Hampden.

The friendship that grew out of that visit continued after Dennis died the following year, with Twente fans later travelling to Stranraer and creating a tradition of mutual visits that still goes on today.

The first appearance of the new tartan strip will be followed closely more than 400 miles away from the match, at The Grapes pub, home of the Stranraer Tukkers.

The supporters’ group takes its name from the nickname used for people from the Twente region.

The pub is only a short clearance from Stranraer FC’s Stair Park, but the outside walls are decorated with the Saxon Steed that appears on the Twente badge, while inside visitors are greeted by the club’s traditional red and white colours.

Landlord Billy Hodge, 70, became the unlikely face of the club’s marketing campaign, filmed around the town two weeks before the shirt went on sale.

“It was strange to be honest, I never fancied myself as a model,” he told BBC Scotland News.

“I knew there was something secretive going on when they contacted me, but I didn’t expect this. The kit is fantastic.”

Before Dennis died at 34, Jim and James travelled to Enschede, near the German border, to say a final goodbye to their friend.

The visits carried on after his death, with Twente and Stranraer supporters making regular journeys in both directions as the bond between the two groups deepened.

The clubs’ connection was strong enough for Twente to visit Stranraer for a pre-season game in 2017, marking 10 years since Dennis’ death.

Billy is still a Twente season ticket holder and goes to matches a couple of times a season, where he and the Stranraer group are often welcomed into the club’s hardcore section with open arms.

“When they come over, we’ll get them a beer on the house, it’s the same over there,” he said.

“We do get a lot of tourists down this area and if they are Dutch, they know the horse that’s on the front of the pub. We had a couple of guys cycled over. They got the ferry to Newcastle and then took all the back roads.”

Billy added: “I think the two sets of fans are similar. They are all working class guys, they back their team through thick and thin and I think they are to be applauded for that”.

Twente’s Scottish connections go back further than Dennis’ first trip.

The club wore a similar tartan away shirt in the 1994/1995 season, later voted by fans as their best ever.

Former Motherwell defender Rob McKinnon spent two years at Twente between 1996 and 1998, while striker and current Aberdeen Women boss Scott Booth won the Dutch Cup with the side in 2001.

The team have not won the Eredivisie since 2010, when they were managed by Steve – or should that be “Shteve” – McClaren, who was mocked for adopting a strange accent during his time at the club.

However, they are playing in the Europa Conference League this season and sit fifth in the Dutch top flight after nine games.

Leon Molenkamp, the club’s marketing manager, said the shirt had already proved popular with supporters.

He said it was a way to make sure the “unique” relationship was not forgotten by future generations.

“The relationship is very heartfelt,” he said.

“We have people visiting back and forward multiple time a year. It is great to see how something like that can just arise.

“It’s getting to be quite a well-known friendship with fans in Twente as well and more and more people are going over and taking an interest in Scottish football.”