Van der Voort on favourite club Ajax: 'Hopefully it will be an enjoyable month and not an annoying month'
PDCSunday, 10 January 2021 at 08:00
Dutch football club Ajax will play PSV Eindhoven on Sunday in the first big game of the Eredivisie season. Dartsnews got in touch with Ajax fan Vincent van der Voort to mark the occasion and talk about his passion for the club.
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Van der Voort's love for Ajax grew from an early age. His parents came from Amsterdam, while Van der Voort himself was born and raised in Purmerend, a city on the outskirts of the Dutch capital.
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His first big memory of Ajax dates back to 1987, when Ajax won a European Cup match against Real Zaragoza amid torrential rain. The now 45-year-old Dutchman was not in the stadium for that tie, but could often be found at the former Ajax stadium De Meer.
''At the time you could buy tickets for the matches at a cigar shop and then I went to Ajax with some other guys from my area. It was amazing. I tried to go when I was able to," said Van der Voort.
He especially enjoyed seeing his football idol, Marco van Basten. “I was a big fan of him. For me, he is the best Ajax striker I have ever seen. When I think of him, I immediately think of that bicycle kick from him against Den Bosch. Van Basten was really a legend to me.''
Memories
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Over the years, Van der Voort has seen a lot of special matches in person - first at De Meer, then at the Amsterdam ArenA, now known as the Johan Cruijff ArenA. ''In terms of atmosphere, the Champions League matches are the best. But I also really liked the match against Willem II [5-0, ed.] for the Dutch title in 2013.''
But his favourite match was a game against Feyenoord Rotterdam. In a memorable battle between two Dutch giants, Feyenoord scored in the first few minutes, but Ajax won 4-1 after scoring three goals in the last ten minutes of the game. ''That was in the Olympic Stadium in 1987. At the time fans from the away club were still allowed. The atmosphere in the stadium was very impressive.''
The Dutch Destroyer also has good memories of May 15, 2011. ''Ajax became champions against FC Twente on the last day of the Dutch league and on the same day I won a Pro Tour tournament against Phil Taylor in the final.''
Nowadays, Van der Voort can attend fewer matches due to darts obligations. "But if I have the chance, I'll go there. It is now a bit more difficult to get a ticket with all those season tickets.''
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Enjoyable month or an annoying month
The match between Ajax and PSV will kick off at 15:45 GMT. Van der Voort is looking forward to the match, but knows it's far from a foregone conclusion.
'It is difficult to estimate what to expect. There was a winter break for two weeks and you don't know how everyone is doing. I hope we put on a good game and get three points. When Ajax plays at home, I think Ajax should be the favorite. Then you are actually obliged to win.''
Good friend Michael van Gerwen is a PSV fanatic, though that fact doesn't cause tension between the two Dutch friends. ''Not really. If one club has won against the other, you will let the other know, but we are not provoking each other all day. He can try, but then I won't respond.''
After PSV, Ajax face a number of interesting matches against the Dutch top clubs this month. The schedule works out well for Van der Voort, who has no darts tournaments scheduled for this month.
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“In that respect it is nice because you can see everything. The work remains important, but this is a great month for watching football of course. There are so many great matches. Twice against AZ Alkmaar and once against PSV and Feyenoord. I hope it will be an enjoyable month and not an annoying month.''
I stumbled into the world of darts quite by accident back in 2013. For a Journalism School assignment, I had to produce a live sports report and as it happened, the European Tour event in Veldhoven was the only available option. That weekend, I caught the darts bug. The post-match interviews especially appealed to me, as darts players tend to be much more open and approachable than what you usually see with footballers on television.
After a few detours, I joined Dartsnieuws.com in 2017 as editor-in-chief. I don’t have much competitive experience myself, although I once entered a PDC Development Tour weekend just to experience what it’s like from a player’s perspective. I even managed to win a leg against a Tour Card holder and, quite by accident, earned £50 in prize money.
In 2022, I was also involved in the founding of the TOTO Dart Kings, a commercial darts team, where I worked as media manager for three years. Unfortunately, due to new legislation in the Netherlands, that project came to an end in 2025.
Through my work in darts, I’ve been fortunate to travel to some incredible events, from Premier League nights at Ahoy Rotterdam, to several World Championships, and even the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyond darts, I’m a passionate sports fan in general. You can always wake me up for a game of tennis or padel, and I love following football, tennis, padel, cycling, Formula 1, and ice skating.
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