Leeuwarden liberation celebration shirt stirs Canadians

AMSTERDAM - Dutch club Cambuur Leeuwarden have been overwhelmed by sales of a specially designed jersey they will wear later this month to mark the 80th anniversary of the city’s freedom from Nazi occupation.

Troops of the Royal Canadian Dragoons liberated Leeuwarden on April 15, 1945, and the jersey is inspired by the regiment’s formal uniform: a red jacket with a black collar, and black trousers with a yellow stripe on the side.

The maple leaf is also incorporated into the shirt design and they were sold out within an hour this week, with orders for more from Canada overwhelming the club.

It’s a huge surprise, Ruben Sijtsma, Cambuur’s marketing and communications manager, told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

The stock of 800 shirts was sold out within an hour and further orders are now at around 2,000. For a club like Ajax that may not be anything, but for a club like ours it is a record.

The reception staff received a crash course in English, because they were bombarded with calls from Canada. People tell us that they are grateful, because their father or great-grandfather fought in the Netherlands.

When you hear all those emotional stories, you cant say no, of course. So we made sure that more shirts are available, Sijtsma said.

The club marketed the jerseys with a video featuring 100-year-old Jim Parks, the only Canadian Dragoons veteran still alive from the liberation of Leeuwarden.

Cambuur will wear the shirts in their next home game, on April 25 against Vitesse Arnhem as they chase promotion back to the Dutch top flight.

The clubs new fans may not be wearing theirs quite so soon, however.

The delivery time of three months is just a bit longer than hoped, Sijtsma said. REUTERS

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