V.V. Wiron
A friendship with the Netherlands club that goes back decades.
One thing that's always a talking point about Radcliffe Olympic is the colour we have as our away kit.
Whenever there's a colour clash we switch from our traditional blue and red to orange - reminiscent of the iconic Netherlands team of the 70s starring the likes of Johan Cruyff.
Of course, we like to think that the teams carry off this look through the stylish brand of football that they play! But the choice of orange for our away kit is actually a nod to Cruyff and co - because as a club, we do have a friendship with a club in the Netherlands that goes back decades.
The club in question is V.V. Wiron. Just like us, they are a brilliant community club, and we have an exchange programme with them where, every year, they host some of our teams in the Netherlands or vice versa. Naturally, football is at the heart of these trips – they always involve matches between our teams and V.V. Wiron teams. But there are also other activities organised too, to allow everyone to get a taste of the culture of a different country.
One thing that's always a talking point about Radcliffe Olympic is the colour we have as our away kit.
Naturally, organising the exchange each year is a huge undertaking - and we're grateful to volunteers with both clubs who put in huge amounts of work to make it happen. But it's definitely all worth it. Whether it's us hosting or us making the trip to the village of Den Oever where V.V. Wiron are based, the programme is a brilliant experience for young people from both clubs.
Our partnership with V.V. Wiron ultimately serves as a reminder of what is one of the greatest things about football - the power that the game has to bring people together and create lifelong friendships. Indeed, there's one group of lads from V.V. Wiron who loved their experience of Radcliffe so much that a small group of them, now adults, continue to make their own annual trip to the village every year. We gather that the bar takings at the Royal Oak are always particularly healthy during the week that they're over!
To any of our friends from V.V. Wiron who might be reading this - hallo vrienden, we kijken ernaar uit jullie snel te zien!
