The De Graafschap Post
The terraces14 Aug 2028
The mood at De Graafschap has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Lorenzo Carvalho breaks a bone — 16 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Michael Dokunmu is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Tempers go at De Graafschap
Bram Nuytinck was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Anton Gaaei has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Boardroom14 Aug 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at De Graafschap
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Match12 Aug 2028
6 unbeaten for De Graafschap
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation De Graafschap did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Ibrahim El Kadiri runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces14 Aug 2028
The crowd has taken to Nacho Ferri
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
- Market De Graafschap promote Wesley Bergwijn from within
- Market One of our own: Nathan Stengs joins the De Graafschap first team
- Market One of our own: Marten Klaassen joins the De Graafschap first team