Feyenoord rule Dutch league

On a weekend of European league soccer that saw some of the major title contests settling down for a rare old scrap, Feyenoord quietly and all too predictably picked up their 14th Dutch championship title on Sunday, beating bottom-of-the-table NAC Breda 2-2 at home.

This is Feyenoord's first title win since 1993, and by season's end they could yet have more reason to celebrate. With a 16-point lead over second-placed Vitesse Arnhem, and with four league games to play, Feyenoord could yet go on to win the title by a record-breaking distance, surpassing the 17-point margin by which Ajax Amsterdam won the 1997 title.

For much of this decade, Feyenoord have made headlines for all the wrong reasons, as their notoriously troublesome fans regularly engaged in riotous behaviour. Even this weekend's triumph was marred by violent incidents, with 16 people being injured and 75 arrested after a night of `celebrations' during which Feyenoord fans erected street barriers and get involved in a series of skirmishes with Rotterdam police.

Feyenoord's title success will probably be dismissed as of only minor relevance on the pan-European scene. At this stage, not many would see them offering serious opposition to the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Lazio in next year's Champions League. After all, their European experience this season saw them knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the first round by German side, Stuttgart.

It is also difficult not to conclude that their title success owes much to the fact that the other two big names of Dutch soccer, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, have both had miserable seasons. Ajax, winners of the Champions League in 1995 and runners-up to Juventus a year later, as well as winners of four of the last five Dutch league titles, are currently out with the washing in joint seventh place on 47 points, 24 points behind Feyenoord. Eindhoven have done a little better, but are still 17 points off the pace in third place.

It could well be that this has been a poor Dutch season, but it is worth bearing in mind that the man at the heart of the Feyenoord revival, coach Leo Beenhakker, knows all about success at the highest level, having won three Spanish titles with Real Madrid (1987-1989).

Beenhakker (57) took over at Feyenoord in December 1997, at a time when the side had just been eliminated from Group B of the Champions League. Beenhakker is a coach who has travelled widely - Spain (Real Madrid and Real Zaragossa), Switzerland (Grasshoppers), Turkey (Istanbulspor), Mexico (Guadalajara and America) - while he has also been national coach to his native Holland and to Saudi Arabia. In that time, no doubt, he has learned to appreciate that one club's player failure can be another club's success story.

The fact that 22-year-old Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson sank without trace at Newcastle United last season did not stop Beenhakker from buying him last summer. Regularly on the score sheet this season, Tomasson put Feyenoord back into the match on Sunday scoring his side's first goal.

Others to have refound their best form at Feyenoord include 30-year-old strikers Peter Van Vossen (ex-Rangers) and Henk Vos (ex-Standard Liege).

Add to the above names players such as 23-year-old midfielder and potential Dutch international Patrick Paauwe, 21-year-old Brazilian midfielder Tininho (ex-Sao Paolo) and Ivory Coast striker Bonaventure Kalou and you have the bones of the current title-winning Feyenoord side. For the time being, they look like potential minnows in the new-look Champions League, but do not be surprised if they manage to embarrass one or two big names.