Saving any breakdowns - and they do happen, admitted Harm Otten, 61 - the 1980 rear-engined Bristol VRT will arrive in the west German city, along with 75,000 Dutch fans, in good time for England's Euro 2024 semi-final tie with the Netherlands tonight.
"We've become the symbol of our supporters," said Otten, an HR manager at DHL, with obvious surprise. "It was just a silly idea 20 years ago." Otten and friends bought the English doubledecker on the internet in 2004 with the intention of using it to travel in style to Dutch games during the Euros in Portugal.
It was the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) which suggested the idea of the bus leading the fan parade to the stadiums at that tournament.
So began a two-decade tradition during which the bus has spearheaded the Oranje army of Dutch support in São Paulo and Sheffield, Kharkiv and Qatar.
This story is from the July 10, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the July 10, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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