The below interview first appeared in March’s Everton magazine. To buy or download singles issues, click here. To subscribe, click here.
There is a black-and-white photograph that sits in the manager’s office at USM Finch Farm of a young Ronald Koeman wearing the shirt of his father’s club, FC Groningen, with his arm around the shoulder of his older brother, Erwin, in the colours of PSV Eindhoven. On several occasions over the years they played on opposing teams. This meeting was the first. He was 18, Erwin 19.
“Groningen needed a draw to avoid relegation from the Dutch Eredivisie,” the younger Koeman reflects with a smile.