Montrose legend Ivo den Bieman says he owes everything he has to the Angus club for giving him his first break in Scottish football.
The Dutchman returned to Links Park to see his former club lose a hard-fought game against Cove Rangers at the weekend, prior to a special Dunfermline reunion that night.
The 55-year-old is best known for his five-year spell at East End Park but den Bieman hasn’t forgotten where it all began for him.
While studying at the University of Aberdeen, he signed up with the Gable Endies before going on to make 78 appearances for the side.
“Montrose changed my life,” he said. “They gave me a chance to come to Scotland and, even apart from playing 10 years of professional football, I have a Scottish wife.
“Everything I have in my life, I owe to Montrose.
“When you go back to a club like that, you can see the same faces from 20 or 30 years ago. I come across people who were mascots back then and are now in their mid-30s!
“We are treated like royalty when we go back there and that it is very special feeling, having first arrived 30 years ago.”
Why Montrose?
So, why Montrose?
Prior to moving to Scotland, den Bieman played for his local side SV Leones. It was there he first caught the eye of a Rangers scout.
“It was sheer adventure,” he explains. “I didn’t have any ties.
“I was studying but was able to break up my studies.
“It was just adventure on my part and asking the question: ‘How far can I go?’ I didn’t think about the possibility of failure. I said: ‘Let’s have a go’.
“When you are 23 years of age, you make those decisions. I didn’t know where Montrose was!
“I need to thank two people for the opportunity. Jim Ironside — no longer with us — saw me playing in the Netherlands while working as an area scout for Rangers.
“And the other is Brian Keith, who just bought the club and clearly thought: ‘They’ve got four Dutchmen at Aberdeen — maybe I’ll have an exotic influence too!’”
Petrie praise
While den Bieman cherishes his Montrose memories, he knows the future looks just as bright for the Gable Endies with Stewart Petrie at the helm.
The pair both joined Dunfermline in 1993 and the Dutchman is delighted to see his former team-mate doing well for himself.
Well it’s finally here. Just boarded to get myself to Bonnie Scotland. Today meeting up at the top game at @MontroseFC with my pals from the 90-92 era. Chill stuff🏴⚽️🍻👊 pic.twitter.com/hw7hzGJbDh
— Ivo den Bieman (@ivodb67) March 19, 2022
“Stewart has done incredibly well to lift them from where he found them, to where they are now,” he said.
“Stewart is a very humble guy. He is not big-headed and always underestimates his own role and importance to Montrose. You will never hear him bragging!
“But, together with Ross [Campbell], his assistant, and the board of directors, they have created a fantastic club.
“You see that from the players that want to go there and the football they play and the continuity of their performances.
“That is down to how Stewart perceives teamwork and John [Crawford], the chairman, views the importance of that.”
