When NEC Nijmegen meet Juventus in the opening round of the Europa League, the Dutch club will carry more than the usual weight of a European night. Behind the team stands Marcel Boekhoorn, a Nijmegen-born investor whose commitment to the club has been shaped by family loyalty, considerable wealth and a life that also includes a zoo office overlooking gorillas.
NEC Nijmegen’s unusual benefactor before Juventus
Boekhoorn is one of the Netherlands’ wealthiest businessmen, with a fortune estimated at close to €2 billion through his investment vehicle Ramphastos Investments. He has remained an important financial presence around NEC without taking the step of becoming the club’s majority shareholder, despite having turned down that possibility on more than one occasion.
His attachment is personal. Boekhoorn inherited his support for NEC from his father, who asked him to continue helping the club shortly before his death. That promise still informs his role today, with part of the wealth built through his business activities helping sustain a side now preparing for a notable continental fixture against Juventus.
There is little conventional about the setting in which some NEC players and executives may encounter their benefactor. Boekhoorn bought Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen in 2000, around half an hour by car from Nijmegen, and arranged for his office to be placed above the gorilla enclosure. The room is known for its striking bronze safe, distinctive furnishings and, most memorably, a hatch in the floor.
For a period, Boekhoorn and visitors could open the hatch and feed the gorillas below. That practice ended when the animals repeatedly fought over the additional food being dropped into their enclosure. Glass has since been installed, preventing food from being passed through, although the animals can still be viewed from the office by guests attending meetings or simply visiting the zoo.
The investor’s interest in animals has produced stories of both ambition and misfortune. He was responsible for bringing two giant pandas to Rhenen after a lengthy negotiation with the Chinese government. Under the agreement, he committed €1 million per year towards protecting the species’ natural habitat in China. The 2017 deal was signed in the presence of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Dutch King Willem-Alexander.
Another tale, disclosed in 2017 and still carrying an element of legend, concerned an attempted acquisition of an exceptionally rare white crocodile. Boekhoorn was said to have paid heavily for the animal, believed to have its colour because of a genetic mutation. After days of heavy rain, however, the white coating allegedly washed away and exposed the ordinary green colour underneath.
Boekhoorn’s sporting enthusiasm extends beyond NEC. He once spoke of damaging a knee while playing football with Wesley Sneijder, an anecdote that fits a figure accustomed to moving between investment, sport and his unusual animal collection.
For NEC, though, the essential point is less colourful. A club backed by a supporter who has resisted full ownership will enter a European occasion against Juventus with the support of a man whose promise to his father remains part of its modern story. Perhaps the match will be watched from Rhenen, from an elegant chair above the gorillas.
SEO Title: NEC Nijmegen’s Marcel Boekhoorn and the Juventus Europa League chapter
SEO Description: NEC Nijmegen prepare to face Juventus in the Europa League with Marcel Boekhoorn’s long-standing support, rooted in a promise to his father and an extraordinary life beyond football.
