Virgall Sinclair Joemmankhan (17 November 1968 – 7 June 1989)Archiefkaart
Stadsarchief Gemeente Amsterdam was a Dutch

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. During his career, he played for

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

and

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

. He died at the age of 20, when on 7 June 1989, he was killed in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 air crash in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

Career

At Ajax, although he reached the A1 squad, Joemankhan and

Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (; born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who was most recently the Assistant manager of Ajax. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was ...

were both relegated to the A2 squad due to unprofessional conduct. While Bergkamp fought hard to improve his behaviour and his skills, Joemmankhan chose to leave Ajax and play for

in Belgium. Although Joemmankhan made his professional debut at Cercle Brugge, his reputation for partying continued. Along with his friend, Tom Krommendijk, a

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

player on loan at Cercle with a similar reputation, they were often found together enjoying the nightlife in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. He was invited by

Colourful 11 Surinam Airways Flight 764 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname on a Surinam Airways Douglas DC-8, DC-8-62. On Wednesday 7 June ...

founder Sonny Hasnoe to be part of the team travelling to Suriname to play in the "Boxel Kleurrijk Tournament" against three Surinamese teams. On 7 June 1989 Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crashed during approach to

Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport , also known as Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, and locally referred to simply as JAP, is an airport located in the town of Zanderij and hub for airline carrier Surinam Airways, south of Param ...

, killing 176 of the 187 passengers on board, including Joemmankhan, making it the worst ever aviation disaster in Suriname's history. Among those killed were 15 members of the 18-member Colourful 11 contingent. Tom Krommendijk returned to Feyenoord for the 1989–90 season, but was sent on loan to

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

for the following season. He never played for Twente: on 25 August 1990 he was killed when his car collided with a tree, over a year after Joemmankhan's death.

References

Joemankhan at AndroKnel.nl
* * Iwan Tol: Eindbesteming Zanderij; het vergeten verhaal van het Kleurrijk Elftal () * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joemmankhan, Virgall 1968 births 1989 deaths Dutch men's footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Dutch people of Indo-Surinamese descent AFC Ajax players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players Footballers from Amsterdam Belgian Pro League players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Men's association football players not categorized by position Footballers killed in the Surinam Airways Flight 764 crash 20th-century Dutch sportsmen