Bart Vriends has only been in Australia for eight months, but as the Dutch defender says himself: it’s been a beautiful ride so far.
The experienced centre-back joined Adelaide United ahead of the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season after a career spent entirely in his homeland of the Netherlands; a legend of Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam, Vriends elected to make the move to the Reds, fuelled by the desire to experience a different league, and life in another country, before the end of his career.
Now Vriends has produced a documentary alongside his brother about his new life Down Under for ESPN Netherlands, and believes the production could encourage more Dutch players to move to the Isuzu UTE A-League in the future.
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“It’s probably written on my face, right? I’m happy here, I’m very happy here,” Vriends said.
“It’s been a beautiful ride so far – a little difficult start but eventually it got so well and I’m happy to be performing so well as a team, and that I can play my part in it.
“We (were asked by) the Dutch ESPN sports channel to also shoot a documentary, me and my brother. My brother came over – he’s a cameraman – and the two of us made a short film, to show what life is like here. To show what I’m doing here, to show a bit of Adelaide to you.
“It was also a personal family story. I’m very proud of it, it’s a beautiful documentary and people in the Netherlands have been watching and sending me a lot of messages, that they enjoyed it. It was a special thing to do with my brother, and also a good opportunity for the Dutch people to see something of Australia, and specifically Adelaide.”
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The ESPN documentary, titled Vriends Down Under, aired in the Netherlands last weekend. Vriends says the documentary painted a “special” picture of life in Australia and the quality of the Isuzu UTE A-League – an image that is resonating with people in his homeland.
“The picture is clear: the A-League is a special league, it’s very entertaining, people are loving it and next to that is just the life in Australia, (which) is a special thing too,” Vriends said.
“I was happy to be able to show a bit of it to the Dutch audience. I can imagine if I was playing in the Netherlands and watched clips of how life and football can be here, I would be excited to join it too. Potentially it will have this effect.”
Vriends and Adelaide are next in action on Saturday night when Newcastle Jets travel to face the second-placed Reds at Coopers Stadium.
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