Wendel Fräser
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Wendel Fräser | ||
| Date of birth | 2 June 1967 | ||
| Place of birth | Paramaribo, Suriname | ||
| Date of death | 7 June 1989 (aged 22) | ||
| Place of death | Paramaribo, Suriname | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1987 | Spartaan '20 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1987–1988 | Feyenoord | 0 | (0) |
| 1988–1989 | RBC | 29 | (6) |
| 1989 | SVV | 0 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Wendel Fräser (2 June 1967 in Paramaribo – 7 June 1989 in Paramaribo) was a Dutch footballer. He suited up for Feyenoord Rotterdam and RBC Roosendaal in his brief career, cut short when on 7 June 1989 he was killed in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 air crash in Paramaribo, at the age of 22.
Fräser was a postman in Rotterdam and played in the youth squads of Feyenoord Rotterdam.[1] Although he was known as a talented player and was promoted to the first team of Feyenoord in the 1987–88 season, he was an unused substitute on the bench. The next season, he was transferred to RBC Roosendaal where he made his professional debut.[2] After that season he signed a new contract at SVV for whom he would have been playing from the 1989–90 season.
He was invited by Sonny Hasnoe, the founder of the Colourful 11 to be part of the team and travel to Suriname to play in the "Boxel Kleurrijk Tournament" with three Surinamese teams. The Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crashed during approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, killing 176 of the 187 on board, including Fräser,[3] making it the worst ever aviation disaster in Suriname's history. Among those killed were a total of 15 members of the Colourful 11, leaving three survivors from that contingent.
In memoriam of Fräser the "Wendel Man of the Match Trophy" is given to RBC's best player of the season every year. The supporters home at the RBC Stadion is also named after Fräser.
References
- ↑ "Wendel Fräser: 2 juni 1967 – 7 juni 1989". Staantribune (in Dutch). 7 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ "Wendel Fräser". Eersterat (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ Miller, Nick (12 October 2017). "The forgotten story of … the Colourful XI tragedy". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
External links
- Fräser at AndroKnel.nl Archived 2007-10-04 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch)
- Crash report
- De Rat.nl Archived 2007-08-23 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch)
- Iwan Tol: Eindbesteming Zanderij; het vergeten verhaal van het Kleurrijk Elftal (ISBN 9020403664) (in Dutch)
- 1967 births
- 1989 deaths
- Footballers from Paramaribo
- Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands
- Dutch people of Surinamese descent
- Sportspeople of Surinamese descent
- Men's association football forwards
- Dutch men's footballers
- Feyenoord players
- RBC Roosendaal players
- Eerste Divisie players
- Footballers killed in the Surinam Airways Flight 764 crash
- 20th-century Dutch sportsmen
