Roda mourn loss of Pickee

Roda JC's home Eredivise match against AFC Ajax on Friday has been postponed as a mark of respect for club chairman Theo Pickee, who died yesterday following a lengthy illness.

New stadium
The 65-year-old had been involved with the club since 1980 when he became chairman of the Roda 80 foundation, an organisation founded to raise funds for the Kerkrade side. In 1989 Pickee joined the Roda board and two years later stepped up to become chairman. Under his chairmanship, Roda won the Dutch Cup in 1997, competed in Europe and opened the new Parkstad Limburg in 2000.

'Lost a friend'
A Roda statement said: "With loss of Théo, Roda JC and the Parkstad Limburg stadium have lost an extremely friendly, skilled and involved captain and board member. More importantly, we have lost a much appreciated friend." Pickee was also a member of the Royal Netherlands Football Associaton's licensing committee.

New chairmen
Elsewhere in the Netherlands, FC Twente and SBV Vitesse appointed new chairmen yesterday. Joop Munsterman, 49, will succeed Herman Wessels at Twente on 1 January, with the latter staying on as a board member. Kees Bakker, a 60-year-old former chief of police, has landed the role at Vitesse, where he will head a six-strong board.