Elfried Romeo Veldman (5 June 1966 – 7 June 1989 in Paramaribo) 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 le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. During his career he served

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

. He died two days after his 23rd birthday, when on 7 June 1989 he was killed in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 air crash in Paramaribo. He was the older brother of retired footballer and Dutch International

John Veldman John Fitzgerald Veldman (born 24 February 1968) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a defender. Veldman spent his entire career in the Eredivisie, playing 297 matches from 1986 to 2001. He began his professional career at PSV Eindhoven, ...

. Veldman played in the youth squads of AFC Ajax as a right winger and was praised for his pace. Unfortunately for him he was unable to sign a professional contract at the club because of his lack in technique. He made the switch to

, where he made his professional debut and played 27 matches. He was invited by

Sonny Hasnoe Sonny is a common nickname and occasional given name. Often it can be a derivative of the English word "Son", a name derived from the Ancient Germanic element *sunn meaning "sun", a nickname derived from the Italian name Salvatore (especially in N ...

, the founder of the

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 DC-8-62. On Wednesday 7 June 1989, the f ...

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 Veldman, making it the worst ever aviation disaster in Suriname's history. Among the dead were a total of 15 members of the Colourful 11, only three of them survived.

References

Veldman at AndroKnel.nl

* Iwan Tol: Eindbesteming Zanderij; het vergeten verhaal van het Kleurrijk Elftal () {{DEFAULTSORT:Veldman, Elfried 1966 births 1989 deaths Footballers from Paramaribo Men's association football midfielders Dutch men's footballers Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands De Graafschap players Eerste Divisie players Footballers killed in the Surinam Airways Flight 764 crash