Andy Scharmin

Who was Andy Scharmin?

Andy Scharmin was a Surinamese-Dutch footballer. During his career he served FC Twente. He died at the age of 21, when on June 7, 1989 he was killed in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 air crash in Paramaribo. He was the captain of the Netherlands U-21 team. His mother was from Suriname, while his father was German.

Scharmin lived and grew up in Haaksbergen and played his first football at VV Haaksbergen. A few years later he was scouted by FC Twente and joined the youth squads of that team. He was known as a social guy and a talented player with a great future ahead of him. He made his professional debut for FC Twente on October 16, 1987 in the home match against Willem II Tilburg which was won 1-0. It didn't take Scharmin long to convince his coaches to become a first team regular. Manager Theo Vonk brought him in the squad as a midfielder, but during the season he was lined-up as a left back and became a fan favourite and a delight for the eye. He was very fast, never failed in his determination to win and always managed to do what the coach was asking for.

Also in Zeist, where the Royal Dutch Football Association is located his talents were notified. He was called up for the Netherlands U-21 team and even became captain. In a combination match of the under-21s and the Netherlands national football team against the Germany national football team Scharmin fooled German football legend Franz Beckenbauer. After the confrontation between the younger sides of the countries the players would take place on the stands to watch the national sides play each other in a friendly. In the changing rooms Scharmin saw a uniform of a stadium official and dressed himself up in the outfit. Soon after that Franz Beckenbauer arrived on his way to the stands and Scharmin who spoke fluent German asked Beckenbauer for his ticket. Beckenbauer was unable to show his ticket and Scharmin did not let him through. This became a very emotional incident that was eventually solved.