NAC Breda fans pay tribute every year to the unit that freed their city Football fans in the Dutch city of Breda paid their annual tribute to the Polish soldiers who liberated their hometown 82 years ago, ahead of Thursday’s anniversary. The city of Breda in the south of the Netherlands was liberated on October 29, 1944, by the 1st Polish Armored Division led by Major General Stanisław Maczek, one of Poland’s most celebrated wartime commanders. The local club, NAC Breda, commemorates the event every year, and at its last home game before this year’s anniversary, Polish flags flew on the terraces during a match against Heracles Almelo. The match was also attended by numerous Polish guests, including the deputy head of the Polish Prime Minister’s Office, Jakub Stefaniak. A day after the fixture, the club was visited by Polish runners who had followed the route of General Maczek and the 1st Polish Armored Division from Normandy to Wilhelmshaven. They were allowed to run a lap around the club's pitch, after which they visited a local monument to General Maczek. The club also marked the occasion on its website, quoting supporter representative Gijs Kluft as saying: “We are immensely grateful to the Poles for that.”
NAC Breda fans commemorated the 82nd anniversary of their hometown's liberation by Polish forces. (X/NACnl, Getty Images)
