Virgall Joemankhan

Virgall Joemankhan
Personal information
Date of birthNovember 17, 1968
Place of birthAmsterdam, Netherlands
Date of deathJune 7, 1989 (aged 20)
Place of deathZanderij Airport, Paramaribo, Suriname
Youth career
ZRC/Herenmarkt
–AFC Ajax
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
????-1987AFC Ajax0(0)
1987-1989Cercle Brugge1(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Virgall Joemankhan (November 17, 1968 – June 7, 1989) was a Dutch-Surinamese footballer. During his career he played for AFC Ajax and Cercle Brugge. He died at the age of 20, when on June 7, 1989, he was killed in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 air crash in Paramaribo.

At Ajax, although he reached the A1 squad, Joemankhan and Dennis Bergkamp were both relegated to the A2 squad due to unprofessional conduct. While Bergkamp fought hard to improve his behaviour and his skills, Joemankhan chose to leave Ajax and play for Cercle Brugge in Belgium.

Although Joemankhan made his professional debut at Cercle Brugge, his reputation for partying continued. Along with his friend, Tom Krommendijk, a Feyenoord Rotterdam player on loan at Cercle with a similar reputation, they were often found together enjoying the nightlife in Brugge and Amsterdam.

He was invited by Colourful 11 founder Sonny Hasnoe to be part of the team travelling to Suriname to play in the "Boxel Kleurrijk Tournament" against three Surinamese teams. On June 7, 1989, Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crashed during approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, killing 176 of the 187 passengers on board, including Joemankhan, making it the worst ever aviation disaster in Suriname's history. Among those killed were 15 members of the 18-member Colourful 11 contingent.

Tom Krommendijk returned to Feyenoord for the 1989-90 season, but was sent on loan to FC Twente for the following season. He would never play for Twente: on August 25, 1990, he was killed when his car collided with a tree, over a year after Joemankhan's death.

References