Holland: Heerenveen chief to retire [Thu Sep 15th, 2005]

Riemer van der Velde has announced he will retire as chairman of Heerenveen on October 1, 2006.

Van der Velde has been the face of Heerenveen for the past 24 years and has been instrumental in consolidating the club's position in the Eredivisie.

He will remain at the club as an advisor but will hand over the chairmanship to Koos Formsma, a former Heerenveen player who has been a director on the board since last year.