FEYENOORD vs. Willem II (DE KUIP)

It's finally here! The first official blog post for The Traveling Supporter.

I've been waiting a long time for this as a few months ago this was just a fun idea I threw out to the lads and now its coming into fruition. As mentioned in the first post, some of the most important areas of the match day experience will be covered to help you, the football supporter, be able to find out more information about the stadium, the home team and what to expect on a match day in the specific country and city of the club.

And, we begin.

Match: FEYENOORD 1 - 0 Willem II

League: Eredivisie

Stadium: De Kuip

Date: January 21st, 2017 - 7:45 PM Kick Off

Preview

There was no doubt that going into this game, Feyenoord was by far the favourite. With being in 1st place in the Eredivisie as well as having not lost a game since November 6th in the league, they were on fire. Willem II, a team I don't think I'd ever heard of until we bought our tickets to the match, sat in 10th place in the table (P.S. Willem is the first name of the King in Holland - do your research lads). Willem II's form was very up and down and the team itself was in a major goal drought, having only scored 3 goals in their last 7 matches... talk about lacklustre in front of goal.

Regardless, with this being my second game in the Netherlands, the other being Ajax vs. ADO Den Haag last year, I was very excited and expecting big things in terms of the atmosphere and being able to see if Feyenoord could keep up their good form in the fight for the title.

Tickets

Price: 26 Euro

Link: https://www.feyenoord.com/tickets/match-tickets

For the size of the stadium and for a league match, this is very reasonable in Europe. As an Arsenal fan, I'm used to the base 45 Pounds fee or even more for an away game so I felt like we got a bargain in this area.

In terms of getting our hands on tickets, it was rather simple as with it being a home game, we just ventured onto the website and were able to find two seats together as I went with my girlfriend (kudos to her for staying through the whole game in the freezing cold!). It should be noted that although we checked well in advance, majority of the areas were full out or only spare seats were available in most areas. If you are planning on going to watch Feyenoord before the season ends and you want good tickets, I recommend you look to book early or least more than a month in advance.

In terms of the tickets we got, we were sitting in the Y1 section. This was basically right beside the pitch as we were about 11 rows up from the pitch behind one of the goals. When we first arrived, we thought the seats were amazing as we were so close to the pitch but it turned out that there is a reason that these tickets were on the cheaper side. This was mainly because De Kuip, being as old as it is, had quite a different layout. Most stadiums have a top stand and then a lower stand which extends all the way to the field. De Kuip does not have this. The lower stand basically goes 3/4 to the pitch and then there have been separate stands which are made of metal with actually extend to the field- almost picture a highschool bench you'd watch games but with plastic seats attached haha!

The picture to the left basically gives the view we had during the match. It should be noted that everybody in this section was standing, much like an away game atmosphere. But if you were short or of average height, you'd have quite a bit of an issue seeing the whole pitch.

This meant that Kate and myself, along with a lot of fans at the back of the stand, hunched up on our seats or on the railing behind us as we were at the very back so we could look over everybody else.

The picture I took was actually with me crouching down to get closer to the seat as we werent able to sit on the wet seats anyways. If you are looking for a more comfortable match experience (I like to stand like an away game) you are better off getting a ticket in the proper stands where you can sit.

All in all it was definitely worth the price and if you want to get close to the pitch, a great option but just be ready to stand or look between people in front of you!

Note: You are allowed to smoke inside the stadium so be aware of that going in! This includes regular cigarettes and you will see the odd fan rolling up a joint without any issue.

Travel to Stadium

As my girlfriend and I were traveling from The Hague which is north west of Rotterdam, we jumped on an inter-city train which took us only about 20 minutes to arrive to the stadium. As I usually like to arrive early and see the players do their warm up, we arrived at around 6 PM with kick off being at 7:45 PM.

After we jumped off the inter-city train to Rotterdam Centraal, we then jumped on a city train which took us to the stadium station called Rotterdam Stadion. It should be noted that all these trains were all part of the over ground service in the country which literally reaches all parts of it as the Netherlands is quite small.

Also, to get best use on these trains and if you are in the Netherlands for a few days, its probably best to get their the 'ov-chipkaart' which is basically a card which lets you travel around as you can just top up the card as you go. Its basically like London's Oyster card and it does the job quite well.

To plan your travel via train in the Netherlands to De Kuip or any stadium in the country, visit: http://www.ns.nl/en

Stadium

De Kuip is by far one of the most historical grounds I have ever been to and from the moment we booked our tickets for the match, I was buzzing to experience the atmosphere in the ground and see the actual stadium building itself. Being built in 1937 and being one of the first oval grounds built, it was amazing to see how it looked once we were inside. With the name 'De Kuip' literally meaning 'The Tub', you could easily understand the literal reasoning behind the name.

View of De Kuip from the train station

It was also quite interesting to note that the Nou Camp actually took inspiration from the De Kuip in regards to the bowl shape being the next generation of massive grounds throughout the globe. One of the most unique aspects of the building was not only the seating inside which we had mentioned before in terms of the upper and lower stands but also how you got to the top tier as with most modern stadiums, the stairs are located within the building. At De Kuip, the stairs are actually located outside the ground. Another cool aspect was that they still had the massive old lights that are also located outside the stadium pointed in towards the ground.

With plans to build a new stadium for Feyenoord in the works, we were very happy to be able to catch a game at this historic ground before the new stadium is unveiled some years down the line. All in all, beautiful ground and a must see.

Another interesting aspect of the stadium was actually the food and drink system they had in particular which I haven't seen before. Instead of just buying a beer, coffee or any food as well at one of the food stands, you actually had to buy tokens to be able to purchase or get access to any drinks/food. It was actually quite an interesting concept and a great way to actually get your money as you only had access to a certain minimum of tokens. For example, we bought 5 tokens 13.50 Euros. Each token could get you an item but some would be more and the actual tokens themselves break into half incase an item is 1.5 tokens.

Security in the ground is just as you'd expect but the only annoying part is that they check your tickets at every point you enter the area to find your seats. This includes when you enter the actual stadium, when you walk up to your seats as well as if you go back down to grab food and then come back to your seats which can get a bit redundant.

Atmosphere

From hearing about the great rivalries and that Feyenoord has with Ajax in the Netherlands I was really really looking forward to hearing some of the chants from the Feyenoord faithful and hoping the ground would be banging. Although I know they were only playing Willem II I was still at least to some extent hoping for it to be loud. Now, I guess the first thing I can mention was that we were on the opposite end to the ultras and the away fans were on the upper tier behind us to the left but I still have to say that I was disappointed with the home crowd.

There were barely any chants sung throughout the match and the loudest I remember it being was when the Feyenoord anthem was played at the beginning or when the ref made some horrendous calls - which he did as he didn't call 3 hand balls, absolutely wretched. But otherwise, only the ultras started a few chants on the other end and apart from 1 green flare there were a few small chants but it was nothing immense. It was pretty quiet and with Feyenoord titling themselves 'the working class club' I expected better. The game itself wasn't the most amazing football you've seen either which probably didn't help but you would expect the supporters to get behind their team a bit more.

I guess one of the most unique parts of the atmosphere I can mention is that I was surprised how many English chants were sung - chants you would hear at an English Premier League match which took me by surprise. These included chants like 'I'm Feyenoord till I die', 'who are ya', and 'your support is shit' - most songs sung by the away fans at this match in particular.

I'm hoping in the future to go to a game against Ajax or the Rotterdam derby to get a real taste which I hope to do in the future. With this said however, I have to give it up to the Willem II supporters who were singing all game long. They were loud, obnoxious when their players were passing it around making 'Ole' noises as well as singing even after their team went down 1-0 so kudos to them.

Injury Time (Overall Review)

If you have a chance to watch a match at De Kuip, whether it is to watch Feyenoord or watch the Dutch National Team in action, it is a must go. The beauty and history of the stadium lived up to expectations and it was easy to get to without any issues at all. If you don't speak Dutch, almost everybody else does so its easy to ask questions and find your way around. Before the match begins, make sure you pick up a local hot dog or fries with mayo, chocolate or ketchup depending on your taste buds.

Although the atmosphere wasnt exactly what we were expecting, the home fans are a pleasure but just be careful where you sit as what you pay for is what you really get at De Kuip so if you want to sit make sure you sit in the proper lower stand or upper stand. All in all, the football was decent and Feyenoord got the three points they needed to remain at the top of the table and won the match - what more could we have asked for.

TTS Rating: 7.8/10