Excelsior

Ground: Stadion Woudestein

Visits: 1

Date: 2nd November 2018

Match: Excelsior - Groningen 2-4 (Eredivisie)

Attendance: 4 257

Friday was going to be an easy day travel wise for me. Having been to Feyenoord v ADO Den Haag last night and then going to Excelsior v Groningen tonight meant I could stay two nights in Rotterdam. I slept late before making the 15 minute journey by tram to Woudestein, the tram stop right next to the Excelsior Stadium. With a capacity of 4 500 the ground is by far the smallest in Eredivisie and not having a Dutch bank account it was not possible for me to buy tickets online. I sent a mail and was pleased when the club replied they would reserve a ticket for me which I could pay for and pick up at the ground. My ticket was for the Albert & Erasmus Tribune where it is unreserved seating. The weather today was much better than yesterday and I took a few exterior pictures of the ground. Robin van Persie nowadays plays for Feyenoord but he started his career at Excelsior. One of the end stands at Stadion Woudestein is actually named after him and it must be a strange feeling when he plays for Feyenoord at this ground. Anyway, I headed back towards Rotterdam Centraal where I changed for a tram bringing me back to De Kuip. At 12.30 I then did the stadium tour at this classic ground. After the stadium tour I had a very late lunch at a nice restaurant before returning to my room where I rested for a few hours.

Kick-off at Stadion Woudestein was at 20.00 and 50 minutes or so prior I was once again outside the ground. Excelsior was founded on 23 July 1902 and was formerly known as "Rotterdamse Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging Excelsior" (Rotterdam Football and Athletics Union Excelsior). The club was relegated from Eredivisie in 2007/08, and promoted back to the Eredivisie at the end of the 2009/10 season. After their relegation in 2012, the team returned to the Eredivisie two years later. The club has always had a good connection to Feyenoord and the main rival is Sparta Rotterdam. Being a small ground there wasn´t a lot of people outside the ground but a few Groningen fans made their voices heard. Groningen are bottom of Eredivisie but having seen their performance at Stadion Woudestein I am sure they will survive. The visitors from northern Netherlands were 2-0 up after 29 minutes, the second of those goals was a very well taken one. At half-time it was 1-2 and in the second half Groningen scored two more goals, much to the delight of their small but vocal away following, to win an entertaining game 4-2. Six goals at Stadion Woudestein and in the two games in Rotterdam I have seen 12 goals, not bad! There were no extra trams bringing fans back to Rotterdam Centraal but those of us standing on the platform all made it into the first available tram. I guess that is the advantage of visiting a small club where most fans walk or go by bike to the game. Tomorrow I leave Rotterdam and go by train to Alkmaar, the final destination on this tour.