Feyenoord

Ground: Stadion Feijenoord (De Kuip)

Visits: 1

Date: 1st November 2018

Match: Feyenoord - ADO Den Haag 5-1 (KNVB Beker)

Attendance: 35 000

There were no fixtures at a new ground in Scotland or England until Saturday and wanting to make the most of the week I looked elsewhere. Several countries offered mid-week cup games and when KNVB (Dutch FA) confirmed their games I was more than pleased. Feyenoord were to host Den Haag on Thursday evening and knowing Excelsior, also from Rotterdam, were at home in the league on Friday evening I quickly booked a flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam. Once at Schiphol airport the IC-direct trains to Rotterdam were cancelled due to a defunct train. There are slower NS-trains via Den Haag though and around 17.00 I was finally at my hotel near Rotterdam Centraal. Kick-off at Stadion Feijenoord, also known as De Kuip, was at 20.45 and 90 minutes before kick-off I was outside the ground. It was a rainy and cold evening in Rotterdam but I guess that it how it should be! De Kuip was opened in 1937 and has a capacity of around 51 000. The ground has hosted several European Cup finals, games in EURO 2000 and plenty of Dutch internationals. The final of the KNVB Beker (Dutch cup) is also always played at this ground. As I did the stadium tour the next day I was informed a business seat cost 4 500 Euros a year and you have to buy two. I also visited the museum where the European Cup from 1970 is proudly presented. The winning goal in that final was scored by my countryman Ove Kindvall by the way. 15 league titles and two UEFA Cups have also been won by Feyenoord.

Today´s cup game was in round 2 (32 teams remaining) in the KNVB Beker and it was actually the third year in a row Feyenoord was been drawn at home to Den Haag in this round. I had no idea what kind of attendance to expect but I was hoping for 40 000 or so. My seat was in row 15 of the Olympiatribune and from there I had a good view of the action on the pitch. Ajax fans are not allowed to travel to De Kuip and for a few years Den Haag fans were banned as well. For this game around 1 000 away fans were present though and they had to use the tunnel from the nearby train station. This tunnel separates away fans from home supporters and in Amsterdam there is a similar solution. In my opinion it is a bit sad it has to be like this. Feyenoord had two great chances to score early on but in the 5th minute Den Haag scored to make it 0-1. Feyenoord continued to attack and by half-time they were deservedly 2-1 up. A very entertaining first half and when it comes to quality definitely an upgrade compared to yesterday at Tynecastle. When it comes to the atmosphere the Edinburgh derby was much better though. Anyway, Feyenoord were clearly the better team tonight and in front of 35 000 fans Nicolai Jørgensen scored a hat-trick before being substituted. In stoppage time Sam Larsson scored to make it 5-1 so at least one Swedish goal for me this week. Six goals and an entertaining start to the second part of this tour. I was back at my hotel around 11pm where I had a drink to relax before going back to my room.