Koning Willem II Stadion (Willem II v Roda JC Kerkrade)

On Saturday 2nd April, whilst in the Netherlands for a few days, I paid my first visit to the Koning Willem II Stadion, the home ground of Willem II. I had been at Helmond Sport the night before but this game was my main reason for visiting my home country twee weeks ago. For some reason I had not been at Willem II before and the club from Tilburg now look certs for relegation to the Jupiler League.

Willem II were close to the drop a few times in recent seasons, but when they finished second bottom in 2006 and 2010 they managed to stay up by winning the promotion/relegation play-offs. It seems very unlikely now that the Tricolores will even reach the safety net of the play-offs as the bottom team in the league will always be relegated. This will be a loss to the Eredivisie: Willem II have been playing in the Dutch top flight for 23 consecutive seasons now and were runners-up in 1999. This meant qualification for the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions' League. The Tilburg side also qualified for the 1998/99 and 2004/05 UEFA Cup tournaments. The fans have remained loyal and the game against Roda was still visited by 12,000 supporters.

As there are still quite a few grounds in the Netherlands that I have not visited I tend to prefer Roda JC away games. Travelling to Eredivisie away games is different from away days in Scotland however. For most games you cannot just hop on a train or drive to the away team's town, visit a few of the local pubs and walk to the ground. Instead you have to get a so-called combi ticket: you book a seat on a supporters' bus and you will get you match ticket when you are on the bus. The bus will then drop you off at the away end.

Again I travelled by 'combi' bus two weeks ago. Eight buses filled with Roda fans made the journey to Tilburg. This is an unusually high number as these trips are not everyone's cup of tea. You are not exactly treated like royalty upon arrival at the away ground, although some clubs are friendlier than others. I remember being treated to free coffee and rolls at Heracles Almelo but the reception at Willem II was unwelcoming even by Dutch standards. Kick-off was scheduled for 7:45pm and we arrived at the Koning Willem II Stadion at 7:30pm. Plenty of time to get everyone in in time you would think however all Roda fans were supposed to enter the stadium through a single gate and everyone was being searched (normal in the Netherlands), one person at a time (not normal, especially considering the number of stewards at the gate). The steward, or rather 'stewards' as I was searched twice, did not appear to be able to speak and did not even give me the obligatory 'Enjoy the game.' All this carry-on meant I was in my seat ten minutes after kick-off. No programme sellers to be seen either, which is a certain way to get me really annoyed. However Willem II redeemed themselves here when I was sent a programme through the mail last week after I had sent the club an email about it.

Luckily I had not missed much much of the action but there was plenty to come. After half an hour Roda defender Pa-Modou Kah fouled Jan-Arie van der Heijden. Referee Richard Liesveld did not hesitate and pointed to the spot. Andreas Lasnik converted the penalty and the home team were 1-0 up at the interval.

In the second half both teams really went to town. Only minutes into the second half Kah redeemed himself and scored the equaliser. The Norwegian could consider himself lucky he was still on the pitch at that time as Liesveld had not booked him for the second time after a reckless foul in the first half. Eight minutes later Bart Biemans scored 2-1 and Willem II were in the lead once more. Five minutes later Morton Skoubo equalised again. Another two minutes later Ruud Vormer put the men from Kerkrade in the lead for the first time on the night. Dave de Fauw scored 4-2 with 15 minutes left on the clock and Roda seemed to have secured the three points. However Lasnik pulled one back for the Tricolores: 3-4. Ruud Vormer then scored his second of the night before Maceo Rigters scored the final goal of the night 4-5.

This result meant that Willem II could not escape the bottom-three anymore and some of the Willem II fans turned out to be bad losers. Objects were thrown into the direction of the away end but we now know that the large netting is not just there to obstruct the away fans' view. Somehow however some 'supporters' managed to open a fence and got access to the away stand and missiles were thrown once more. A few of the Roda fans were hit and, typically, a few of them were young girls who will probably not be allowed to go to an away game again. After the game I heard some of the Willem II fans had felt 'provoked' by taunts from the Roda fans referring to what now seemed like certain relegation for the Tilburg side. Apparently they had forgotten about their own chants two years ago when Roda were staring relegation in the face.

After being pelted with pointy metal objects at FC Den Bosch a few years ago I had already decided I will never take my wife to an away game in Holland again. Police and stewards were nowhere to be seen and it cannot be a surprise that away games in the Eredivisie are basically only visited by young men (I still count myself amongst them...) as families, women and people who, probably rightly, feel they are to old for this s*** will not bother. It is often said: 'if you treat people like animals, they are more likely to behave like them.' I think that definitely holds true in these circumstances. Some individuals, on both sides, would have embarrassed the monkeys at Edinburgh Zoo.

Still, you make the best of it. Roda had won another three points and are now on their way to the play-offs for a Europa League spot. I also had a great time with my Dutch mates, whom I do not see that often, the weather had been great and I am already looking forward to the next away trip, perhaps in six months' time or so.

We arrived at the ground fifteen minutes before kick-off.

A long queue at the away end. Everyone was searched one by one.

This picture of me being welcomed by the Willem II stewards was taken by my mate. Note how only one person was searched at a time. This did not prevent the next steward from apparently not noticing I had already been searched and I was submitted to the same procedure once again.

I had not come across this on my travels before but not all stands at Willem II have names. I call this one the 'South Stand.' Note the large netting.

The Eretribune or Main Stand.

Another stand without a name. Let's call it the 'East Stand'.

The Kingside Stand is the stand populated by the more fanatical supporters. Stands in Dutch stadium are often called 'sides' when they are in fact 'ends', see also the Bunnik Side at FC Utrecht.

The 'South Stand' after the game.

The Kingside Stand.

The East Stand.

The Eretribune.

Saturday 2nd April 2011
Eredivisie
Willem II 4 Roda JC Kerkrade 5
Willem II: Lasnik 30 pen, Biemans 57, Lasnik 80, Rigters 90.
Roda JC: Kah 49, Skoubo 62, Vormer 64, De Fauw 75, Vormer 83.
Att: 12,000

Gemeentelijk Sportpark Kaalheide (Roda JC)

I was visiting my parents in the Netherlands last weekend and decided to take some pictures of Gemeentelijk Sportpark (=Municipal Sports Ground) Kaalheide. Fortunately the gate was open and I could walk into the ground without any problems.

Gemeentelijk Sportpark Kaalheide was opened in 1950 and was Roda JC's home ground until 2000 when the Pride of the South moved to the 19,600 capacity all-seater Parkstad Limburg Stadion. It is situated in the town of Kerkrade, a small town in the most southern part of the Netherlands near the German border, only 6 miles from the German city of Aachen.

Roda JC were only founded in 1962, the result of the merger of Roda Sport and Rapid JC. In 1973 Roda JC were promoted to the Dutch top flight, the Eredivisie, and they have never been relegated since, although it took a penalty shoot-out win in the play-off finals at Cambuur Leeuwarden in 2009 to secure a slot in the Eredivisie for last season.

I started visiting Kaalheide during the 1994/95 season. Roda were at their best at that time. They only lost two league games in the whole season and finished the season in runner-up spot behind European champions Ajax. For the 1995/96 season I bought my first season ticket and I remained a season ticket holder until I moved to Scotland in 2001.

Kaalheide was built as a multi-functional stadium and was (and still is) used as an athletics venue as well. This was a common concept in the Netherlands, and the rest of the continent for that matter. The running track around the pitch ensured that the terraces behind the goals were a fair distance from the pitch and this, combined with the fact that these terraces were uncovered, contributed to a widespread dislike of them by both home and away supporters. Luckily the home supporters had an alternative.


The picture above was taken in either November or December 1998 from the North Terrace, a roofed terrace where the more fanatical supporters used to congregate. It looks like Roda won and my guess is that this was the derby against MVV of Maastricht on 27th November 1998 (2-1). The Main Stand, which was renovated as late as 1992 can be seen in the background. The two ends behind the goals were not covered and these terraces were generally not very popular. Away supporters were allocated one half of the West Terrace until the late nineties. Later the away fans were moved to the East Terrace to make it easier to segregate the opposing supporters' groups outside the ground.

The official capacity changed over the years and was considered to be around 15-16,000 in the late nineties however sell-outs have always been rare at Kaalheide. A record crowd of 23,000 saw Roda JC lose to Anderlecht (2-3) in the second leg of the first round of the UEFA Cup on 26 September 1976 (3-5 aggregate). This is still a record for a Roda home game.

Unlike many other older stadiums in the Netherlands Kaalheide is still in use, both as an athletics venue and as a football ground: it is Roda's training ground and the reserve team play their games at Kaalheide. The North Stand was however demolished in 2005 because it had fallen into disrepair and was in danger of collapsing.

The Main Stand was renovated as recently as 1992.

The West Terrace.

The roofed terrace which ran along the nothern side of the pitch was demolished in 2005.

The East Terrace.

Again the uncovered West Terrace.

The grass bank that replaced the old North Terrace.

The Main Stand seen from the West Terrace.


The Main Stand.


These two pictures I took when Roda were still playing at Kaalheide around 1999 or 2000...


...I cannot remember the occasion!

Stadion Woudestein (Excelsior v Roda JC)

Whilst visiting the Netherlands I saw my first game at Stadion Woudestein last Saturday. I went as an away fan as my team Roda JC were playing Excelsior, currently two points ahead of 'big brother' Feyenoord and with Sparta plying their trade in the Jupiler League they currently are the highest ranked team in Rotterdam. Still, they are the least popular of the three professional sides in Holland's second largest city. Woudestein has a capacity of only 3,500, making it by far the smallest stadium in the Dutch top flight. Despite its small capacity the ground was not sold out last Saturday with only 3,214 in attendance despite the club's promising start to the season, including a 3-2 defeat of Feyenoord. Predicted by many as 'certs' for relegation they are currently lying twelfth in the 18-team Eredivisie.

Excelsior do not have a fan base that justifies their place in the Eredivisie. Founded in 1902 they are one of the older professional sides in the Netherlands. Although Excelsior and Feyenoord had cooperated for many years their partnership became official in 1996 when Excelsior became a feeder club for Feyenoord. Feyenoord stalled young and talented players at the Woudestein club to give them valuable playing minutes in the Dutch second tier. Although the agreement between the two Rotterdam clubs was controversial amongst many supporters the club were promoted to the Eredivisie in 2002. They were relegated again the following season but were promoted once more in 2006. This time their stay in the top league lasted two seasons and Feyenoord ended the partnership in 2008. However only five months later the two Rotterdam clubs agreed on an even more extensive partnership and Excelsior were promoted to the top tier once more last season.

This was my first Roda JC league game in almost four years I am ashamed to admit but I had been looking forward to this one for a while. Roda have started this season extremely well; they have not been playing glorious football on a weekly basis but they have kept on grinding out results, just like last Saturday. The team from Kerkrade were the dominant side in the first half but Wouter Gudde opened the score for Excelsior after some shambolic Roda defending. Pa-Modou Kah equalised early in the second half and a draw looked like a fair result. However Anouar Adouir sealed another win for Roda in the 88th minute to the delight of the travelling fans.

I made the journey to Woudestein on a supporters bus, which is my preferred method of travel to away games in the Netherlands because it is cheap (€30 for non-members including match ticket) and relatively comfortable and the atmosphere is always top-notch. The bus left from the Roda ground in Kerkrade at around 5pm. After journey of just over three hours we arrived at Stadion Woudestein. As mentioned above, the stadium is very small but I was pleasantly surprised to see terracing in the away end. The journey back to Kerkrade went slightly quicker and I arrived back at my parents’ house on Sunday morning just after 2am.

The not so impressive entrance to the away stand.

Nice tea hut...

I was pleasantly surprised to see these terraces in the away end.

The Zuidtribune or South Stand.

The I.J.B. Albers Tribune.

The main stand is called the Henk Zon Tribune.

Celebrations after Kah's equaliser.

Roda kept on searching for the winning goal which finally came in the 88th minute.


'Get off that fence you naughty boy!'

Roda players celebrating...

...after another victory!

Saturday 2nd October 2010
Eredivisie
Excelsior 1 Roda JC 2
Excelsior: Gudde 38.
Roda JC: Kah 69. Hadouir 88.
Att: 3,214

VfL-Stadion (VfL Wolfsburg v Roda JC)

Again some old pictures I found. These were taken at the first and unfortunately last Roda JC European away game I have been too. Although the result was disappointing it was an unforgettable experience. The first leg in Kerkrade had ended goalless and again in it remained 0-0 for a long time in the second leg. Charles Akonnar broke yellow and black hearts minutes before time in typical German fashion even though Roda were the better team in the second half. Unfortunately once again no 'Europa League' next season...

Some of the Roda supporters who had travelled to the north of Germany.

Wolfsburg's stadium reminded me of Roda's Kaalheide. So did the paltry attendance figure of 7,677. In 2002 Wolfsburg moved to the Volkswagen Arena although the VfL-Stadion is still used by the Wolfsburg amateur team.

The local constabulary apparently thought we were hooligans. I remember their presence in our section as needlessly provocative. I do not believe there had been any trouble on the day.

Roda players thanking the fans for their support.

Tuesday 2nd November 1999
UEFA Cup 2nd round (2nd leg)
VfL Wolfsburg 1 Roda JC 0 (agg: 1-0)
Goal: Akonnor 87.
Att: 7,677

De Kuip (Dutch Cup Finals)

Since 1989 all finals of the Dutch Cup ('KNVB-beker' in Dutch) have been played at the De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam. This was part of a strategy of the KNVB to give the domestic cup competition more status in the Netherlands.

Roda JC have reached the Cup Final six times, in 1976, 1988, 1992, 1997, 2000, and 2008. Only twice were they successful, in 1997 and 2000. They lost the finals in 1978 and 1988 to PSV and in 1992 and 2008 Feyenoord proved too strong.

I attended the finals in 1997, 2000, and 2008.

1997

Outside the De Kuip for the 1997 final againt SC Heerenveen. It was the first time Roda were playing a cup final against a team other than one of the traditional Dutch top-three however Heerenveen were considered slight favourites.

Nevertheless Roda JC won the game convincingly: 4-2. The first major trophy in the history of the club was in the bag.


2000

Only three years later Roda JC were in the final again after beating Vitesse in the semi-final. Again Roda JC were playing a 'smaller' team, this time it was N.E.C. of Nijmegen. Roda JC won 2-0. Eric van de Luer scored this winning penalty in the dying minutes of the game.

Understandibly I was delighted to have won the cup again, only three years after the first one.

The players were happy too.


2008

It took eight years for Roda to reach the final for a sixth time. Roda had been close in 2006 when they lost the semi-final to Ajax in Amsterdam after extra time after having been up 1-0 and Huntelaar scored the equaliser almost 3 minutes in injury time.


We knew this was going to be more difficult than the last two editions as we were playing Feyenoord at their own home.


Nevertheless the Roda fans showed up in good numbers.


However what we all had feared happened. Roda never showed up on the day and Feyenoord won comfortably 2-0.


Unfortunately no white bath robes for Roda JC but blue ones. Interestingly when Amstel sponsored the Dutch Cup the losers would get the white robes and the winners received red robes.