Trip 21, Moghreb Tetouan - Wydad and Ceuta - Alcoyano

Friday April 4, 3 members (Jelmer, Ronnie and Rob) of the Scarf Collectors Holland travelled by plane from Eindhoven to Tanger. Passing customs in Tanger took a long time and more serious : no navigation in the car, no internet and no traffic signs showing the way to our first destination : Chefchaouen, the blue city, 110 km from Tanger. Because of this we could not follow our original plan which was buying tickets in Tetouan for the tomorrow's cup match Moghreb Tetouan - Wydad. Late that evening we arrived in Chefchaouen, and after diner we got the proof that football is the number one sport in Maroc.

Back in the hotel Jelmer did check the Facebook page of Moghreb Tetouan because program and ticket procedures in Maroc can change by the hour. Bad news : no tickets for sale at the stadium, kick-off at 15:00 instead of 18:00 and pre-sale of tickets was Friday evening from 16:00 - 22:00 in Tetouan. The chance to get tickets was close to zero.. A trip without a football match ? Jelmer did also check the Ceuta site for the Sunday match Ceuta - Alcoyano.Only a few hundred tickets left, so no time to lose and we bought E-tickets within a few minutes, realising that you need to cross the border between Maroc and Spain as Cueta is one of the two Spanish enclaves in Maroc. With the good feeling that we could see at least one match we decided to go to Tetouan tomorrow and try to get some tickets on the black market. Waking up early next morning we were surprised with a beautifull view on Chefchaouen.

That morning we visited the beautifull city and had breakfast in the old centre.Before leaving to Tetouan we visited the local stadium.

Tetouan is 65 km from Chefchaouen and it is taking more than one hour to arrive there but we are arriving three hours before kick-off. But when passing the stadium we saw already a lot of Wydad fans and police. Not a good sign because there were only 2.000 tickets sold to Wydad fans in Casablanca. After finding a parking place we walked to the stadium without the expectation to get tickets because of the number of people and fans already around the stadium. One of them saw that we were not from Maroc and asked us why we were visting Tetouan. We told him about the game and the need for tickets. He told us he was a journalist and photographer and he could possibly help us and asked us to follow him. A groundhopper needs some luck now and then but are we really that lucky today ? Together we walked to the stadium and we were introduced to other journalists and asked to do an interview. No problem, refusing could maybe lead to no tickets..

After the interview our best friend and us passed police and soldiers before arriving at the club office. He had phone contact with the employees inside the office and we had the feeling our chance on tickets was growing. The door opened... three or four ? Main stand  or behind the goal ? What a relief...

After a quick lunch and a coffee in a Moghreb Tetouan fan bar we entered the stadium one hour before kick-off. Most of the Wydad fans were already in the stadium. Some of them had flags of Palestine to show their solidarity with the people in Gaza. Never seen in a stadium....a prayer room used by police, club employees and fans. 

Also the Tetouan fans had a big banner to support Palestine.

The atmosphere in the stadium was great, fanatic crowd, pyro, drums, 90 minutes singing and a lot of scarves. The level was not that high but the stadium was exploding after the only but winning goal of the home team.

After the match we were looking for a fanshop or place where we could buy scarves but unfortunately there was no merchandising which is strange with such a fanatic fanbase. After diner we drove to Bab Sebta close to the Maroc-Spain border. Needed some time and luck to find the appartement and to get in there but could only conclude that we had a great day behind us in Chefchaouen and Tetouan. Next morning we drove to the border, parked our car and passed the border on foot. It took 30-45 minutes before arriving at the Ceuta stadium.

Ceuta is number one in their league and going for promotion to Segunda Division and there were no tickets for sale but also scarves were not for sale, not in the stadium and not in the fanshop in the city centre because it was Sunday. Is this the first trip without having the chance to buy scarves ? The match was at a good level, comparable with the match yesterday. We could only spot one away fan, most likely family of one of the players. The home team did show why there were the number one in the competition and deserved to win the game what they did by scoring a beautifull goal. The fans were relaxed, nice weather, a winning team and an expected victory. The stadium had a big stand behind the goal with a nice view on city, sea and the high quality pitch.

 Ronnie Landheer, Jelmer Boots and Rob Vonk,

After the match we had a good diner with a glass of beer in the city, walked back to the border and continued our way to Tanger. Halfway we made a stop because of the stunning view. 

Our last stop of the trip was Tanger where we visited the old centre, what a chaos...but also our last chance to get a football scarve for our collections, the passion that we have in common. In one of the first shops they had scarves for sale of the big european teams and players... We asked them if they had local scarves and yes, also today we were lucky and could buy country scarves of Maroc and Itihad Tanger scarves. After out first deal we had the feeling that scarf prices were increasing after each shop visit but with negotiation Jelmer was showing respect and showing that he is Dutch. Besides Itihad Tanger and Maroc we could also buy Wydad and Raja scarves.

Mission completed, great trip, great country and great experiences !

Trip 20 , Rozova Dolina Kazanlak - Maritsa Milevo, Beroe Stara Zagora - Botev Plovdiv, Zenit Vetren Dol - Botev Simeonovets and CSKA 1948 Sofia - Levski Sofia.

Friday 13 September, 2024, Jelmer Boots, Ronnie Landheer, Wouter Snall and Rob Vonk took the plane from Eindhoven to Sofia. At Friday night we visited Sofia and had a good diner near the beatifull cathedral in the center of the city. The hotel was located in the mountains near Sofia but the navigation system was leading us first to a ruin in the middle of nowhere...

Finally we made it and ended the day with a beer looking forward to a great ground hop weekend. The next day we drove to Plovdiv and visited the stadium of Maritsa Plovdiv, the Plovdiv Stadium and the lost ground of Spartak Plovdiv. Maritsa Plovid did celebrate their 100 year anniversary 3 years ago and the president of the club who welcomed us at the ground gave us the scarf that were made for that occasion as a present. We were also asked if we were interested to buy a share in the club but that was an offer we could refuse. The Plovdiv stadium is a typical huge Eastern Europe stadium but in bad condition.

From Plovdid we drove to our hotel near Beroe and after checking in we were on our way to Kazanlak for our first match on this trip : Rozova Dolina Kazanlak - Maritsa Milevo (2-0)

Third division in Bulgaria but the game was at a good level. Scarves were unfortunately not for sale but we could get the affiche of the game as a souvenir. Impressive was the location of the stadium, we had a beautifull view on the mountains and in combination with the good weather we had a great starting game.

The second match that Saturday was Beroe Stara Zagora - Botev Plovdiv (0-1), a match between two teams of the first division. When we arrived in the stadium there was a lot of police because the Ultra fans of Botev Plovdiv have a reputation but to our surprise, they travel like VIP's..

From outside the view on the big stadium of Beroe is impressive but it was sad that the fan shop was closed at matchday.

The match was disappointing, Beroe did not have the quality and Botev could easily control the match without spending too much energy. Young kids and an ultra group did support the home team but it did not result in a score for Beroe.

After the game we had plenty of time to make pictures of the stadium which made more impression than the match and fans tonight.

In the neighbourhood of the stadium we had a great diner for little money in a restaurant with a lot of locals and no tourists, always the best proof that food and drinks are ok. After staying the night at Hotel Jack we started the day with visiting the impressive Samara Flag Monument built to keep the memory for the warriors that died in 1877 during the war between the Russia and Ottoman empire.

On our way to Vetren Dol for the third match of this weekend, Zenit Vetren Dol - Botev Simeonovets (2-2) we passed the stadium of Hebar 1918 in Pazardzhik. Reconstruction of the pitch was taking place and the club is playing their home matches elsewhere. The pitch of Zenit Vetren Dol was not that easy to find, we arrived 10 minutes before kick-off but could not believe a match would start that soon. But after a short walk we arrived at a very small ground surrounded by hills. We came at the right moment : officlal opening of the renewed 'stadium' and a derby against Botev Simeonovets.

 This is the ideal spot to make great ground hop pictures as Jelmer did proof with picture below.

The score was not important today, because the spirit of the players, the nice weather, the environment and the people watching the game made this Sunday morning very special. After lunch we continued our road trip crossing the south of Bulgaria and had a stop in Varvara to visit the ground of Balkan Varvara. You can only come onto the pitch by stairs.

Next stop was Belovo for visting the ground of Maritsa, also the name of the river splitting the small village.

On our way back to Sofia we arrived in Samokov and it started to rain but that could not stop us to visit another ground which was under construction. The stadium of Rilski Sportist Samokov.

The fourth match of this weekend was CSKA 1948 Sofia - Levski Sofia (2-4). CSKA 1948 was founded in 2016 by a group of CSKA fans. The club plays its home matches at the Bistritsa stadium. It was raining cats and dogs before we were entering the small stadium and getting cold but also good news : there were scarves for sale.

Levski was the better team on the pitch and on the stands but the fans were lucky to see the end of the match anyway because thick mist was filling the stadium.

On Monday no matches were planned but north of Sofia we visited two hidden grounds located at very special places, the ground of Iskar Gara Lakatnik and the ground of Skala Gara Bov.

 Ronnie Landheer, Rob Vonk, Jelmer Boots and Wouter Snall

Another great weekend with great experiences but our thoughts we are also with Frank Seggelinck who joined the last two trips to Poland and Romania and for sure would have joined this trip but suddenly passed away June 20, 2024. 

A last goodbye...

Trip 19, Steaua Bucarest - Rapid Bucarerst , Univ. Craiova - CS Universitatea Craiova and Unirea Slobozia - Gloria Buzau

In November 2023, Jelmer Boots, Ronnie Landheer and Frank Seggelinck made a trip to Romania and saw the derbies Steaua Bucarest - Rapid Bucarerst and Univ. Craiova - CS Universitatea Craiova. They also visited the second division match Unirea Slobozia - Gloria Buzau ,some matches at lower levels and a lot of lost grounds.

Steaua Bucarest - Rapid Bucarerst

Univ. Craiova - CS Universitatea Craiova

Lost ground CSM Slatina

Stadium Dynamo Bucarest

Stadium Dynamo Bucarest

CS Mioveni

Lost ground Gaz Metan CFR Craiova

FC Electroputere Craiova

Unirea Slobozia

Trip 18, Gornik Zabrze - Widzew Lodz, Szombierki Bytom - Radzionkow, Ruch Chorzow - GKS Katowice and LKS Lodz - Arka Gdynia.

October 28 - 31, 2022 : after three years it was time for another Scarf Collectors Holland trip.Trip 18. Destination : Poland. We visited the following matches : Gornik Zabrze - Widzew Lodz, Szombierki Bytom - Radzionkow, Ruch Chorzow - GKS Katowice en LKS Lodz - Arka Gdynia. From airport Eindhoven we took the Wizzair plane to Katowice. After some administrative hick-ups after arrival at the Car rental we were on our way to Zabrze for visiting Gornik Zabrze - Widzew Lodz.(3-0) .The stadium of Gornik Zabrze has three new stands but one part is still very old because of lack of money. Both teams have extreme ultra fans and both clubs are not seen as friends from each other. Reason for an enormous police force around the stadium.

Before the match we visited the fanshop, bought scarves and had the traditional stadium food ( bread ,sausage, mustard) as dinner.

In the stadium the atmosphere is impressive thanks to the activities of the Ultra's. After 15 minutes a big banner is covering a big part of the stand behind the goal. In combination with white and red flares and smokepots it was a real spectacle.

In the second half the Widzew fans started their show. Impressive as well with flags, banners and flares. After the match the Widzew fans were not allowed to leave the stadium. After some time the police force escorted them to the nearest railway station. Driving to the hotel in Katowice we all agreed : a good start of the weekend.

The next morning, directly after breakfast we were on our way to Bytom for Szombierki Bytom - Radzionkow, a derby starting at 11:30... in this stadium Szombierki played against Feyenoord in the first round of the Uefa Cup in 1981. Hard to believe now, the stands in the stadium can only be used for maybe 10 percent and the club is playing on the fifth level in Poland. In the stadiums in Poland you have often the impression that the ultra fans have their own party, that is definitely applicable for the Szombierki ultra fans. Flags, smokepots, flaring and firework, it is al there, the need for taking off your T-shirt and wearing skimasks is not fully clear to me.Absolutely low point was that the capo decided that it was not allowed for a 10 year old Radzionkow fan (son of one of the players) to enter the stand of the Szombierki fans. But nothing could spoil his and his father day : 1 - 4. 

Bytom : Rob Vonk, Ronnie Landheer, Jelmer Boots and Frank Seggelinck

After the match we had plenty of time to visit the fan shop of Ruch Chorzow in the center of Ruch and we had some coffee and cake on a terrace, brilliant weather at the end of October !

We decided to walk to the stadium for another derby  : Ruch Chorzow - GKS Katowice.The stadium of Ruch is very old, a few months after our visit the club did not get a permit anymore to use the stadium and the demolishment of the stadium was started.

Not only fans living in Chorzow or Poland were visiting the derby but also fanclubs and families from Germany, UK and Ireland showing how important a football club can be in people's life. 

At this match unfortunately there were no away fans and there was no pyro and smokepots. But the good thing was that  the fans on the different stands had their own songs, were singing together the same song or were singing against each other, even louder when Ruch made the only and winning goal of the match, 1-0.

Ruch Chorzow has a friendship with Widzew Lodz. Fans of both clubs are visiting each other's matches. Yesterday, Gornik Zabrze was supported by GKS Katowice fans, today Widew Lodz fans are here to support Ruch Chorzow.

After the match we walked back to the centre, had some beers,cocktails and snacks and were looking back to previous trips and discussing possible future trips.

Next morning we had a long journey of 200 km ahead of us for the match LKS Lodz - Arka Gdynia, another match on the second level. LKS is playing in a brand new stadium, has a fanatic fanbase and the ambition of club and fans is playing on the highest level, the Ekstraklasa.

After 15 minutes, three big banners were spread out on the stand behind the goal and these banners were there for almost 20 minutes. Smokepots were spreading around big clouds of black smoke. The fans under the banners missed one goal of their own team and a missed penalty from Arka...Impressive spectacle but spending 20 minutes of the game under a banners is probably only possible in Poland.   

After the match we stopped at the Widzew Lodz stadium to make some pictures and visited the Lodz Jewish Cemetery. the cemetery occupies around 44 hectares and contains from 180.000 to 230.000 marked graves as well as mass graves of victims of the Lodz Ghetto and the Holocaust during the second world war. Back to earth...

Before driving back to Katowice we had a good diner in an Argentinian restaurant, just before midnight we arrived in the B&B near the airport for a few hours sleep because our flight is departing already at 7:30. After arrival in Eindhoven, we all agree; fantastic trip.

Trip 17, Bohemian - Cork City, Institute - Ballymena United, Sligo Rovers - Shamrock Rovers

Early October 2019 three of us made a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland. From airport Eindhoven Ryan Air flew us directly to Dublin.Shortly after arriving in Dublin we visted Bohemian - Cork City at Dalymount Park. The architect of Dalymount Park is Archibald Leitch, architect of many old stadiums in Great Brittian. Many of them have been demolished already and that will probably also happen with Dalymount Park.

After entering the main stand you can smell the history of this club and stadium and on the main stand there was a good atmosphere with fanatic home fans singing about going to Europe after beating Cork with 1-0.

The next morning we visited the stadiums of Drogheda United and Dundalk on our way to Derry City in Northern Ireland. It became also clear that football in Ireland and Northern Ireland is not the number 1 sport. Rugby and especially Gaelic Football are extremely popular and these clubs are playing in impressive stadiums with a bigger capacity than the football stadiums. In Derry City we visited Institute - Ballymena United (1-1). Institute is playing its matches in the stadium of Derry City. Reason for this is that in August 2017 their own stadium, the Riverside stadium and the pitch was destroyed by severe flooding. The stadium of Derry City, the Brandywell Stadium, has an artificial pitch and has only two stands.Derry City  is not playing in the Northern Ireland Football League but in the League of Ireland Premier Division because of its Catholic background. The match between Institute and Ballymena was very attractive despite the heavy circumstances because it was raining cats and dogs.

After the match we drove to the west coast of Ireland for visiting Sligo Rovers - Shamrock Rovers. (0-0). A good game with both teams going for the victory. Sligo Rovers is a very friendly club. Young and old fans are finding their way to the stadium and the fanhome had the atmosphere of a living room. 

At Sunday there are no matches on the program in Ireland and Northern Ireland. So we drove to Belfast to visit some stadiums. We visited the stadiums of Finn Harps in Ballybofey and in Belfast the stadiums of Dundela and Crusaders but the absolute highlights were 'the Oval' of Glentoran and 'Solitude' of Cliftonville.

Dublin: Rob Vonk, Ronnie Landheer, Jelmer Boots.

Trip 16, Wuppertaler SV - KFC Uerdingen , Niederrheinpokal final 2019

May 25, 2019 the Scarf Collectors Holland visited the Niederrheinpokal final in Wuppertal between Wuppertaler SV and KFC Uerdingen. The match was in Stadion am Zoo, well known by the ground hoppers among us. For the Scarf Collectors Holland it was the third time we visited a match of Wuppertaler SV but the first two times the audience was low. Today both teams were supported by a lot of fans and the atmosphere in the stadium was great. Uerdingen is playing one division higher than WSV and won the cup with 2 against 1. WSV is still in financial problems, some months ago a special scarf was for sale in order to support the club. The Scarf Collectors Holland knew what to do and we all bought the scarf.

Wuppertal: Patrick Kortleven, Jelmer Boots, Ronnie Landheer, Sander Driessen, Rob Vonk, Wouter Snall.

Trip 15,  GKS Tychi - Odra Opole, Slavia Ruda Slaska - Przemsza Siewierz, Gornik Wojkowice - Cyclon Rogoznik, Wisla Krakow - Zaglebie Lubin, Slezsky FC Opava - Banik Ostrava

Poland is a country with a strong football culture and a strong football scarf culture. Good reasons to organise a trip to this country and also taking the opportunity to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau and a match in Czech. 5 matches in 3 days and in addition some lost grounds were visited. Impressive trip and no doubt Poland is a walhalla for football scarve collectors. To give an impression of the trip see the pictures below.

Jelmer Boots -  GKS Tychy - Odra Opole ( 2-1)

Slavia Ruda Slaska: Ronnie Landheer, Wouter Snall, Marco Remijnse

Lost Ground...

 Wislaw Krakow - Zaglebie Lubin

Football scarf culture.

Derby day in Czech : Slezsky FC Opava - Banik Ostrava (2-1)

 Trip 14 , Novara - Pro Vercelli, Genoa - Sampdoria, Inter - Torino , Atalanta - SPAL 

Saturday 4 November, 2017 the trip started at Schiphol where we departed for a trip to North-Italy. After arrival at Milan Linate we visited the Arena Civica, a very old stadium in Milan where the football club Brera is playing their matches. The first match of the trip was Novara - Pro Vercelli, a derby in Serie B. Before the match we bought Novara scarves in the fanshop, had a quick lunch and bought some scarves of other clubs near the stadium.

  Novara: Rob Vonk, Wouter Snall, Jelmer Boots, Ronnie Landheer

Stadio Silvio Piola is a typical Italian stadium that needs some maintenance and has an artifical pitch. Because it is a derby, there is a lot a police around the stadium.Also in this stadium every fan needs to indentify himself with a passport before going into the stadium.In the stadium the facilities are poor and also the match is not really spectucular (Final score 0-1 ) but we can feel the derby-atmosphere and the fans are insulting referee and players the full 90 minutes.     

After the match we directly drove to Genua, for the main dish of today ; IL Derbi della Lanterna. Genoa - Sampdoria in stadio Luigi Ferraris. The idea was to check in at our B&B, 15 km from Genoa and leave our luggage there. Unfortunately we could not find the place and decided to travel further, missing part of the match should have been a disaster. The last hour to Genoa was hell for driver Jelmer, a lot of tunnels and even more sharp curves. Thanks to the navigation we arrived at the stadium but finding a parking place was the next challenge. No wonder the Italian fans are using scooters to travel to the stadium. After parking some minutes from the stadium, we bought the derby scarf and could enter the beautifull stadium.

15 minutes before the match we could feel the intense tension. Both Genoa and Sampdoria are playing in this stadium their home matches and both Curva's were not stopping with singing and showing their banners.  Never heard such a noise before a match. When both teams were entering the pitch both stands behind the goals exploded and at the long side full with Genoa fans a big banner was rolled out. We had our seats near the center of the pitch and the big banner just stopped above us so that we could make beautifull pictures. This was really great ; stadium sold out, noise, flaring, beautifull singing and a match full of passion.

Sampdoria was the better team this evening (final score0-2), resulting in great dissapontment among the Genoa fans and for them everybody on the pitch was a 'Bastardi'. After the match both fan groups keep on singing for almost 20 minutes. It was like a match in a match. We also discovered some 'scarf - fanatics' on the Genoa stand.

Still impressed with the match and the atmosphere in the stadium we went to a pizzeria as we did not have food for 10 hours and decided to look for a cheap hotel in Genoa instead of travelling to the B&B. We found one with a room for four persons. A bunk bed and a double one...it was like a school camp. The next morning we drove the 120 km back to Milan for the match Inter - Torino. The daylight gave us the chance to get a glimpse of Genoa and we could see the beautifull hills around the city. We thought we had plenty of time to travel to Giuseppe Meazza but because of the good results of Inter, there were a lot spectators on the ways around the stadium.Giuseppe Meazza is an impressive stadium with a beautfull view on the city from our seats. Inter is still a big club In Europe with 72.000 people coming from all over the place watching this game and impressive merchandising outside the stadium.

The match ended in a draw and it was a typical Italian match. Technical strong but also no risk in the style of playing. In the meantime it was raining cats and dogs and on our way to Atalanta we were wondering if it was possible to play the match Atalanta - SPAL with this weather. But when we arrived in Atalanta we saw fans walking to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'ítalia with raincoats and umbrella's. The stadium has only two covered stands and we were standing on the Curva Nord , nice to experience the fan culture but it would have been better with sunny weather.

Also this game ended in a draw (1-1) , where Atalanta did deserve more. After the match we drove to the hotel where we used the hairdryer to dry cloths and shoes. After a few beers and watching Sassuolo - Milan on television we concluded that the trip was sometimes a fight against the clock but that we enjoyed every minute of it.