SCARF COLLECTORS HOLLAND
Scarf Collectors Holland is a group of Dutch football fans who have two things in common; they love the game and they are collecting football scarves.
How did it start ? No surprise , it did start with a football scarf. Ultra scarf collector Wouter Snall ordered some scarves with the name ‘Scarf Collectors Holland’ on it and and received very positive reactions from other collectors.
These collectors bought one of the scarves from Wouter and are showing it now on their web-site or facebook pages.
What next ?
Scarf collectors have contact with each other via Marktplaats , E-bay or their E-mail network. Seldom they are meeting each other in real life. Number 1 collector in Holland Jelmer Boots is not only collecting scarves but is also visiting football games in other countries. In the beginning of 2011 Jelmer suggested to other Dutch scarf collectors to visit at April 23, 2011 Wuppertal SV – Elversberg in the afternoon and VVV – Heerenveen later in the evening. Thanks to Wouter Snall we were wearing a special 'Scarf collectors Holland on tour 2011' - scarf.
In September 2011 we had our second trip ( Duisburg - Union Berlin and Beerschot - Zulte Waregem), followed in April 2012 by a trip to Köln - Werder Bremen and Seresien - Ciney and a trip to Velbert - Fortuna Koln and Dessel - Westerlo in September 2012 where we could show the 2012 scarf with our slogan: Life is a game, football is serious....
In April 2013 we decided to make a two-day's trip to Germany and Belgium.During that weekend we saw Kaiserslautern - Koln, Borussia Monchengladbach - Furth and Patro Eisden - Excelsior Virton. 21 September 2013 we visited VfL Bochum - Aalen and KAS Eupen - Geel where we did show our Scarf Collectors Holland banner and could finally wear with proud the scarf from 2012 with the logo of KAS Eupen on it.
The following trip we made was in April 2014. Another Germany - Belgium combination with Rot-Weiss Essen- FC Köln U23 in the afternoon and KV Mechelen - KV Kortrijk in the evening. Scarf Collectors Holland : united now for three years , reason for a new scarf , designed by Jelmer Boots.
The next trip we made was in September 2014 , Alemannia Aachen - KFC Uerdingen in the afternoon and Sporting Hasselt - Union St.Gilloise in the evening followed by trip number 9 in May 2015. In the afternoon the choice was Arminia Bielefeld - Holstein Kiel and in the evening Genk - Waasland-Beveren.
March 2015, three members of the Scarf Collectors Holland made a 3-days trip to Germany and Czech and saw some real clashes , Union Berlin - Sankt Pauli , Dresden - Hallescher FC, Sparta Prague - Teplice and Mainz - Wolfsburg.
During trip number 11 , 4 years after the first trip , in October 2015 we saw Wattenscheid - Alemannia Aachen and Verbroedering Geel - Deinze
In April 2016 , we celebrated out first lustrum, Scarf Collectors Holland, since 2011. On April 2 we visited two matches, in the afternoon Eintracht Trier - Bahlinger SC and in the evening St. Truiden - KV Mechelen.
At the end of 2016, Jelmer Boots took the initiative to design a new scarf. Not only to wear by members of SCH but also by our Collectors friends in Indonesia.
May 9, 2017 , trip 13, we decided to go back to the stadium where we started in 2011, Stadion am Zoo in Wuppertal where we saw Wuppertal - Bonner SC in the afternoon followed by Waasland Beveren - Lierse SK in the evening.
Although most of the Scarf Collectors have visited also matches in other countries, most of the Scarf Collectors Holland trips were sofar trips to Germany and Belgium. Four of us decided in November 2017 to watch some matches in Italy (Trip 14). During that weekend we saw Novara - Pro Vercelli, Genua - Sampdoria, Inter Milan - Torino and Atalanta - SPAL.
In November 2018 the first trip (Trip 15) was made to East-Europe. Four of us did visit some matches in Poland and Czech.
Trip 16 , 25 May 2019, was another match at Stadion am Zoo, Wuppertaler SV - KFC Uerdingen, the Niederrheinpokal final. That we could also wear the 2019 Scarf Collectors Holland scarf.
Trip 17 , early October 2019 three of us made a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland. Besides the matches Bohemian - Cork City , Institute - Ballymena United and Sligo Rovers - Shamrock rovers we visited many stadiums on our way to these matches.
After the Corona years 2020 and 2021 , trip 18 could be planned in 2022. Destination : Poland. We visited the following matches : Gornik Zabrze - Widzew Lodz, Szombierki Bytom - Radzionkow, Ruch Chorzow - GKS Katowice en LKS Lodz - Arka Gdynia.
In November 2023, some of us 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 and a lot of lost grounds
For trip reports see below.
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.
Trip 13 - Wuppertaler SV - Bonner SC / Waasland Beveren - Lierse SK
The members of Scarf Collectors Holland are fans of six different dutch clubs, it is not always that easy to find a suitable date but at May 9, 2017 most of the members were present. Our first trip in 2011 was to Wuppertal as well and it was good to be back at the Stadion am Zoo. Good weather, good food and beer and a good atmosphere with a lot of families present because it was the last home match of Wuppertal this season. Contrary to last time , there were different scarves for sale so most of us added one to their collection.
Wuppertal has a fanatic Ultra-group and like every Ultra- group they like it to show that they dislike it that pictures are taken from them but in fact they like it...
On the stand we had a good view on the pitch and on the banners of the Wuppertal fans.
The game (endscore 0-0) was not really attractive, support your local...is not allways fun...
Most of us are visting matches for 20, 30 and even 40 years, but it is still possible that we are surprised by the creativity of football fans...
A must on every trip is a picture of our group, so we asked a steward if she could take one, only one she said...as she had an important job to do. .but the result is there.
Wuppertal : Ronnie Landheer, Koen Cremers, Wouter Snall, Patrick Kortleven, Sander Driessen, Jelmer Boots and Rob Vonk.
After the match we spend some time around the stadium and drove to West-Vlaanderen.We stopped in Riete to eat 'pommes frites' and snacks and arrived just before the match at Freethiel, stadium of Waasland Beveren. Football in Belgium is allways full of surprises : problems with licenses, a play-off structure that nobody understands and tonight a fanshop closed at matchday..The match (3-2) was good, but strange that both fan groups are on the same stand because one of the stands behind the goal is so poor and dangerous that it is not allowed to use it.
It was good to be on tour again with almost the complete group and we had a great day. Next time Marco will join us as well and we are looking forward to the next season and next trip.
Trip 12 - Eintracht Trier - Bahlinger SC / St. Truiden - KV Mechelen
April 2 , 2016 , no complaints about the weather when we started our journey to Trier via Maastricht and Luik. A sunny day and when we arrived in Trier it was around 20 degrees. The Moselstadion is a stadium with a racetrack for athletics but the stadium is close to the city center, near the hills and food and drinks facilities are fine. Fans of the home team were wearing beautifull scarves but unfortunately there were limited scarves for sale because it was end of the season.
The hard core fans of the home team were divided in the 1980 generation and a younger generation. Both groups have there own place in the stadium. Where the fans from the 1980 were drinking their beers and were seriously watching the match, the younger generation managed to show their flags and singing their songs for 90 minutes.These 50 fans had even a Capo.... Before the match he saw our Scarf Collectors Holland scarves and he asked us where we were coming from in order to avoid problems. For good order sake, we are talking Regional Liga here...Wouter confused him by telling we were coming grom Heerhugoward, Assendelft and Vianen, places he never had heard of.. What motivates a supporter to spend every game with his back turned to the action on the pitch? To spend the game imploring other supporters to sing, chant, jump ?
The game ended in a 1-0 victory for Eintracht Trier and like everywhere in Germany the players did celebrate this with the fans. From previous trips to Germany we know by the way that when teams are losing the players also sharing their disappointment with the fans and discuss the game with them directly after the match on the pitch which is not always that easy but courageous.
On our way to St. Truiden we made a stop in Waremmen to visit the stadium of Royal Stade Waremmen Football Club and after another 30 minutes we arrived at Stayen, the home of St Truiden. Our first idea was that the stadium was a hotel and a few minutes later we foud out that one of the sides was indeed a hotel...
St. Truiden : Marco Remijnse Wouter Snall, Patrick Kortleven and Jelmer Boots, Not on picture :Sander Driessen and Rob Vonk.
For a first divsion club , the merchandising of St. Truiden is poor. No fan shop, only two types of scarves for sale and we bought the last two...
Unfortunately it was not the last disappointment : Artificial pitch, a Mercedes Benz driving on the pitch for commercial reasons, special coins were needed to pay for drinks, no coffee, miserable game (0-1), KV Mechelen fan who disturbs the one minute silence for the Brussel's victims, lousy atmosphere among the St Truiden fans, 4 stewards and 3 police agents telling a 54 years old scarf collector that it is allowed to take your camera,glasses, mobile, wallet, passport etc. within the stadium but not the 25 years old belt where you are keeping all these things in. But it could not spoil our day, as football fans we know it is not allways great what we see and experience in stadiums, we had a Belgium beer afterwards in a cafetaria, were happy with good results from our clubs at home that afternoon and evening and are looking forward to the next trip.
Trip 11 - Wattenscheid - Alemannia Aachen / Verbroedering Geel - Deinze
October 2015 - The first stop at this trip was Hernte in Germany , where we visited the stadium of Westfalia, one of the favourite stadiums of a lot of stadium hoppers.
After shooting some pictures we visited the first match of today : Wattenscheid - Alemannia Aachen in Regional liga West., the fourth level in Germany. Extremely good weather,good food, good atmosphere, a 3-1 victory for the home team and disappointing fans from Aachen who fear another lost season without a come-back to Bundesliga 3.
Wattenscheid : Ronnie Landheer, Jelmer Boots, Patrick Kortleven, Sander Driessen, Koen Cremers and Rob Vonk.
After the match we visited another old stadium , the Rheinpreussen Stadion in Moers where it was forbidden to use the stairs of the stands because of the bad condition. Also here we had our photo shoot and after 15 minutes we continued our way to Belgium where we visited Verbroedering Geel - Deinze , a match in the second class in Belgium.
We bought scarves, drunk some Jupiler and Kriek and were happy we could score some hamburgers. The home team scored twice in the first half but could not get their first victory of the season (2-2). Among the Deinze fans we did spot scarf collector and Liverpool fan Petro Depraetere.
'behind the goal'
In April 2016, the Scarf Collectors Holland will celebrate their first lustrum, where will we go ?
Trip 10 - Union Berlin - Sankt Pauli / Dynamo Dresden - Hallescher FC / Sparta Praha - Teplice / Mainz- Wolfsburg
March 2015, three members of the Scarf Collectors (Jelmer Boots, Marco Remijnse and Ronnie Landheer) made a 3 days trip to Germany and Czech and visited some real clashes. On Friday March 20 they saw the two cultclubs Union Berlin and Sankt Pauli in the stadium An der Alten Försterei. Thanks to a last minute goal, Union did beat Sankt Pauli with 1-0.
The next day, March 21 , they drove to Dresden and visited the derby Dynamo Dresden - Hallescher FC (2-3)
In the evening Sparta Praha - Teplice in Prague in the Letna Stadium was on the program. Also here a last minute goal resulted in a victory for the home-team (1-0). Jelmer managed to make a beautifull picture of a Sparta fan.
On Sunday March 22 , the trip ended with Mainz - Wolfsburg (1-1).
Trip 9 - Arminia Bielefeld - Holstein Kiel / Genk - Waasland-Beveren
A lot of kilometers on May 2 , 2015 but no complaints with 8 goals in Genk(7-1) and a thriller at Bielefeld(2-2).
Genk : Wouter Snall, Patrick Kortleven, Marco Remijnse, Jelmer Boots, Koen Cremers, Sander Driessen and Nico Braam.
Trip 8 - Alemannia Aachen - KFC Uerdingen / Sporting Hasselt - Union St.Gilloise
20 September 2014, a day with not only visiting matches but also with groundhopping. We visited the old Stadium of Roda JC , Kaalheide , the stadium of Visé and what is left of the stadium of Cercle Tongeren.
Hasselt : Jelmer Boots, Patrick Kortleven, Wouter Snall, Koen Cremers, Sander Driessen and Ronnie Landheer.
Trip 7 - Rot-Weiss Essen - FC Köln U23 / KV Mechelen - Kortrijk
Trip 7 in April 2014 started with the introduction of a new member, Koen Cremers, fan of Eindhoven. 10 scarf collectors are now member of Scarf Collectors Holland and 8 of them were ready to travel to Germany for visiting the stadium of Schwarz-Weiss Essen and visiting the match Rot-Weiss Essen - FC Köln U23. When we entered the premises of ETB Schwarz-Weiss Essen the players of the first team just left the stadium after their training, It is a small world : one of them was the son of Rob Reekers, dutch international and assistant coach of Hertha BSC. He introduced us to one of the managers of the club, Steffen Daun and in his office Steffen did show us the merchandising of the club. No surprise we did buy a scarf and together with Steffen the picture below was taken in the dug out in front of the beautifull old stand.
Essen : Jelmer Boots, Ronnie Landheer, Sander Driessen, Steffen Daun, Patrick Kortleven, Sybrand Andringa,Rob Vonk,Wouter Snall and Koen Cremers.
Next stop was Stadion Essen, a brand new stadium with a capacity of 20.000 and home of Rot-Weiss Essen, playing in the Regionalliga, the fourth level of Germany. The match RWE - FC Köln U23 (2-1) was visited by 6,000(!) spectators which is showing that RWE has a big fan base and is a sleeping giant. For both teams there was nothing to win or to loose and the atmosphere in the stadium was relaxed but not fanatic.
Next destination was the Oscar Vankesbeeckstadion of RC Mechelen where Jelmer had an appointment with Petro de Depraetere, a belgium scarf collector who has already added a lot of scarves of belgium clubs to our collections. The stadium will be demolished and rebuild the coming three years, starting with the old head stand. For us it was one of the last chances to visit and to photograph this historical stand, build in 1948.
The main course of this day was visiting 'Achter de kazerne', stadium of KV Mechelen, this evening playing against Kortrijk (2-1). With a capacity of only 13.000 people , 4 different old stands and fanatic fans a home match of KV Mechelen is very special.
After visiting the fanshop to buy some red-yellow scarves, we joined the hard-core fans of 'Malinwa' which are not standing behind the goal but alongside the field which is creating a great atmosphere. Not only the atmosphere was great but also the quality of the game. For all of us, it was the first time visiting KV Mechelen and we did not regret going there. Another trip with fun and passion and full of football history and football culture.
Bill Shankly :
'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'
Trip 6 - Vfl Bochum - Aalen / KAS Eupen - Geel
End of September 2013, the Scarf Collectors Holland had their sixth trip. After exchanging scarves (Wouter Snall brought me scarves of Oviedo, Serbia Montenegro and Borussia Dortmund) we drove to Bochum to visit second Bundesliga match VFL Bochum - Aalen. Because of stadium, clubcolours and fanatic homecrowd we had a MSV Duisburg feeling, the club we visited in 2011. The fans of Aalen arrived just after kick-off and were happy to see the 0-1 score on the score-board. Remarkable were the scarves showing the friendship between Bochum and Bayern München, never thought Bayern had a tie of friendship with another club in Germany. The final score was 1-2, a disappointing result for the home team. Never visit a stadum that you have never visit without buying a scarf of the home team : unsere stadt , unser verein with the skyline of Bochum on it.
The match ended just before 15.00 and we had plenty of time to drive to Eupen for visiting Eupen -Geel (4-2). Eupen is located in the german speaking part of Belgium which means that traffic signs and signs in the stadium are in three languages. For us it was the fourth match in Belgium and we all like the atmosphere around the games ; no police on horses, good food and drinks, friendly people in the fanshops where we bought scarves and shirts and also important : attractive football. Open games, not that physical and a lot of goals. In the 'Kehrweg stadium' we had the opportunity to show our banner, another good initiative of Wouter Snall. Jelmer Boots asked a professional photographer to make a picture and here we are :
Eupen : Sybrand Andringa, Sander Driessen, Jelmer Boots, Wouter Snall, Ronnie Landheer, Rob Vonk
Trip 5 - Kaiserslautern - Köln / Borussia Monchengladbach - Furth / Patro Eisden - Excelsior Virton - April 2013
April 5, 2013 we started the trip with visiting TIFO, the scarf manufacturer in Oosterhout, had some coffee and cake and we all add some scarves to our collections.Kick-off of the match Kaiserslautern - Köln was at 18.00 but with 500 km ahead of us we did need the full afternoon.On our way to Kaiserslautern we saw many Köln fans, in total 5,000 Köln fans were following their club this day, reason for the local police to be present with a lot of people.The Betzenberg stadium is an impressive stadium,situated on a hill and with a good atmosphere especially when it is sold-out like this evening and with a fanatic West Kurve celebrating the 3-0 victory.
After the match we had a good diner and spend the night in a small village nearby the city. Next day there was another challenge for our driver Ronnie; a long way to Gladbach. In Gladbach, Sander was joining us, we visited the Fanhaus,where the most fanatic BMG fans from all places in Germany are coming together before the match, bought there some Nordkurve scarves and had some Bratwurst.
Like yesterday, there were 50.000 people in the stadium, with the Scarf Collectors Holland on row one just behind the goal, a very special experience. Match winner was Luc de Jong who scored the only goal, Furth deserved a point but they will go down this season.
Gladbach : Sybrand Andringa, Sander Driessen, Rob Vonk, Jelmer Boots, Wouter Snall, Ronnie Landheer
Also this trip we drove to Belgium for the saturday evening match, Patro Eisden - Excelsior Virton (3-2) in Maas Mechelen. Not 50.000 fans in big stadiums with huge fan shops,police and stewards all over the place but less than 500 local people, a small stadium but good food and beer, beautifull scarves and a fanatic Ultra fan group.
After the match we exchanged scarves and mail adresses with the Patro fans and spend some time in the club canteen before we drove back to Holland. Another great trip !
Trip 4 - Velbert-Fortuna Köln / Dessel-Westerlo - September 2012
September 1, 2012 we did chose again for the Germany-Belgium combination trip. The first match started at 14.00 which gave us the opportunity to visit two other stadiums before the match.The first one was the Ruhr stadion where VfB Speldorf is playing their home matches and the second one was the Stadion at the Hafenstrasse of Traditionverein Rot-Weiss Essen which is a big building site at the moment.
In the same competition Velbert and Fortuna Köln were playing this afternoon in Stadion Sonnenblume.
The hometeam is struggling this season and this match (0-2 ) , is playing for a small crowd but they can be proud on one of their youngest fans showing that you should 'stand for your ground'.
After meeting a group of Cottbus fans on tour and exchanging some scarves and shirts with Velbert fans , Dessel was our next destination where we visited Dessel - Westerlo. Nice stadium, nearly sold out because it was a derby , good weather and a noisy very young ultra site supporting the home team even after a disappointing result (0-4) and not to forget : we were happy to add the Dessel scarf to our collection.
Another great day with groundhopping, fun, meeting and travelling with old school football fans. Life is a game,football is serious !
Velbert : Jelmer Boots,Sybrand Andringa, Sander Driessen,René van den Boom, Rob Vonk, Ronnie Landheer, Wouter Snall, Patrick Kortleven.
Trip 3 - FC Köln-Werder Bremen / Seresien Seraing-Ciney - April 2012
April 7, 2012 we started our third trip at the meeting place in Vianen. As usual some scarves still needed to be exchanged, then we drove to the scarf manufacturer in Brabant where we had the opportunity again to add some scarves to our collections. Thanks Tifo ! Our next destination was Köln for visiting 1.FC Köln - Werder Bremen but besides collectors some of us are enthousiastic groundhoppers which lead us to the stadiums of Victoria Köln and Fortuna Köln before the game.
Köln : Rob Vonk, Marco Remijnse, Sander Driessen, Sybrand Andringa, Jelmer Boots, Wouter Snall, Ronnie Landheer , Patrick Kortleven.
The stadium of FC Köln is impressive especially with a crowd of 50.000 fans. Köln is fighting against relegation, the home matches are sold out and the fans are fanatics but the performance of their team is poor. Like all German footballfans the Köln fans were 'fully merchandised', all wearing scarves and shirts.Most of us bought a scarf of the home team. Despite the disappointing result (1-1), the atmosphere in the stadium was good, fans from both team were moving around without a problem.
Because the match ended at 17.30 it was a challenge to arrive in time for the second match of today : Seresien - Ciney in Seraing near Luik. You can not imagine a bigger contrast with the match earlier that day. The old Seraing stadium with a capacity of 15.000 had only around 400 visitors, most of them from the visiting team who would be champion when they could get three points this evening, but also around 40 people in a VIP restaurant, enjoying a dinner while watching the match and a fan with his dog standing alone in block which could easily accomodate 1.000 people.The winning goal of Ciney late in the second half resulted in flaring by their fans and a pitch-invasion after the game. It was really an experience of footballculture from the first to the last minute. Chips and a Kriek beer after the game in the club canteen completed the day.
Trip 2 - MSV Duisburg - Union Berlin / Beerschot - Zulte Waregem - September 2011
September 17 ,2011 we had our second trip. This day we had an even more busy program. In the morning we visited a scarf manufacturer in Brabant and we felt as children in a candy store. The owner gave us the opportunity to buy some scarves for a very reasonable price and we were all able to add some scarves to our collections. Scarves of AGOVV, Red Army (Antwerp), Cercle Brugge, Litex Lovech, Botev Plovdiv, Paok Saloniki, Sampdoria, Goztepe and scarves of the polish clubs Jagiellonia, Miedz Legnica, Jedlicze and Szombierki was the result after a small hour.The following stop was Duisburg where we visited MSV Duisburg - Union Berlin. Most of us bought a scarf of the home team. The game ended in a draw, thanks to a 'lucky' penalty given to the Zebra's, Union was the better team. Weather, beer and Bratwurst were great again, game average and fans enthousiastic but less aggressive than the fans in Holland which have less flags but are showing more commitment with the game.
After the match we travelled another 180 km to Antwerp and made a stop in Turnhout to visit the stadium of KV Turnhout, unfortunately the people from the club had no scarves they could sell us. After half an hour we were on our way again to Het Kiel.
In this part of Antwerp Beerschot AC is the local club and they were playing against Zulte Waregem tonight (2-0). Both clubs are not top teams in Belgium but the level of the game was very high compared to MSV-Union but also to games we have seen in Holland this season. Atmosphere around the stadium was typical english; stadium squeezed between the houses and pubs around the stadium where the fans are meeting each other before and after the match. Good atmosphere in the stadium during the match with good support from the Armata Viola. Fully packed with scarves we drove back to Holland after a great day. Looking forward to the next trip in April 2012 !
Duisburg : Rob Vonk, Ronnie Landheer ,Sander Driessen, Sybrand Andringa, Wouter Snall, Jelmer Boots, Patrick Kortleven, Marco Remijnse.
Trip 1 - Wuppertal SV-Elversberg / VVV Venlo- Heerenveen - April 2011
Wuppertal : Jelmer Boots , Ronnie Landheer ,Sander Driessen, Wouter Snall, Rene van Boon, Marco Remijnse, Rob Vonk, Sybrand Andringa
After Wuppertal SV - Elversberg (1-3),some beers, bratwurst and meeting Wuppertal fans in their fan home we visited the Borussia Monchengladbach fanshop on our way to Venlo. Later in the evening we saw VVV – Heerenveen (2-2) and also in Venlo we visited the fanhome of the hometeam.
During the day we bought scarves of Wuppertaler SV, Borussia Dortmund ( Deutscher Meister 2011 scarf), Borussia Monchengladbach and VVV. Great day. Scarf collecting unites !
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