When a classic match silences a nation

In The Netherlands there is only match that makes a nation stop. Just the one. It's nicknamed 'De Klassieker', or The Classic in English. On the day of the match, most of the people in the country stay at home, go to the pub or head to the stadium. During the 90 minutes of the match, streets are deserted, terraces empty and no one dares to disturb the peace. The nation goes silent.

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Ironically it's Amstel beer, brewed in Amsterdam. They probably put malt in the Feyenoord cans...

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A bit exaggerated, I confess. But when Ajax plays Feyenoord(or Feyenoord Ajax), the telly, the newspapers, the people, the football clubs - the talk of the day is 'De Klassieker'. If one of the manager so much as farts, it makes the news practically. Because this is not an ordinary match, it divides The Netherlands into two camps: Amsterdam versus Rotterdam. Every football loving man or woman in The Netherlands is forced to pick a side. Normally it's always easier to do that when one of the two teams is on top of the table but this week, Feyenoord is almost at the bottom in 17th place, and Ajax is currently 8th place on the table.

On Sunday at half twelve in the morning the most important game of the season kicks off and for most of the players on the pitch, it could very well be their last Klassieker in their career. Players like Eriksen, Alderweireld and Bruno Martins Indi are still heavily linked with clubs from abroad, and probably more than a dozen scouts will be on the stands in the Amsterdam Arena to watch this match which features some very talented hot prospects. But it's not just the players that are under review, Feyenoord manager Ronald Koeman is under some pressure as well, and not just because he lost the first two games of this season (which hadn't happen for Feyenoord in the past fifty years). No, Koeman is one of the candidates to take the position of manager at the national team. Louis van Gaal is departing after the World Cup in 2014 and the pool of candidates is slim. Well... Koeman is essentially the only candidate if you believe the media. So for Koeman, this season he has to succeed.

In Amsterdam, things were looking up. Frank de Boer only saw Derk Boerrigter depart to Celtic this summer. With the team remaining almost entirely the same, Ajax are the favourites to win the Championship this year. With loan star winger Bojan from Barcelona, De Boer managed to even improve the team a bit. As expected, Ajax started the season as it should; it won the Johan Cruijff Shield and won the first game of the season with ease against Roda JC with, 3-0. The perfect start was cut short by a pesky team from Alkmaar. Amsterdam was back with two feet on the ground when AZ made sure the points stayed at home, winning 3-2 last week against Ajax. The game had some nasty consequences for Frank de Boer. Right back Ricardo van Rhijn got sent off and is suspended for Sunday's game and Siem de Jong was injured(collapsed lung). If you thought that might level the playing field for next week, you're mistaken.

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Van Rhijn pulling a shirt in the penalty area, still denied pulling Viergever's shirt in the post match interview.

Expectations are high in Rotterdam because the squad remained intact. And with a second and a third place in previous seasons, the port city is almost demanding a title this year, with the emphasis on the Championship. Feyenoord is craving for an Eredivisie title as their last was in 1998-99, almost fifteen years ago. A loss on Sunday will mean that they can say goodbye to their aspirations because a club rarely comes back after dropping nine points at the start of the season. Feyenoord are in the same position as Ajax when it comes to missing players. Both Stefan de Vrij and Jordy van Deelen were sent off in last week's game. Right Back Daryl Janmaat had picked up an injury last week and stayed at home during the international game this week. As a result, Ronald Koeman is without a serious option to replace the centre back position of De Vrij(Vormer and Martins Indi are the only two defenders left in the squad). Koeman will have to get creative and show that he is worthy of getting the job of managing the national team.

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Defensive problems for Koeman

Those ninety minutes on Sunday will make or break careers of players and managers. And potentially if the city is ransacked or not. Millions will be holding their breaths, shouting at tellies, discussing tactics at half time, but most of all, watching the most emotionally and action packed game of the season. The rest of the country will look like this:

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Forgive my apparent ignorance of Dutch football, but how 'big' in comparison are Ajax vs PSV games??? As they would seem the two biggest teams in the Eredivisie over the past 10-20 years or so

 

They are big, but historically, this is the biggest team. PSV is a more regional team. Most fans are in the South of the country. Ajax and Feyenoord are more widespread and not regionally bound. Which makes them the biggest clubs fanbase wise. Feyenoord has 1.2 million fans, Ajax some 800.000, PSV around 500.000 I believe.

 

Always thought Ajax would have the biggest fanbase, thought they were the dutch equivalent of manure. Good article by the way, i enjoy reading these as much as the articles on fourfourtwo!

 

Amsterdam is completely different than the rest of The Netherlands. The people are stereotypical cocky and very liberal. A bit like New York or London. Rotterdam is more of a regular Dutch city with regular Dutch people. A more down to earth mentality that appeals more to the Dutch in general, and hence the bigger fanbase.

You can follow me on twitter mate, so you get in all my blogs and articles. I'm not posting everything on not606 else I'd get in trouble

 

An excellent article if you're interested in that sort of thing.

I can't really see the link to Newcastle United though?

 

Well considering there's absolutely nothing going on with the club right now this is interesting. I've never been to holland but my GF said its a stunning place.

 

Just trying to get people a bit more informed and excited about the Eredivisie mate, that's all.

 

lots of drinking I'm sure... my kinda reason.

 

De klassieker is the biggest game of the season in the Eredivisie. It's Rotterdam versus Amsterdam, and in the late nineties and in the early years of this millennium, this was a battle. A battle in a war with guns, knives and even bombs. Hooliganism had reached the Dutch clubs in the late seventies but eventually reached its peak about some 16 years ago with the battle of Beverwijk.

On the 23d of March 1997 Feyenoord and Ajax supporters agreed to hold a fight on the side of the A10 motorway. Problem for the F-side of Ajax, 50 men turned up, when a couple hundred on Feyenoord's side showed up they had to flee the scene. A couple of days later the two hooligan groups met again in a field just outside Beverwijk. Baseball bats, knives, tasers and even claw hammers were used in the battle, and by the end the Feyenoord supporters won, but the damage had already been done when during the fight Carlo Picornie lost his life when he was beaten to death with a claw hammer.

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Carlo Picornie lying dead in the field.

Years went on and because of a crack down policy on hooliganism by police and politicians the streets were reasonably safe by the end of the last decade. There was a side problem to this way of banning out the hooligans from the game: the costs. When the financial crisis hit The Netherlands in 2008, the costs for police forces around stadiums and city centre's were so high that the government couldn't afford it any more and asked the clubs to chip in. They refused to do so as they themselves were in deep financial trouble as well. So the mayors of Rotterdam and Amsterdam came to the conclusion to solve the problem, the Klassieker had to be hollowed out. The government and the Dutch FA reached an agreement that the away fans were not allowed to come to the stadium or city where the game took place. Their solution was that when two are fighting, remove one of the sides. And then there is no one left to fight after or before the match. And as expected the fans didn't like the plan and protested.

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A banner in De Kuip saying: 'The klassieker is murdered'

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In the Amsterdam Arena, on the banner 'A Klassieker without colour', fans holding up a white sheet.

In the years that followed De Kuip and the Amsterdam Arena were silent, without ambiance. Without the away fans there was no competition for chanting and supporting between the two clubs. The age old heated atmosphere of two cities clashing was no longer. Nowadays the match is known for it's lack of soul, even though it doesn't show on the pitch as the matches were still very entertaining, but for the fans on the stands, it's not the same. And twice every year, when the Klassieker comes near, the supporters protest again, hoping for the politicians and the FA to give in and restore the biggest match in the Dutch league to its former glory.

Now yesterday the KNVB, the Dutch FA, announced that they were considering to reverse the decision to ban the away supporters at The Classic match between Ajax and Feyenoord. According to the FA the amount of offensive chants, riots and fights in- and outside the stadium have significantly decreased in the past couple of years. This has it's risks though, returning to what was once normal could spark a new wave of hooliganism, as the hooligans of both sides haven't been able to vent their anger and hate for four years now. Next year the ban might be lifted and the Klassieker might even regain it's once lost soul.

For some more on this you can watch Danny Dyer's Football Factories show, he made a special episode on Dutch hooligans, which you can find in the video below. Maybe it helps to get in the mood to watch the match. Which starts at 11:30 AM GMT.

[video=youtube;srdf-TzcfS4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srdf-TzcfS4[/video]

 

As a proud Rotterdammer I will of course be cheering on Feyenoord. Not too optimistic though judging by how the season has progressed so far...

 

Livestreams for the match, starts at 11:30AM GMT:
http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=211480&part=sports