De Kuip

Stadion Feijenoord

de Kuip
UEFA
Full name	Stadion Feijenoord
Location	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Capacity	51,117
Construction
Built	1935–1937
Opened	27 March 1937 (1937-03-27)
Renovated	1994
Architect	Leendert van der Vlugt Broekbakema (renovation)
Tenants
Feyenoord Netherlands national football team
Website
www.dekuip.nl

Stadion Feijenoord (pronounced [ˌstaːdijɔn ˈfɛiənoːrt]), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip^[1] (pronounced [də ˈkœyp]; the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same name (although the club's name was internationalised to Feyenoord in 1973). The stadium's original capacity was 64,000. In 1949, it was expanded to 69,000, and in 1994 it was renovated again for a capacity of 51,117. In 1999, a significant amount of restoration and interior work took place at the stadium prior to its use as a venue in the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament, although capacity was largely unaffected.

History

De Kuip before the KNVB Cup final in 2014

Leen van Zandvliet, Feyenoord's president in the 1930s, came up with the idea of building an entirely new stadium, unlike any other on the continent, with two free hanging tiers and no obstacles blocking the view. Contemporary examples were Highbury, where the West and East stands had been recently built as a double deck, and Yankee Stadium in New York. Johannes Brinkman and Leendert van der Vlugt, the famous designers of the van Nelle factories in Rotterdam were asked to design a stadium out of glass, concrete and steel, cheap materials at that time. In fact, De Kuip acted as an example for many of the greatest stadia we know today, e.g. Camp Nou. The stadium was co-financed by the billionaire Daniël George van Beuningen, who made his fortune in World War I, exporting coal from Germany to Britain through neutral Netherlands.

In World War II, the stadium was nearly torn down for scrap by German occupiers. After the war, the stadium's capacity was expanded in 1949; stadium lights were added in 1958. On 29 October 1991, De Kuip was named as being one of Rotterdam's monuments.^[2] In 1994 the stadium was extensively renovated to its present form:^[2] It became an all-seater and the roof was extended to cover all the seats. An extra building was constructed for commercial use by Feyenoord, it also houses a restaurant and a museum, The Home of History.^[3]

As of January 2007, the stadium can be found in 3D format on Google Earth.^[4]

Facilities and related buildings

Next to De Kuip and Feyenoord's training ground there is another, but smaller, sports arena, the Topsportcentrum Rotterdam. This arena hosts events in many sports and in various levels of competition. Some examples of sports that can be seen in the topsportcentrum are judo, volleyball and handball.^[5]

Commercial uses

Football history

De Kuip is currently the home stadium of football club Feyenoord, one of the traditional top teams in the Netherlands. It has also long been one of the home grounds of the Netherlands national football team, having hosted over 150 international matches, with the first one being a match against Belgium on 2 May 1937. In 1963, De Kuip staged the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with Tottenham Hotspur becoming the first British club to win a European trophy, defeating Atlético Madrid 5–1. A record ten European finals have taken place in the Feijenoord stadium, the last one being the 2002 UEFA Cup Final in which Feyenoord, coincidentally playing a home match, defeated Borussia Dortmund 3–2. In 2000, the Feijenoord stadium hosted the final of Euro 2000, played in the Netherlands and Belgium, where France defeated Italy 2–1 in extra time.^[2]

Concerts

The stadium has hosted concerts since 1978. Among the first performers at De Kuip were Andy Ha, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.^[2] David Bowie held his dress rehearsals and subsequently opened his 1987 Glass Spider Tour at the stadium.^[6] Michael Jackson performed at the stadium five times, three times during the Bad World Tour (1988) and twice during the Dangerous World Tour (1992), performing to a combined crowd of 270,000. Fewer concerts have been held at this venue since the opening of Amsterdam Arena in 1996. Pink Floyd held a few concerts there as well.

New stadium

Since 2006, Feyenoord has been working on plans for a new stadium, with plans for 2017 completion and an estimated capacity for 85,000 people. In 2014, Feyenoord decided to renovate the stadium, making it a 70,000 seater with a retractable roof. Building is planned to start in summer 2015, and to finish in 2018 with total costs of an estimated €200 million. Part of the plan is a new training facility, costing an extra €16 million.^[7] In March 2016, Feyenoord announced they prefer building a completely new stadium. ^[8] In May 2017, the city of Rotterdam agreed with a plan to build a new stadium with a capacity of 63,000 seats. The plan is called Feyenoord City. Construction of the stadium is planned to begin in 2019 and be completed in time for the 2022/23 Eredivisie season.^[9]

Euro 2000 Matches

Date		Result		Round
13 June 2000	Spain	0–1	Norway	Group C
16 June 2000	Denmark	0–3	Netherlands	Group D
20 June 2000	Portugal	3–0	Germany	Group A
25 June 2000	Netherlands	6–1	Yugoslavia	Quarter-finals
2 July 2000	France	2–1	Italy	Final

Average visitor numbers per season, 1937–2007

Gallery

• 
  De Kuip
• 
  De Kuip from above
• 
  Inside the stadium
• 
  Another view inside the stadium
• 
  Feyenoord helicopter entering the stadium
• 
• 
• 

See also

• List of stadiums
• UEFA

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Feijenoord Stadion.

• De Kuip at Footballmatch.de
• Aerial photo (Google Maps)
• 3D format on Google Earth

Coordinates: 51°53′38.02″N 4°31′23.71″E / 51.8938944°N 4.5232528°E / 51.8938944; 4.5232528