The
Feijenoord Stadion, better known by its nickname
De Kuip (the Tub), is a stadium in
RotterdamRotterdam ; city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country, with a population of 584,046 as of January 2007...
, Netherlands that was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the area "
FeijenoordFeijenoord is a district in Rotterdam and is located south of the Nieuwe Maas. As of 1 January 2004 there were 72,320 citizens. The area is 6.44 km² . It is the home of the city's main football club, Feyenoord....
" in
RotterdamRotterdam ; city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country, with a population of 584,046 as of January 2007...
, and from the club with the same name (although the club's name was internationalised to Feyenoord in 1973).
Capacity at completion: 64,000. Maximum capacity: 69,000 (1949). Present day capacity: 51,177.
It is the home stadium of football club Feyenoord, one of the traditional top teams in the Netherlands.
The
Feijenoord Stadion, better known by its nickname
De Kuip (the Tub), is a stadium in
RotterdamRotterdam ; city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country, with a population of 584,046 as of January 2007...
, Netherlands that was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the area "
FeijenoordFeijenoord is a district in Rotterdam and is located south of the Nieuwe Maas. As of 1 January 2004 there were 72,320 citizens. The area is 6.44 km² . It is the home of the city's main football club, Feyenoord....
" in
RotterdamRotterdam ; city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country, with a population of 584,046 as of January 2007...
, and from the club with the same name (although the club's name was internationalised to Feyenoord in 1973).
Capacity at completion: 64,000. Maximum capacity: 69,000 (1949). Present day capacity: 51,177.
It is 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
Dutch national teamThe Netherlands national football team is the national football team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association. It won Euro 88 and reached two consecutive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978 but lost both finals to their respective host nations, West Germany...
, having hosted over 150 international matches, with the first one being a match against
BelgiumThe Belgium national football team is the national football team of Belgium and is controlled by the Belgian Football Association.-History:...
on 2 May 1937. Also, a record number of ten European finals has taken place in the Feijenoord stadium. The last one was the 2002
UEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is a competition for eligible European football clubs; the second most prestigious European football contest after the UEFA Champions League. It is an annual football cup competition for European club teams organised by the Union of European Football Associations...
final in which Feyenoord, coincidentally playing a home match, defeated
Borussia DortmundBV Borussia Dortmund is a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia and is best known as one of the most successful clubs in German football...
3-2.
In 2000, the Feijenoord stadium hosted the final of Euro 2000, played in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
and
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, with
FranceThe France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation and competes as a member of UEFA....
beating
ItalyThe Italy national football team represents Italy in international football competition and is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio...
in extra time.
History
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. The great examples at that time were
HighburyArsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...
, where the West and East stands had been recently built as a double deck, and Yankee Stadium in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. Johannes Brinkman and
Leendert van der VlugtLeendert Cornelis van der Vlugt was a Dutch architect in Rotterdam.After the death of the Rotterdam architect Michiel Brinkman in 1925, his son Johannes Brinkman, a constructional engineer, took over the architectural office and made Leendert van der Vlugt co-director. The new practice was called...
, 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. They came up with a design that is modern even in this era. In fact, "de Kuip" acted as an example for many of the greatest stadia we know today, eg Nou Camp. The stadium was co-financed by the billionaire
Daniël George van BeuningenDaniël George van Beuningen was a Dutch businessman and icon for the city of Rotterdam.Born in Utrecht Van Beuningen had a typical character referring to people from Rotterdam. He was a hard working man in the port of the city, which was the largest port in the world in those days...
, who made his fortune in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, exporting
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
from Germany to England through neutral
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
.
In
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the stadium nearly got torn down, because the German occupiers needed the materials. Fortunately it didn't come to that. After the war the stadium got extra seats (1949) and stadium lights (1958).
On 29 October 1991 De Kuip was named as being one of Rotterdam's monuments.. In 1994 the stadium was extensively renovated to its present form. 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.
The stadium has hosted concerts since 1978. The first ones were
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
and
Eric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds, of Cream, and as a solo performer, being the only person ever to be inducted three times...
. Others who have played there include
MadonnaMadonna is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance...
,
Bruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss", is an American singer-songwriter. He records and tours with the E Street Band...
,
Tina TurnerTina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have earned her the title "The Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
,
The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in 1962 in London when multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup...
,
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band who, in the late 1960s, earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, and in the 1970s, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd's work is marked by philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art,...
,
U2U2 are a rock band that formed in Dublin, Ireland. The band consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr...
,
Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson , known as the "King of Pop", was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time...
,
David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. Active in five decades of popular music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
,
DidoDido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong professionally known as Dido is an English singer-songwriter who has sold over 28 million albums worldwide.-Biography:...
,
Guns N' RosesGuns N' Roses is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since its formation...
,
GenesisGenesis are a Grammy Award-winning English rock band formed in 1967, and are among the top 30 highest-selling recording artists of all time with approximately 150 million albums sold worldwide, including 21.5 million albums sold in the United States. In 1988, the band won the Grammy Award for Best...
,
MetallicaMetallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1981. Founded when drummer Lars Ulrich posted an advertisement in a local newspaper, Metallica's line-up has primarily consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, and lead guitarist Kirk...
and
Dire StraitsDire Straits were a British rock band, active between 1977 and 1995. The band was formed by Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers , and managed by Ed Bicknell...
. Since 1996 the stadium didn't host many concerts anymore, because of the competition of the
Amsterdam ArenAAmsterdam Arena is a stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The stadium was built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost of €140 million, and was officially opened on August 14, 1996. It has been used for association football, American football, concerts, and other events. The stadium has a retractable roof...
.
As of January 2007 the stadium can be found in 3D format on
Google EarthGoogle Earth is an information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a company acquired by Google in 2004. It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe...
.
Facilities and related buildings
Adjacent to De Kuip inside the Maasgebouw (Maas building) is a restaurant, Brasserie “de Cuyperij”, which a sporty decoration combined with a cosy atmosphere. The brasserie can host 180 customers during dinner times and 300 customers for business meetings. The brasserie is closed when Feyenoord plays at home. A visit to the brasserie is often combined with a stadium tour in De Kuip, or a visit during a Feyenoord training.
Next to De Kuip and Feyenoord's training ground there is another, but smaller sports arena, the
Topsportcentrum RotterdamTopsportcentrum Rotterdam is an indoor arena located in Rotterdam right next to the Feijenoord Stadion. The arena opened in 2000 and has a capacity of 2.500 seats and holds many sports events in various sports and levels like international World and European Championships as well as Dutch National...
. 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, meaning "gentle way", is a modern Japanese martial art and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century...
,
volleyball Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of 6 players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules...
and
handballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass and bounce a ball to throw it into the goal of the opposing team...
.
De Nieuwe Kuip
A new stadium for Feyenoord is currently being designed. Already nicknamed 'De Nieuwe Kuip', it will be located a few hundred meters from the current Feijenoord Stadion, on the shores of the river
Nieuwe MaasThe Nieuwe Maas is a river branch of the Rhine-Meuse delta in the Netherlands. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterdam. It ends west of the city where it meets the Oude Maas , near Vlaardingen, to form Het Scheur...
(New Meuse). Feyenoord officials have expressed a desire for the new stadium to have a similar atmosphere as the current one. The projected capacity will be 80,000-100,000. The new stadium must be completed in 2016, right in time for the 2018 World Cup, and could possibly also be Rotterdam's main weapon in a bid for the
2028 Summer OlympicsThe 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be officially known as the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, are an international athletic event that has yet to be organized by the International Olympic Committee...
. A definitive design is expected in the following years.
External links