Carcombi: The problem with Dutch away days.

Words: Han Balk

Images: Han Balk

Away days are the best, at least they should be, but the long list of restrictions make it far from attractive for Dutch football supporters to watch their favourite team away.

To go away in Holland is a ball-ache, you have to go on a ‘combi-regeling’, a combination of mandatory transport and a voucher instead of a match ticket.

Currently there are car and buscombies, traveling by train or any other public transport is prohibited. These combi restrictions stretch all the way down to some games in the amateur third level in the Netherlands.

So no hopping on a train after a few pints like is common in England, except on a very few occasions. Go Ahead Eagles supporters for example, only had free transportation travel to Feyenoord Rotterdam last season. And this season it won’t be more than a single trip for sure.

Sunday saw 400 Go Ahead Eagles supporters travel about an hour to FC Emmen for a 14:30 KO in a sold-out away section.

Tickets were only sold to Go Ahead season-ticket holders and registered supporters and those who went by car had to fill in their licence plate number in advance.

Since visiting the town centre is not allowed, cars need to gather after 13:15 at an exchange point about 15 minutes before the Emmen city limits.

All supporters traveling by car are checked against the licence plate number they provided and must show their ID before they can exchange their voucher for a match ticket.

Drivers have to follow a mandatory route to the visitors parking and deviation from this is a violation that could even result in a stadium ban.

©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. Go Ahead Eagles at FC Emmen.

Parking for visitors cars and buses is a special, enclosed area just behind the away section.

Drinking alcohol at the exchange point, the parking, near or in the stadium is prohibited.

Due to the exchange window, its location and the mandatory route there’s no chance to go to a pub at all. So much for the pre-match pint at a pub.

Finally, at the turnstiles there’s the usual humiliation.

All supporters need to be searched and of course there are general rules regarding weapons and fireworks, but several clubs have additional rules.

Most of the time it’s unclear whether you can bring a power bank for your mobile phone or not and sometimes even wallets and phone cases need to be shown.

In Emmen, hoods and hats with goggles like the ones by CP Company are not allowed. The list of banned items becomes longer and longer.

One day, the searches will take longer than the actual 90 minutes and the sport will be about men in hi-viz jackets rather than the 22 in football shirts on the field.

Then there’s the away section, a hostile section with high and sharp fences, nets and a dirty perspex wall that obscures a view of the nearby goal.

Fences are considered part of a bygone age in England and something that should be kept in the past but not so in Holland.

After a part of the away section at NEC Nijmegen collapsed in October 2021, several clubs banned away supporters until safety was guaranteed again. Last week PSV Eindhoven announced only half of their 1500 capacity away section could be used due an upcoming safety inspection.

Aside from any construction issues, matches between Feyenoord and Ajax have been played without away supporters for several years and they are not the only ones.

Games between Vitesse Arnhem and FC Utrecht have also been played without an away contingent this season.

Could it be worse? Sure. After last weeks incidents during and after Cambuur Leeuwarden and Heerenveen, Mr Buma, the Mayor of Leeuwarden, decided that away supporters are prohibited till the end of the season.

Go Ahead Eagles supporters travelled several years by car and buscombi to Leeuwarden, without any issues.

For next Sunday’s match between Cambuur Leeuwarden and Go Ahead Eagles only a buscombi was planned, but now Go Ahead supporters are doomed to watching their team on TV.

At Emmen, a Go Ahead Supporter drinks beer out of the belly button of a fellow fan, and alcohol is allowed for sale in the away end, highlighting the contradictory and confusing nature of Dutch rules. The popular fan chant normally aimed at referees comes to mind. “You don’t know what you’re doing”.

If English football can deal with a significant historical problem with disorder and allow large numbers of fans to travel to matches in relative autonomy then surely Holland can fix its problem with away day culture in a sensible way?

It seems like Holland has some way to go before it finds a way to allow the true freedom of away days and stops punishing fans that want to follow their teams to new places and new turnstiles.

You can find Han on Twitter and Instagram: @hanbalk

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