Disappeared Grounds/ Verdwenen Stadions

Article cover image: Marco Magielse - Sportpark Noord, Heerenveen.

Book: Verdwenen Stadions by Martijn Schwillens for Staantribune.

Martijn Schwillens knows football isn’t just about the moments that connect, it’s the misplaced passes, the fading glory and the lost joys.

As a Fortuna Sittard supporter he saw the disappearance of the club’s historic De Baandert ground, which was demolished in 1999 to be replaced by an out of towner.

Obviously, you don’t just lose the stands and the pitch and all the overt features but also the associated areas where fans congregated to support their team, such as the square in front of De Baandert where fans would flock from the streets of the city centre.

Martijn has written a book, the title of which translates from Dutch as “Disappeared Grounds”. The concept is simple and a celebration of eleven grounds in Holland which no longer exist or that teams no longer play there.

The most well known stadium of these eleven is De Meer, former home of AFC Ajax but Oosterpark (FC Groningen), Zuiderpark (ADO Den Haag), Alkmaarderhout (AZ Alkmaar) and De Beatrixstraat (NAC Breda) all feature too.

But there doesn’t need to be a negative end to this story because Dutch clubs such as PSV Eindhoven, Sparta Rotterdam and Go Ahead Eagles have all retained their historic homes and continue to breath life into the tradition of proper football grounds in the Netherlands.

We still remember the ones lost though, through Martijn’s work.