Knock on wood: The wonderful wooden stand at Sportpark De Waarbeek.

Words: Han Balk

Images: Han Balk

The Eastern provinces of the Netherlands are blessed with some beautiful wooden grandstands.

The most famous of these is in Gelderland, the 100-year-old main grandstand of AGOVV in Apeldoorn.

Nearby Arnhem, about a 30-minute drive South, you can find the impressive wooden stand of VVO in Velp at Sportpark De Pinkenberg.

Heading back to the most Eastern province in the Netherlands, Overijssel, home to four clubs in the Eredivisie (the top level of Dutch football).

©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. HVV Hengelo vs SVVN.

Traditional wooden stands are long gone from higher tier Dutch stadia, but can still be found at the lower levels. In Rijssen, for example, the “English stand” from 1928, originally built for VV Rijssen Vooruit, was carefully taken down plank by plank after the club merged with RKSV, and reassembled at the new SV Rijssen sports park.

Fully restored in the new colours of the merged club—blue and black—though I have to admit it looked far better in yellow and black.

A bit further East, at the AVC Heracles sports park, there stands a 100-year-old wooden grandstand that once lined the pitch at Heracles Almelo. A beautiful piece of history - or at least it was.

This past summer, it was discovered that the stand had suffered serious neglect. Currently, it’s closed due to wood rot and leakage.

Moving even farther East, we arrive at today’s destination, HVV Hengelo. Since 1924, HVV Hengelo has played at Sportpark De Waarbeek, where a lovely wooden grandstand has been standing since 1932.

I was prepared for a grey, dark day, but didn’t expect the drizzle that started right at the Hengelo- Zuid exit. Thankfully, it stopped a few minutes later and remained dry for the rest of the afternoon.

This afternoon, HVV Hengelo is playing SVVN from Nijverdal, about 25 km away - or so says the KNVB Voetbal.NL app. I double-checked this match in Voetbal.NL three times today because, for some reason, HVV Hengelo vs. SVVN wasn’t listed in the Futbology app.

It was a bit of a relief to see both teams warming up on the grass of the main field. They must have anticipated a dark day as well, as the floodlights were already on for a match kicking off at 3:00 pm.

The old gas-discharge lights don’t help much though; an upgrade to LED would be a wise move. While the wooden grandstand is less imposing than, say, AGOVV’s or AVC Heracles’s, it’s definitely worth seeing. Sportpark De Waarbeek itself is a beautiful sports park.

Wooden grandstands seem to be a place where you can contemplate as well as watch the football.

The two ticket booths at the entrance seem a bit excessive; there certainly isn’t a large crowd today, and entry is free. You could support the club by buying a raffle ticket or two instead.

A little further in, the large bike rack stands out, extending nearly to the edge of the advertising boards. The dugouts are made of brick with a large side window, a rare and well-designed feature, I really love it.

In addition to the wooden grandstand, the park also has grassy banks behind both goals and along the long side opposite the grandstand. They’re a bit muddy, and I’m glad to be wearing shoes with good treads.

Even with a full stadium, the view would be fantastic. Today, however, there’s only a handful of spectators, most of whom seem to have traveled with the visiting team from Nijverdal.

On the way back, they’ll be taking three points home with them, as SVVN wins 0-2.