Supporters Association PSV intends to take steps against troublemakers after the vandalism during the Johan Cruijff Shield match. New measures should prevent any such unacceptable behaviour in the future.
During the match in De Kuip Stadium Feyenoord-supporters sustained injuries when PSV-supporters hung from the nets, upon which parts of the suspension construction came down. Feyenoord has already announced it will press charges against PSV.
The Supporters association of the Eindhoven club has now published its position as well. (Links to Dutch version; English version available but publication is only in Dutch. ed.) “Last Friday’s fabulous victory was again oveshadowed by incidents. A net was torn and an iron bar thrown from the away seats (fortunately) narrowly missed a boy”, they write.
‘Things are getting heated’
“Feyenoord supporters were singing hateful songs and broke the windows on our buses which is costing us a lot of money. In other words: the season has only just kicked off but so has the violence,” says the Supporters Association, which has a following of some 18,000 people.
Not welcome
“We know we are not welcome with Vitesse and we can only fill half of the away seats in Utrecht. We already see it coming that for the next match against Feyenoord, De Kuip will allow none or only a few of us. We also know that PSV is looking at a spate of fines”, the statement says.
According to the association, transport companies are increasingly unwilling to make buses available to the supporters and that stewards are increasingly reluctant to offer their services during PSV matches.
“We have just had enough”, chairperson Rob Bogaarts says. “It does not matter if it was ten or two hundred people hanging from the nets in De Kuip. What matters is that no one should do a thing like that. If you want to climb you can visit a boulder gym.”
Talks
All these things add up, so the supporters association is in talks with PSV. “We had contact following the incidents and we will follow up on that conversation soon. We want to find ways to curb this outrageous behaviour. We are dealing with a small group that seems to be clueless as to the damage they are inflicting on the club and on the other supporters.”
Buses
Bogaarts says he has a few suggestions when it comes to possible measures. “Very simply, we could decide who gets to travel on the buses to away matches. The trips fall within the responsibility of the club but together we can use this measure to deny access to those who regularly make trouble. It is a heavy sanction, but we are left with little else”, says Bogaarts.
Since Covid, supporter violence has increased. The police already voiced their concerns about a group of young men who are impossible to keep in check. However, this is a generalisation Bogaarts is not yet ready to accept.
Part of the solution
“I also see some adults behaving in unacceptable ways, and not every young man is a thug. Rather, as supporters, we have to be part of the solution to the problem. Partly this is already happening; the person who threw a beer cup onto the pitch during a match against Ajax was told off by the hardcore fans. This is the next step”, Bogaarts concludes.
Source: Studio040
Translator: Greta
