Feyenoord Fans Spark Chaos: Calls to Ban Away Supporters

Valentijn Driessen has run out of patience with Feyenoord’s travelling support. After the chaos in Leeuwarden on Sunday, the De Telegraaf football editor no longer sees any place for away fans in Dutch football.

Fireworks, panic, and injured supporters

SC Cambuur – Feyenoord had barely settled when it exploded, literally. After just 12 minutes, referee and players were forced to stop as a huge volley of fireworks erupted from the away section in the South Stand.

Cambuur later revealed it was not a single incident. Fireworks were fired not only from the away end, but also towards the pitch and into surrounding stands. The club’s official statement painted a grim picture: five supporters injured, all of them in bad shape, suffering from burns, hearing damage and eye injuries.

“It goes without saying that all care and attention are focused on these injured supporters and everyone at the club is enormously sympathetic,” Cambuur wrote.

The images and the medical report have turned what first looked like “just” another ugly fan incident into something far more serious.

“They are simply criminals”

Driessen did not bother to soften his words about the Feyenoord fans responsible.

“They are simply criminals, of course. It was an organised action,” he said. He described how someone told him the fireworks were set off “for fun”. For Driessen, that remark said everything.

“If this is what you get your pleasure from, you're not right in the head.”

For him, this is no longer about a minority of overexcited supporters. This is about a structural problem that, in his eyes, the authorities refuse to tackle with enough force.

Call to ban away supporters

So Driessen is pushing for a drastic measure he has long advocated.

“I argue for it every time: stop with away supporters. Then you get rid of a whole lot of trouble,” he said.

He pointed to Feyenoord v Ajax as an example. The Klassieker was played on a Saturday evening, without Ajax fans.

“And that is possible, because there are no Ajax supporters. Lovely, isn't it?”

For traditionalists, the idea of banning away fans cuts to the heart of what football is supposed to be. For Driessen, the line has already been crossed. With supporters ending up in hospital, he believes the KNVB must finally act decisively.

Security questions for Cambuur and the mayor

The journalist is also stunned by a basic, uncomfortable question: how did so many fireworks and flares get inside the Cambuur stadium in the first place?

The away end was lit up like a festival, not a football match. That points to a serious security failure.

“If you then clear the place out, you might be bringing all sorts of misery on yourself. The mayor will naturally have taken that into consideration. Because it would have been very normal to clear out that section,” Driessen said.

The authorities in Leeuwarden chose not to evacuate the away end, likely fearing an escalation. That decision will now be scrutinised alongside the stadium checks that clearly failed to intercept the arsenal of pyrotechnics.

Feyenoord urged to track down culprits

Attention now also turns to Feyenoord itself. Who exactly was in that away section?

“But I think Feyenoord really need to look carefully at who was there,” Driessen insisted.

Normally, away tickets are tightly controlled, often linked to gold club card holders or similar systems. That should make identifying individuals straightforward. Yet the sheer number of people in the packed away end raises doubts.

“This away end was absolutely packed. So I think a great many slipped through the net. Those were the troublemakers responsible for those horrific scenes,” Driessen said.

The club will be expected to cooperate fully with investigations, identify those involved and hand out heavy sanctions. The KNVB, too, faces a clear choice: treat this as another incident in a long list, or as the moment that forces a fundamental rethink of how Dutch football handles away support.

Because after five injured supporters and a stand turned into a war zone, how much more can the game afford to tolerate?