Feyenoord Rotterdam venue plans lay an egg

Article posted by Coliseum, April 25^th, 2022

Image: OMA

The Dutch professional football club Feyenoord Rotterdam (Netherlands) have shelved plans to build a new €385 million stadium on the Maas River, citing “enormous uncertainties in the financial commodity markets”.

‘The Athletic’ stated that the stadium was set to house 63,000 fans.

Instead, they will remain in the historic Feyenoord Stadium, known colloquially as De Kuip. A record 10 European finals have taken place in the stadium.

The Feyenoord Rotterdam is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football.

The 51,117-capacity Feyenoord Stadium, more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip, is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same name. The stadium’s original capacity was 64,000.

The new stadium was just one part of an ambitious urban redevelopment plan for Southern Rotterdam, which incorporates the building of at least 3,700 new houses. The Feyenoord City project as a whole was priced at over €1.5bn.

The new stadium would have been the biggest, and most expensive, in the Netherlands.

‘The Athletic’ further stated that however, the club have warned that “there will be no major renovation” of De Kuip, with redevelopment also deemed unfeasible.

Feyenoord will remain at De Kuip “for quite some time”.

A club statement noted, “Feyenoord considers it irresponsible to proceed with the construction of a new stadium on the Maas. There will also be no major renovation of the current Feyenoord Stadium. All plans in this regard are unfeasible in the current era, with enormous uncertainties in the financial and commodity markets, among other things.”

Announcing the club’s decision at a presser held on April 21^st, General Manager Dennie te Kloese informed, “The Board has always said that the club would like a new stadium if the club improves financially, it can be built for a fixed price and appropriate financing is in place. But the club cannot take undue risks in this. Given the long history, the amount of money, time and energy that countless people from many organizations have already invested in several stadium plans, it is extremely unfortunate to have to conclude that it all cannot be done after all.”

Added te Kloese, “I have great appreciation for everyone who has worked on one or more of the plans with the best intentions in recent years, but what doesn’t work, doesn’t work. We cannot foresee what will happen in the coming years. New construction or renovation, we don’t know what the distant future will bring, but for now there is clarity: We will remain in the current Kuip for quite some time.”

Feyenoord are enjoying a successful season in Europe, and are in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, where they play the Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille (France). They are third in the Eredivisie, behind their peer teams PSV Eindhoven and AFC Ajax.

The UEFA Europa Conference League, colloquially referred to as the UEFA Conference League, is an annual football club competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs.

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