Supperterscollectief Nederland wants the fan policy in professional football – the Eredivisie and first division – to be overhauled. The umbrella organization advocates for mixing home and away fans on match days. “Enough is enough.”
“With as many as fifteen empty away sections in the Eredivisie and twelve in the first division, a record number of away sections remained empty in the 2024/2025 season. Sometimes this is a punishment imposed by the disciplinary committee of the KNVB, but increasingly it is municipalities that resort to this ultimate measure as punishment or even preventively,” the collective writes in a statement on its own website.
“The threshold for imposing severe restrictions on football supporters seems to be getting lower and lower. We are seeing a trend of collective punishment in which an entire group is held responsible for the actions of an individual person, even if there is demonstrably no direct connection with the perpetrator or perpetrators. A form of punishment that is only applied to football supporters and that deserves to be fought.”
The advocacy organization therefore pleads for a different approach. An important change is that fans of the home team and visitors should start moving among each other. “By consciously choosing to mix supporters outside the stadium, there will be acceptance instead of hatred,” thinks Supperterscollectief Nederland.
According to the collective, the Dutch approach has led to “polarization”. “By moving away from generic measures that mainly affect supporters for whom the measures are not necessary, the approach can focus on risk groups. The average supporter can therefore go to the stadium in a more pleasant way,” the statement reads.
“This ensures a higher sense of security and will lead to fewer incidents and less deployment of police. The cup final is an annual example of a match where large groups of supporters from both clubs walk to the stadium through each other without any problems.”
‘Change takes time’
The Supperterscollectief has made a step-by-step plan and hopes that the new approach will be fully in effect in 2035. “Change takes time and that will be no different here. Let’s use the 2025/2026 season to take a first step in the other direction.”
The new season starts on Friday with the match Fortuna Sittard-Go Ahead Eagles.