Dutch Tour
Estadio
1926 but fell victim to the reorganisation of the Dutch football scene in 1971. They now find themDe Blauwe Kei (The Blue Cobble) - Paul Claydon
selves playing in de Hoofdklasse Amateurs. “De Blauwe Kei” is an archetypal Dutch League ground
from yesteryear, with uncovered and shallow terracing on three sides and a main stand only running
less than half the length of the pitch. The ground easily holds 10,000.
De Baronie have always lived in the
shadow of NAC Breda, recently promoted to the KPN Eredivisie. NAC
came into being in 1912 and played at
the very intimidating Beatrixstraat in
the very heart of the city, until 1996.
They now play at the purpose-built
16,400 capacity Fujifilm Stadion on the
northern outskirts of the town. This
stadium, like that of Willem II, falls into
the same category as most of the other
newly built Dutch top division grounds.
It is a simple construction in a rectan- The B-Side at NAC Breda. Staunch home-fans only!
gular shape with all stands sitting very
close to the pitch. There is a moat dividing the two, another popular feature in Holland, and some
quite ugly crowd segregation fences at one end. Unfortunately, football violence in Holland is still
commonplace. That said, the ground gives a better all-round impression to that of Willem II, helped
Groundtastic
page 69
Issue 23