Dutch Tour
Estadio
racing, reflects any cricket ground in tranquil surroundings. Royal indeed.
Our next stop is UVS in a town called Leiden, the home of the top University in the Netherlands.
UVS, founded in 1914,
play at De Kikkerpolder
(Frog Land) and are
currently in the First
Division. The ground
has uncovered terracing
on three sites, curving
round all four corners to
meet the basic main
stand which runs half
the length of the pitch.
In all it is a very typical
Dutch ground and is
very similar to De
Baronie in Breda were
we visited earlier on.
The current capacity stands at 10,000 (pictured above by Roger Adams).
The last ground on our tour is
Quick Boys in Katwijk, a town
that could be described as the
Grimsby of Holland. Founded
in 1920, Quick Boys have
always played at the highest
level of the Dutch Saturday
amateur scene. Their ground
is idyllically hidden in the sand
dunes that separate the town
from the North Sea. On approach the ground cannot be
seen, but when it comes into
view after scaling the heights
of the dunes, a stadium capable of holding 10,000 spectators is revealed. The huge main stand featuring wooden benches is
complimented by uncovered terracing on three sides (pictured above by Roger Adams).
In keeping with other European nations, The Netherlands has seen a lot top stadiums redeveloped
during the last few years. This has sadly seen the loss of numerous old grounds that have, by and
large, been replaced by newer ‘off-the-shelf’ modern venues. There are however many grounds
outside the top flight that hold a sense of history and these are worth the journey. How long they
escape the purge is another matter.
Groundtastic
page 73
Issue
Issue 23
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