Sunday Football

Our Amsterdam hosts Josh and Liz aren't huge sports fans, but they indulged my interest in Ajax, Amsterdam's home team and one of the top in the Dutch domestic league. Bus-then-train deposited us at the Amsterdam ArenA (no typo, this is how they spell it) and minutes later tickets were in hand for the season opener. A pit stop at a souvenir vendor for the requisite scarf--all true football (soccer) fans have a scarf with their team's name and colors--and lunch beckoned.

At most frite (fry) stands, there is some sort of mascot and our lunch vendor was no different but the three-dimensional anthropomorphized frite cone statue begged a posed photo:


We sat, ate sandwiches and fry-cones, and watched the crowd. About 20 minutes before the game we noticed the crowd had substantially thinned and decided to find our way to the seats. At which point things started getting weird.

We walked up to the gate and were told to go around to another entrance. Fine, walk around to gate D. Then, backpacks get searched: no problem. Up to the upper deck (ugh, more stairs) and then we have to present our tickets for verification not once but twice. Once we got to our seats (€19 cheap seats were amazing) we realized the reason for all the fuss about who sits where. Different groups of fans are physically separated from each other by distinct staircases, then by stadium stewards, and finally by high plexiglass barriers with razor spikes across the top. All this to discourage hooliganism--fighting between rival fan groups (look closely at the photo and you can see the climbing deterrent at the tops of the section dividers).


All the preventative measures didn't detract from the game or the crowd which was very well behaved, sang various songs throughout the game and paid close attention to the action on the field. Upon reflection, the crowd was quite remarkable: J and I have been to professional baseball and football games in the US and many of the spectators seem more interested in talking on their phones than watching the game. In the ArenA, supporters were quick to applaud good play or whistle (the European version of booing) errors or bad officiating. We debated whether the nature of the American games--many pauses in action, TV timeouts, etc.--makes them more prone to casual viewing while the continuous play of football requires more careful observation.


I also think that a much higher percentage of the spectators were active players. In the month I've been here I have seen a number of recreational games involving primarily men ranging from 30-50 years old. Past a certain age, continuing to play baseball or football (American) becomes difficult due to the high number of players required to play and, in "gridiron", the potential for injury. Basketball and football (soccer) really only need 3-on-3, lowering the barriers to entry, and here football is king.


In the end the home team won 1-0, J enjoyed explaining the game to our hosts who found themselves intrigued by the whole spectacle, and we caught the train to the Van Gogh museum for a bit of last-minute shopping.