District Cup East: Sunsets, smoke bombs and late season stirrings

Words: Han Balk

Images: Han Balk

In general, the Netherlands isn't particularly enthusiastic about cup football. The shortest route to European football is still often seen as a mandatory sideshow.

Unlike our neighbouring countries, there is no national stadium, and the KNVB Cup final has been held at the Feyenoord Stadium since 1989. Every time Feyenoord Rotterdam reaches the last four, the debate flares up again about whether the Rotterdam Kuip is the appropriate location.

The national cup competition involves professional football clubs from the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie (first and second levels), semi-professionals from the Tweede Divisie (third) and Derde Divisie (fourth), and the semi-finalists from various district cup competitions.

In the district cup, clubs from the 10th level up to the Vierde Divisie (fifth) compete in one of the six districts (North, West 1 and -2, East, South 1 and -2). For the 12 semi-finalists, a spot in the first round of the KNVB Cup is reserved for the upcoming season.

©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. KVV Quick '20 vs SV Juliana '31.

The district cup starts before the regular season with a group stage, a mini-league with four teams. Many clubs see this as practice matches organized by the football association and have no ambition to reach the knockout stage.

The subsequent rounds are even less popular. It's not uncommon to see only a handful of supporters along the sidelines on a cold and rainy Tuesday evening in November. And if the home club doesn't have floodlights on the main field, they usually move to an artificial turf training field. No, these are not matches for connoisseurs.

But by the end of March, the district cup starts to come alive. Or rather, the supporters awaken from their winter slumber. The quarter-finals are known, just one hurdle to the 'big' cup tournament. Here and there you see some modest pyrotechnics and occasionally a flag or banner.

Tonight, the cup final in the East district is on the agenda. KVV Quick '20 from Oldenzaal and SV Juliana '31 from Malden are about 130 km / 80 miles apart and meet half-way on neutral ground, in Apeldoorn.

No, not on just any pitch, but on one of the most beautiful grounds in the Netherlands. Sportpark Berg en Bos, the backdrop for AGOVV's home games for over a century. A real ground with a 100-year-old wooden grandstand and more recent stands in club colours, one of which is named after former player Klaas Jan Huntelaar.

AGOVV played here from 1954 to 1971 and from 2003 until bankruptcy in 2013 in professional football. The club is currently last in the seventh level.

The match faces significant competition; at 9:00 p.m., the UEFA Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich kicks off. But several buses from both clubs traveled to Apeldoorn, and the Futbology app showed a considerable number of neutral spectators.

Both sets of supporters take their places behind the goal. Later it will be evident that this isn't the best arrangement. Those from Malden, just below Nijmegen, are not only the loudest, but they also have a considerable amount of fireworks, flares, and smoke.

Thanks in part to the beautiful Spring weather, a nice football atmosphere emerged at Berg en Bos. However, it turned a bit unfriendly just before the end with some lads in balaclavas and some scuffles.

It was the Quick '20 supporters who had the most to cheer about. Their team scored twice before half-time and then secured a 4-2 victory in the second half through a couple of razor-sharp counterattacks.

You can find Han on X and Instagram: @hanbalk

Fear no giants

Gone fishing

ULTRAS Kampen

Arnhem enduring

KNVB Beker: 330 minutes