Football association KNVB is not moving to Almere and will remain in Zeist. The association expects to be able to implement its expansion plans for the so-called KNVB Campus at the existing location. A move to Almere is also accompanied by “major financial, organizational and managerial risks”. The KNVB wrote this in an email on Tuesday evening declaration.
The choice of Zeist is “the result of a careful and intensive process in which both scenarios were seriously and thoroughly investigated,” said association chairman Frank Paauw in the press release. “Due to the steps we have taken in the past period together with the municipality of Zeist and the province of Utrecht, we see sufficient perspective and confidence to now focus and continue completely with one track.”
The KNVB has been based in the woods near Zeist since 1965, but a few years ago it encountered problems with its ambitions and the available space on the estate of about thirty hectares. For example, the association wants to expand the football camps it organizes during the summer holidays. The KNVB also wants all national football teams – there are now nineteen – to be able to train on campus during international matches. At the moment, the three fields (plus one artificial grass field) in Zeist only accommodate the Dutch national team for men and women and the Dutch Juniors.
In a pinch
In 2022, the association submitted a plan to expand with three football fields on an adjacent plot, but the municipality of Zeist was unable to meet that wish: there is an animal shelter next to the planned football fields, and for the sake of the animals’ peace and quiet, only two fields could be added. The mandatory nature compensation that the KNVB had planned in exchange for cutting down forests of three football fields also met with objections.
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The KNVB then withdrew its proposal in 2023. In October 2024, the association posted a advertisement in Domestic Administrationin which the KNVB wrote that it was looking for a new location for its campus and called on interested municipalities and landowners to register. They did so: the football association said it received 39 responses. From this, the KNVB selected Almere, Barendrecht and Lelystad as possible options for a new location in March 2025.
The association then made this decision in December known that the last two had dropped out. The KNVB entered into a “follow-up process” with Almere to investigate whether a new campus near the new Almere Pampus district was feasible and would meet the wishes. The association also continued to discuss with the municipality of Zeist and the province of Utrecht to see whether it was possible for the association to remain in Zeist.
Social added value
Yes, as it turns out. According to the KNVB, “several important breakthroughs have occurred” in the conversation between the association, the municipality and the province. This made it possible to construct the desired third football field somewhere else on the current campus site. According to a spokesperson for the KNVB, that option was not available at first: “The municipality of Zeist announced in the previous plan that there was room for a maximum of 1 or 2 extra fields, while 3 was our absolute minimum to realize our ambitions.”
This extra space has been created because the parties have now approached the process of arriving at an expansion plan completely differently, says Angèle Welting, on behalf of D66 sports councilor at the municipality of Zeist. “In fact, the KNVB started from scratch. A step-by-step plan was drawn up together with the municipality and the province, and the association started to inventory the natural values in the area with specialized agencies.” According to Welting, this provided “much more space”: “We can also see the plans as an opportunity to strengthen nature. That is a completely different starting point.”
In the press release, the KNVB writes that no final spatial decision has yet been made. The association says it will continue to work “in the coming period” on “the nature vision, the business plan and the spatial integration” for the expansion plan. The aim is to submit a proposal for a new zoning plan in November 2026.
The municipality of Almere leaves a comment NRC know to be disappointed that the KNVB has decided to stay in Zeist. “We remain convinced that Almere offered a unique opportunity: a young, growing city with space, ambition and a strong connection between sports, education and innovation,” writes a spokesperson. The municipality thanks the KNVB for the “constructive cooperation” and wishes the association “good luck with the further development of the campus”.
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