FC Emmen experienced a sad departure from Volendam on Saturday. There was a loss on the field and a fight behind the stadium. Drenthe supporters are angry with the local authorities.
Images of the brawl immediately went viral on Saturday evening. Behind the stadium on the corner of Pegasusstraat near a narrow bridge, under a weeping willow, young men stood facing each other with clenched fists. Both groups threw a few bicycles at each other’s heads and at least one supporter got a wet suit.
The fighters did not stop when the police tried to intervene. Three officers eventually suffered minor injuries from a thrown bicycle, a blow and a kick. This has been reported. A 33-year-old man from Emmen was taken off the bus in Zwolle on Saturday evening and arrested for his part in the violence.
Mandatory bus combination
According to several supporters present, the mating could have been prevented by the municipality of Edam-Volendam and the local police. They criticize the fact that the two supporters’ camps could meet each other so easily after the match, while the risk of disturbances had been estimated as high in advance.
Volendam against Emmen is a loaded match. Last season there were also a few disturbances around the stadium in Volendam and Volendammers caused tens of thousands of euros in damage on a return visit to Drenthe by completely renovating the toilet blocks under the guest section at De Oude Meerdijk.
Before the competition, the mayor of Edam-Volendam introduced a so-called compulsory ‘bus combination’ for visitors from Emmen, but did not regard the competition as a risk competition. The 220 supporters were not allowed to travel to the fishing village on their own this weekend, but were transported in four supporters buses.
Hotheads
At many professional football clubs, the supporters’ buses park in a closed space at the exit section, but that is not the case in Volendam. Emmen residents had to walk a bit to the stadium. That was no problem beforehand, but after the game it went wrong.
A large group of Volendammers was waiting for the visitors afterwards. According to various residents of Emmen, they used the chant ‘cancer Emmen’ for a long time. According to the Drents present, a sneer at the statement the day before from the fanatical supporters of Emmen to ban that swear word.
The visitors also made a verbal statement and, according to the police, sought confrontation. Officers stood between the groups of hotheads with drawn batons. Supporters managed to meet each other via a ‘around the block’ behind the houses on Pegasusstraat. There followed the swinging of bicycles and the necessary pushing and pulling.
Terminations
Supporters club Rood-Wit says it deeply regrets the brawl, but at the same time targets the authorities in Volendam. “After Saturday, we have already received several cancellations from people who never want to go to an away game again, including families with children. Our people did not feel safe and we blame the local triangle of Volendam for that. They should have guaranteed safety”, says supporters chairman Erwin Bakker.
Bakker wants to talk to FC Emmen and other organized supporters within the club and then send a strong statement to Volendam. As far as Bakker is concerned, responding to the invitation of the football unit of the Volendam police to discuss the position of Rood-Wit will only follow afterwards.
Saddening images
FC Emmen says to distance itself from the brawl. “We know the videos and the stories. Of course something may have gone wrong in the organization, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to fight,” says a spokesman for the club. FC Emmen says it will fully cooperate with an investigation if that request comes.
The municipality of Emmen says that the mayor has been informed by the police about the course of events surrounding the competition, but does not yet see a role for itself. Mayor Lieve Sievers of Edam-Volendam called the images of the riots ‘saddening’ and said he would find out how the supporters could meet each other.
Both in Volendam and in Emmen, the issue was discussed on Monday in the so-called safety meeting between clubs, the municipality and the police. The municipality of Edam-Volendam has decided that a mandatory bus combination will apply to the next five home matches of Volendam and that there will be a bus lock where supporters will be led directly into the stadium.
“Unfortunately, we notice that the character of the supporter groups is changing and we have to conclude that even a bus combi is no guarantee for a good course,” says a spokesman for the municipality.
Trust compromised
The Netherlands Supporters Collective, a collaboration of professional football supporters’ associations, fears that attention to incidents like this will contribute to the trend that municipalities will severely restrict or completely ban visits to away games in the future.
In a letter to all ‘football mayors’, the collective states that ‘well-intentioned supporters are being punished for something they have nothing to do with. These collective punishments put normal supporters against the authorities and the trust between the municipality, police, clubs and supporters is undermined.’