Maastricht is doubtlessly a name familiar to just about everyone, signing of a Treaty put the name on the global map, certainly more than its football team! Having been at a game on Sunday, I was quite keen to extend my stay and see a bit more of the Netherlands, and if that also resulted in a Monday night game, well that would just be perfect. When the fixtures were released MVV Maastricht v NAC Breda seemed like a good match to bring the curtain down on my little sojourn.
I am perhaps a Dutch novice, there is nothing classical in my knowledge of the geography of the country, or in truth of the teams, aside from keeping an eye on Volendam results. I had booked two nights in Maastricht before I had realised that the city was about as far from Amsterdam as you could get in a relatively compact country. There are no direct trains between the Dutch capital and its most South Westerly settlement, the capital of the Limburg region either. This particular adventure was slightly more fraught (but ultimately well organised) with a bus transfer needed between Boxtel and Eindhoven on the journey in both directions. Recently I was moaning in Ticino, Switzerland that announcements in Italian and English, get morphed into Italian and German, but at least they cater for more than the locals. In The Netherlands, aside from the Schiphol stop, every announcement is merely in Dutch, not very useful especially for the logistics of a bus transfer being explained. I muddled through!
If you imagine the gap between your right thumb and first finger, where a slight “U” shape is showing, this is the location of Maasricht in a similar location on a map! Your thumb would be Belgium, and your first finger would be Germany. Indeed, the Belgian capital Brussels and Cologne in Germany are closer than Amsterdam.
The 1991 Maastricht Treaty, when signed, set the European Union on its new path, with the introduction of the Euro currency. A proud sign on the side of the River Meuse which divides Maastricht proclaims that the city is at the “Heart of Europe”. Geographically that isn’t likely, but the legacy of that treaty and its multinational positioning so close to Belgium and Germany certainly adds to both the visitor numbers and the muilt-culturalism on display.
The name Maastricht is translatable, and includes the Meuse river in old Dutch as Maas, with “tricht” a mulch between Gallo-romance (whatever language that was!) and Walloon meaning “ford”, essentially giving the city the name, “a place to cross the river Meuse”, which is spot on as I could see three such constructions that allow passage from the older part of town across to the newer areas, which include, well away from the River Meuse, the De Geusselt, the MVV stadium.
Given its location, it is maybe no surprise that the city hasn’t always been Dutch, and even when it finally did start to look north for leadership, in World War I, Maastricht declared neutrality! In more recent times the city has struggled with drug smugglers using the more liberal laws in The Netherlands as a base to get quick supplies across nearby borders, and this has resulted in the occasional flare up of trouble as the police try to snuff these operations out.
The city has a population of 121,000 but the urban area around Maastricht brings that figure up to 277,000. Such a population base should see a reasonably successful football team in the city, but the MVV story hasn’t been festooned with glory, thus far. Maastricht is a lovely city to hang around for a day or two, the old cobbled narrow streets and fabulous buildings that adorn the city centre are in counterpoint to the endless bars and restaurants that seem to be everywhere you look, and they are all very busy. The Town Hall sits majestically in the centre of a large square, and while I doubt any reader of this article would ever be packing their bags and headed to Maastricht for an Andre Rieu concert, if you can’t get a hotel bed for love nor money when you want to be at that bitter old rivalry match between MVV and Roda JC Kerkrade, it’s probably because Andre has taken over the centre of the city for his near annual concert! I am led to believe he still lives in, or around Maastricht. Parts of the old walls of the city still remain, having survived a Franco-Dutch war way back in time when Louis XV was hellbent on taking Maastricht. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the city, that’s more than can be said for the fraught Monday night football though.
The MVV website (MVV stands for, Maatschappelije Voetball Vereniging) will tell you that you can either buy a ticket online or at the stadium. If you are headed here for a game, ignore that last bit as it is patently not the case. I pitched up an hour ahead of kick off and headed for a portacabin thinking this was the ticket booth. Alas it was merely the club shop, and I was told online tickets only, but to try round at reception and see what they would say. A fairly healthy crowd of largely non Dutch were gathered in an orderly queue, merely to all troop back out of the reception area with the same chat, online only! Thankfully, unlike Volendam, Non Dutch Mastercard/Visa were accepted. In searing heat, anywhere up to 50 people were all plonking info into their mobile phone to register, then buy a ticket. Alas, it wasn’t working for us all, me included, and even a very friendly policeman nearby was trying to help, together with a young Union Berlin fan who stayed with me through the entire 45 minute trauma before heading to his seat, as eventually I did, but only after I stormed into the reception 5 minutes before kick off, explained that my bank was approving the transaction but the MVV site was then declining it. I did also put it out there that I was here to write about the club for a UK magazine, and it wasn’t a good look. A muttered chat between colleagues produced a small batch of printed A4 sheets with seat numbers and barcodes. Merely tap and go to pay, and my exit from the office with a big smile, wafting a piece of paper to get me in started a mini rush of those who were still fiddling away trying to get a ticket.
I am led to believe that the precaution with Dutch ticket issuing is due to discouraging hooligans, and if that is the case, the banking system must have a list of banned bank accounts, because otherwise, with no checks or ID required, what’s the point, it won’t stop anyone. I also believe that the Dutch Banking security system is more advanced than many, and this causes issues like I encountered. I was maybe spoiled on my first ever game in The Netherlands, where I just walked into the club shop/ticket office in mid-afternoon in Alkmaar and handed over some Euros and got a ticket, how novel is that! The reality for league matches at any rate is not as simple, and ultimately truly frustrating. The pandemic has done nothing to ease the many ways that football is divorcing itself from its audience, I wasn’t amused and in need of a drink, but that’s another story!
Aside from two Eerste Divisie (second tier) titles in 1984 and 1987, the only other accolade on the honours roster of MVV is a 1970 Intertoto Cup “success”. I put this in inverted commas as back in the day, the Intertoto didn’t even have a progression into the UEFA Cup as it laterally did, but this bizarre summer competition, allegedly just to keep betting companies happy never had a trophy and its structure usually resulted in three winners in any given campaign. So inconsequential is that title, I can’t find any information as to who they might have beaten to claim this “highlight”. A couple of 7th place finishes in the top flight are as high as they have ever finished, but on both occasions just missing out on adding to their International competition CV.
The club has had a number of financial issues over the years, as well as having a fan section “Angel Side”, who can be anything but, and carry a certain reputation. It reached an all time low in 2003 as the Ultras gathered around the town hall where a debate was being carried out regarding the city’s continued support for MVV in the form of loans. The fans rioted and within minutes the plug was pulled. Shorn of this financial support, MVV were essentially declared bankrupt within days. The directors were found scraping around looking for ways to survive, ultimately this led the club down a lunatic notion of merging with Roda JC Kerkrade and Fortuna Sittard in 2008, both of whom, especially the former team who are true Limburg rivals. This led to pitch invasions, sit ins, violence and death threats against the club directors. As shocking as it is, taking matters to that extent might be, do the money men everywhere never learn their lesson?! It is like asking Hearts, Hibs and Livingston to merge. Well they tried part of that once here but it didn’t work, thankfully.
MVV have in recent years tried and failed twice to get out of the second tier via the playoffs, FC Volendam ending the first attempt in 2015/16, but the very next season, they got all the way to the final only to come up against, yip you guessed it Roda JC Kerkrade, who were trying to retain Eredivisie status. They managed that, but not without a lot of unrest, rioting and one of the games being suspended for 30 minutes to try and get a grip on the situation.
Interestingly, the nature of this rivalry is almost Franco-German! Roda have a reputation for being very Germanic, flying the German flag in areas of their stadium and when travelling, as well as playing an old Limburgish anthem before matches. By contrast, perhaps the multicultural nature of the Limburg capital sees it pull away from such regional identity, and has a more Latin/Burgundian identity, setting it on a collision course with its rivals.
Before the ticket fiasco, invariably I came across yet another lone St Pauli fan (as I had at Volendam. There is always one!). He was happily sporting the club garb, as they do, like a badge of honour. He was incredulously in Maastricht to support the visitors NAC Breda, without as much as a ticket, having come from Cologne. He had no intention of going into the stadium unless it was “with his people”, his words, not mine! I gave this particular chap a few choice words regarding “their people” and the franchises total lack of any notion of “bohemian”, and off I trotted quite happily. I was doubling down on being an MVV fan for the night after that encounter, and even more so now I have done my research on the Roda rivalry.
The stadium, De Geusselt is one of these nearly out of town, business park gigs, with a very infuriatingly high McDonald’s sign visible from two sides of the ground as you enjoy the action. The plus side if you want to be nearby and give the lovely city of Maastricht a skip, they have a hotel right behind the mainstand. However, if you are coming by train for the day, or even staying in accommodation nearer the River Meuse, pay attention to the ‘getting there’ section, otherwise rail tracks and motorways will get in your way!
The stadium was buffed up in 1987, but has been on the same patch of land since 1961. I am unsure what it looked like pre-1987, but it is now a tidy 10,000 capacity stadium with a cracking view from whatever seat you might find yourself watching. Rabobank sponsors an inordinately large hospitality lounge that takes up the rooms under half of the main stand, with lots of little businesses and a gym doubtlessly renting space from club or council, whoever owns De Geusselt.
With my ticket in hand and the clock ticking to kick off, I got a round of applause from three policemen, one of whom had tried to help earlier, as I walked round to my gate. In my furore to get a ticket, I refused to look up and catch sight of Mark Van Bommel who parked right behind me and led to a raft of mobile phone snaps on either side of me as I continued to concentrate on my futile ticket purchase attempts! His son plays for MVV apparently.
The game was just about to kick off when I entered De Geusselt, but I was parched, and decided a big old beer was just the ticket. The catering behind the goal is similarly positioned to New Douglas Park, home of Hamilton Accies. If you have ever been there, you will know you can still watch the action whilst waiting to be served. Once at the head of the queue, I was shown another queue, where I had to go to buy a preloaded, paid up card to buy a beer or a sausage, or both! I am sure many have come across this before, but such is my more southern European footballing CV, only once at Jeunesse Esch had I encountered this scenario. It was easier there without doubt, and they didn’t add a 2,5 Euro mark-up just for the pleasure of buying a card as occurred here. I was all out of moans, I just wanted a beer, grab and seat and enjoy the game.
No sooner had I taken one of the vast swathes of empty seats at the end opposite the Angel Side Ultras, (who were in fine pyrotechnic form), than MVV scored, and soon after they were at it again, for an early 2-0 lead. NAC hadn’t got the knack of the Maastricht pace at all and were chasing shadows. It was a lively joust throughout, and a third early in the second half snuffed out any comeback just as the Breda fans were finally stirring into believing their team might get something from the game. MVV resorted to putting their feet up and toying with the opposition, picking up the ball and countering well whenever they could. A late NAC goal was mere consolation, as the home side were well worth the win. it was their first of the season in only game two of the campaign having gone down by a similar score on day one away at Jong AZ (AZ II essentially). There was one last thing that detracted from my enjoyment, doubtlessly the words were different, but everytime MVV scored, the “Glory, glory Man Utd” tune rang out!
Despite all the things wrong with the ticketing and even the beer buying, I had been charmed by Maastricht before I got anywhere near the stadium. It could be a fabulous base to plunder games in three countries over a weekend with plenty of travel West or East to Belgium or Germany available. I’ll shelve that thought for now, this particular trip had started in Bellinzona, where it felt good to be back amongst excitable Italian speakers, and if it’s not Italy, Argentina or Uruguay, it’s all a bit alien to me, but this was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and Maastricht is a lovely city.
Getting there
Flying into Charleroi, Amsterdam or Cologne will all leave you with a similar length of journey to Maastricht by bus or by train.
De Geusselt is a good distance from downtown Maastricht. Even when you are at the railway station, you still have 30 minutes of walking to get there. The station plays a crucial role in your walk, as going inside the amazing stained glass adorned terminal, then headed up and over the walkway taking you across the tracks will get you on the right side for continuing your walk. The staircase down the other side is leading you in the right direction to continue. Just carry on straight ahead, walking through the least developed International Bus Station I have ever seen (you’ll see what I mean when you get there). The road slightly bends right away from the railway after that, and keeps on going for a good old distance until you reach a set of traffic lights. You are now on the edge of the motorway system, and you want to turn right here. Another straight road will reveal a tunnel under the dual carriageway eventually, but ignore that one, continuing right as the road bends upwards to a junction. Left here, down through this tunnel, and the stadium reveals itself on your right.
There are no catering vans anywhere around, save that McDonalds mentioned earlier. The nearest place for a beer will be easily the other side of the railway station back in town, but once inside, with your purchasing power card, you can quaff whilst watching the action.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 