Two girls who are crazy about football, cheering for different teams. Their mutual interest in history and heritage brings them together as students at the Reinwardt Academy. Elise, a lifelong Ajax supporter, and Danitsja, a girl with a heart for PSV. Rivalry is deeply rooted in football culture. It often divides us. Loyalty to a club shapes identity, creates boundaries and turns colours into lines that separate us from them. Yet football heritage does the opposite. It has the power to bring people together. Maybe even more than we realise.
Therefore, walking into De Kuip, the legendary stadium of Feyenoord Rotterdam, was like stepping into enemy territory. However, that tension made the visit meaningful, challenging and forced us to look beyond the rival colours. It reminded us of what we share instead, the love for the game and its heritage.
Who are we
Elise is a 22-year-old student of the Reinwardt Academy. She has lived her whole life in The Hague, yet her heart always belonged to Ajax. Watching Ajax matches with her mother laid the foundation for this connection.
‘’Even though I didn’t grow up in Amsterdam. Ajax have always played a significant role in my life. I used to watch Ajax together with my mom, and from there my love for the club grew and studying in Amsterdam has strengthened that bond.’’ – Elise
Danitsja is an 18-year-old student of the Reinwardt Academy and has played football for as long as she can remember. Her knowledge of football goes beyond fandom; earning her referee license has given her a broader perspective on the sport, both on and off the pitch.
‘’Football has been a part of my life since I was a little girl. It didn’t matter if I was playing it, watching it, or refereeing it. The local derby made me realize that football is more than a game. It is part of our history and our identity. It forms communities and unites people all over the world.’’ – Danitsja
Visiting Feyenoord
It may seem weird for rival supporters to visit the stadium, but that tension is exactly why it was meaningful. The visit to Feyenoord stadium proved to be an insightful experience, especially from a cultural heritage perspective. The visit showed football and how its heritage can function not only as a collection of objects, but as a social connection for communities, fans and everyone around the club.
‘’We looked beyond club loyalty and instead focused on what we could learn from each other, not just in the Netherlands but throughout European clubs. Feyenoord is an interesting case study for exploring how football heritage is collected, presented and shared with fans.’’ – Danitsja
‘’Danitsja and I have been on a rollercoaster of adventures since we discovered our mutual love for football. That led us to travel around to watch different teams play, and stepping into the world of football makes history. We attended a meeting to meet new people and make fantastic connections, and we wanted to explore even more the connection between football and heritage. That took us to the Feyenoord museum.’’ – Elise
The museum
The museum, located inside De Kuip, stands out because of the amount of information and diversity of its collection that is beautifully displayed. Trophies, shirts, shoes, photographs, banners and a lot more tell the story of the club that was founded in 1908.
The stadium itself carries a big name and functions as a heritage project on its own because it is a municipal monument. Together with the fans, players and the city, it developed a story that keeps evolving. While the story is told from the perspective of the club, you can also find stories told outside the stadium, like the large mural near the stadium that uses street art to visualise their identity.
Unfortunately, because of the tour, you get a limited amount of time in the museum. They have a giant wall with a lot of information on the timeline, which can´t be read during the visit. They have a place to show their trophies, but the space overall is limited. Feyenoord has several business lounges where trophies are shown, but it stays in the background. The use of red lighting can gather attention, but the varying heights of the display make it difficult to get a clear view of the objects.
One aspect that repeatedly stood out during our visit was the visibility of women within the club’s heritage. We saw photos, banners and one interactive board where they were spotted, but still the representation was small. Women have always been part of football culture, even when they were not formally recognised.
We think that there is a lot of opportunity here to create more space and acknowledge a lot of other parts of the heritage. Including the stories of women that could reflect the diversity of the community. We believe that these objects, stories and traditions deserve a place of their own, maybe outside the stadium.
Meeting Marijke
We met Marijke during our visit to the museum. Marijke Edel is the curator for the Feyenoord Museum Foundation. She explained the mission of the foundation: to make Feyenoord’s heritage accessible to everyone and to present the history of the club.
‘’While doing this tour, we saw even early on that it matches strongly with Football Makes Heritage, a project at Reinwardt Academy, which emphasises the participation, inclusion and co-creation. Fans are not just visitors; they carry heritage.’’
Marijke has a strong foundation of support from the club, yet it remains challenging to find the right balance between storytelling and showcasing objects with the little space available.
Why are the fans important?
Like all cultural places, the heritage is based on objects, personal stories and a lot more. Most of it comes from donations made by the fans. The museum works with the fans, and that is one of the strongest aspects of the museum. Feyenoord acknowledges that heritage is not only in the game but also around the game. It carries emotional and social connections that, by involving the fans, can be part of the story.
This reflects the wider discussions in football heritage studies, where clubs are seen more as social institutions than just sports organisations. This aligns with the approach taken by museums. The museums are a great example of how to display stories and work together with people. We can learn much about participation and how to use it effectively. It is about understanding that an institution can be more than a traditional museum.
What we learned about football and heritage
One of the most important things we learned and saw over the course of just a few months is that football indeed has a heritage that can be preserved in a lot of ways. Football is more than a sport. It is a tool for inclusion, participation and stories.
It would be a huge step for the larger clubs to take the lead and show how to do this. There could be amazing opportunities for museums and clubs to work together. These ideas show that heritage is not only preserved in objects but also through memories, emotions and contributions of the fans.
What we observed at Feyenoord is that the involvement of people around the club values emotional connection with objects, stories and traditions. This shows that Feyenoord is already operating at a high level that recognises football as a living, shared heritage.
What we would like to achieve
We would love to see ourselves somewhere in this field because there is so much that can be accomplished. We hope that more people will help along the way to make the awareness grow and connect communities.
”I want to change the football world. It sounds optimistic, and it probably is, but I want to let people feel and see the joy that I have in football and from football. I want to give it a new perspective and make people feel at home. I want to show everyone the way it changes lives for the good and the bad. It doesn’t matter, and it would not stop at football, because there are more sports that celebrate people’s heritage and their identity, that should never go unnoticed.” – Danitsja
‘’I would like to help Ajax in their journey to discover stories, objects and maybe even traditions of fans. To collect that information and turn it into amazing pieces that the fans, the players and everyone else have a connection to. This visit was not about choosing sides, but about recognising the shared passion, loyalty, memory and community. Whether you support Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord or any other club. This is the football culture, present and shared by everyone who loves the sport.’’ – Elise
Thinking Points:
Educators can use this article to work with young people on questions of identity and rivalry, and the potential of heritage to unite, or at least bridge such divides. Questions could be:
- What do football fans share with one another?
- How important are cultural representations within the club settings?
- What could heritage work do to help foster dialogue and exchanges?
Find Out More:
The Feyenoord Museum offers various tours and packages. A short video on YouTube gives a glimpse into the work of Marijke Edel.
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