Zuiderpark Stadium

Football stadium

View from the north stands, towards the south stands, 2004.

The Zuiderpark Stadium or Zuiderparkstadion (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzœydərpɑr(ə)kˌstaːdijɔn], Dutch for Southern Park Stadium) was an 11,000-seat stadium in The Hague, Netherlands. It was the home of football club ADO Den Haag.

For many years after the club's inauguration in 1905, they played football in many different temporary venues, eventually settling in the 'Zuiderpark' in 1925. The stadium was temporarily abandoned on 21 February 1945, near the end of World War II. The War left the club lacking funds with which to maintain the ground. Reportedly, horses were allowed to graze on the abandoned field.

The cold winter conditions of 1946–47 left the stadium in a deplorable state, with the covered tribune the only stand left in a serviceable condition. Nevertheless, plans were afoot to renovate the stadium and to expand its capacity; these were completed in 1949 and the first game played was on 9 August 1949 between ADO Den Haag and Feyenoord Rotterdam.

In 1957, the capacity of the renovated stadium was expanded still further to 25,000 spectators. Later, on 8 March 1973, the stadium entered its modern age with a new club building housing a restaurant, among several other modern amenities catering to the players and club members.

On 3 April 1982, hooligans of the club burned down the South Tribune.^[1] The fire was set after a 4–0 loss to HFC Haarlem. It damaged the ground's oldest stand dating back to 1928 and caused $500,000 in damages.^[2] The damaged part was rebuilt and opened in 1986.^[3]

On 7 November 1993, the North Tribune was renamed 'Aad Mansveldtribune', after Aad Mansveld.^[4] In 1994, the municipality of The Hague decided to develop the 'Zuiderpark' as a 'football theatre' and the West Tribune 'Jan Knijnenburg Gezinstribune' was inaugurated at around this time. It was renamed the 'Hyundaitribune' in 2001.

On 22 April 2007, ADO played their last home game in the Zuiderpark Stadium. The following season they moved to the Den Haag Stadion.

References

^ "The tarnishing of Den Haag's golden past". 20 February 2016.
^ Montague, James (24 August 2017). The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football's Super-rich Owners WINNER FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2018. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472923134 – via Google Books.
^ "History". 29 August 2011.
^ "Holland Sport -> Afleveringen -> Holland sport -> Items -> Aad Mansveld in de eregalerij". www.vpro.nl. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2022.