Supporters of Dutch Eredivisie football club PSV Eindhoven who missed out on attending matches during the COVID-19 pandemic have been invited to reinvest their compensation money into improvements at Philips Stadion.
Season ticket holders who continued paying for matches while COVID-19 restrictions were in place are entitled to reimbursement from the club. Alternatively, they will be able to give the money back to PSV to improve the match-day experience at Philips Stadion.
Local newspaper Eindhovens Dagblad reports that the money reinvested by fans will be placed into a pot, which will be reserved for “innovations and better facilities” at the stadium. Every euro contributed by fans will be doubled by the club.
Improvements would include better catering options for fans, more red and white decorations around the stadium, and easier access in the turnstiles. The cumulative amount that supporters can reclaim from the four or five matches they missed is almost €2.5m (£2.1m/$2.7m).
PSV’s commercial director Frans Janssen told the Eindhovens Dagblad: “We are accountable for the money that comes in and together with our supporters united in PSV Klankbord (a PSV supporters group), we will look at exactly where the priorities lie. Based on this, we will make a choice on where we want to focus on improvements at Philips Stadion.”
Dutch football stadiums were closed from mid-November as the Netherlands imposed strict COVID-19 guidelines. PSV was able to welcome back a full crowd to Philips Stadion for the 3-1 win against Heerenveen on February 20.
In May last year, PSV opened up Philips Stadion for fans to visit during the day, free of charge. The stadium was open for fans to take their lunch to eat in the stands, check out the pitch or take photos.
In November 2020, Philips extended its sponsorship of the 35,000-capacity venue until 2031. PSV’s partnership with Philips dates back to 1913.
Image: Michielverbeek/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size
