Kees Vierhouten, the majority shareholder of Dutch Eredivisie football club Go Ahead Eagles, has announced plans to fully fund a redevelopment of the team’s De Adelaarshorst stadium.
The stadium’s current capacity is 10,000 but Vierhouten has announced plans to eventually expand this to around 12,500.
Vierhouten became majority shareholder of the club in August and he has announced to personally take care of the stadium redevelopment following talks with the Mayor and aldermen of Deventer, the city in which Go Ahead Eagles is based.
The redevelopment of De Adelaarshorst will centre on two new grandstands in 2024. Dutch newspaper AD reports that the club still has an outstanding loan from the city as a building deposit for previous work, but this will be paid off.
Jan Willem van Dop, general manager at Go Ahead Eagles, said: “The fact that we can now pay for the expansion of the stadium ourselves makes us a bit more independent of public money. This prevents discussions about public money and politicians that want to find something from the club.”
Vierhouten first acquired shares in Go Ahead Eagles in 2019 and currently owns an 89.9% stake in the club. The club was promoted from the second division in 2020-21 and finished 13th in the Eredivisie last season.
