Following on from yesterdays look back at ADO’s fan history. Now we go to the present day and talk to someone who knows all about the excellent work ADO Den Haag have done over the seasons to make themselves a real family club.

The person to meet was Piet van de Laar; the chief steward at ADO Den Haag who agreed to meet me and give me a tour of the stadiums ultra modern and ever improving security systems.

As we toured the ground Piet told me that yes, trouble with ADO supporters was really bad many years ago, reaching a peak in the mid to late 80’s. I asked him how he came to be top steward after being a loyal fan from the terraces, as stewards don’t actually get much time to watch the game, if any. His reasons made perfect sense. The date was March 1st 1987; a day that went down in history as the worst football violence seen within a Dutch stadium. ADO Den Haag were hosting Ajax and vicious fighting erupted on all sides of the ground. The police panicked and began to lash out at anyone within striking range, be they involved in the trouble or not. Piet had taken his son to that match, his son is wheelchair bound and Piets main concern was getting him to safety. The police made a shield and got his son out. As this happened, Piet saw two young girls who were alone and close to the fighting, so he put his arms around them and blocked them against a wall to protect them. Next, the police were beating down on Piet’s back with their batons. After this experience, Piet made a decision to help his football club.

The following season Piet joined the team of stewards at Zuiderpark and tried to help control the crowds. Back in thos days it was a virtual impossibility to prevent the trouble, it was mob rule. Then, on the 15th February 1992 a new initiative was started that would become the start of a whole new way to deal with supporters that would eventually be adopted by clubs across the Netherlands. Instead of fighting the hooligans, they wanted the hooligans to be a part of the team, a team who took pride in the club and community.

The start was terrible. The hooligans looked upon the new stewarding as another rival to go along side the police and rival fans. Piet said it was hard work and at times really very difficult. As the season passed and the stewards and hooligans started to get to know one another things began to calm down. As the seasons passed, things improved. Piet puts this down to being able to get to the newer fans at an early stage of their supporting careers and show them that being a football supporter does not mean being a hooligan, far from it.

Today Piet is the chief steward and is proud of his and his stewards achievements. Piet has a reputation at ADO and is well respected by all there, from the Chairman to the casual supporter. He says that when the stadium is sold out, he reckons that 80% of the fans there know him or of him and respect him for his work. So much has the fan attitude at ADO changed that the hooligans of old who attend the matches help out if anyone starts to misbehave. The old hooligans are now an extra arm to the stewarding team that are making ADO Den Haag a safer place to visit.

So that is how the breakthrough was made, but what of the security itself within the stadium? Well the blindingly obvious is that the barbed wire and cattle gates have gone. No relation to a prison camp at ADO anymore, simple improvement, but one which makes one hell of a difference on the people attending.

The network of control for crowd control is quite simple, but well regimented in its operations. There is a chief of security who has three direct groups to deal with. The control room were the CCTV’s are monitored. There is a project manager who liaises with other clubs, police and other emergency services and finally an operations commander. The operations commander has six supervisors who in turn are in control of the stewards in and around the stadium.

On a match day there are normally 112 stewards on duty plus up to 40 other security staff who are brought in from an outside source. The head stewards have to be at the stadium four hours before kick off to attend security briefings. Every other steward has to be at the ground three hours prior to kick off. Why so early? The stewards individually check that each of the 10,000 seats is securely bolt in place. All emergency exits are checked as are all the fire extinguishers.

When the turnstiles open to allow fans access to the stadium, an ultra modern high specification system comes in to play. To enter most games you have to be in possession of a club card or season ticket. You enter your ticket into a reader, if accepted you pass through one gate. Then you come face to face with a turnstile operator who will see if your face matches the one that is registered to the card on the clubs fan base system. If you match, you are then allowed to pas through a second gate where the fan will be then searched by a steward for any dangerous items. This is why you have to take legitimate ID with you if you attend a game when day cards can be purchased. AS your details will be entered on to that system too, so you will always be caught if you misbehave! This security is not just for your average match going fan either. In the main stand where all the private boxes are situated, everybody, even top VIP’s have to go through a security gate, there is not one thing left to chance when people enter the stadium.

All the above high tec security is deemed not good enough! At this time ADO are installing a new facial recognition system. Trails have already started and the equipment already installed. A photo of you is taken using six cameras at different angles, reading your facial features. It is hoped eventually that you will not even have to show your tickets to enter the ground. A scanner will pick up your ID electronically from within your pocket or wallet etc. A camera will scan your face at the entrance, if it is a match, in you go. This will make entering so much quicker and will also rule out anybody cheating the system.

Into the control room which has a clear view of the inner stadium area. Present in this room at each game is a representative from ADO Den Haag, the police, the fire service and the medical team. With these are between seven and nine people who monitor the four large television screens and twenty two other monitors. These monitors receive pictures from the 122 CCTV cameras that show complete coverage of property owned by ADO Den Haag, both inside and outside the stadium.

If an individual decided to play up within the stadiums limits, his/her images are sent to three screens and with CCTV coverage, this person would always be tracked by three cameras no matter where they were. It really is impossible to hide in and around the stadium. You misbehave, you will be caught!

The pitch itself is well separated from the danger of invasion by a large wall and moat, but the stadium is built in a way that everybody is still close to the pitch and has a clear view of the action. There is also a great deterrent for not invading the playing surface. A 10 year instant ban plus a fine of €15,000! If you do not pay the club, then it goes to the police who will then deal with it, severely.

There is also a room within the stadium that holds a magistrate. If you commit an offence that breaches the stadium regulations, you would be taken there and dealt with legally. If it was for severe verbal abuse etc, you may be fined on the spot. You can pay it there and then and even allowed to go back and watch the game, but a record is kept on ADO Den Haag and police files. It is an approach that really works well according to Piet. It is a room that is now very rarely used. As it is a full legal team in there, anything serious can be dealt with quickly, charges made and you could be instantly shipped off out in to police custody.

So what of any trouble making visiting supporters? Well it can’t happen, simple as that. A visiting fan to ADO Den Haag has a very interesting journey to say the least. From no matter where you travel from as an away supporter in Holland, even if it means driving past the stadium, you have to go close to Zoetermeer. As from there, there is a private 15km road that is used for transporting visitors to the ADO Den Haag stadium ensuring that any contact with rival fans is impossible! When there are no games, this road is open to cyclists. Once inside the stadium gates, visitors go through a turnstile, up some stairs and through a walk way in to the stadium itself. There is a huge plexi glass screen at the front and at both sides, plus netting above that to prevent any missiles being hurled. A physical confrontation of any kind can not happen. Visitors still do have very good sight of the pitch and have their own catering and toilet facilities and match programmes. They are certainly well cared for by the home club, which I believe is quite rare these days.

It is amazing security but one which has paid off well for ADO Den Haag. Clubs travel to the stadium to see how it all works, not just the gadgets, but also how their stewarding works and why is works so well. ADO Den Haag has become the envy of clubs in Holland with their achievements in changing how their fans and team are perceived from outside the club.

It is not only the clubs reputation that gains from this. Fans have been rewarded already, as last season it was already allowed for the fans to stay after the match and have a drink and listen to some music under the Aad Mansveld stand. If there is no return to drunken behaviour then it is hoped to eventually to sell normal beer and allow fans to stay behind after games and have a party. It is a great way to ensure that the fans behave and actually fall in love with the club again and see it not just as a football club but also as a social club in which to be proud.

In Part 3: The fans speak for themselves, do they want expats there?

By Neal McClimon
neal@thehagueonline.com
www.itpphotography.com

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