Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip

What Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip does

Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip is a Dutch non-profit foundation (stichting) with ANBI status, founded in 2018 and officially established in February 2019 by Feyenoord supporters. Headquartered in Rotterdam with 12 employees, its sole statutory purpose is to preserve, develop, and operate De Kuip as a state-of-the-art football stadium for Feyenoord without any profit motive. The foundation emerged from the supporters' collective Stadion op Zuid in response to the proposed Feyenoord City new stadium project.

The foundation's core activities are advocacy, legal action, and supporter mobilization rather than commercial operations. It does not sell products or services and generates no commercial revenue; funding comes from subsidies, gifts, donations, bequests, and other contributions. It engages supporters through its website (vriendenvandekuip.nl), Twitter, match-day flyer campaigns (notably the 'I Love De Kuip' campaign on 5 March 2022), press commentary, and radio interviews on NPO Radio 1. In 2019 it made a €15 million bid (plus 40 years of free seat rights for Sportclub Feyenoord members) to acquire the 53% share package in Stadion Feijenoord N.V., successfully blocking the sale of those shares to private individuals.

The foundation's most consequential strategic outcomes include co-supporting Stadion op Zuid's 2021 appeal to the Raad van State against the Feyenoord City zoning plan, contributing to Feyenoord's April 2022 decision to cancel the Feyenoord City project in favor of investing in the existing De Kuip stadium. The foundation is governed by a board (Kees Lau as Chairman, Glenn Gouijn Stook as Treasurer, Loet van den Berg as Secretary) and supported by a Raad van Advies (Advisory Council) including architects Paul Groenendijk and Jan van Ballegooijen, historian Jan Oudenaarden (d. January 2025), and customer experience advisor Frans Reichardt.

Name

Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip

Legal name

Stichting Vrienden van de Kuip

Website

https://vriendenvandekuip.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip is a Dutch non-profit ANBI foundation, founded in 2018/2019 in Rotterdam, that advocates for the preservation and modernization of De Kuip stadium for Feyenoord through supporter mobilization, legal action, and political engagement, without commercial operations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Non-profit Stadium Advocacy

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

akta.pro primary industry

Disability Rights & Accessibility Advocacy (BPAGAFAF)

Keywords

• Stadium preservation advocacy
• Supporter fan foundation
• Nonprofit sports advocacy
• Football heritage foundation
• Stadium governance representation

Headquarters

HQ city

Rotterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip is a non-profit supporter foundation that advocates for the preservation, modernization, and non-profit operation of De Kuip football stadium in Rotterdam for Feyenoord. It pursues this through public advocacy, policy documents, supporter mobilisation campaigns, political and legal engagement (including a Raad van State appeal), and competitive bids for stadium shares to keep the venue within the Feyenoord community.

Product overview

Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip is a non-profit foundation established in 2018 by Feyenoord supporters. The organization does not offer commercial products or services; its mission is to preserve, develop, and exploit De Kuip stadium as a state-of-the-art football stadium for Feyenoord. The foundation operates as an advocacy and civic organization rather than a product or technology company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully prevented the sale of 52% of stadium shares to private individuals Cees de Bruin and Cees Ultee through public advocacy and competitive bidding
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Stadion op ZuidcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStadion op Zuid is an independent supporters' collective that regularly publishes critical analyses of the Feyenoord City plans and makes all project documents publicly available. Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip supported Stadion op Zuid's appeal to the Council of State (Raad van State) against the Feyenoord City zoning plan in March 2021. Both organizations share the goal of protecting De Kuip and Feyenoord from unfavorable stadium development plans.
• FSV De FeijenoorderminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSV De Feijenoorder is a Feyenoord supporters' association. Loet van den Berg serves as a volunteer for FSV De Feijenoorder and also holds positions in Supporters Steunen Feyenoord and the Feyenoord Supporters Council. Frans Reichardt serves as an advisor to FSV De Feijenoorder.
• Supporters Steunen FeyenoordminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporters Steunen Feyenoord (SSF) is a foundation formed in 2010 to support Feyenoord's capital injection. Kees Lau is chairman of both organizations, and Loet van den Berg is a former board member. SSF contributed €750,000 through nearly 20,000 supporters for the club's rescue in 2010.
• Vereniging Aandeelhouders Stadion Feijenoord (VASF)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVASF is the Association of Shareholders of Stadion Feijenoord. After the foundation's pamphlet campaign for De Kuip's preservation, VASF featured an image of a modernized De Kuip on the cover of its members' magazine Perspectief. The foundation was invited to dialogue with VASF's board in early 2020.
• Municipality of Rotterdam (Gemeente Rotterdam)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe municipality of Rotterdam is the local government authority involved in Feyenoord City plans and stadium-related decisions. The foundation has engaged in political dialogue and filed an appeal with the Council of State regarding the Feyenoord City zoning plan, which was supported by the municipality's decisions.

Recent moves6 records

Others

• KNVB Supporterszaken: The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) and its supporters' liaison function engage with organized supporter groups on national-level governance, including stadium issues. Functions as the institutional dialogue partner rather than a competing advocacy body.

Direct peers

• Stadion op Zuid: Independent Feyenoord supporters' collective that publishes critical analyses of the Feyenoord City plans and made all project documents publicly available. Co-filed the Council of State appeal with Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip in March 2021, making it the foundation's closest organizational mirror.
• Supporters Steunen Feyenoord (SSF): Dutch foundation formed in 2010 to support Feyenoord's capital injection, raising €750,000 from nearly 20,000 supporters for the club's rescue. Chairman Kees Lau leads both SSF and Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip, making it a direct, board-overlapping peer in supporter-led football advocacy.
• VAK-P (Vereniging Ajax Klanten Permanente): Independent Ajax supporters' collective that organizes fan actions and represents supporter interests in club governance. Closely mirrors Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip's role at Feyenoord and serves as the natural cross-club counterpart.
• Vereniging Aandeelhouders Stadion Feijenoord (VASF): Association of Shareholders of Stadion Feijenoord. Engaged in direct dialogue with the foundation in early 2020 and featured a modernized De Kuip on the cover of its Perspectief members' magazine, making it the institutional counterpart in the same stadium-ownership ecosystem.
• Supportersvereniging Ajax: Official supporters' association of AFC Ajax, the other major Dutch football club facing stadium-related pressures (Johan Cruyff Arena redevelopment, fan representation). Operates the same supporter-representation model at a competing Eredivisie club, making it a directly analogous peer.
• Erfpachtersvereniging De Kuip: Association of long-term ground-lease holders of De Kuip stadium. Represents a specific stakeholder constituency within the same De Kuip ecosystem and shares the foundation's interest in keeping the stadium under community-aligned stewardship.
• FSV De Feijenoorder: Official Feyenoord supporters' association (FSV). Two of the foundation's board members (Kees Lau, Loet van den Berg) and one advisory council member (Frans Reichardt) also serve FSV De Feijenoorder, making it a directly comparable supporter-representation body at the same club.

Broad incumbents

• Football Supporters Europe (FSE): Pan-European network of football supporter organizations that advocates for fan rights, ownership representation, and stadium heritage at EU level. Operates in the same advocacy niche as Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip but at continental scale rather than club level.
• Football Supporters' Association (FSA, formerly Supporters Direct): UK-based national supporter-representation body that promotes fan ownership, engagement, and governance rights across English football. Closest international analogue to the foundation's model of organized, structured supporter advocacy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/vriendenvdekuip
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stichting-vrienden-van-de-kuip

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stichting Vrienden van De Kuip