Feyenoord

The first semi-final match of the KNVB Beker tournament shocked many in the football world as Ajax was knocked out of the competition by hosts FC Utrecht, 2-0. It was the third loss in the last four matches for the club from Amsterdam.

It was jubilation for the Utrecht side, who will find out their opponent in the final Thursday night when Feyenoord plays NAC Breda. A Feyenoord victory would give the Utrecht team a chance to avenge their cup final loss four years ago.

An impending winter storm on Sunday prompted Dutch football association KNVB to suspend all matches that day. Four matches in the top level Eredivisie will be rescheduled, as well as the country's full slate of amateur football matches, the KNVB said on Saturday.

The Eredivisie matches include FC Utrecht vs. Ajax, AZ vs. Feyenoord, Sparta Rotterdam vs. ADO Den Haag, and FC Emmen vs. FC Twente.

The police arrested or detained a total of 42 people around the football match between Rotterdam's Feyenoord the Glasgow Rangers on Thursday. In addition to the fans who went to watch the match in De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam, hundreds of Scottish football supporters also gathered in Amsterdam.

Dick Advocaat is the new head coach of Feyenoord. He signed a contract that lasts until the end of the season and is bringing John de Wolf and Cor Pot with him to be his assistants, AD reports.

Thursday was a tumultuous day for Dutch football in the third Europea League qualifying rounds. While AZ failed to score a single goal against FC Marioepol despite having 20 shots, Feyenoord managed to score three goals in 10 minutes against Dinamo Tbilisi. The AZ vs FC Marioepol match ended 0-0, the Feyenoord vs Dinamo Tbilisi one ended 4-0.

Michel Z., a 48-year-old former equipment manager for Feyenoord, is suspected of murdering Raouf Ben Alita in Belgium last week. A Belgian court ordered his arrest, Belgian newspaper De Gazet van Antwerpen reports.

At long last, fans of Rotterdam's most famous football team have a new way of replacing their fire extinguishers manufactured by Dutch firm Ajax. The Feyenoord football club has given permission for its name and red-and-white color scheme to be used as branding on new pieces of firefighting gear to take the spot of those proudly bearing the Ajax name.

Ajax, now owned by Chubb, has produced fire extinguishers in Amsterdam for over 100 years. Of course it also happens to share the brand name with Amsterdam's top football club, the arch-rival of Feyenoord.

Three 21-year-old Feyenoord fans were arrested in Naples during the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Dutch men are accused of throwing stones at police officers, among other things. They are in custody, NU.nl reports.

The captain of 12 Dutch football teams in the Eredivisie want artificial turf to be banned for matches in the highest football league in the country. Davy Klaasen of Ajax, Luuk de Jong of PSV and Dirk Kuyt until recently of Feyenoord, among others, signed a manifesto drawn up by players union VVCS. The manifesto demands that the license requirements for the Eredivisie include a requirement for real grass, such as the requirement for the quality of lighting, RTL Nieuws reports.

Between 140 thousand and 150 thousand supporters filled the streets of Rotterdam city center on Monday to honor Feyenoord and congratulate the team on its Eredivisie victory. The players appeared on the city hall balcony shortly after noon and joined the thousands of supporters singing You'll Never Walk Alone, led by Lee Powers, NOS reports. 

Rotterdam will celebrate Feyenoord's first Eredivisie title in 18 years with an official congratulations ceremony on the Coolsingel today. The party officially starts at 11:30 a.m., with the team expected around noon. But fans started showing up at the Coolsingel from 6:30 a.m. this morning, according to the Volkskrant.