NEC Nijmegen

Location

Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Capacity

12,500

Opened

1939

Time zone

UTC +01:00 Central European Time (CET)

The Goffertstadion, formerly known as McDOS Goffertstadion for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Nijmegen, Netherlands, located in the Goffertpark. It is home to the football club NEC. The stadium was opened on 8 July 1939 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. Since 1951 the opening of the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen, the so-called Vlaggenparade, a parade with the national flags of all participants is held in the stadium. NEC Nijmegen are the tenants of the 12,470-capacity venue. On 19 October 1983 NEC played a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup match against FC Barcelona, still seen as the most important match ever played in the Goffert stadium. The stadium was rebuilt into a modern facility with all seats covered and heated; the catering facilities were also updated. The first home match in the new stadium took place in September 1999. The grand re-opening was on 25 January 2000. One of the main changes was situating the spectators closer to the playing ground. The goal was to give the renovated stadium an improved atmosphere and the players a better interaction with the crowd. The playing ground and the rest of the stadium are separated from each other by a promenade which is situated under the spectators’ seats. This promenade has a double function: It prevents supporters from entering the playing ground while at the same time containing food and beverage outlets as well as bathrooms. A specially constructed space under the playing ground can store heat to warm up the playing ground, so that matches can still take place during winter. In November 2007 the board of NEC and the city of Nijmegen presented new plans for De Goffert. The capacity is intended to be increased to 20,000 and the stadium will be placed largely underground inside a large hill. This hill will also serve as a home for basketball (Matrixx Magixx), judo and other sports, creating a 'House of Topsports'. The strange, but innovative, design is needed because the city will not allow the stadium to grow in height because of the Goffert Park, which is a protected nature-site. The Nijmegen venue hosted three international matches of the Netherlands national football team in the 1970s, with the last being a qualifying match for Euro 1980 on 20 September 1978 against Iceland: 3–0. The goals were scored by Ruud Krol, Ernie Brandts and Rob Rensenbrink (penalty). On 6 September 2006, it hosted a "home" game of the Israel national football team against Andorra.