The 1999 Rotterdam riots refers to serious riots and clashes between Dutch security forces and football

hooligan Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events. Etymology There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a d ...

s in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 26 April 1999.

Riots

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

football club won the Dutch title ( 1998-99 Eredivisie) on 25 April having beaten

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

in a game. In celebration a large street party ceremony of up to 250,000 people took place in

Coolsingel Coolsingel is a street in central Rotterdam. It is located in the Cool district. The street leads from the Hofplein to the Churchillplein. Plans were announced in 2016 to reduce traffic congestion on the street. The redevelopment is expected to ...

in Rotterdam city centre. Trouble from about 100 to 150 youngsters and hooligans soon broke out who clashed with police on Stadsplein. Shortly after, shops and property were smashed in wide-scale

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

Lijnbaan The Lijnbaan is the main shopping street of Rotterdam. It was opened in 1953, as the main pedestrian street in the new shopping district, after the old shopping district was completely destroyed during the bombing of Rotterdam by the German Luft ...

, with windows of 93 stores smashed. Riot police used water cannons to disperse the crowd. Officers were also forced to open fire, shooting four hooligans. Altogether 16 people were injured, whilst 80 were arrested. It is thought hooligans fired back at police. These were some of the worst instances of hooligan violence in the country.

Aftermath

The violence caused 10 million

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

s in damages. Furthermore, four people were hospitalised, including a Feyenoord supporter who was shot in the stomach. It was later reported that most of the hooligans were simply opportunistic, with only loose connections to the football club. The riots were yet another troubled event in the lead up of the Netherlands co-hosting

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, coming two years after the infamous

Battle of Beverwijk The Battle of Beverwijk (Dutch: "Slag bij Beverwijk") was a violent confrontation between two hooligan supporter groups of Dutch Association football clubs Ajax and Feyenoord, the S.C.F. Hooligans and the F-Side. The incident took place on 23 M ...

, as well as widescale riots and fighting in Rotterdam during the 1998 Dutch cup final between supporters of

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

and Feyenoord. Furthermore, a friendly match between the Netherlands and Morocco in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

on 21 April 1999, days before the riots in Rotterdam, involved a group of Moroccan fans invading the pitch and others causing trouble in the city of Rotterdam. '' Bild Zeitung'', a German tabloid newspaper, made an article at the time asking "Is Holland safe enough for Euro 2000?"

References

{{Feyenoord 1999 crimes in the Netherlands Riots and civil disorder in the Netherlands Association football hooliganism Feyenoord 20th century in Rotterdam Events in Rotterdam