Feyenoord on film: Memories to keep at De Kuip

Words: Sven van Deursen

Images: Sven van Deursen

When I was about twenty, I started creating content around Feyenoord.

At first, I made short atmosphere videos from matchdays, and later I produced a few documentaries.

During the COVID pandemic, when fans weren’t allowed into the stadium, a friend and I started a YouTube show to keep the community connected.

We talked about everything surrounding the club — not just the football itself, but also topics like tifos, riots, and even the players’ partners.

Last season, I began experimenting with analog photography at matches. There are plenty of talented photographers working around Feyenoord, but hardly anyone focuses on shooting with film.

I saw an opportunity to capture the club’s atmosphere in a different, more nostalgic way.

What I love most about analog photography is its limitation — you can’t shoot hundreds of photos during a matchday. It forces you to slow down, to search for the right moment.

Usually that’s during a goal, or when there’s raw emotion in the stands around you.

The day after a match, I immediately drop off my finished roll at a photo lab in the city centre. And then the waiting begins — that familiar mix of tension and excitement until the WeTransfer link with my scans finally lands in my inbox.

Sometimes the results are disappointing, but most of the time I’m genuinely proud of what comes out.

For me, analog photography captures something that digital can’t — the soul of matchday life, one frame at a time at “the tub”.