Philips Stadion

Philips Stadion is the 35,000 seater stadium of football club, PSV Eindhoven. It was first inaugurated on 31 August 1913. The stadium is located in the Philipsdorp ('Philips village') part of the Eindhoven borough of Strijp, close to Eindhoven's city centre.

As late as 1933, its capacity was only 300, and remained that size until its expansion in 1941 to 18,000 spectators.

The final days of World War II witnessed great destruction in the city of Eindhoven and also to the stadium itself. Repairs were duly made, culminating in the expansion of the stadium to 22,000 capacity in 1958. Further expansions of the North stand (1995) and the four quadrants (in 2000 and 2002) of the stadium led to its current capacity. The stadium can accommodate 35,119 people on match days. Plans to further expand the ground to 45,000 seats have been examined, but turned down after The Netherlands lost the 2018 FIFA World Cup bid. The average attendance for the season 2007/08 was 33,600.

To allow for enough airflow over the pitch, the seats in the four quadrants are placed in a ventilating position when no match is being played. This contributes to a better quality of the grass. Another measure is the use of grow lights in between matches.

The stadium is sometimes used for matches of the Dutch national football team, the first one being on November 17, 1971: a qualifying match for the 1972 UEFA European Championship against Luxembourg (8–0). The stadium's official record attendance is 34,700, set on 23 October 2005 for the Eredivisie match between PSV Eindhoven and AFC Ajax.

In the summer of 2005, the board of the club decided to remove the tall fences around the pitch, replacing them with 35 inches (90 cm) high railings keeping the spectators off the grass. Unauthorized persons who do invade the pitch will receive a 15,000 euro penalty and a ten-year-ban from visiting the Philips Stadion.

In the event of football matches or other major events, the stadium can be reached by train through the Eindhoven Stadion railway station, which has a pedestrian bridge that connects directly to the stadium. When the station is serviced, trains travelling between Eindhoven Beukenlaan and Eindhoven will stop at the station. When leaving the stadium it is only possible to travel in the direction of Eindhoven station, where many Intercity services go from.

Read more about Philips Stadion:  Euro 2000 Matches, Average Attendances, Trivia

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    Timely blossom, Infant fair,
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    —Ambrose Philips (1675–1749)