They are a club with one of the most obscure names in European football.
Venlose Voetbal Vereniging Venlo or VVV are a Dutch club located in Venlo, a city in the south-eastern regions of Netherlands very near the German border.
Home territory is the Stadion de Koel. It is a neat but small stadium of 8,000 which was opened on the 19th of March 1972 with a match between VVV Venlo and Cambuur Leeuwarden two clubs that are 190 km apart.
Only recently have Venlo returned to playing in the Eredivisie; bouncing back and returning in 2017.
With only a KNVB cup win in the 1950’s the home stadium has hardly changed in appearance since its opening. Only irregular periods of refurbishment have occurred these largely happening in lieu of promotion.
The most distinctive feature of the De Koel is that it lies in a den, which translates to Koel in the Dutch dialect that is spoken locally. The dressing rooms for the players are located on top of high banking areas, which means that the players have to walk down an open-air flight of stairs to reach the pitch.
While the club is rightly proud of its surrounds VVV have been planning a move to a new stadium which would almost double the capacity to 15,000 seats.
At various points an agreement has been reached both with commercial partners and the local municipality to transform the stadium. However, due to relegation a lack of stability has continually put the start of any new project in jeopardy.
The stadium lies on the Kaldenkerkerweg, which starts in the city centre of Venlo and continues through to Germany.
You walk up on match night and join the many others walking from the station.
The border with Germany sits only 1.6 km away meaning that German speaking fans are attracted to following the club despite giants Borussia Monchengladbach being located 33 km to the east.