Sjoerd Oude Weernink was born in the Dutch town of Borne in 1994, where he still lives to this day. He works as a project manager in the IT sector and is president of BVB Fanclub Nederland.

When and how did you become a Borussia Dortmund fan? 
I’ve been a supporter of the club all my life. That’s mainly because of the world-famous “Yellow Wall” which I have loved since I was just a kid. For me, football games in Germany are by far the best. There’s no other country with that kind of stadium atmosphere. My favorite team in the Netherlands is Heracles Almelo. I have a season ticket just like my father, my mother and my brother. I’ve had mine since I was a little boy. It would be fantastic if Borussia Dortmund and Almelo were to play against each other some time, even if it’s only a friendly.

When was the first time you went to a Borussia Dortmund game?
That was in March 2016 against Mainz. I went there with my brother. Borussia won 2–0, with goals by Shinji Kagawa and Marco Reus. The atmosphere was unbelievable. The sight of that gigantic south terrace even from my seat in an upper block on the north terrace was simply mind-blowing. It was a truly amazing day and I decided right away to go to their games more often in the future. Since then, I’ve been to every home game together with many of our fan club members. My regular seat is in block 83 on the south terrace. I also go to maybe five away games each season, including one Champions League game. 

You are president of BVB Fanclub Nederland. When was it founded and how many members do you have?
The fan club was set up by Mike Wiersma in 2016 under the name of Dutch Vikings 09. It has now been renamed BVB Fanclub Nederland, but we still keep to what it used to be known as for some of our longer-standing members. Our fan club comprises some 100 Borussia supporters from all over the Netherlands. Around 30 of us on average can be found at every home game in Dortmund. Whether it’s live in the stadium or at home in front of the TV, the BVB Fanclub Nederland members never miss a single Borussia Dortmund game. 

How big is Borussia Dortmund in the Netherlands?
Borussia Dortmund is a household name for every Dutch football fan – not least thanks to coaches and players such as Peter Bosz and, right now, Donyell Malen. More and more Dutch people are talking about Borussia, watch their games live or just go on a tour of the stadium. Needless to say, we’re proud of Donyell who is finally playing really well for the club. But at the end of the day, of course, it’s all down to the team, their performance and their success. There are a many talented Dutch players. We would recommend signing Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo!

Interview: Uwe Schedlbauer

In this section, our main sponsor Evonik, who supports us at all of our international games, lets soccer fans who feel close to Borussia Dortmund but live nowhere near SIGNAL IDUNA PARK have their say.

These days, it’s Donyell Malen who is delighting the fans. But the first Dutch footballer to play for Borussia Dortmund was Willi Lippens who wore the black and yellow jersey from 1976 to 1978. His unusual, waddling style of running earned him the nickname “Ente” (Duck). Known also for his humor, Lippens will forever be remembered for being sent off when he made fun of the referee who, when admonishing the player, made a grammatical error. That famous exchange – which can be roughly translated as, “Mr. Lippens, I warn to you”, “Mr. Referee, I thank to you” – has been quoted many times over the years. Even more important than finding the right words is finding the right formulas, especially when it comes to chemistry. Evonik has a presence at Delfzijl in the Dutch province of Friesland. There, the company produces hydrogen peroxide, an eco-friendly allrounder that can be used, for instance, as a disinfecting, cleaning and bleaching agent before decomposing into water and oxygen. It’s also suitable for cleaning drip irrigation systems employed in areas such as tomato farming. In addition, Evonik offers a variety of solutions for more sustainable livestock feeds on the Dutch market which are distributed through its Amsterdam-based sales office.