- Address: Frederiklaan 10a, Eindhoven
- Country: Netherlands
- Capacity: 35,000
- Opened: 12 December 1910
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: PSV (football)
Extra stadium info – Philips Stadion
The Philips Stadion is located in North Brabant. It is named after a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. The stadium was expanded several times and it became one of the largest Dutch sports venues by capacity. The expansion of the four corners of the venue in 2002 led to its current capacity.
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship
The Philips Stadion hosted three matches for the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship. The stadium’s first UEFA European Football Championship game was won by the national football team of the Portuguese Republic after defeating England 3-2. 31,000 spectators showed up for the game. In the second match, Sweden faced Türkiye. The match ended in a goalless draw. The third game was won by the Italian Republic after defeating Sweden.
The Philips Sport Vereniging
PSV (Philips Sport Vereniging) use the Philips Stadion for home games. The football club was founded in 1913. The clubs which are currently known as FC Den Bosch, FC Eindhoven, NAC Breda, PSV and Willem II are the only football clubs from North Brabant with at least one Dutch top-flight football league title. PSV won their first-ever domestic top-division title in 1929. In 2007, PSV became the second Dutch football club with 20 top-flight league titles. PSV drew an average home attendance of 33,000 in 17 home games in that domestic football league season.
Other domestic titles
The Philips Sports Vereniging also won the Dutch cup tournament various times. They won the Dutch cup tournament in 1950 for the first time in their history. In 2022, PSV became one of the first clubs with 10 Dutch cup titles. That year, they won the Dutch cup after beating Ajax in the final of the tournament. The Dutch cup final took place in Rotterdam in front of 42,000 spectators. In 2005, PSV became the first Dutch football club with 10 super cup titles after winning the 20th edition of the Dutch super cup. They won the 20th edition of the competition after beating FC Groningen in Amsterdam in front of a crowd of 24,000.
World class players
World class players like Arjen Robben, Romário, Ronaldo, Ruud Gullit, Rutgerus van Nistelrooij and played for PSV. Rutgerus van Nistelrooij, commonly known as Ruud van Nistelrooij, became the manager of PSV in 2022. He became one of the first players who scored at least 50 goals in the UEFA Champions League. In 2005, Raúl González Blanco was the first player to reach 50 goals in the competition. He played hundreds of games for the Spanish football giants Real Madrid. Raúl González Blanco also played for Schalke from Germany, Al-Sadd from Qatar and the New York Cosmos from the United States during his professional football career.
PSV against major clubs
In 2010, PSV made international headlines when they humiliated the former European football champions Feyenoord 10-0 at the Philips Stadion. PSV also defeated some of the most famous and successful football clubs in the world at the Philips Stadion, like AC Milan, Bayern München, FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid. They also won numerous matches in Eindhoven against their arch-rivals AFC Ajax from Amsterdam. One of those matches took place on 29 October 2023. That day, Ajax moved to the bottom of the league table after PSV defeated the club from Amsterdam 5-2. PSV won 10 consecutive Dutch league matches in that football season after beating Ajax.
PSV in the 1950s and the 1970s
In 1955, PSV participated in the inaugural edition of the European championship for football clubs. 16 clubs participated in the tournament. In 1976, PSV faced the French side AS Saint-Étienne in their first-ever semi-final of the European championship for football clubs. In 1978, PSV won their first major European trophy when they won the UEFA Cup. They won the title after beating the French side SC Bastia in a two-legged final. The first leg, which took place on the island of Corsica, ended in a goalless draw. PSV won the second leg, which took place at the Philips Stadion in front of 28,000 fans.
PSV in the 1980s
PSV were crowned European football champions in 1988 for the first time in their history after Johannes Franciscus van Breukelen stopped a penalty. PSV won the title after winning 6-5 on penalties after a goalless draw against SL Benfica from the Portuguese Republic after extra time. The final of the European championship for football clubs was played in Stuttgart in front of 64,000 fans. PSV played their first-ever decisive world championship game in 1988. They faced Club Nacional de Football from Uruguay in the match, which took place in the Japanese city of Tokyo in front of 62,000 spectators. Guus Hiddink was the manager of PSV during the game. PSV became vice-world champions in 1988.
PSV in the 1990s
In 1992, PSV played in the first-ever edition of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. They faced AC Milan, FC Porto and IFK Göteborg in the group stage of the European championship for football clubs. Club Brugge, Olympique de Marseille, PFC CSKA and the Rangers also played in the first-ever edition group stage of the UEFA Champions League. On 25 November 1992, PSV faced FC Porto from the Portuguese Republic in their first-ever UEFA Champions League group-stage match. The Brazilian football legend Romário de Souza Faria scored twice for PSV in that game, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
PSV in the 2000s
In 2005, PSV reached the semi-finals of the European championship for football clubs for the third time in their history. They faced AC Milan twice in the semi-finals. On 26 April 2005, PSV lost their away game against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League. A few days later, PSV won their home game against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League 3-1. Phillip John-William Cocu scored twice for PSV in the match. Park Ji-sung also scored for PSV in the game. Johann Vogel and Mark van Bommel played against AC Milan with PSV. Later, they signed with AC Milan.
Record-breaking football players
In the 1950s, Coenraad Henrik Dillen scored 43 goals for PSV in a single Dutch top-flight football league season. The following decades, no one could score more goals in a Dutch top-flight football league season. Wilhelmus Martinus Leonardus Johannes van der Kuijlen, commonly known as Willy van der Kuijlen, scored 308 goals in 528 Dutch top-flight league matches for PSV. The record could not be broken in the following decades. Van der Kuijlen signed with PSV in 1964 and he left the club in 1981.
More records
In 1987, PSV won their first 17 domestic top-flight football league games of the football season. It became a Dutch record. The winning streak ended after a match between PSV and FC Twente ended in a 2-2 draw. Late in 2023, PSV became the only professional football club in Europe winning al their league games in that football season. Hundreds of professional football clubs in Europe already lost at least one point at that moment.
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen, one of the first professional racers with 1 million followers on his main social media page, became a fan of PSV. He also became a Formula One star. In 2021, Max Verstappen became the first Dutch racer with a Formula One championship title. The father of Max Verstappen, Johannes Franciscus Verstappen, is a former Formula One driver.
