Feyenoord and Stadium Feijenoord are taking the next step towards the realisation of the new stadium, the Rotterdam club reports through official channels on Thursday. The Feyenoord City project office will start making the technical design before the end of the week. This is one of the final steps in the design process, before various permits have to be applied for.

“The road is still long and we’re certainly not there yet. But good steps have been taken in recent months, which give the club and the stadium the confidence that we – hand in hand with many supporters, the municipality and other stakeholders – can get the new stadium done. This is despite the current very difficult coronation period,’ says managing director Mark Koevermans on the Feyenoord site.

Feyenoord and Stadium Feijenoord will work together even more closely than before to further improve the business case, construction costs and financing. The two Supervisory Boards and the managements have also agreed to jointly lead the project to a final investment decision, scheduled for autumn 2021. “Club and Stadium are happy with the design of the new stadium”, continues Koevermars.

“It looks beautiful. On the basis of the deepening we are continuously making and the insights that this provides, we feel that the new stadium is feasible and can make a significant contribution to the desired growth of Feyenoord’s football budget and the development of the club as a whole. In addition to making the technical design, there is still a lot of work to be done over the next twelve months. This applies to the construction costs, the financing and the business case, in which we naturally also want to incorporate the possible permanent Covid-19 effects as well as possible”.

The costs involved in the technical design will be paid externally, reports Feyenoord. Arrangements have been made about this in close consultation with the Foundation for Area Development on the Maas. They are responsible for the further roll-out of the area development. The first pile for the new stadium is planned for spring 2022. In that case, the new stadium will open in 2025.