DUTCH SOCCER TATTOOS—
A POWERFUL PASSION
By Tim Coleman

They call it the Great Game. And many Europeans spend more time talking about it than sex, religion or politics. It is, of course, the sport of football. And we are not talking American football (which most Europeans think is just plain weird), but, rather, the almighty game of soccer. It follows that, if you are passionate about something, you want to express that passion to others, and one way of doing that is through tattoos. It's no surprise, then, that thousands of European soccer fans express their commitment to their team and their love of the game by getting inked.

SOCCER TATTOOS
Cornelis van der Meer, or Cor for short, is a passionate soccer fan, as well as a keen photographer. He lives in Holland and has managed to combine his major passions by traveling the country photographing tattooed fans. To date, he has amassed nearly three hundred and sixty images of soccer tattoos. "I want to photograph soccer tattoos from all the leading Dutch teams," he says enthusiastically. "At the moment, I've visited seventeen out of the thirty-eight clubs. And when I've finished photographing fans from all the major clubs, I will start looking for a publisher, so I can get the photos into a book." But even if Cor finds a publisher, his project will be far from over, because after that, he plans to photograph fans and their soccer tattoos from of all the smaller clubs, too.

Cor has been passionate about soccer most of his life. "I first started following football at the age of twelve," he says. "And at that age, I wanted to play the game seriously, so joined the local club." Since he was nine, Cor had been living in Edam, an ancient northern town world-famous for its delicious cheese. Next to Edam is the town of Volendam, home to one of Holland's leading soccer teams, FC Volendam, and the team that Cor supports. The two towns are only a mile apart, so it was easy for Cor to travel from Edam to see his team compete.

Volendam is a popular tourist destination, well-known for its old fishing boats and the traditional costumes still worn by some of its inhabitants. The women's costumes of Volendam, with their high pointed bonnets, are especially famous and can be frequently seen on posters and postcards. However, it's Volendam's soccer team that has really put the town on the modern map.

COMBINING HIS PASSIONS
In 2004, while searching the Internet for fan sites of rival teams, Cor noticed that many of the fans had tattoos dedicated to the teams they supported. A little bulb lit in his head.

At that time, FC Volendam were in the top of the Dutch national league (they have since been relegated to the second division), so was it was easy for Cor to have access to both fans of his home team and those of their rivals, who came to play at the Volendam stadium. "When I go there, I am only interested in photographing fans that support my home team," he explains. "It's really very difficult to make contact with fans from opposing teams, because they are deliberately separated. They want to keep the fans apart, because they are afraid of fights or even riots breaking out."

SOCCER VIOLENCE
It's hard to imagine a riot breaking out between rival fans attending a baseball or American football game, but violence among European soccer fans is endemic and has long been a major problem. "Dutch soccer fans are usually fairly well behaved," states Cor. "And certainly not as bad as the British, who I think have the worst reputation for violence."

Nevertheless, fans from some of the Dutch teams are infamous for their nasty behavior and this can make photographing them both difficult and potentially dangerous. Cor is especially careful when approaching fans from two particular clubs, Ajax and Feyenoord. "In 1997, both these teams were involved in a major outbreak of violence," he explains. "It was really unpleasant and resulted in one of the Ajax fans being killed."

Due to the threat of violence, Cor has developed some keen diplomatic skills. Most of the time, the fans he approaches are happy to let him photograph their tattoos, since they are proud to show off their ink. But sometimes it can be difficult. "People are often very nervous, when they see a stranger with a camera," he confides. "But they don't have a problem when I tell them what I want to do with it. They are afraid that I will photograph their faces, but when I ask them if they have any tattoos and explain that I only want to photograph those, they relax."

People are paranoid about having their faces photographed because they are worried about being recognized by fans of rival soccer clubs on Cor's website. Although he is reluctant to admit it, Cor says he quite enjoys the atmosphere of potential violence that sometimes invades the stadium terraces. "There is nothing wrong with that," he affirms. "It usually doesn't scare me, but once when I was among some hardcore Feyenoord fans who were screaming and shouting, I began to worry about losing my camera."

PHOTOGRAPHING THE FANS
When attending matches in his hometown, Cor arrives at the stadium a few hours before game time. He then starts looking for people he thinks might be tattooed. Often he can tell if they have ink, just by looking at them. He appears to have developed a sort of intuition or sixth sense that enables him to identify the tattooed among the thousands of non-tattooed fans. This is a huge timesaver, for sure. There are special areas both in and outside the stadium where fans meet for a drink, and it is here that Cor finds most of the tattooed fans. For many, including Cor, having a drink before and after the game is as important as the match itself. "It's all about meeting your friends and having a laugh," he explains. "The atmosphere of comradeship is really vital to me."

DESIGNS
The majority of soccer tattoos, Cor explains, are usually small, badge designs placed on the upper shoulder. Many of these either duplicate the club's logo or incorporate it into the design. However, Cor has photographed several that don't relate to the club and are just fun images. One of my favorites is of a small boy kicking a ball, and probably based on the famous French comic character Tin-Tin. As well as using club logos in the designs, some of the tattoos are designed to trumpet the club's victories. One Ajax supporter has his arm covered with designs of the various cups the team has won, the date of the match and the final scores.

Naturally, Cor prefers finding people with large designs and big backpieces. "But these," he states, "are harder to find." And the ones he has photographed tend to be of varying quality. One design of the FC Cambuur club logo is an excellent tattoo done just in black and gray, while another backpiece from an FC Sparta supporter is a crude attempt to combine the club's logo with a tribal look. (This particular guy is in serious need of a cover-up.) The biggest backpiece Cor has found so far is on an AZ Alkmaar fan. Here, the club logo covers his entire back and, in the center, the fan has memorialized the names of the players who scored the goals that won the club the 1981 Dutch championship.

"Some of the most popular designs tend to be of bulldogs," explains Cor. "I think bulldogs are associated with aggression, and so it tells you something about that person's character." Bulldogs were also popular with members of the British skinhead gangs that used to attend U.K. soccer matches in the '80s and '90s, and who were notorious for starting fights.

POPULAR LOCATIONS
Although most tattoo designs are located on arms, legs and backs, Cor has photographed several people who have designs on their hands. One shot is of the hands of both mother and daughter who have identical tattoos representing their favorite team. Another supporter has the name of his club tattooed on the inside of his lower lip.

The fans that appear to have the most soccer tattoos are from three clubs: Ajax from Amsterdam, Feyenoord from Rotterdam and ADO from The Hague. "Ajax is the most successful club in Holland," says Cor, "so it's not surprising that many of their fans are tattooed. Who wouldn't want to show off their affiliation with the top club in the country?"

With some people, the motivation for getting tattooed can be obscure and confused. Not so with these Dutch soccer fans. "You have to remember," explains Cor, "that, like me, many of these fans have been following their team since they were kids. They will go anywhere to see them play and get soccer tattoos because the love they have for their team knows no bounds." It is, after all, a powerful passion.