European giants forced out of their stadium by Harry Styles ahead of crucial playoff

Updated: 19 May 2026 05:12 CDT | 5 min read

FT Desk

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When the council in Amsterdam sought to schedule a huge Harry Styles gig at the Johan Cruijff Arena, they thought Ajax's season would have been done and dusted.

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Unfortunately, there's now a logistical nightmare in place as, while the Eredivisie league phase is now over, Ajax's poor performance in the Dutch top flight this season means they face a playoff to qualify for the Europa Conference League.

At the beginning of the campaign, Ajax would naturally have had their eye on the title but they have been hugely disappointing in 2025/26 and will not even qualify for the Champions League.

The top two teams in the league automatically qualify for the Champions League league phase, while third place enters the Champions League playoffs. Fourth place qualified for the Europa League.

The teams that finished fifth to eighth play each other in an end-of-season tournament over two semi-finals and one final to determine who earns a place in the Europa Conference League.

Ajax's playoff semi-final is scheduled to take place this Thursday versus Groningen but Styles is playing a series of money-spinning gigs which means the club is being forced out of their home for these crucial fixtures.

Their home stadium has a capacity of over 56,000 people but they will now play their semi-final playoff in FC Volendam's Kras Stadion which has a capacity of just under 7,000 spectators.

They have effectively given up their home advantage in a fixture that will determine whether or not they play in Europe next season.

The fact that the game is taking place in Volendam specifically has presented further issues.

At the weekend, violence involving FC Volendam fans has led to local authorities banning away fans for the fixture between Ajax and Groningen.

That means that Groningen fans will not be in attendance through no fault of their own, as if the match was taking place in Amsterdam, they would have been allowed a section of supporters.

Dutch outlet AD reports that Groningen as threatening to boycott the fixture entirely.

"Monday morning, FC Groningen was unpleasantly surprised with the announcement that supporters of the club are not allowed to travel to Volendam next Thursday. FC Groningen has engaged the professional football league board and is considering the steps to be taken," the club said on Monday.

Harry Styles has forced one of Europe’s biggest clubs to move to a rival stadium 👀🎤

But why has the unexpected move happened? pic.twitter.com/PVHqfgxo3z
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 18, 2026

Groningen general manager Frank van Mosselveld said the club is assessing all options ahead of Thursday: "We are now looking at where our options and resources lie to take action against this. This is outrageous.

"Look, the sporting aspect must come first. But we all find this so unacceptable and unjust that we are first trying to ensure that supporters are allowed to attend on Thursday. All scenarios are on the table. We are not ruling anything out at this moment. It surprises and overwhelms us. This is so unjust."

The KNVB wants supporters of FC Groningen and Willem II, as the two away sides in the semi-final this week, to be welcome in the stadium of FC Volendam for the matches in the play-off.

"The professional football competition board took note this morning of the decision of the mayor of Edam-Volendam that no away crowd is welcome at the matches Ajax - FC Groningen and FC Volendam - Willem II. This afternoon there was a good conversation with the mayor. In this conversation, the competition board kindly but urgently asked him to reconsider his decision", the KNVB said in a statement.

It looks like the Amsterdam council has chosen money over sportsmanship.

It's a sign of the times...

Dutch football expert Dylan ter Laak explains more:

"The concerts usually wouldn't have caused any trouble, considering the fact Ajax usually doesn't finish the league on a playoff spot. Due to the poor performances this season the situation is completely different. It resulted in the matches being played in the stadium of FC Volendam, a small stadium in just a small town. In Volendam they accepted Ajax playing there quite easily. It would have caused even more chaos if the matches were to be played in Alkmaar (AZ) or Utrecht (FC Utrecht), since the relationships between the fans aren't the best. Finding a stadium proved to be the first problem, but the solution was - luckily - found quite easily.

"Because of issues between the fans of FC Volendam and the police during the last match of the season, it was decided to basically ban the away fans from FC Groningen, as well as Willem II who FC Volendam will play in the relegation playoffs. This was due to safety reasons. Of course this resulted in frustration at FC Groningen, who even threatened not to play the entire match against Ajax.

"Pressure was being put on the municipality of Edam-Volendam and it eventually resulted in the away fans being accepted. However it's not clear if there are special terms. In the end the Harry Styles concerts could have caused much more mayhem, but for now everything seems to be okay even though it still will probably be talked about for a while."