When a story hits the news about European soccer fans throwing things in the stands, it usually doesn’t end well. Soccer hooligans are known to hurl smoke bombs, beer bottles, and even bananas from the rafters, disrupting games and creating a dangerous environment for players. But last Sunday, Dutch fans of the ADO Den Haag football team made news for throwing something totally different: stuffed animals.
When the traveling fans of ADO Den Haag bought their seats to an away game in Rotterdam, they learned they’d be seated a deck above a group of sick children from the Sophia Children’s Hospital. So they decided to do something truly memorable. “A call to all away supporters,” a fan group posted on Twitter. “Take with you a little cuddly toy to the game. Just make sure there are no hard things are in the toy. So no beads and buttons, children from the Sofia Children’s Hospital will take be under us at the away end. Throw your cuddly toy to them in order to make an unforgettable day a lasting memory!” So in the twelfth minute of the match, ADO Den Haag fans rained hundreds of stuffed animals on the seats below creating a moment the children will never forget.
WoW prachtige foto van de Haagse knuffelregen in De Kuip. #feyADO #ADO #Feyenoord https://t.co/9MZBHQbOJf— Rene GGH (@Rene GGH) 1473624378.0
ADO Den Haag fans throw cuddly toys onto pitch against Feyenoord, to be donated to children’s hospital in Rotterdam. https://t.co/ivJfMsuiaR— Paddy Power (@Paddy Power) 1473677502.0
This is fantastic: ADO Den Haag fans throw 100s of stuffed toys at Feyernoord guests, children from a local hospital https://t.co/oP3YVQqSO2— Cristian Nyari (@Cristian Nyari) 1473602925.0
ADO Den Haag fans throwing cuddly toys to children from a local hospital 👏🏼 https://t.co/0IV7PDPFOH— Pierre/Ruler (@Pierre/Ruler) 1473591696.0