I Got Inside PSV Eindhoven's Stadium on Match Day — The Tour Fans Never See

For years I only knew the Philips Stadion from the outside — the home of a club that gave the world Ronaldo, Romário and Van Nistelrooy. So instead of the normal stadium tour, I booked the one that runs on match day, to see what actually changes inside a stadium in the hours before kickoff. Here's everything I found, and everything you need to book the same tour yourself.

Getting There

Philips Stadion is at Frederiklaan 10a, 5616 NH Eindhoven — a short, easy walk from the city centre and the main train station. A covered walkway runs straight from the station to the stadium, built for visiting fans to reach their section without crossing the home crowd — a small detail most people walk straight past.

Booking the Tour

Tours run Monday to Saturday, depending on stadium and guide availability — there are no tours on Sundays or public holidays, since those are usually match days. English-language tours run on a set schedule (Wednesdays and Saturdays at the time of writing), but honestly, don't stress about the language: even on a Dutch-speaking tour, guides will translate the main parts into English for you. The standard tour runs about 75 minutes and already covers almost everything — the pitch, the players' tunnel and the dressing rooms. A match-day slot exists too, but it only really makes sense if you're pairing it with a game that evening (more on that below). Museum entry is included with every tour ticket.

The Welcome

The tour starts in the fan shop, where the group gathers and everyone gets a badge — a small touch that made it feel like being a guest rather than just holding a ticket. Groups split by language (Dutch and English), each with their own guide.

The Gates, the Pitch & the Walk of Fame

The tour starts at the main gates, marked by the club crest, flanked by statues of two of PSV's greatest ever goalscorers: Willy van der Kuijlen, the club's all-time top scorer, and Coen Dillen. Inside, the stadium feels grand but surprisingly warm for its size. Pitchside, granite tiles set into the ground form PSV's official 'Walk of Fame' — one tile per club legend, with their own footprints. On match days, groundskeepers cut the grass shorter than usual and mow it twice — a detail you'd never notice watching on TV.

The Coaches' Seats & the Players' Tunnel

The tour lets you sit in the heated coaches' seats pitchside, then walks through the players' tunnel — a hallway lined with club crests, past the substitutes' benches, all the way to where players walk out onto the pitch. The tour comes back here at the very end for a proper walk-out.

The VIP World Upstairs

Upstairs, the VIP entrance hall is warm and elegant — soft carpet, fresh flowers, a calm reception. A revolving door at the entrance is dressed in mannequins wearing the kits of that day's two teams — except for a handful of big rivals, whose shirts fans would rather not see in their own doorway. Further up, the hospitality restaurants are named after club legends — Gastro Ronaldo, Casa Romário — and one private room, with a heavy granite table and a gavel at its centre, is used for private auctions among the club's partners. From the restaurant, a balcony opens onto white leather seats overlooking the pitch, each labelled with a name, including one reserved for the city's mayor.

Where Players Become Players

Beyond the media-familiar press room, the tour goes further than most: referees' rooms, showers, the doping-control room, and the room reserved for UEFA officials on European match nights. Visitors get to hold the referee's substitution board — the one held up pitchside during a game. The home dressing room is dressed for matchday, with a large club crest on the ceiling, a screen, and every player's spot marked with a named shirt. From there: the gym, the massage and rehab rooms, a small laundry area, and the players' own dining room — a reminder that at this level, diet is part of the job, not an afterthought.

What Actually Changes on Match Day

The honest answer: not as much as you'd expect. Hours before kickoff, the dressing rooms are calm and mostly empty — no players, just packs of water on the tables and a little pitch activity. The regular tour already shows you almost everything the match-day version does. The match-day slot is really only worth booking if you're staying for the game that evening — tour in the afternoon, then come back once the stadium fills up and the atmosphere changes completely.

The Walk-Out

The tour ends back in the players' tunnel, lined up in a group, as the guide plays the real match-day anthem the team walks out to. Then you walk out onto the pitch under that same sound — for a few seconds, not pretending, just there.

The Museum

The tour finishes in the club museum, home to two major European trophies — the 1978 UEFA Cup and the 1988 European Cup, won in the same season as the league and the national cup (the club's only treble). The Eredivisie trophy is a dish rather than a cup, and PSV have won it 27 times — which is why the number 27 appears throughout the museum. In Dutch football, each star above a club's badge represents ten league titles; PSV currently display two, with a third still a handful of titles away. A plaque nearby confirms the stadium's UEFA four-star rating — one of the higher classifications a European stadium can hold.

Tips & Lifehacks