For Dutch fans, a place that feels like home near Times Square.

Dutch fans at a watch party at Hurley’s Saloon in midtown Manhattan that was hosted by the Netherland Club of New York. Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times

Soccer fans crowded into Hurley’s Saloon near Times Square on Saturday morning to watch the World Cup. But they were dressed in orange, not red, white and blue.

The 10 a.m. kickoff time and the rainy weather did not impede the Dutch fans turnout for a viewing party to watch the Netherlands face the United States in the round of 16. If the Netherlands wins, they will advance to the quarterfinals. (The Netherlands led, 2-0, at the end of the first half.)

Over a hundred people wearing orange shirts, scarves, wigs and even cowboy hats packed the bar before the match began, hoping for a spot with an optimal view of one of the dozens of TVs.

The watch party was organized by the Netherland Club of New York, a social club for Dutch expatriates that hosts cultural and professional events. As the party at Hurley’s got underway, the club was simultaneously hosting a celebration for Sinterklaas, a Dutch holiday, at its Fifth Avenue outpost. (Organizers emphasized that the World Cup game will be shown there, too.)

The Netherland Club had hosted watch parties at Hurley’s for the three previous Dutch games, but Katherine Vos van Liempt, the general manager of the club, said this would be the largest yet. “This is a big one for us,” she said.

The Netherlands has competed in the World Cup finals in 1974, 1978 and 2010 and is known for being possibly the best team to have never won a World Cup.

Despite bearing no cultural ties to Hurley’s, a three-story bar and restaurant on West 48th Street serving Irish and American pub fare, Dutch fans packed the booths, ordering rounds of beers and chicken wings.

It was nearly impossible to move through the crowd once the game began. Fans punched the air and tossed their beers as air horns blared when the Dutch team scored in the 10th minute. One fan jumped on another’s back.

Mickey Voll, 33, who was born in Amsterdam and played semiprofessional soccer until he was 16, helped organize the event. He has also organized watch parties for the Euro Cup and leads a fan club for one of the popular Dutch club teams.

“You just want to have the feeling that everyone is together in orange,” he said.

Original post by The New York Times
Dec. 3, 2022
Written by Carly Olsen