When flipping through a football programme, advertisements often serve as a perfect socio-economic time capsule of the region. Page 4 of the May 2013 matchday booklet against Ajax features a striking, brightly colored ad from Dorhout Advocaten, a prominent local law firm. The advertisement doesn’t sell standard legal defense or corporate mergers; instead, it asks a highly specific question: “Energieproject ontwikkelen?” (Developing an energy project?).
In 2013, the northern provinces of the Netherlands were standing on the precipice of a massive industrial shift. The ad explicitly mentions the transition between “green, grey, or sustainable energy,” highlighting the complex web of permits, contracts, and liabilities involved. The visual—a silhouette of a businessman looking out over a field of wind turbines, backed by a giant green stick figure representing the law firm—perfectly captures the zeitgeist. The firm even provided a direct line to their energy law specialist, Hans Koenders, signaling how lucrative and specialized this sector was becoming.
For decades, the wealth of the North was built on natural gas extraction. However, by the early 2010s, the push for renewable energy, particularly wind farms along the coast and in rural areas, was accelerating. This transition was not just an engineering challenge; it was a legal minefield. Local farmers, municipalities, and energy corporations were constantly negotiating land rights and environmental permits. Dorhout Advocaten cleverly used the platform of the local football club to position themselves as the ultimate defenders of business interests in this brave new green world, promising that “Met Dorhout staat er iemand achter je!” (With Dorhout, someone is behind you!).
A Look into the Future
Viewed from 2026, this advertisement feels incredibly prophetic. Just a few years after this programme was printed, the devastating reality of gas-extraction-induced earthquakes forced the government to drastically wind down and eventually halt the Groningen gas fields. The “energy projects” mentioned in the ad exploded into a multi-billion euro industry, transforming the northern landscape into a hub for offshore and onshore wind energy, as well as hydrogen development. Law firms that positioned themselves early in the energy transition, like those advertising at the Euroborg in 2013, found themselves at the epicenter of the most significant economic restructuring in the region’s modern history.