PSV fans count down to the training match with Raków

PSV fans look ahead to a friendly match with Raków

Summer has a strange kind of excitement for Eindhoven’s supporters. The competition is on hold, the transfer market is still sputtering a bit, and yet it’s already itching in full. On Saturday 11 July, the first real benchmark appears on the calendar: the friendly match against the Polish club Raków Czestochowa. For many supporters, this is the moment when vacation mode ends and the football feeling seeps back in. At last, PSV in action, at last, a reason to plan the Saturday afternoon around the game. And with that, the search begins for the funnest ways to enjoy all that upcoming football pleasure.

If you want to add extra color to the summer and the new season, you soon come to the question of where you can do that reliably and legally. A useful tool for this is an up-to-date overview of legal bookmakers in the Netherlands, in which the best Dutch parties for 2026 are compared side by side. Such a comparison looks at things that truly matter to football fans: which bonuses and free bets are available, how smoothly deposits and withdrawals work, how broad the range of football markets is, and how reliably a provider operates under Dutch regulations. Handy features such as Bet Builder and Cash Out are also covered, along with extensive pros and cons for each name. For anyone who wants to follow the Eredivisie season actively, such a comparison is the starting point for making a responsible, safe choice.

The practice match as a warm-up

A match against Raków is not trophy-cabinet material, but that doesn’t make the clash any less interesting. For coach Peter Bosz, it’s a first chance to put ideas to the test: which young talents stake their claim, what’s the situation with fitness after the pre-season, and which new faces fit into the system? The Poles are no small fry — Raków has been playing a prominent role in their own country and in Europe over the past few years — so PSV will face significant resistance right away.

For supporters at home, it’s mainly a chance to get used to the rhythms of match day again. Check the lineup, share first impressions, see whether the summer signings have shown anything yet. It’s football without the pressure of points, and that’s exactly what makes it a relaxed way to watch. The real stakes come later.

From Raków to the fight for the trophy

The practice match is only the start of a busy summer schedule. Hardly three weeks later, on 2 August, the Johan Cruijff Shield takes place against AZ Alkmaar, the traditional curtain-raiser of the Dutch season. That the date was fixed was confirmed earlier when the Johan Cruijff Shield match date was announced, and the schedules of both teams were filled in one fell swoop.

The match against AZ always has something tough about it. The Alkmaarders have been keeping PSV in their sights for years and rarely let themselves be written off in this kind of duel. For Bosz and his team, the scale is a good measure: is the defending champion right there immediately, or does the alignment still need tweaking? For the fan, it’s simply the first real highlight, the evening when summer is definitively replaced by the serious work.

How the summer schedule fills up

In Raków and the battle for the cup, the season rolls on at breakneck speed. On 8 August, PSV opens the Eredivisie at home against Fortuna Sittard, a week later, on 15 August, comes the away match at Excelsior in Rotterdam. In a five-week period, the fans therefore go from relaxed pre-season football to full competitive seriousness. Regionally too, there was already clarity provided about the match date, so that no one has to miss the encounter with AZ.

That means for many supporters that their free time is reorganized again around the game. Where you may have been lying on the beach or in the garden over the past few weeks, every match day will soon be back in the spotlight for PSV. One fan heads to the Philips Stadium, another gathers friends around the television, and yet another makes watching more exciting with a well-prepared choice from the range of reliable providers. No matter how you do it: summer is gradually but surely turning into one big warm-up for the August celebration.

Why the context of the scale matters

The Johan Cruijff Shield is more than a friendly match with a trophy attached. It is an official encounter with history, in which the league champions and the cup winners cross swords. If you want to read more about the meaning and tradition of this fixture, you can find all background information about the tournament at the Johan Cruijff Shield.

That the match this year is once again between PSV and AZ adds extra intensity to the contest. Both clubs are keen to capture the taste of success and want to begin the season with a statement. For the Eindhoven supporter, that’s the signal to start making plans in advance.

Ready for a summer full of PSV

From the match against Raków on 11 July to the first league weeks in August: the coming month offers plenty for the PSV supporters to look forward to. It is the period in which vacation calm gives way to anticipation, in which names on the starting line-up take on meaning again, and in which every match day becomes a small event once more.

Who wants to experience every moment fully would do well to prepare the run-up calmly — checking the schedule, following the storylines, and, where desired, choosing a safe and responsible way to make watching even more colorful. This way, the summer of 2026 becomes exactly what the supporter hopes for: one long, delightful prelude to a new season full of PSV football.