ABSTRACT
On Ascension Day 2017 (May 25), a football derby was played in Maastricht, the capital city of Limburg, located in the far southeast of the Netherlands. MVV, the football club of Maastricht, faced the football club of Kerkrade, Roda JC. Maastricht borders Belgium in the far southwest whereas Kerkrade borders Germany in the far southeast corner of the province. The distance between the two cities is only 35 kilometres. The stakes of the match were high: MVV aimed at promotion to the Dutch premier league, while Roda JC fought against relegation to the Dutch first division. Using sociolinguistic, anthropological and human geographical theories, this contribution addresses how language practices - that is, the use of Dutch and local dialect (Limburgish) before and during the football derby match produced centre and periphery dynamics in the south of Limburg, a perceived peripheral province from a national perspective. The analysis of ethnographic, visual and audio-recorded data suggests that the linguistic practices at the derby match produced place and (un)belonging through the use of Dutch or local dialect.
