About
Tales of the Stands
Tales of the Stands tells stadium stories about people, place, memory and culture. The stadium is the doorway. The story is what happens around it.
Why we exist
Stadiums are often described through capacity, architecture, trophies or atmosphere. TOTS starts with the people who gather there and the stories a place carries beyond the concrete.
A stand can hold joy, protest, ritual, exclusion, memory, grief, pride and belonging. Tales of the Stands exists to make those layers visible.
How the stories are made
Every story starts with research, then looks what a stadium reveals about its city, community, a conflict, a ritual or a moment in history.
The aim is not to turn stadiums into objects. It is to follow what people do there, what places remember and why certain stands keep speaking after the event has passed.
What is being built this year
TOTS gives you weekly stories, six permanent collections, a growing map and clearer routes through the archive. Follow us on X for daily stadium updates!
Collections
Conflict, Society, Shapes, Rituals, Places and History: six ways to enter the archive.
Map
A growing way to explore stories by city, stadium and place.
Stories
A new story every Sunday, built into a larger memory of stands around the world.
Work together
TOTS is open to collaborations, story ideas, research leads, media requests, city tips and partnerships that fit the platform’s direction.
Questions? Want to collaborate? contact@talesofthestands.com
Who
Tales of the Stands is made by Max van de Wiel, based in Amsterdam. I build this project alone, one story at a time, from a fascination with the way places keep meaning long after the event itself has passed.
The founding feeling behind TOTS is captured in the story How often do you think about the Roman Empire?. Why do old arenas, modern stadiums and public gathering places stay in our imagination? Because they are never only buildings. They are traces of how people lived, gathered, watched and remembered.
Reach me at max@talesofthestands.com if you want to get in touch!