Football fans shower sick children in tier below with cuddly toys

Supporters of Excelsior throw cuddly toys during the Dutch Eredivisie match between Feyenoord v Excelsior. Photo / Getty

Excelsior supporters made it rain cuddly toys during their game with Feyenoord on Sunday - after finding out they would be sat above a group of sick children.

The Dutch giants had invited patients from Rotterdam's Sophia Children's Hospital and their families to attend the Eredivisie clash for free.

And the kids got a memento to take away from their special day after the visiting fans launched hundreds of gifts from the top tier of De Kuip.

Stuffed bears, lions, penguins and plenty more were left strewn around the stands and on the area in front of the pitch, with stewards helping to ensure they did not go to waste.

The incredible gesture was caught on camera by Fox Sports, while Feynoord took to Twitter to thank the visiting supporters for their efforts.

It is not the first time a shower of cuddly toys has been seen at top-flight match in Holland, with ADO Den Haag fans having orchestrated a similar show of support during a game against Feyenoord two years ago.

On the pitch Feyenoord made up for their shock defeat at De Graafschap and gave the children in attendance an afternoon to remember by thumping Excelsior 3-0.

Robin van Persie opened the scoring in the 18th minute before Jeremiah St. Juste and Jan-Arie van der Heijden completed the rout in the second half.

The result moved Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side up to seventh in the table, three points behind leaders AZ Alkmaar and second placed PSV.