Chemnitzer 3-1
Darmstadt 98, 3.liga (att. 5,200)
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| The Big Match. |
Maybe I was having a
bad day. Maybe ny heart wasn’t in it from the start. After all, I’d travelled
from Erfurt to Dresden, dropped my bag off, then headed to Chemnitz. A fair bit of travelling, on top of what I’d already
done in the past week and a half. But I
don’t think it was that. I just found
Chemnitz (the place) a bit of a chore, from the dismal walk up the hill to the
ground (about 20 minutes from the station), past many a derelict building, to
the walk to a city centre (20 minutes the other side of the station) of no
renown.
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| The outside of the stadium. |
Having said all that, there is one MUST SEE, the Karl Marx statue outside a
non-descript block of flats in between the station and city centre. Under the communists, this was Karl Marx Stadt,
but since reunification, it’s been renamed ‘Chemnitz’ and Karl’s name has been
besmirched. The workers will rise again!
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| Working men of the world unite! |
The walk to the ground has a resigned feeling.
Lots of grand, yet dilapidated buildings. (This theme is re-visited at the game, as
behind one goal is a similarly described construction.) Chemnitz is apparently
on the rise. If so, it has quite a way
to go. And how awful must it have been
in the first place?
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| Like Craven Cottage. But not. |
Next to the stadium is an indoor carting track which doubles as some kind of
drinking hole. About time, cos there’s
nothing else. Inside the ground though,
there’s beer and sausages aplenty. And
the stadium is a proper throwback to how things used to be; one small covered
stand and 3½ sides of open terrace, endless high fencing (both at pitchside and
the terrace, splitting it into pens, th elater of which might be a good idea
were it not for the fact that everyone comes through the same pen to begin
with. The attendance probably isn’t
great but it looks busier than it is due to the habit of pinning banners to the
perimeter fence, resulting in no-one standing on the first 10 steps or so of
the terrace as you’d be unable to see.
Chemnitzer have plans for a rebuild.
Let’s see if it comes happens.
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| The new stadium plans. |
The ‘fankurve’ (behind the goal) does its best but most of the noise simply wafts into the air, like the smoke from a nearby chimney. In the second half, there is choreographed singing between the fankurve and the tribune side, but our terrace is for the aficionados. Or those who can’t be bothered to sing inbetween smoking/eating/drinking.
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| The ultras welcome their heroes. |
Chemnitzer win 3-1. The opener is a smart finish from a left wing cutback. It’s 2-0 before half time with a goal I’ll
presumably never see. I was in the queue
for sustenance. 3-0 and it’s all over
though I am alone in the home end for applauding Darmstadt’s consolation. I’m tired and I just wanna see more goals.
The Damage:
€9.50 ent
€2.50 sausage
€2.50 beer
= €14.50
I’d have had a programme as well, were it not for the queue at their ‘fanshop’, a hut with a small window. Take a tip from Rot Weiss Erfurt, yesterday – have a pretty lady (or man!) with a pile of programmes for sale as you enter.
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| There's SOME cover...over the ticket booths. |
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| Pre-match drinks. |
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| Down the long side terrace. |
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| The away end..few in number. |
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| I bet this used to look nice. |
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| The teams come out. |
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| Sunset over stadion an der gellertstrasse. |
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| If I didn't know better, I'd swear something was on fire. |
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| Chemnitzer employ the latest scoreboard technology. |
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| Overlooking the main stand. |
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| The Main Stand empties at full time. |
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| Behind the goal. |
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| It's a simple construction, but I like it. |
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| Bye bye! |
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