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| Welcome to .... |
It is the day after and I still don’t know who was playing last night. I mean, I know Spartak Trnava were the hosts, but as for the away team….? I saw their name on the scoreboard, and on the various mugs and t-shirts commemorating the Europa League 2nd qualifying round, 2nd leg, game in the club shop (medium t-shorts sold out – oh well). I DO know they brought zero away fans. Skebundure or someone. Possible Macedonian. Possibly not. (It was ‘Shirak’ of Armenia – no wonder they had no away fans.)
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| This is NOT an 'artist's impression'. |
I arrived several hours early to Trnava, enough for a solid snout around town. The stadium was easy to find; turn right out of the station (signposted ‘centrum’) and 10 mins later you’ve arrived. However, blink and you’ll miss it. It’s built into a shopping centre. Or is it the other way around? Either way, there’s ticket offices on this side (the main road side), as well as on the side had one turned left just before the stadium.
The shopping centre is not huge, but big enough to lose your bearings in; however, one entrance comes out at the other end of the stadium, where there’s bars, a club shop…and a Sports Direct. Like dogsh*t, they’re everywhere (though not in Trnava, where the streets are remarkably clean).
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| At what point do you think this is a football ground? |
When I arrived, the ticket offices weren’t yet open, so I had a look around town. It was pleasant, if unspectacular, though for the historically minded (me), there’s large sections of a medieval town wall (the stadium is actually built right next to one section) while for the religious (not me) there’s a cathedral. Which, actually, is very handy for the secular traveller who is roasting his nuts off and needs a cool down. Pity it was closed. When you have no use for one, they’re ten-a-penny and when you’re in need of some shade and a respite, they’re closed. Cheers, God. I remain unconvinced.
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| Trnava: too nice to be a hotbed of soccer. |
When I arrived back at the stadium, the ticket booths were open. Where to choose? There were easy to understand stadium plans and I chose the upper tier on the street nearest the railway station (I had a train to catch). Not tonight, pal – closed. So I plumped for the one of the touchline stands, similar to the previous nite at Ferencvaros: €9 (or 1/3 of what I’d paid at Ferenc. I’m still bitter.)
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| The main home end. |
Mind, there was one downside. I’d not see all of the match. Despite doing my homework (19:15 KO) and making travel plans accordingly, KO was 20:15. You’d think UEFA;s own website might get this little fact right. With myluggage back in a locker in Bratislava, I only had one train which would help me make my connection: 21:34. Thus, I saw a couple of minutes of the 2nd half, then had to depart sharpish. Which was a shame, given I’d seen absolutely no action thus far (though falling asleep half an hour in didn’t help). No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Tiredness, the heat, my dinner…the beer.
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| Inside the stadium: spick and span |
I’d had a pre-match Budweiser gulash in the bar adjoining the ground, along with a couple of Buds (the Czech version). On top of a couple of beers earlier. And an ice cream. There, my daily holiday diet in a nutshell (a hazelnut shell if you like; I had one scoop of vanilla and one of hazelnut).
As I said, the match was tedious. All neat and tidy passes going nowhere, will either side got to the halfway line where they’d simply give it to the opposition.
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| The teams line up. |
But what a beautiful stadium! 4 sides of bright and spangly red seats, 3 stands of 2 tiers and the one I was in, one tier. I get the impression Spartak are very proud of their stadium (see also: the amount of memorabilia in their club shop) but it looks over ambitious for a club of their ilk, though the national team plays here on occasion. Tonite’s crowd was 6000 odd in a capacity of over 19,000. Domestic games fare less well.
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| Spartak! Trnava! |
Spartak still have their ultras, a mob of a few hundred plucky souls congregating in the lower tier behind one goal (the open one). You don’t need to be Inspector Clouseau to tell who the hooligans are either – they wear t-shirts with ‘Hooligans Trnava’ written on them, bless. The ultras did their best, but their drum beat only served notice on my need to sleep. The highlight in terms of atmosphere was a call and response with my stand ‘Spartak!’ ‘Trnava!’ ‘Spartak!’ Trnava!’ The stand opposite acted as the VIP area, while, obviously, the stand to my right was empty.
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| As I left it... |
So it was, at half time I vacated my seat to find one closer to an exit, took a few ‘action’ shots, then left (needing security to open the exit door).He seemed very surprised I was leaving that early. And once at the train platform, I heard the cheer – I’d missed a goal. (Or was it simply a SHOT? I’d not seen many of those either.)
The Damage:
€9 ent
= €9
The Tunes:
Pet Sounds (Beach Boys)
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| Spartak panorama |
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| 1st view of the pitch |
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| A close up through the mesh. |
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| You are here. |
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| Club shop |
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| Home end entrance. |
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| Pre-match snacks |
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| The unassuming home end street. |
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| Modernism at Spartak. |
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| Home ultras. |
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| South Side Trnava. |
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