VfB Stuttgart 2-1 St. Pauli, Monday 8th August 2016

VfB Stuttgart 1-3 St. Pauli, att. 60,000 (capacity)

Pre-match in the underground.

I’m not sure one can get to a stadium any earlier than before the turnstiles open, but I did, and I still didn’t get in. Mistake #4 was problies trying to get a ticket in the away end, for St. Pauli, who surely must have the biggest away support in Bundesliga 2, if only due to their (inter)national appeal. But it’s Monday nite FFS, 20:15 KO and all that. And it’s in the south-west (Stuttgart) and Hamburg is, well, hundreds of miles away. No matter.

Pre-match entertainment.

My ire really is for Vfb Stuttgart. I stood in the slowest moving queue for over an hour and a half, before the ‘sold out’ notice came with 5 mins to KO. I was still about 50 from the front. And I’d be amazed if more than 100 were served before me. St. Pauli fans had no recourse but to mock what was (not) happening, otherwise tempers would have flared. When, after ….ooooh, 45 minutes of queueing?.....the ticket booth opened, a cheer. When someone…finally…finally….bought a ticket, another cheer (as said recipient waved it in the air like a winning lottery ticket). The quickest thing about Stuttgart was the security. Big burly men in yellow shirts appeared form nowhere as soon as the tickets sold out. Vfb obviously feared the worst, but, instead, received much in the way of raised eyebrows and headshaking. The queue had lone since resigned itself to not getting in.

Joining the queue.

A number of St P fans (and me) went round to the Vfb ticket booths. I could have done this pre-match, when HOME ticket booths were open and doing brisk business. I considered it, but I was there to support St. P (though many an away fan is often seen in the home stands of Germany). However, by now only the priciest of pricey tickets were left..go on, have a guess….yes, that’s right, €63, or about £53. I saw a St. P fan walking away, ticketless, muttering ’63 euros for a zweite bundesliga game’. No thanks.

Sold Out!

I was also bloody hungry and looking forward to a wurst or 2, but Vfb weren’t getting any of my money. I headed back into town, in itself a canny walk to Bad Cannstadt station, cos the U-bahn trains from the stadium weren’t going anywehere till AFTER the match. It also gives me a German team to dislike (hate’s a strong word) but Vfb, traditionally seen as one of the big 5 or so in Germany…well, I’m even more pleased than I was to see them get relegated. Long may they struggle.

I have been here 3 times seen one match (an earlier game was moved cos of a Robbie Williams concert). Thus, I wasn’t SO gutted this time about missing out. It just meant I could save my money. And the cheap Chinese I had was very nice, thank you very much.

HOW MUCH?  Home ticket booths.

Outside the stadium.

Stadium plan.