Schwarz-Weiss Essen 4-1 Hilden (Oberliga Niederrhein, att. c100)
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| Welcome to ... |
This was another of
those games where I was turning up having no knowledge of the opposition. I mean, I know Schwarz-Weiss Essen were
playing, but who were THEY playing? I
then wondered what colours Schwarz-Weiss play in. Ah, the clue is in the name, idiot. Only it wasn't. One team played in white, the other in black.
The badges were too small and too far away (the pitch had a track around it)
and the shirt sponsors were no clue either.
One side didn't have one while the other crammed in so many words for it
to be illegible. I didn't know who was
who.
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| Match action between the blacks and whites. |
I'd been to the
Uhlenkrug before, but the match was postponed (waterlogged pitch, if memory
serves) and I was determined to see what a stadium which once held 45000 for a
match looked like ((Germany v Luxembourg, 1951). Well, apart from one stand the rest is all terrace,
with the number of steps dropping behind the goal slightly. But you can see the potential with the
terracing these days only going part way up the hill. Schwarz-Weiss’s pre-war glory days are long
gone, but the stadium still manages to safely house 10,000.
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| Landscaped terrace behind the goal. |
Stadion Uhlenkrug is
also the only stadium I've ever been to where grass acts as segregation between
areas of the same terrace. Not that Schwarz-Weiss
need segregation in their current position.
Tonight, around 100 spectators turned up to see a match in the 5th tier
oberliga Niederrhein. By contrast,
Rot-Weiss Essen regularly pull the best part of 10,000 in the fourth tier
regionalliga West. But with your
Dortmunds, Schalkes, Colognes and Moenchengladbachs nearby, it's an uphill
struggle for Essen’s own sides.
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| Grass separates the terracing at Uhlenkrug. |
As I said, I'd been
before, so I knew the route through the forest from Essen stadtwald railway
station. Confidence can be a killer though,
as I got lost in the dusk on the way back.
This added another mile and a half to my journey, before I hit the main
road again into town. You can catch a bus (145, 146) from virtually outside the
stadium to the hbf, so there was no excuse, other than I don't mind
walking when there's no rush. You never
know what you'll see. Walking through Essen streets at night you'd be forgiven
for thinking it was communist era East Germany, so not a great sight.
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| The Main (only) Stand. |
Oh, and it might have
taken 20 minutes, but eventually I did figure out who was who: Schwarz-Weiss were the whites against a team
I've never heard of (Hilden, population 55,271...so hardly a village).
4-1, 2-0 at halftime. Comfortable
all round
The Damage:
€7 ent
€2 beer (x2). Bottles of ‘Staeder’. Well cheap.
€2 bratwurst (x2)
= €15
The Tunes:
The Campfire Headphase (Boards of Canada)
Mogwai Young Team (Mogwai)
Translucent Flashbacks (Spacemen 3)
Greatest Hits (Goldie Lookin’ Chain)
Timeless (Goldie)
Original Pirate Material (The Streets)
N.W.A. Legacy (N.W.A.)
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| Uhlenkrug panorama from the corner. |
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| Uhlenkrug panorama from behind the goal. |
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| Side view of the Main Stand. |
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| Terrace behind the goal. |
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| Strange place for a clock tower. |
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| Scoreboard. |
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| Nil-nil, 4 mins in. |
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| The main terrace. |
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| Match action. |
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| The segregational grass. |
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| Going no further. |
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| The terrace used to continue up... |
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| That grass again. How about 'SW' spelt out on a black and white flowerbed? |
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| Welcome to ...(II) |
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| The exterior of the Main Stand. |
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| Turnstile entrances. |
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| Up to the Field of Glory. |
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| Last time I saw doors like these was at a concentration camp. |
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| Behind the goal. |
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| Inside the Main Stand. |
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| The stand narrows at each end. |
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| Pride in your appearance: even the track has been raked. |
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