Sunday 11 August 2019

Pribram 2-0 Ceske Budejovice, Saturday 10th August 2019

Pribram 2-0 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Liga, att. 3,186 (Energon Arena)

Welcome to....

About an hour and a half from Prague (one change), this top division spectacle had a rustic feel to it. Pribram was proper countryside, a small town spread out over several kilometres. The walk from the station to the stadium was a couple of miles (thank you Googlemaps!) I did pass a mining museum (sadly no time, etc) and 2 or 3 bars all promising they’d open at 4pm (they hadn’t at 7pm, on my return journey).

A walk through rural Pribram.

But what I’ll mainly remember of this match came after full-time, when an away fan, having left the stadium, re-entered through the home section, walked up the steps of the stand and lamped a home fan in the face; granted, the latter may have been goading the away contingent following a home victory, but the visitors, meathead to a man, all 50 of them, wearing black and making up in girth what they lacked in hair, did not look the ‘banter’ type.

So, where were the police? Well, there were plenty in the home stand where I was, standing about, dawdling. But where the home and away fans met (as the majority of home fans left at this end)…zilch.

Eastern Europe, yesterday.

Anyway, the fella didn’t go down, despite ceding years and weight to this Ceske hoodlum, who simply walked away, back to his brethren. Figuring that was that, I went to the loo. On coming out, there were riot police everywhere (the Czechs love a balaclava and what looked like a rifle to fire tear gas). What could have been proactive had become reactive. Two people lay on the floor, one being my ‘victim’ (had he been attacked again, or was it a delayed reaction to the initial punch?) The other guy, trussed up like a turkey, with his nose to the floor, wasn’t the first assailant. I asked two policemen if they spoke English. ‘No’ each said, tersely. (Have you ever met a polite balaclava’d cop?)

Police have one guy cuffed...

I stuck around for a while. The victim occasionally wanted to sit up, but a policeman told him to stay in the recovery position. Later, said policeman covered him with a foil blanket, to stay warm. It had been raining…and why was he only wearing one shoe now? (Probably thrown into the adjacent stream by a Ceske fan, I shouldn’t wonder.)

Not the kind of sight you come to football for.

Eventually, an ambulance arrived and the victim did manage to climb in himself, slowly. In the meantime, a 50 year old black-shirted bald guy of some heft with ‘ACAB’ emblazoned across his front, argued demonstrably with some uncommunicative law enforcement officer. Let’s just say the officer somehow resisted the temptation to beat the s*** out of him.

There's any amount of police AFTER the event.

This all pails beside the tranquil setting of the stadium. Two covered stands flanked either side of the pitch, while an open ‘scaffolding stand’ (like at Gillingham) lay behind the goal nearest the entrance. Today, this stand would only house away fans, as home fans eschewed their sector for protection from the rain.

Behind the other goal lay the curve of a former athletics track, while a building on its outer edge housed the changing rooms. I’ve never seen a more understated entrance, as the players came out of a door and walked 50 yards to the pitch. It was like a scene from Sunday league.

The players emerge from the dressing rooms.

To their right were the Pribram ultras – all 20 of them. This wasn’t a place to make noise. It’s a place to chunter and wonder how Pribram are in the top division. Dynamo’s 50 made some noise though; it’s a long way to come not to.

In the end, the hosts won comfortably, 2-0. I really enjoyed the second, as the forward ran at the last defender, put the ball one way past him, then ran the other, before finishing. Quality.

Full-time - now let the action begin.

The Damage:

CHK 100 ent
CHK 60 klobasa (x2)
CHK 35 beer (x3)

= CHK 325 (£11)

The Tunes:
Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom (Cypress Hill)
Ill Communication (Beastie Boys)
Let England Shake (PJ Harvey)
Polymer (Plaid)

Stayed at:
Hostel Boudnik, Prague (£25 – two nights)