Waldhof Mannheim 4-0 TSV 1860 Munich, Monday 5th August 2019

Waldhof Mannheim 4-0 TSV Munich 1860, 3.liga, att. 14,221 (Carl Benz Stadion)

Welcome to ...

For a second game ain a row I hit on lucky with a local.  This time, with kick-off looming and me stood at the back of a long queue for tickets (I thought arriving 5 mins before kick-off perfectly acceptable) a German guy came up to me, muttered something and waved what looked like season ticket cards (they were).  ‘Sorry, I’m English.’  ‘Oh, would you like to use my girlfriend’s ticket as she can’t make it tonight.’  But of course!

They were good seats too, high enough up to see, low enough that the stanchions weren’t in the way.  (The stadium slightly predates widespread use of cantilever roofs.)  Course, first thing to do was get some beers in, and, what with the wait, we agreed on two each.

The ticket queue.

Mein host, Eric, turned out to be a wealthy gent (my age) who owned 8 cars, the most expensive of which was a limited edition McClaren which cost roughly the same as my house in London.  ‘But you can’t drive them all.  Which car have you not driven the longest (if you get my question)?’  ‘Ah…that would be the Porsche.  I haven’t driven that in 4 years.’  Imagine.  It’s another world.  But his poor (economic) upbringing explained his ruthless ambition.  He worked in banking, in Frankfurt – where else?  And I liked that he didn’t hold it against me that I had no interest in cars.  (Perhaps if I had more interest in sports cars I’d have made more effort to make money?  Who knows.)

An uninspiring entry

This was a big game, by 3.liga standards.  I’ve often wondered why a city as large as Mannheim, with its associated industry, had consistently under-achieved on the football field.  According to Eric, the answer was money and mismanagement – at one point, the DFB relegated them to the regional Oberliga.  After 17 years in the semi-pro wilderness, they’d finally fought their way up to the national 3.liga after winning the Regionalliga Sudwest last season.  Having said all that, Mannheim had 7 successive seasons in Bundesliga up till 1990, though their position isn’t helped by being near Kaiserslautern, who get the German populist vote.

Oh, and a successful ice hockey team.

Their opponents today, TSV Munich 1860, have had trials and tribulations of their own.  Embarrassing as relegation was to 3.liga in 2016/17, their subsequent demotion to the amateur league was worthy of a Greek tragedy, as the owner refused to pay the licence fee.  See here for full story:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jun/03/1860-munich-demotion-germany-fourth-fifth-tier-unpaid-licence 
Relegation itself was quite an achievement – they had the third highest paid squad in the division.  They were also chosen as founder members of Bundesliga ahead of their neighbours Bayern back in the 60s.  Now they’ve been bought out of their share of the Allianz Arena and existed only as Bayern’s tenants until the recent demotions have engendered a return to their spiritual home, the Grunwalder Stadion.

The TSV hordes.  Can you see them?

The game was on a Monday night, for TV.  A 3^rd division game!  Turns out there’s a dedicated pay per view channel devoted to coverage.  But it was still up against a Bundesliga 2 game with other fallen giants, Nuremburg v Hamburg (full-time, 0-4).  There was a considerable crowd inside the Carl Benz Stadion though.  And if the stadium holds 27,000, there can’t have been less than 20,000 there.  Official attendance?  14,221.

The Waldof ultras.

We were sat towards the home end, where, bizarrely, the section behind the goal is seated, while the corners are terraced.  However, the ultras insisted on being behind the goal, so, essentially, they pay a premium for the honour (since seats are more expensive).  I’ve seen the same at Hansa Rostock.  An advantage for the neutral though is that you can get a ‘stehplatz’ ticket and it not be too crowded.

Three sides of the stadium join together in a horse-show, while the 4^th side is the usual mix of seating and standing for the visitors.  And for once, there was a fair smattering of fans sat down, the terrace presumably sold out.

Executive boxes, Mannheim-style.

Both sets of fans made some noise, all the more remarkable in TSV’s case as they capitulated 4-0.  The pick of the herd was the 4^th, as Mannheim cut inside and curled it in off the far post from 20 yards.  Still, the TSV fans stayed and even gave their players a good reception at full-time, though how embarrassed must the players have been?  Stood in front of the away end, taking their salutes, following a shovelling.  The Waldhof fans meantime bounced to their hearts content.  My favourite chant (as translated by Eric) was ‘Just like Kaisers(lautern) you smell of s***’, after the TSV ultras unleashed flares and smokebombs.

Thereafter, Eric and I chatted for the best part of an hour before we parted ways; him in his (work) Audi, me on a tram.  C’est la vie.

Lest anyone forgets.  Full-time.

The Damage:
€0 ent

€26 beer and wursts
€5 badge
€2 plastic beaker
€1 prog

= €34

The Tunes:
Melody AM (Royksopp)
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles)
Screamadelica (Primal Scream)
She Hangs Brightly (Mazzy Star)
Sheet One (Plastikman)
Shine (The Joy)
Shine (Estelle)

Stayed at:
Steffi’s Hostel, Heidelberg, £24

Carl Benz Stadion panorama.

Looking towards the away end.

The walk through the park to the game.

How many police vans? (Ans: a lot.)

The home end.

Waldhof celebrate a goal.

GOAL!!!

Seating on my side.

I'd be embarrassed if I was them...

Sundown over the Carl Benz Stadion.

1.FC Nürnberg 2-2 1860 Munich, Monday 17th August 2015

1.FC Nürnberg 2-2 TSV 1860 Munich, 36,547 (Bundesliga 2)

Welcome to ....

Monday nite, Bundesliga footie and a chance to see 1.FCN a 2nd time. I was staying in Nurnberg anyway and it’s an easy journey to the stadium – any train or tram to the ‘Frankenstadion’ (they can’t keep up with the latest sponsored title). Was it one stop or two from the station? I can’t remember. Or you could tram it to the ‘dokumentationszentrum’, which in itself is a must to visit.

Anyway, since I’d been before, maybe I’d go in the home end this time. I would let my bladder decide – and it saw the length of the queues for the home terrace and opted for finding a toilet, which we did, in a relatively deserted beer garden near the away end.

One of the entrances.

Mindful that I stood in the away end last time (Erzegirbirge Aue) and fancied a change, I got a seat in the upper tier behind the goal, still only €21. I was early and took my seat, directly behind the scoreboard. I still wasn’t happy, and at my next fill of meat and beer I climbed to the very back row: great view of the pitch, but the roof is so low you couldn’t see the Nurnberg ultras at the opposite end. One advantage however was that one can look out the window behind and see when the queue for beer is acceptable enough to join. (Answer: about 20 mins in.)

This is how central I was...near the cameraman.

TSV took the lead with the last touch of the first half. It was difficult to tell – was it a header from a rebound, or cross? No matter; by now I was chatting to a Nurnberger whose son was among the ultras (it’s a young person’s game). Why does he choose to sit here? ‘Because it’s cheap.’

Our block was quite mixed, with home and away fans mingling together. There seemed more TSV shirts/colours but the cheers were louder for the 1.FCN goals. Yes, goals! One minute TSV were having a goal disallowed for we-don’t-know-what, then Nurnberg run down the other end of the pitch and a low cross is despatched. Minutes later, the home team are ahead. From a potential 0-2 to 2-1 in no time. Both sides continued to have chances, though on balance, one couldn’t deny TSV’s right to their equalizer, from a scramble in the box.

A TSV fan celebrates as smoke wafts from the away fans below.

Although I (mostly) couldn’t see the TSV fans beneath us, early in the second half you could see the flashes of their pyrotechnics. The Nurnberg ultras meantime were content to wave their flags, which were spread evenly throughout their block. As with last time I was here, absolutely no-one waved a flag in the other block of home terrace. It’s just one of those (1.FCN) things.

The Ultras Nurnberg pay tribute.

Afterwards, I wandered through the adjacent Reichsparteitagsgelände (Nazi Party Parade Grounds) and stood in Hitler’s footsteps on the plinth he made his rabble-rousing speeches from. I find it incredible it is so accessible, but all the better for it. Whatever it’s history, (because of it’s history?) I find Nurnberg an incredible place to visit.

It's the marmot on the shoulder which does it for me...

The Damage:
€21 ent
€3.50 beer (x2)
€3 ‘3 in a bun’ (x2)
= €34

The Tunes:
Turns Into Stone (The Stone Roses)
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic (The Sundays)

The view  from the scoreboard.

The Frankenstadion's octagonal shape is defined.

The overhanging roof.

Always ready...

Dusk awaits the teams.

Space for advertising...cars.

The TSV fans above and below.

The view from the back row.

The contrast between above and below.

A minute's silence pre-match.

1.FC Heidenheim 1-0 Munich 1860, Sunday 26th July 2015

1.FC Heidenheim 1-0 Munich 1860 (Bundesliga 2)

Welcome to ....

I'm not sure what to make of 1.FCH. Going there seems to be a cross between VfR Aalen and Doncaster Rovers - simple enough route to the stadium but a hell of a hill (Aalen) and at the end of it some small featureless stadium dressed in red (Donny). Though that would do injustice to an oddity within the stand to the left of the home end - a 'shelf' not seen in soccer since the demise of Tottenham's. Yet in keeping with the rest of the stadium there was no sense of 'being', a perfectly designed fence made for flags and banners lacking any, very rare for Germany. This looks like a team still looking for a branding; was it red white or blue? This year they're going white with one blue and one red narrow stripe down the middle. Very smart, very French, but previous shirts were red - though many fans wore blue (a previous away kit?).

Up that hill.  Keep going.

I'd ordered my ticket in advance. Heidenheim, although extending their stadium, often come close to selling out and I didn't want to take the risk. Ordered online - print@home. Simples. Though I miss my good old match ticket.

I stood to the left of the main fankurve. I was trying to avoid the net behind the goal, though I could still see the cheerleader on his fence rousing the hardcore to chant. (The hardcore at Heidenheim appeared to be a couple of hundred directly behind the goal). In fact, most folk at the Voith Arena appeared to be tourists just like me, who've never even heard, let alone join in the club anthem pre-match.

Munich 1860 banners

I remember a poll on the 3.liga website a couple of years ago on who would be promoted. 1,FCH got the most votes yet I never did find out why. Come into some money maybe? Huge fanatical support? Definitely not that. Well run? Surely not a football club tipped for promotion cos it's well run? Who knows, but they did win promotion, so the pollsters were right.

The home end.  Love the red roof!

They've also redeveloped bits of the stadium. I like how they have made the stands the same height yet, as I say, it comes over as all a bit Keepmoat. The standing behind the goal curves around to the 'shelf' where there's seats. At the far end there's away standing on the left with seats (and overspill) taking behind the goal, before more home seats. It being a 'big' away team, their terrace was full and a decent following in the seats. Crowd? 13500. Capacity? Dunno, but there were seats to spare on the 'executive side'.

The Heidenheim 'shelf'.

The match? Very even, both sides happy with a point, then Heidenheim rudely snatched it with a flicked header from a corner. Great finish/ poor defending. Delete as applicable.

PS, finding the ground was easy, if a walk. The main thing I remember was it was up a massive hill, which relatively few folk walked up (cars jammed their way up). Mind, it's much easier on the way back...

The damage

€13.50 entry

€3 wurst

€3 bier (400ml, x2)

€12 t-shirt

€1.50 badge

= €36 (£25)

The Tunes:
Writer's Block - Peter, Bjorn and John
Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys

We Started Nothing - The Ting Tings

The Shelf Side.

Looking across to the 'Exec Side'.

The teams come out...

Doesn't that look like the coolest place to watch? (see kid in foreground)

The camera gantry.  An afterthought?

Flag-waving 1860 style.

The Heidenheim bear (I guess).

Friendly looking fence...

Some of the few empty seats in the stadium

Full time.  Minnows one, giants nil.

Does that floodlight go THROUGH the stand? I think it does!

Purveyors of fine (lower league) football stadia!