AS Trencin v Legia Warsaw, Wednesday 27th July 2016

AS Trencin v Legia Warsaw

Welcome to ....

To err once…who sang ‘It’s all just a little bit of history repeating’? Shirley Bassey with the Propellerheads? Either way, what I do know is that for a 2nd day in a row, I’m in the wrong town for the match. Today, I possibly have time to right several wrongs, but my day has been thus:

Arrive in Trencin (on a Bratislava to Zilina train, the importance of which will become clear) at about 8am. No, there’s nowhere to store luggage. I decide to go to Zilina, where my (much) later train is leaving from anyway. There’s a left luggage room, which (she says) will be closed from 11pm-1am tonite. That’s fine, I’ll be due back from Trencin c.2am. I put my stuff in left luggage despite concerns there WON’T be anyone on at 2am. Half a minute later I spy proper lockers. I decide to trust her.

Next train back to Trencin was an hour and a half later, so I mooch around, reading. I’m getting the express back, one hour, as opposed to one and a half.

The view from the railway tracks.

Trencin’s stadium is close by the railway station – you can’t miss it, courtesy of the oversized floodlights. I walk anti-clockwise around and it becomes obvious the stadium only has one side. The rest is a building site, though the movement of heavy lorries seems more concerned with additional road and rail building than any stadium development.

Police in Trencin station...a surefire sign of a game on!?

Even though some players were kicking ball around and there were 3 or 4 people hanging around the main entrance, something wasn’t right. So I asked if there was a game on here tonite: no, the team were playing in Zilina. WTF? I’ve got off a train to Zilina to wait an hour and a half for another train to Zilina, drop my bags off there, wait another hour and a half for a train back to Trencin…and the game is back in Zilina? Nightmare. So it’s 4:45pm, I’m on the train back to Zilina…surely I’ll still be in Zilina in time for this game?

Players practising.

Well, indeed I was, back in time for kick-off. And yes, the stadium was easy to find (again, virtually next to the train station) and no, I can’t come in. Turns out there were no tickets on sale on the day, so, despite an internet secondary sales site describing the match as ‘sold out’, it wasn’t. Presumably the local police were so paranoid about playing Legia (there were ‘robocop-style’ police everywhere) that they forbid on-day sales?

What's left of the old terrace.

Anyway, I ended up watching the game in a deserted bar and you’d be lucky if there were 4,000 in the ground, inc. about 500 from Warsaw. Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!! I am not best pleased, not best pleased at all.

 ***Later internet research shows the Trencin stadium as having had a low terrace around three sides, with oval ends, and plans to replace the 3 sides with a new, all-seater stands. The 4th side (the main stand) is all that is left.

The Tunes:

Blue Bell Knoll (Cocteau Twins)
Music In Exile (Songhoy Blues)
Portishead (Portishead)
Mixmag Dec ’15  (One Hour With Damian Lazarus)
Spirit of Eden (Talk Talk)

They're so huge they're not even in the stadium.

A floodlight towers over the Main Stand.

Stand? check.  Floodlight? check.  Castle? check.

Behind the main stand.

The Main Stand.

Main Stand (and remnants of terrace, far end).

Mestsky panorama

One old entrance.

Now I'm confused...

A nice souvenir for somebody...

Behind the goal.

The stand from behind the goal.

The old stadium plan.

Communist era concrete heaven.

OUtisde of Zilina's stadium.

The Main Stand.

'Hard cheddar if you want a ticket.'

Back of the Main Stand.

I spy...a team bus!

Haven't I seen this once today?

A bridge into the stadium.

Ferencvaros 1-1 Partizan Tirana, Wednesday 20th July 2016

Ferencvaros 1-1 Partizan Tirana, att. 8,752 (European Champions League 2nd Round, 2nd Leg, agg. 2-2, 1-3 on penalties)

Welcome to....

Here’s a ruse. Tell anyone that if they’re not a member they can only buy VIP tickets - at 10000 forints. Given the cheapest ticket in the home and was 1500 that's nearly seven times the price. So having queued for nearly half an hour I had a choice: pay nearly 30 quid or go to a bar and watch it. Obscenely, I chose the former. I’ll not be here again soon, though it’s an easy journey, getting the metro to Nepliget (from memory). The stadium is right there, in front of you.

It's not a bad looking stadium, the steel struts wrapped in mesh, but it's a bit samey.  You've seen one, you've seen them all. Inside's the same.  The only thing that distinguishes it from anywhere else is that today we have GREEN seats.  Still, everyone gets a nice view and cover.

The Ferenc Eagle soars

What did I get for my VIP dollar? Well not an assigned seat, that’s for sure. I entered VIP sektor 5; basically, lower tier, by the touchline, near the corner. About as un-VIP as you can get. I came out the gangway and looked up; there were a few seats higher up, amongst some folk in red. Seems I was sat with the non-ultra away contingent. Still that might add some spice. Turned out I was sat behind SHOUTY BLOKE, who everyone else seemed to know, yet who everyone else chose not to sit next to. Funny that.

Nicely spread out, yet bunched together...

If I’d ‘gone large’ (paid 12,000 forints) I was offered unlimited food and drink, but I felt I’d given them enough. Charlie? A bevvy of beautiful dancing girls? No I settled for a non-assigned seat and a small concourse lit in green to reflect Ferenc’s colours. A nice touch? In the murky light under the stand it just made the area look seedy.
The VIP sektor was though home to a number of very pretty, very well dressed women. WAGs? Or just out for a good time? With the tie poised at one-all after the 1st leg, it was all to play for. Both sides had had a few chances before Ferenc made it to the box and a defender just about got his studs to the ball before the lumbering centre forward fell over his leg. Penalty. A bit harsh, but the ref was behind play and needed the linesman’s view. Linesman don't give views, or have them.
The penalty despatched, I was expecting Ferenc to take control. They must be s*** hot favourites now. Yet the major chance fell Partizan’s way, the centre forward lifting the ball over the keeper and wide. He needn’t have worried; a Partizan cross from the right was comedically sliced in from around 15 yards by the centre half. It was the kind of finish you couldn’t achieve in 100 times of trying, as he went to lace it with his left and instead curled it high into the right corner. The keeper stood no chance.

Partizan 'style'.

One-all, identical to the 1st leg score. Half time and I went for a wander. There was food and drink to be had but they still weren’t getting any more of my money. Besides, I couldn’t gain access to the rest of the stadium’s concourse. I went and sat back down.
The match probably finished around the hour mark. Three Albanians had gone down for treatment within 5 minutes and the home crowd was tetchy. The Albanians were slowly sucking Ferenc dry; home hearts sunk and there was barely another attack. Still, the Magyars missed 2 howlers, including a straight header which flew wide when easier to score. Partizan were happy to play for penalties and, sitting among them, with their 50-60 ultras constantly belting it out to my right, I was leaning towards them too. Nevermind the ludicrous entrance fee.

The players await pens

So it was, Partizan got their wish: a penalty shoot-out. The Partizan captain stepped up first. Captain and GOALKEEPER. He proceeded to ‘Panenka’ it straight down the middle. The Hungarian keeper went to his left, still had time to adjust himself and get a right paw to the ball, but to no avail. What guts. What balls. What confidence this keeper had. Ferenc then missed and the result was never in doubt, despite Partizan drilling their 2nd pen wide. And judging by the celebrations, their victory was entirely unexpected. The squad players sat with us made their way to the front of the stand and jumped down to celebrate while Ferenc were booed off. My first booing off of the season, one game in.

The keeper dinks it in (believe me!)

Away: 70-80, with 50-60 ultras.

The Damage:
10,000 HUF= £27

The Tunes:
ACD (Half Man Half Biscuit)
Versions (Spring Heel Jack)
The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman (Sparks)

Even the local kicking box club is Ferenc-embossed

Florian Albert

Groupama Stadium and its cape

Ticket office pre-match

Partizan flags

Pre-match panorama

Sun glimmering, 1st half

Cramp kicks in at full time

The (90 minutes) full time panorama

Partizan players and fans celebrate

The players continue to party.

Goodnight Groupama!

Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 Malmo FF, Wednesday 29th July 2015

Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 Malmo FF (Champions League 3rd qualifying round, 1st leg) att. 15,027

It might seem a waste to go all the way to Salzburg, the home of Mozart and Mozartkugeln, just for a football match, but I've been before and I might be here again next week. Spending 5 hours on a train isn't normally something I'd recommend, but when your journey covers half of Switzerland and Austria, I make exception. I wouldn't say there were lots of great views, it was one continuous great view. Do it.

The stadium was, like Berne, easy to find and easy to reach by public transport. Any amount of trains go to the ‘Taxham Europark’ and the stadium is the other side of the shopping centre you see before you. A (Spar?) supermarket inside will happily sell you some cheap beer for the pre match, or there's a bar in the shopping centre.

The Red Bull Arena is maybe another 10 minutes walk, pleasant enough, pedestrianised. Then the stadium comes before you, atop a small hill. Unlike the Wankdorf, they’ve actually made an effort here. In particular, I like the entrance towers, which lead to the upper tier (most of them closed today though).

Despite arriving in good time (an hour before), queues for tickets were horrific. A couple of lads in front of me were advised to try a different kiosk so I followed them - and stood in a slow moving queue for half an hour. At the front, the problems became more apparent; 4 tills but only 2 open and the computers used to print tickets were slow. I bet quite a few missed kick off.

I went for the cheapest - €19 in the Sudkurve. The assistant was most surprised - everyone else was going in the Nordkurve, their ultras end, but it was a whole euro cheaper. (I'm still geared to thinking a euro is worth nearly £1 rather than the 60 odd pence it’s currently valued). Miserly to the last... Mind, I also overheard two lads behind me as I ordered: ‘Englander’ ‘Respekt!’ I swear I didn't imagine this.

The Sudkurve was relatively empty save for 1500 Malmo in one corner. I say 1500, who knows? But it looked pretty full and it was a fairly small corner. They were in great voice and why not? If you weren't expected to be in Euro competition long, Salzburg is as good an away trip as you can get (except the two sides only played a couple of years ago, Malmo winning on aggregate).

Other than the goals my highlight was a Malmo sub coming on called ‘Harvard’ (Neilson). Does he have siblings? Are they similarly named? Yale...Colombia...Teesside?

I did wonder who might be the favourites in this tie and looking at this match as a whole, Red Bull looked far better and fully deserved their 2-0, the second, secured late on and possibly proving terminal for Malmo’s European chances. (Note: it didn’t; Malmo won the 2nd leg 3-0).

Oh and Red Bull were another side promising ‘We Will Rock You’. Queen appear more popular the longer Freddie Mercury has been dead. The goals? I can’t remember. ‘Forgettable’, then.

***forgot my camera, so took pics on my phone, which has since been superceded. Now, how do I get the pics off my old phone...?

The Damage:
€19 ent (£14)

The Tunes:
Foggy Mountain Jamboree - Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs
Boomania - Betty Boo
Kitchen - Sun Electric Do You Like Rock Music? - British Sea Power
Plumb - Field Music
The Back Room - Editors
Snap, Crackle and Bop - John Cooper Clarke
Geogaddi - Boards of Canada

Young Boys 1-3 Monaco, Tuesday 28th July 2015

Young Boys 1-3 Monaco, att. 16,079

Welcome to ....

It should be every puerile English football fan's dream to see young boys at the wankdorf. Why the powers that be have chosen to rebrand it (since Euro 08) to the 'Stade du Suisse' I have no idea. It's now some hybrid shopping centre / footy stadium a la Basel. The same architects? Either way, the Wankdorf Center's outer skin has the soulless image of a large factory or multi-storey car park. It's simply a black box, with barely any insignia to show it is the home of one of Switzerland's most famous sides.

Dull dull dull

Inside, it slightly improves, in the home end, with a liberal sprinkling of yellow banners in the concourse courtesy of the Young Boys' ultras. The stadium is Picture Perfect, a slightly more upmarket version of Stadium:MK. It's a 2 tier fully encircling stadium with extra executive facilities on one side. Of course, this means it's all a bit characterless, despite rousing support from the ultras in the lower tier of the Ostkurve.

At least the souvenir van is a bit snazzy.

I bought my match ticket at the Young Boys' club shop in the Wankdorf centre. I had a couple of hours to spare before check-in and I decided to scoot to the stadium. Easy as pie; one stop by rail from the main station. (Also easily accessible by tram number 9 from the city centre, 16 minutes.) I bought the cheapest available ticket (36 francs) which was a not particularly cheap £24. This entitled me to be in with the ultras. However, I pulled a cheeky one, saw one of the upper tier staircases wasn't guarded and went upstairs instead. An absolutely superb view, even considering the floor to roof netting behind the goal.

Space-age (but not in a good way).

There was decent backing from the ultras, but not much elsewhere, save for a couple of call and responses (calls and response? calls and responses?) Where else would you get one lot chanting 'Young' and the rest chanting 'Boys!', save for public school. Still, as I say, it amused me. Pure puerile.

The other thing which threw me were the souvenir scarf sellers outside. You know the scarves: Half one team (the yellow and black of Young Boys), half the other (the red and white of Monaco). The sellers were all English scallies 'get yer souvenir scarves 10 Francs'. Was this a busman's holiday?Weren't they normally outside Man U / Chelsea / Liverpool etc etc Do they pick their games in Europe carefully? (ie, not Midtjlland v Apoel Nicosia tonite). Will they be at Red Bull Salzburg v Malmo FF tomorrow night?

Opening time at the Wankdorf

Monaco sauntered to an easy win here, 1-3. Men v young boys? Young Boys missed a howler (a header right in front of goal) as well as the keeper making a double save from a break and a shot cannoning off a post. A minute or two later and Monaco went ahead (64th minute). A belter too. A right wing cross evaded everyone and the left back / left winger sized it up before hitting it on the volley with his left peg into the bottom left. 200 Monaco fans went mad, 150 of them stood behind their ultras banner. Who'd have thunk Monaco had ultras? I wondered about the economic make-up of the average Monaco ultra: are they the served or the serving class in the principality?

The teams are coming, the flags are waving.

Carrillo then came on as a sub for Monaco and did more in a minute then any other forward on the pitch all game, flicking home a header from one in swinging free kick down the middle. Slack. The home fans understandably deflated, quietened. So without much home noise, the home side pulled one back 2 minutes later,  The right back muscled his way through to the byline and pulled it back for Nuzzolo to tap home. Who says crowd support makes any difference?

The 'Exec' side.  (Works out Geography...South Stand?)

To prove the point, with the Young Boys in full voice, sensing hope, Monaco simply run down the other end, a midfielder cuts inside onto his left and rifles the ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the box. From where I was it looked like Young Boys were determined NOT to get in the way of it. From a game that was scoreless after an hour it was a golf fest but Young Boys will be kicking themselves they missed easier chances than Monaco scored.

Proof

Crowd: 16,079

The Damage:
36 CHF (entry)
5 CHF (badge)
=41 CHF (£28)

The Tunes:
Songs in A&E - Spiritualized
Lazer Guided Melodies - Spiritualized

What's the time, Mr Wolf?

Young Boys' ultras and their flags

The home end (Ostkurve)

The teams come out

Monaco ultras

The Exec Side.

Match action.

Full time.