Rot-Weiss Oberhausen 0-2 Alemannia Aachen, Tuesday 9th August 2016

Rot-Weiss Oberhausen 0-2 Alemannia Aachen, att. 2,922 (regionalliga west)

Welcome to ...

I think I’ve made a new friend.  At my age.  Having mused for some considerable time over why Rot-Weiss only have 3 floodlight pylons, I decided to ask some random.  ‘Excuse me, do you speak English?’ I asked.  ‘Errrr…yes’ (cos they’re never quite confident enough to say ‘OF COURSE I DO!’, even when they’re fluent.  He didn’t know.  He was Dutch, on his own and liked visiting different grounds to watch football.  And as it transpired, business brought him to Oberhausen on business.  Great minds think alike…

Stadium plan.

Oberhausen.  Rot-Weiss Oberhausen.  Another team I’d wanted to visit for a while.  Yet the reason I wanted to go is probably one of the reasons they are where they are in the regionalliga west.  The stadium has barely changed in 40 years.  There is an athletics track (née speedway track; I’ve seen the photos) and single tier stands on either touchline, with open terraces curved around the ends.  Proper old school.  In opposition, and opposite, are Alemannia Aachen, who find themselves in the same league because of overspending, primarily on a spanking new 32,000 stadium.  So they have one thing in common, both being declared bankrupt, or as near to, in recent times.  

On the right track...

Previously mainstays of Bundesliga 2, this is some comedown for the pair.  RW in particular are in a pickle.  So close to Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen, nevermind the 6 minute train journey to Bundesliga 2 Duisburg, they’re a ruhrgebiet side left behind, chasing the good old days of the 1950s when their stadium was full (Wolverhampton Wanderers, without the new stadium?)

Outside the walls.

 Another dream I’ve never had, which happened today, was to ‘high five’ someone dressed in a dog costume.  Pre-match, the RW mascot ‘Underdog’ (!!) came toward me.  I couldn’t leave him (her?) hanging.  I feel there is nothing more for me to achieve on this earth.

Underdog.  That really happened, right?

 Earlier, it was a bit of a walk to the stadium.  Problies going to Duisburg is quicker.  But you WILL be rewarded.  It might be 2 miles or more, and it might take the best part of 45 minutes if you do direct, but you will (should!) encounter Schloss Oberhausen.  Not quite the castles of Bavaria, or England, but nonetheless, it had an exhibition of Marlene Dietrich and the Nazis.  ‘When I’m good I’m good, but when I’m bad I’m better.’  (Marlene Dietrich, not the Nazis.)  Even more thrilling, next door there’s a park, with various animals…goats, sheep, rabbits, deer…wolves (!)…lynx (!!) and all for free.

You lookin' at me?

 From the animal park, across the canal from the stadium, came the noise of the Aachen fans arriving, closely followed by several police fans.  So I was in the right vicinity.  I crossed a footbridge (not recorded on the map given to me at Tourist Info) which was cleverly designed based on a ‘slinky’.  It rocks – literally.

 At the stadium, I realise I must be the only person who doesn’t know ‘Rot-Weiss’ play in red and white.  I was familiar with their badge (a green four leaf clover) and always presumed they played in green.  Sometimes, my brain just does not compute.

The Slinky bridge.

After a little look in the club shop (a portacabin behind the main stand) I grabbed a beer.  The wurst queue was too long.  I’d return with an appetite.  Then it was up the steps to the terrace.  My ticket said Block I, but in reality, you could stand anywhere.  Many were congregated under the roof extension of the main stand.  I presumed these would be their ultras, so I followed the curve and stood opposite – next to their actual ultras.  Generously, the club had ripped out some seats in this stand to allow the ultras to be under the roof.  I can imagine this being preferable to being stuck in the open in an Oberhausen winter.  There were probably about 200 of them, though they largely gave up in the second half, even before RW were losing.

Definitely not the ultras.

 The Aachen fans were given half the terrace behind the other goal and I’d say there were 1500, or about half the crowd.  One good thing about sliding down the leagues in Germany is that it’s not very long before every game is virtually a derby.  Aachen’s fans made noise most of the game and beat their hosts 7-2 on flags.  I think that’s where the game was won, not the two throughballs and identical finishes which Aachen scored late on. 

Looking towards the Aachen fans.

As the full time whistle went, I heard the first demands for the coach to be sacked (RW have lost 3 out of 3 without scoring).  We are not even halfway through August.  More importantly though, why do RW only have 3 floodlights?  (Oh, and I’ve been invited by my new Dutch buddy to come and see Go Ahead Eagles next week.  I’m there.)

The Damage:€8.50

€3 beer x3

€3 wurst

€2 badge

= €22.50

The Tunes:

The Digging Remedy (Plaid)
Lady’s Bridge (Richard Hawley)
Truelove’s Gutter (Richard Hawley)

Live At The Social Vol. 1 (Chemical Brothers / Various)

Knee Deep In The North Sea (Portico Quartet)

Late Night Tales (Nils Frahm)

Behind the goal panorama.

Aachen fans enter the stadium.

Back of the terrace, towards the Main Stand.

Back of the terrace, towards the curve.

From the curve to the Main Stand.

One of the three.

Looking toward the ultras.

On the back straight.

The Main Stand.

From a distance...match action.

The ultras.

Behind the goal.

One day these seats will be used.

A stand of two halves.

Sunset over Stadion Niederrhein.

Rot Weiss Ahlen 0-2 Rot-Weiss Oberhausen, Tuesday 18th August 2015

Rot Weiss Ahlen 0-2 Rot-Weiss Oberhausen, Regionalliga West (att. 2,556)

Welcome to ....

Never get cocky. Never think that cos you’ve passed through Ahlen before, and seen the floodlights, that you’ll find the stadium, no problem. Cos you can’t see the floodlights from the elevated platform of the station for trees. Where was the stadium last time? Oh yes, on the left of the track….

Yes, tracks go two ways. I must have seen the floodlights on the way TO Dortmund previously, not FROM, as I am now. So when I toddled off in the direction of the stadium, I was going in COMPLETELY the wrong direction. (For the record, come out of the station, turn left, take the next left underneath the tracks, walk for 10-15 mins and the stadium is two minutes down that road. Easy!)

Finally!  A sign!

I walked to the edge of town. Nothing. Well, not nothing – some really nice looking suburbs. But a footie stadium? I found the ‘Pony Station’ and saw some nice…ponies. (What’s the difference between a pony and a horse?) Just as I was starting to give up, and at this point - I wasn’t sure if kick-off was 6 or 7pm, and it was now getting on for 7 – I saw a sign for the stadium. So it DOES exist! I followed the road…to the end of town. ‘Hamm 8km’…nothing.

Getting warmer...

So I turned left, kept walking (by now, I reckon I’m doing an anti-clockwise circuit of the town) and after a while, THERE IT WAS. Or at least I could see floodlights (switched on) in the distance. As I got closer, I could hear the crowd. But was I arriving at half-time or full-time? Turns out neither. KO was 7:15pm and I’d ‘only’ missed 20 minutes. It had taken me 2 hours to get here (it took 18 mins back). There’s a lesson to be learnt here somewhere.

Finally!

I paid my €10 (‘bit steep’ I thought, for Regionalliga) and I was in. First, a beer and a wurst…ahhh, nackensteak. I’m having one of those. They’re like an unbreadcrumbed schnitzel…a lump of flattened meat. No tomato ketchup, only a curry-flavoured version. Made a pleasant change but I wouldn’t buy the stuff.

Oberhausen, all caged in.

Why was I even here tonite? Well, the 1st German game I ever saw, about 6 years ago, was St. Pauli v Rot-Weiss Ahlen and I thought it was time to pay my respects. That game was in Bundesliga and since then RW have plummeted two division and aren’t particularly doing well in this division. Hard times indeed. And as you look around this slowly decaying stadium, you can smell the neglect. There’s holes in the back of one stand and fences everywhere (though you can walk around them and stand anywhere, behind the goal or the long side terrace).

Behind the goal...more flags than fans.

Three sides are quite small, and with a capacity of 12,500 and a crowd less than a quarter of that, I’d say Ahlen have found their level. The Main Stand is a low, all-seater affair where the plastic seats have discoloured through age and wear. To its left is the away end, a small, open terrace divided into 3 sections. Tonite, 2 sections will be open. Oberhausen is a relative derby, though in the Regionalliga West, most games are a ‘relative derby’. The clue is in the league’s name. Oberhausen have maybe brought 250. They have similarly fallen on hard times and were previously mainstays in Bundesliga 2.

Behind the home goal.

Opposite the Main Stand is a small, covered terrace, of which about half is open tonite. It will house the Ahlen ultras, as well as a few stragglers. Unusually, their ultras occupy the spot near the halfway line. Maybe there’s 50 of them. And despite the aged looking roof, the terrace looks recently laid. So not everything is aged and deteriorating.

The ultras leave a mess at full-time.

I stand behind the goal, on a paddock in front of some seats. But what was the score? No idea. Though I did see Oberhausen bag, the centre forward running across a defender to smartly flick home a pin point free kick or corner. I forget which. This half is dragging on, for a 7pm KO. Oh. Then I spot a manually-operated scoreboard behind the seats at the back. 0-1. I’ve missed nought.

Half-time.

At half-time I wander around, giving everyone else chance to get their beers in before my own. I thereby miss Oberhausen scoring again. There was a muted cheer (and groan) and so I suspected as much and the scoreboard confirmed it. That was it for scoring, but Oberhausen twice hit the woodwork while Ahlen had a couple of shots cleared or blocked. Overall, I was much impressed with the standard of play, good passing and movement from both sides. But Oberhausen won the battle of the Rot-Weisses.

Now, where’s that railway station? (I asked a policeman.)

Dusk over the Weserstadion.

The Damage:
€10 ent
€2.50 beer (300ml x2)
€4 ‘nackensteak’
€2.50 wurst
= €21.50

Programme? They definitely existed but I saw none for sale. I couldn’t see a club shop to speak of either

The Tunes:
Favourite Worst Nightmare (Arctic Monkeys)
Music For Films (Brian Eno)
Tomorrow’s Harvest (Boards of Canada)
The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (The Orb)
At Their Very Best (The Shadows)

Welcome to ....(2)

The away end.

Behind the goal.

Welcome to ...(3)

Picnic tables behind the Main Stand.

Enter the Longside.

Half-time on the Longside.

Clever use of stickers.

The Main Stand.

The home end.

A dereliction of duty.

Fans going back for the 2nd half.

Looking towards the Oberhausen fans.