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 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 is 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.

SC Freiburg 6-3 1.FC Nurnberg, Monday 27th July 2015

SC Freiburg 6-3 1.FC Nurnberg (Bundesliga 2)

Welcome to ..........

It's after 11 p.m. and it's a case of bittersweet. All trains north, whether to Karlsruhe or Frankfurt, are delayed by 1½ to 6 hours. The sweet? I'm sat on the 17:49 (!) to Amsterdam, holed up in the buffet car, replete with a glass of Erdinger. The train still isn't going anywhere but at least I'm sat in the bar area along with a few other reprobates from the footie, both Freiburg and Nurnberg.

Freiburg is a great place to come and see football, even if, as I did, you have a terrible view. The Sud Tribune terrace has barriers by each side of the gangway preventing you from squeezing in, (cos you can be guaranteed someone is leaning on said barrier/handrail). So you have to try and push in from the back (impossible, 5-6 deep) or you walk around the front and hope for the best. The gangway meantime is patrolled under strictest guard and woebetide those who argue. I crawled through an opening in the corner, near the scoreboard, climbed 2 or 3 stairs and leant on the barrier, facing the action side-on. I almost had a view - of the far end. This end seemed very fence-heavy, in a way the seating areas weren't.

AKA ...........

I wouldn't even care, but this wasn't even Freiburg's main fankurve. That was at the opposite end. Our end had a tier of terrace below seats; the view from above must be amazing given the height and it being the only stand devoid of pillars. Outside, I saw at least a dozen fans asking for tickets for the home end. I imagined plenty of seats available, though once inside it looked a full house (which it was: 23,700).

What a great stadium though. 4 'proper' stands overlooking the pitch and the fans tight to the action. The home end, one large bank of terracing behind the goal, two sides of seating and our end, which today included the Nurnberg ultras (far right, ho ho).

Banners before kick off

We WILL be back (to the Bundesliga).

Also. as nice as Freiburg (the place) is, if you can afford the time, definitely stroll the three miles or so to the stadium. Head to the river from the train station, turn left and keep on walking. You can even sit on a rock mid-river and dangle your toes in the Dreisam as one did. (Note: problies best not to do this in winter.) Or, further back along stream, a bunch of students were sitting for dinner at a picnic table in the middle of the shallow current. Style.

The match was crazy, and a perfect choice for TV. Newly relegated Frieburg versus yo-yo club Nurnberg. I saw Kaiserslautern go 3 up in half an hour t'other day, tonight I'd seen a hat-trick in 13 minutes and 2 penalties in the first 10.

Scarves up, the teams are coming out.

1-0 A mazy dribble, outflicked leg, penalty. Straight down the middle (I saw in the replay).

2-0 Last man is rounded and chops him down. No red. Penalty again savable but keeper goes the wrong way.

3-0 Keeper makes a hash of it; off a freekick, he leaves near post unguarded, expecting a cross. Although he saves the shot, he pops the ball up nicely for Pedersen to finish into the roof of the net.

4-0 It's getting silly now. Quick move in 1.FCN box has Pedersen rounding the keeper...great save but the ball falls to an unmarked teammate. Half-time, easy. But is it?

4-1 Goal of the game. corner is swung in, it's flicked on towards back post, 12 yards out and it's hit on the half volley into the far corner. For technique, this needs to be used in coaching videos.

The Sud Tribune...packed and fences galore.

4-2 Goal, one minute into the second half. Easy for you to remember you've got YouTube. I have no idea how Nurnberg scored, but I do know I saw it.

4-3 Penalty. Same end, different team. You can finally here the Nurnbergers (where were they at 4-0?) The home fans are stunned into silence. They're bricking it.

Then, for a while, it was an average game. Coulda been one of them nil-nils for all you'd know. Then it's 5-3, the left back beats ONE player and is suddenly clean through, as defenders everywhere retreat, expecting the pass. He puts it onto his right and places it in the far corner. Goodnight. Or it is on 84 minutes when I see it yet another player sent off for idiocy, in this case a second booking for vehemently disputing a throw in. A throw-in, FFS!
6-3 was easier to describe. I was holding my **** when I heard the cheer. Yes, I was in the bogs. But I still saw the replay showing a back post finish through the keeper's legs. It was Freiburg's night.

Front row seats, visibility impaired.

To be honest, I don't know where the Nurnberg goals came from. Freiburg looked streets ahead of them. And for Pedersen, whose on-loan goals nearly saved them last year - whatthehell is he doing here? Surely some other Bundesliga side would have signed him up?

Earlier, I'd had good time to amble around Freiburg including climbing the big hill overlooking the town. Shame then that the tower at its peak was closed. So much for my Panorama of Freiburg and the Black Forest. All I could see from the foot of the tower was trees but sometimes it pays to get away from the crowds and on the way down I found something which would have saved half my effort the other way - a funicular railway. It was Heidelberg all over again (finding a funicular after the event). Funnily enough, I've just spoken to a Nurnberg fan from Heidelberg. It's Monday night, close to midnight and there's no trains heading North. Still as long as the TV cameras are happy! (I remember the chant when Barnsley were in the Premiership....'On Sky on a Monday night...on Sky on a Monday night!') Who gives a s*** about the fans?

So I made a dash at full-time. The tram stop was handily situated at the south end of the stadium, 5 mins walk...and my train was 11 pm. Well it's now 11:45 pm (as I write this) and the buffet car on the 1749 to Frankfurt is turning into a handy little lock-in. But will I get to Karlsruhe anytime tonight? Attendance: 23,700 (capacity). The Damage:
€13.50 ent (inc €3 postage, I bought my ticket in advance)
€3.30 schnitzel (x2)
€3 bier (400ml, x2)
€1 prog
€1.50 badge
= €28.30 (£20)

Goal crazy at Europa Park.

Mosaic outside a Freiburg business.

Tonight's entertainment advertised.

I was wondering where I might get a Rangers flag...

I spot a team coach...

Match parking, Black Forest-style.

The mascot mingles, pre-match.

A full stand awaits the action.

Chumbawamba fans?

Is that Wayne Coyne? (lead singer of the Flaming Lips) 

Packed out, expecting at least half a dozen goals...

If Rizla had invented a typeface...

'On Sky on a Monday night'

Home time.

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!