1.FC Heidenheim 1-0 Munich 1860 (Bundesliga 2)
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| 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?).
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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'.
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| 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
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| The Shelf Side. |
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| Looking across to the 'Exec Side'. |
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| The teams come out... |
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| Doesn't that look like the coolest place to watch? (see kid in foreground) |
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| The camera gantry. An afterthought? |
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| Flag-waving 1860 style. |
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| The Heidenheim bear (I guess). |
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| Friendly looking fence... |
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| Some of the few empty seats in the stadium |
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| Full time. Minnows one, giants nil. |
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| Does that floodlight go THROUGH the stand? I think it does! |
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| Purveyors of fine (lower league) football stadia! |
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