Geordie Al's Groundhopper Scrapbook: Wuppertaler SV 3-3 Viktoria Köln, Friday 29th July 2016

Saturday, 30 July 2016

Wuppertaler SV 3-3 Viktoria Köln, Friday 29th July 2016

Wuppertaler SV 3-3 Viktoria Köln, regionalliga west, att. 5,705

Welcome to .....

Wuppertal is a big place, with a population of 350,000. So you’d think there’d be a fair few things going for it. But I can’t think of any. I got out, took one look – and got back on the train to Dusseldorf, 20 odd miles away. Like Kaiserslautern, there’s a reason Wuppertal doesn’t get a mention in Lonely Planet. And that’s DESPITE having a zoo and a ‘sky train’ (like Dusseldorf airport, only more rickety).

The sky train.

I’d done my homework re: trains and knew that if there weren’t any lockers at Wuppertal Zoologischer Garten (there weren’t) then I’d need to store my stuff at Dusseldorf, ready for a later train. Mind, I did get off at Wuppertal Hbf only to find a portacabin for a ticket office and a back street for an entrance. What a hole. (Having said all that, I do a visit to Stadion am Zoo a disservice; I’ve always wanted to visit, since I saw pics of it. It’s like no other stadium I know)

Some younger WSV fans amusing themselves.

So I went to Dusseldorf, ate (Korean, if you must know), then trained it back to Wuppertal. One advantage, it’s easy to get to the stadium (well, easy cos I followed someone). Essentially, come out of Zoologischer Garten station, turn right, walk to the bottom of the hill and it’s on your left. Simples. 5 minutes. A 2nd advantage is the bottle shop next door to the station. Don’t worry if you don’t have a bottle opener on you – the shopkeeper will open it for you, if you like.

Back of the main stand.

I timed it well. After taking a few pics outside the ground, I could hear a commotion, so went to investigate. The ultras were making their entrance; the police had blocked off the road (to the obvious annoyance of other car users) and from the distance came a cacophony of noise. Maybe this is more common than I know – I saw Stuttgart do similar last year, with about 20 times the number. Still, good effort.

Lock up your daughters...here come the ultras.

A few ultras tried (vainly) to stop people taking pictures. What’s the point? They arrange a ‘spectacle’ then want to control the images taken. They seemed half-hearted tellings-off though, as if it’s part of the act. They love it really. ‘Look at us, we’re so ultra we throw a few smoke bombs and don’t do ANYTHING the police tell us to do’ (while the police facilitate the whole lot, witness blocking the road). ‘ACAB’ indeed…

Course, by being waylaid taking snaps, there were suddenly dozens of folk in the queue ahead of me. Nevermind. The queues went down quickly and for €9 I had my standing ticket; behind the goal or by the touchline? The choice was mine. I could wander about where I liked once inside.

The queues (check out the building).

Despite being in the 4th tier, everything looked so BIG. The stadium holds about 25,000 but there’s room for more. What confuses me is how their team can be so dreadful that even now they’ve just been promoted from the 5th tier. In contrast, their opponents, Viktoria Koln were parading a flag celebrating their partnership with Carshalton Athletic. Is that what level we’re punting at?

The villa behind the goal; club HQ?

WSV’s stadium used to house an athletics track, as can be seen by the curve of the main stand, as well as the space in front of the stand opposite. The curves at each end have been replaced by proper terraces, perhaps holding 6,000 or so each. The main stand looks bigger than it is, in terms of capacity, but provides the only cover, while the 4th side is reminiscent of The Valley, a terrace cut into the side of a hill. Said terrace is chopped into pens, while the front section is given over to seats.

The 'Forest Side'

I stood behind the goal, 1st half. Not near the ultras – I wanted a view. And I must have had a better view of Viktoria’s 1st than the Wupertaler keeper, who fumbled a near post free kick, expecting a cross. Half time, beer time. But the queue was huge. Had they miscalculated how many would turn up tonite? No matter, I’d have a wander to the ‘forest’ side.

The mascot joins us...

This holiday thing is more exhausting than I thought. I had a gander, then took a seat behind the dugouts and never moved. The view was dismal, really – the dugouts covered a fair portion of the pitch, but I didn’t expect much after the 1st half.

WSV’s line was led by a guy who looked a cross between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jay Rayner. He looked sh*t. His touch was poor and he had no pace. The programme stats told me he was the oldest player in the team, a guy with a Turkish name. Suffice to say he banged in 2, inc. a last minute equaliser, three-all.

The second half view.

The home side had equalised when a right wing cross only needed a tap-in…but the keeper got across for the save of this, or any other, season. Unfortunately, the rebound was snaffled by another ‘taler, before ‘Zlatan’ hammered one in when clean through. Suddenly the game was Wuppertaler’s.

Subs made, Viktoria were back in it. 2 attacks, 2 cut-insides, 2 great finishes. Then, just as Viktoria had my sympathy, they went all time-wastery. Ok, so they dug 2 minutes out of a corner, but if you tell the opposition you have NO INTENTION OF SCORING, you deserve everything you get, including a late, late Zlatan / Jay back post scramble.

The Main Stand.

Viktoria brought c.100 fans to the huge terrace but I was impressed with the home support. It was the first time I’d seen a 3-way call and response between home end, the forest side and the main stand. Plus a bugler amongst the forest fraternity. Well done them. Hopefully they can use the momentum, cos there;s no doubt WSV have the potential to be 1 or 2 leagues higher. Bundesliga itself? Well, they have a stadium with the capacity…

The Damage:
€9 ent
free prog
= €9

The Tunes:
So Tonight That I Might See (Mazzy Star)
Total Life Forever (Foals)