Darmstadt 98 1-0 Greuther Furth, Saturday 29th July 2017

Darmstadt 98 1-0 Greuther Furth (Bundesliga 2, att. 16,100)

Welcome to...the toilets at Darmstadt.  Classy tile addition.

Who designed Darmstadt?  The train station is in one place, the town centre another and the football ground somewhere else still.  They really manage to sprawl this place out.  Luckily , come out of the station to the left and there's trams which will deliver you straight to the Merck-Stadion  am Bollenfalltor, a good 20 minute chug through town.

A Furth fan at the station.

The Bollenfalltor is unique, even by German standards.  It's an elliptical stadium with the two ends having been replaced by stands within the curves.  Consequently, the new home end, metal terracing and propped cantilever roof (obviously they had a budget / rush on) lies in front of the old curve in what was previously dead space.  Best of all, they've kept the actual curve, including crush barriers, behind the new stand.  I presume the same goes for the opposite end, an identical stand albeit decked out in seats.

The old terrace behind the new stand.

Previously, the only seating save for a few away seats slapped onto existing terracing was a 4000 capacity main stand which is the width of two athletics tracks away from the pitch.  I presume there was an athletics track and after its disappearance the pitch was moved closer to the main terrace, opposite.

The Main Stand.

This fourth side dominates the stadium, a tall open terrace which peels away at either end.  Indeed, it is so unsophisticated that you can still see the grass banking the terracing was laid on top of.  Only slightly ruining the effect is the large no man's land in between the two sets of fans, much larger than strictly necessary but security is key in Darmstadt.

The long side terrace.

Security can best be viewed as an away fan, which I was today.  There were no standing tickets left in the home end, so I figured Greuther won't bring many, let's go in the away end.  What a walk.  You are sent around estates, around an entirely separate sports stadium (belonging to the university) before finally landing yourself a stroll through forest to the away turnstiles.  I’d say you’d not get much change from 20 minutes if you walked from the home end (clockwise; it was probably even longer anti-clockwise).  At least when you get to the turnstiles there's a large car park and a stall selling beer.  You need it.

Trekking thru' the forest with Furth

The match? 1-0 to Darmstadt.  Having just been relegated from the Bundesliga, this is probably their best chance of bouncing back.  I have my hopes.  This is a great (different) ground to go to.  Just make sure you get a ticket in the home end!

The Damage:

€4 beer (500ml)

€14 ent

The Tunes:
Pentamerous Metamorphosis (Global Communication)
Trans-Europe Express (Kraftwerk)
The Back Room (Editors)
Mixmag Jul14 (Scuba)
The White Room (KLF)

Darmstadt panorama from behind the goal.

Darmstadt panorama from the long side terrace.

Fans gather pre-match.

The long side terrace.

Looking down on the new home end.

Metal terracing and general detritus.

Outside the stadium.

Beer stall at the away end.

Where once this terrace just continued...

Old and new.

A camera / steward gantry on the grass banking.

Terracing slapped onto the grass bank.

The Fire Brigade find a perch.

Behind the goal at full time.

I'm obsessed...

The away seating.