SV Sandhausen 1-2 Fortuna Dusseldorf (Bundesliga 2, att. 6,769)
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Holed up in
Heidelberg with the love of my life, the choice of footie was thus: train ride
9 minutes to Sandhausen for a Sunday lunchtime kick-off, or the Monday night
televised game at the granddaddy of Bundesliga 2 stadia, Kaiserslautern, but an
hour and a half journey and a late night.
We went Sandhausen. Besides, you
can't go wrong with a shuttle service which meets you off the train and takes
you direct to the ground.
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The Hardtwald is not
one I'd advise you walk to, all dull (nice) suburbs and no pubs or any other
businesses for that matter. Still, there
was a sparsity of home fans on that train.
Why can't Sandhausen, smallest team in Bundesliga 2, not tap in to the
Heidelberg (pop. 200000+) market?
There were a number
of Fortuna fans on the train from Heidelberg.
What perfect scheduling, an early away fixture allowing for a weekend in
this picturesque enclave, beloved of Mark Twain. I can't think of an equivalent in England. Where's nice that’s 9 minutes from a team in
our top 2 divisions?
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| Badger on the loose... |
Sandhausen’s
longevity in the upper levels (6 seasons and counting) has also resulted in stadium
development which gives it a more than respectable 15,000 capacity. In fact,
today's 6,800 felt more. Fortuna
bringing 2000+ must have helped, as was the small matter of the winners going
top, albeit after four matches.
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| Away fans on left (seated) and right (standing). |
Since I was last here
(in 2013), the small main stand has been extended along the touchline,
ostensibly to increase the VIP section.
Oddly, the roof is slightly higher, seemingly to give the VIP rooms
greater height. However, the biggest change has seen two sides of the stadium
completely rebuilt. The small terrace
opposite the main stand is now a stand with seats in the upper tier and a
paddock in front, while behind the goal to its left, a small terrace has been
extended and a roof added. This being Sandhausen,
all things must be on a budget and all the stands have propped roofs.
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| It does look a bit 'budget'. |
Still, Sandhausen’s
main support prefers to stand on a terrace adjacent to the main stand, even if
the ultras have moved in behind the goal, where the terrace is perfectly split
into between home and away. Some of the terracing in the home section was taped
off, but given it's quite new I wondered if this was to huddle the rest of the
fans together to help make an atmosphere.
(I’ve seen this on Saarbrucken’s giant home terrace.)
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| Sandhausen ultras |
We sat behind the
goal opposite. Not the cheapest seating
tickets (those were €17, lower tier of the main stand…wot used to be terracing…but
these were directly in the sun, and boy was it hot. I had asked for seats high up, so I was given
Row 4, but no worries, we made our way up towards the back, beer and sausages
in hand. The first few rows also had
those foldy up clapper things what Leicester City need to make an atmosphere. We picked a couple up but gave them away to a
couple of kids who'd come to the game with Mum.
It made the younger one’s day (mum was genuinely thankful too).
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| Looking towards the Main Stand. |
The match went
according to plan first half, with Sandhausen taking the lead midway through
when an overlap lead to an easy header from the resultant cross. Unfortunately, Fortuna learnt from that and
scored in similar fashion themselves early in the second half, the pullback
being sidefooted in.
Then that was it till
the last minute of normal time. I
suspect the players were exhausted from running around in the heat (there were
a fair few tackles too) but then heartbreak for Sandhausen as a ball over the
top was lashed home on the half volley, high into the net. A truly quality finish to end the match and
take Fortuna to the top of the league. Will
they go up? I can't say I was that
impressed, but you never know. (5/6/18: They did, winning the title on
the last day of the season by coming back from two down at leaders Nurnberg to
win 3-2 and take the title on goal difference.)
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| The teams come out. |
All that remained was
a little look around the club shop (some nice 2016 centenary mugs) before boarding
one of the waiting buses to take us to the station, free. I love Germany. I love German football.
The Damage:
€20 ent
€3.50 beer (x2)
€3 wurst
€2.50 train
= €32.50
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| Hardtwald stadion panorama. |
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| Sparkassen Tribune |
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| Paddock of INWO Tribune. |
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| Back of stand. |
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| The view from the Sparkassen Tribune. |
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| Fans in the Sparkassen Tribune. |
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| Hardi the Badger warms up. |
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| The Main Stand. |
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| Standing at the far end. |
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| Match action. |
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| Tin Tunnels |
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