Kaiserslautern 0-0 Ingolstadt, Tuesday 30th July 2019

Kaiserslautern 0-0 Ingolstadt, 3.liga, att. 17,212 (Fritz Walter Stadion)

Welcome to ...

Without a 'new' ground to visit tonite, I went back to an old favourite, Betzenberg, Kaiserslautern - or the Fritz Walter Stadion to give it its official name.  This place is a cathedral.  Or a castle, built atop the highest hill in town.  You can see it from everywhere, and, most importantly, from the railway station, so there's no excuses to get lost.  Just don't go into town; there's a reason Kaiserslautern doesn't even get a mention in Lonely Planet.

The coolest roundabout on the planet.

I arrived an hour and a half before kick-off and expected relatively quiet surrounds.  Not a bit of it.  Hundreds had already congregated.  All the way from the station and up the hill to the stadium were pop-up bars and food stalls.  And then there's my favourite part of the walk, as you go through an opening underneath a prefab block and arrive at the other side, with steps heading up as far as the eye can see.  Good job there's another bar here.

Such an unassuming entrance to such an assuming place.

The sud-ost box office was busy, but efficient.  While considering which section I wanted, I gave in to chance.  '9.4', high up behind the goal.  This section had safe-standing, but since the higher up one went, the emptier it was, you could sit if you wished.  I moved along and to the left, and went a little lower.  One problem with higher up is that you can't see the rest of the stadium for the roof overhead, like in the Gallowgate End at Newcastle.

Plenty of space back here.

For all my climb, I wasn't rewarded with a goal.  I also realised it meant a longer journey for victuals, s the refreshment bars were all on the ground floor.  I also successfully negotiated their card system (you pay €1.50 deposit for a card and you can claim back the deposit on the card and anything left on it later).  Arriving so early, there was no way I wasn't going to eat and drink.  I found a perch outside, balcony-like, overlooking the steps I'd clambered earlier.

See that balcony?  I had my beer and wurst there.

Afterwards, I slipped by stewards to stand 'downstairs' in 9.2, though it's all one tier, really.  There still seemed plenty of space, albeit most of the crowd of 17,000 odd were behind this goal.  I also had the ultras' flags in front of me, but I guess the giant one ready to be unfurled is only used for goals, cos it never came out!  Ingolstadt came closest to scoring, a cut inside from the right ending with a curling shot rattling the crossbar.  For Lautern, it was a shot from inside their own half which the visiting keeper struggled to get back for.

The Lautern ultras.

Yes, my 6th game of this tour brought my first goalless draw.  Kaiserslautern are considered a 'big' club (think of Sunderland in division 3),  Actually, I enjoyed that.  Think some more of Sunderland in division 3.  However, one of them has won the league and cup in the last 20 years and the other is Sunderland.  Opponents Ingolstadt were no mugs though, having just been relegated from Bundesliga 2 and having been playing the likes of Bayern 3 years ago in Bundesliga. 

The home end awaits its heroes.

The Betzenberg, all steep stands and giant roofs is testament to civil engineering and architecture, making the most of every bit of space it has.  I'm shocked to read of the threat of 1.FCK having to leave due to monetary issues.  This famous old stadium and this famous old team evoke romantic feelings from German footie fans everywhere and is without doubt one of my favourite German football venues.  Long may it reign!

Welcome to...(II)

The Damage:
€13 ent
€4 beer (x2)
€3 wurst (x2)
€1.50 plastic glass deposit
= €28.50

The Tunes:
Gatecrasher black (Various)
Strange Free World (Kitchens of Distinction)

Stayed at:
Mannheim Youth Hostel (€27)

The view from my balcony.

Get your scarves here.

Stadium plan.

Who doesn't need a 'Scheiss Mannheim' scarf?

Inside the bogs.

Giant screen in the far corner.

The Ingolstadt fans.

That away end in full.

The teams come out.

Come on Lautern!

The dugouts.

Match action.

Looking towards the away end.

Some of the c32,000 empty seats.

The Main Stand.

Kickers Offenbach 2-0 SSV Ulm, Monday 29th July 2019

Kickers Offenbach 2-0 SSV Ulm, Regionalliga Sudwest, att. 7,041 (Sparda Bank Hessen Stadion)

Welcome to ....

Monday nights in Germany are usually characterised by a live for TV Bundesliga 2 game.  Tonight it was Arminia Bielefeld v St. Pauli (the latter being Sky Germany’s version of Dirty Leeds in terms of number of games shown).  However, much as I’d like to see St. Pauli in action, I’ve been to Arminia, so, instead I chose the regionalliga sudwest match starring (relative) giants Kickers Offenbach.

Outside the Main Stand

‘Kickers Offenbach’.  I’m sure I heard this team’s name in my childhood, long before ‘Borussia Dortmund’ or ‘Schalke’ were even invented.  Or am I mixing them up with Stuttgart(er) Kickers?  I don’t know.  The mind plays some awful tricks.  Whatever, the name just evokes SOMETHING.  But they were in the Bundesliga in 83/84, so maybe.  And from research, I knew what to expect, a 20,000 brand new stadium (a temple to all things concrete), a decent sized crowd…and an easy journey from Frankfurt. 

A concrete jungle.

The fastest service from Frankfurt Hbf was 11 minutes, making Offenbach a virtual suburb of Germany’s financial centre (don’t tell them that though).  Get off at Offenbach Ost station, turn left outside the station, first left and it’s about a 1km walk.  Or jump on one of the fan buses which meet you as you exit the station.  Even at this level, the Germans provide everything.

SSV greet their following.

Kickers are a club with aspirations further up the league ladder.  Occupants of Bundesliga 2 as recently as 2007-08, they have been regular members of the upper echelons, but have fallen on hard times as they were refused a 3.liga licence at the end of 2012/13, less than a season after opening their new (rebuilt) stadium.  The most famous ‘player’ at their old stadium?  David Bowie, in 1983.  Wish I’d seen that.

Bowie never saw it looking like this.

The Stadion am Bieberer Berg, or Sparda Bank Hessen Stadion, still has 4 distinct stands, though it’s all covered and feels much more enclosed, with the wings partitioned.  It’s very similar in design to Rot-Weiss Essen.  However, where it differs is that their main terrace is along the touchline rather than behind the goal.  This terrace is split into 3, so I bought a ticket for the central section (going ‘large’; it was one euro cheaper in the wings).  And in a crowd of 7,000, I’d say around 5,000 were on this terrace, a ratio not unusual in Germany.

At least one part of the stadium is busy...

The visitors numbered 43 at their highest count, a number which yo-yo’d depending on how many were buying beer.  Despite being ‘regional’, it’s a long way to Ulm, on a Monday evening.  Was this game on telly too (surely not)?  Arriving early, I took my dinner (beer and wurst) to the top of the terrace and watched as the stadium filled.  Another advantage to arriving early is you get to see the ultras’ preparations.  I particularly admired the low budget ‘Stop’ signs Kickers had made, replate with ‘OFC’ lettering, all cardboard, sticky-tape and plastic pole.  Blue Peter would be proud.

All you need is sellotape, cardboard and a plastic pole.

Writing this two days later, I can’t remember the goals.  2-0 in a game littered with misplaced passes, as I recall.  Was the 2^nd a rebound after the keeper saved it?  Maybe.  I think the 1^st was not long after half-time, so it was a good job I’d made a beeline for the refreshments right on the ref’s whistle.  I still missed the actual start of the second half, but once Kickers had scored (and the ultras had showered themselves with beer launched into the air – 4^th tier, FFS!) the party could get going.  For this level of football, there is some atmosphere at the Bieberer Berg.  Will this season be the one that sees them return to the professional ranks?

OFC! OFC!

The Damage:
€13 ent
€3 postcards
€1 prog

€4 (500ml, x2)

€3 wurst (x2)

= €31

The Tunes:

Sheet One (Plastikman)

Gatecrasher black (Various)

Whirlpool (Chapterhouse)

Stayed at: (cost)

Frankfurt Hostel, €17

Stadion am Bieberer Berg panorama

Supporters' Club

Like Arsenal's infamous hording...not many black faces.

Old School.

It's a lonely existence in the Ulm end.

Fans warm up for the teams.

Into the belly of the beast.

The teams line up.

The Main Stand.

'The mountain trembles.  Use home advantage and advertise here.'  It started so well...

Sunset over Bieberer Berg

A corner comes in.

How it ended too.

Home time!

KAS Eupen 1-4 Royal Antwerp, Sunday 28th July 2019

KAS Eupen 1-4 Royal Antwerp, 1st Division A, att. 4,000 (Stadion am Kehrweg)

Welcome to...you'll never know!

One of the advantages of a country of the relative smallness of Belgium is that if fixtures are kind, you can see two games in a day at the weekend.  So it was, having seen Vinny Kompany’s return to Anderlecht earlier, I hopped on a Metro to Brussels Central and was straight on to a direct train to Eupen, near the border with Germany.

This also meant going without food, which cost me later (literally), paying about €6 for a bratwurst at the game.  Scandalous, but if I said one thing about Eupen: there’s not a lot to it.  Least not late Sunday afternoon, and least not near the railway station.  I found a bar not too far away (near the bus station, handy for later).  €3 for an Erdinger and the company of 3 alcoholics (4 including present company).  A sign reckoned they had tomato soup on, but this did not look the place to eat.

There she is!  Over there!

Having located the bus station (I was catching a bus to Aachen in Germany after the match) I walked to the stadium, a steep hike to the top of a hill.  Good place for it too, as you could see the floodlights from miles away, even through the constant drizzle.  I arrived with 20 minutes to kick-off.  Plenty of time to buy a ticket, ‘cept they only had one ticket booth and 4 servers for a scrum of people.  What did they expect on matchday?  As the game kicked off, an official said we could now pay on the gate.  Those of us near the front of the queue didn’t move.

The ticket frenzy.

Eventually, I got my ticket.  Now, to get in.  ‘No bags allowed’ I was told AFTER going through the turnstile.  ‘Where can I put it?’  ‘In your car.’  ‘I came by train.’  This was the cue for junior to look for his boss and upon seeing the middle-aged English mess in front of him, he allowed me in.  ‘We make exception.’  Splendid chap!

As usual, I’d gone for the cheapest option, a €15 ticket behind the goal with the ultras.  Fortunately, there was plenty of space to the sides and I had the pick of the seating – or I could stand on a small paddock at the front.  The stand itself, which towered over the rest of the ground, was one of those metal scaffolding constructions which for all the world look and feel temporary, though at least the roof supports weren’t as intrusive as at Kiel the previous day.

Outside of the stand I was in.

I had though missed a goal.  Visitors Royal Antwerp were already leading and though they brought plenty of fans (at least a thousand) I couldn’t hear their cheers outside.  They looked like they were having a whale of a time, especially as the goals flowed second half.  I think every song they had was in English; certainly at 4-1 up they were chanting about being top of the league, but if you still want to hear ‘Let’s go f*** mental’ while fans bounce around ‘going mental’ (are we allowed to say this phrase anymore?), then Antwerp are your peeps.

The main core of the Antwerp support.

The rain at least brought a pace to the game.  There was none of this slow, methodical, continental build-up play.  This was ice hockey.  Still, the equaliser came out of the blue, a cracker of a 25 yard curler, over the keeper and into the far right top corner.  Stunning.

By now, I was hungry.  Or hungrier.  And so desperate was I that I was willing to put myself through their token system (once I’d found the booth selling tokens…at the far end of T3, the stand to my left).  I’d seen the prices and was mightily surprised, but still, I’d only paid €15 entrance so why not splurge €8 on a bratwurst and a small glass of Jupiler?  On an associated note, why, in a nation of beer drinkers is Jupiler, that most average of lagers, so popular?  The bratwurst was nothing to write home about either.  So much for being in the ‘German’ part of Belgium.

The Main Stand.

The equaliser had given Eupen heart and renewed vigour for the few hundred ultras, but KAS were no match for Antwerp…1-2….1-3…the game was over.  But I’ll say this for the home fans – they didn’t leave.  Unlike me, who nipped to the toilet for a pee and missed Antwerp’s 4^th.  It was Royal’s day (or night), but I had a bus to catch.  That slope would work in my favour this time.

The Damage:
€15 ent
€8 bratwurst and beer
= €23

The Tunes:
Four-Calendar Cafe (Cocteau Twins)
Black Sunday (Cypress Hill)

Stayed at: (cost)
A&O Hostel Aachen Hauptbahnhof, £14

Stadion am Kehrweg panorama

Match action.

Clearly defined ticket pricing.  A good thing.

Breeze block heaven?

The rest of the Royalists.

Block T3 (I'm not sure it had another name)

Not sure why Eupen split the away end.

Fans behind the goal.

The paddock at the front.

More action in front of the Main Stand ('T1')

Antwerp prepare to take a corner.

The cheerleader roars on the ultras.

The latest score.

Looking towards the home end ('T2')