Geordie Al's Groundhopper Scrapbook: Austria Wien 1-2 Apollon Limassol, Thursday 8th August 2019

Friday, 9 August 2019

Austria Wien 1-2 Apollon Limassol, Thursday 8th August 2019

Austria Wien 1-2 Apollon Limassol, Europa League 3rd qualifying round, 1st leg, att. 8,165 (Generali Arena)

Welcome to ...

I walked miles today. First up, from my hostel near the main train station, I made it to legendary Viennese footie ground Hohe Warte, venue of Austria’s biggest ever football crowd, 85,000. And you can see why, with one enormous hill on one side. Like The Valley, Charlton, in days of yore. And luckily there was a hole in the fence, so I could sneak in. But that’s for another post.

Hohe Warte

If I’d known how far it was, there’s no way I would have walked it. For some reason I thought the Hohe Warte was only 1km outside the city centre. Did I have a ‘not to scale’ map? Maybe: it was nearer 5. But at least I had the privilege of walking past Vienna’s waste incineration plant, as designed by one Hundertwasser. Why can’t more municipal sites look like this? After reaching the stadium, I got a tram back (‘D’?) all the way to the hauptbahnhof, so that was a result.

Hundertwasser's waste incineration plant.

Somehow, I missed the turning to the stadium earlier too. That added another mile to my journey. But once I found the hill, I knew I was on the right path, passing an open air swimming pool to my right before I reached Hohe Warte.

Unfortunately, the site was surrounded by a fence. Long way to come, etc…but lo! Someone had ripped a hole in the mesh and I was in – through a few bushes, and I was right at the top of aforesaid banking. The whole majesty of Hohe Warte lay before me. What a stadium! And as coincidence would have it, tenants First Vienna, playing in the 4^th tier of Austrian football, were having their pre-season team photo taken in the middle of the pitch.

There they are! Over there!

Opposite the banking was the stadium’s only stand. Running the length of the pitch, it had terracing on one side and seats in the rest. The rest of the stadium has long since been grassed over, save for the lower portion of the main banking containing a scaffold stand.

I spied the main entrance to the far right, down the hill. It was open, so I walked behind one goal and headed for there. Hopefully I wouldn’t be arrested for trespassing – no, there were actually plenty of people there, as local schoolchildren were being coached on an astroturf pitch behind the Main Stand. Anyway, hopefully fixtures will fall kinder next time and I can see an actual game at Hohe Warte. For now, the Generali Arena beckoned.

I even came across another stadium on my march to the Generali.

Austria Wien’s new stadium is a far cry from their previous humble abode. Having studied the vaguaries of the local transport system…I decided to walk there too. A glutton for punishment, but this time it was only 40 minutes. Only. The Generali Arena holds a proud perch above the adjacent motorway, which I crossed by bridge. Then you get an (almost) rural walk, through some trees...before the stadium is leaps out at you. I quickly found a ticket office (there were more, busier ticket booths at the Osttribune, the main home end) and asked for the cheapest. €16 – for the Osttribune!

This was the ultras end and as such was by far the busiest part of the ground. Although two-tiered, those in the central part of the upper tier also joined in the noise from those below. I elected for somehow quieter, in the wings.

The stadium towering over the motorway.

The stadium is a good design as newbuilds go. It’s two-tiered on three sides, with a one-tier stand on the 4^th side, all with purple (sorry, violet) seats. It holds about 18,000 and tonite it was about half full. I’m not sure about the away end/corner though, with its plexi-glass dividers. How less of a pleasure must it be watching football through THOSE? (I have, and what happens is that away fans cover them in stickers, so you have an even harder time of seeing the action.

Limassol fans.

Tonite’s opponets were Apollon Limassol, of Cyprus, who’d maybe brought 150. I was expecting more away fans, given those I’d already seen in town. I know at least one was American of Greek origin, as I overheard her telling her life story to some other fans, whether they were interested or not. What is it with Americans? First half, three of them, (one guy, two girls) came and sat next to me and the guy was fully getting behind Austria, arguing with decisions, etc…it all looked an act for his friends. It was cringey. I moved second half.

The view from upstairs.

I presumed Wien were favourites, as befitted the side from ‘Favoriten’ but they were shocked early on as Limassol opened their account with a pen for handball. But, as the ref gave that one, he could hardly turn down an appeal from Austria for a similar arm-blocking shot. One-all. One penalty-all. Half-time approached and I’d spent 45 minutes eyeing up someone else’s beer – mainly because I’d seen beforehand it was a cashless system. I saw nowhere to buy a stadium card. Maybe they accepted credit cards? I couldn’t be bothered to find out.

Austria prepare to take their penalty.

Sadly for Austria, they ran out of ideas. Limassol’s pace on the break had the beating of the homesters and early on in the second half, as the centre forward was played through, he took his time, drew the keeper and lofted the ball over him and in off the crossbar. Beautiful. And that was it. The winner. I’m not sure Austria knew what hit ‘em, but there’s no doubt the better team won.

The Damage:
€16 ent

= €16

The Tunes:
Foxbase Alpha (St. Etienne)
Jah Sees Jah Knows (Misty in Roots)

Stayed at:
A&O Hauptbahnhof, Vienna (£25)