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')

Anderlecht 1-2 KV Oostende, Sunday 28th July 2019

Anderlecht 1-2 KV Oostende, First Division A, att. 19,000 (Lotto Park, AKA Constant Vanden Stock Stadium)

Welcome to...

There’s no doubt who the ‘star’ is today: it’s the homecoming of The King, Vincent Kompany, parachuted in as player-coach and already everyone’s favourite player,  judging by the replica shirts and pre-match tifo.  What can go wrong?

This was the second visit I’d paid to the Constant Vanden Stock stadium.  The last time, they proclaimed to have sold out – in a European qualifier against TNS, no less.  Really?  Anyway, I took no chances this time, buying my ticket online using the print@home facility.  All very easy, though I’m not sure there was the need for me to take a selfie of myself holding up my passport.  I felt like one of those kidnapped types, holding up that day’s newspaper. 

There is a new leader in town.

The journey to the stadium was easy too, once I’d found the Metro station inside Brussels Central Station.  The signage could be a little more obvious.  Or am I a bit slow?  From there, it’s the #5 a few stops, to St. Guido and follow the crowd of purple-clad fans.  (Actually, ‘mauve’, but whothehell knows the difference?)

Pre-match throng amongst the bars

There’s plenty of bars around the stadium, which I chose instead to circumnavigate.  It looks old and tired from the outside (I know the feeling) and it’s no surprise Anderlecht are looking to move on, to some 60,000 superdome or other.  Not that they could sell out their 26,000 stadium today, Vinny or no Vinny.  I got my satchel in, despite signs that no bags beyond A4 were allowed.  The steward gave it a cursory check, which was lucky as I was carrying the hand grenade of the football supporter, a bottle of water.  Mind, temperatures were down due to earlier rain, which should help the football here in July.

Looking a bit dated...'Lotto Park'.

After Vinny’s splendid welcome, Anderlecht tore into the minnows from the coast.  It was 1-0 early on, a smart move ending with a side-footed effort into the top corner from 12 yards.  Then, with barely 15 mins on the clock, the #40 tore down the left, pulled it back and a wonderful turn and shot made it 2-0.  Only it didn’t.  In my 1^st experience of VAR live, no-one had any idea why it wouldn’t be allowed.  Celebrations were still going on as Oostende were about to kick-off, before the ref gave the VAR signal and ordered a free kick to the away side.

Two-nil.  Ho ho.

At this point, I think most of us expected 5 or 6 nil, but within a couple of minutes Oostende had equalised, a right wing cut back being missed by two attackers before a 3^rd swept it low into the corner.  Reward for getting numbers up.  The scorer then  proceeded to stop and hold his hand up in apology.  A former ‘mauve’?  I’m tired of this…

Half-time came with Anderlecht wasting promising positions but looking vulnerable on the break (their keeper making one amazing save).  That said, he wasn’t all that proficient with the ball at his feet and looked a liability in Vinny’s attempts turn Anderlecht into the Belgian Manchester City.  It’s also not helped by a slow, lumbering centre half – no, not Vinny, but his mate, who looked every inch the English lower division defender.  I predict neither he nor the goalkeeper will last long.

Reminds me of QPR's stadium...

Anyway, so it was.  Anderlecht were indeed vulnerable on the break and Oostende won it with about 15 mins remaining, a throughball and easy finish (I think).  The defence put their hands up for offside, but they’re no Arsenal c.1995.  And in these days of VAR, what’s the point?  An unhappy homecoming for Vinny, then.  If only they’d played ‘Things can only get better’ at full-time.

Despatches: There were 4 groups of ultras supporting Anderlecht, but one thing I’d never seen before was the mobile cheerleader.  Basically, this bloke with his speaker would wander along the seats, disappear down an exit and pop up at the next one, trying to rouse the hordes.  I wanted to tell him.  I’d love to join in, mate – but I don’t speak French.

PLEASE join in.  'Non.'

The Damage:
£26 ent  (print@home)
= £26

The Tunes:
Phantom Brickworks (Bibio)
Behind the Counter with Max Richter (Various)
Watermark (Enya)
Garlands (Cocteau Twins)

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

Constant Vanden Stock Stadium / Lotto Park panorama.

Residential street opposite stadium.

Entrance 2.

In case you forget.

Away fans.  Note the stickers on the glass to ruin the view.

The teams line up.

Full-time.

Looking to the far end.

Anderlecht chase a late equaliser.

Club Bruges 0-0 AEK Athens, Thursday 17th August 2017

Club Bruges 0-0 AEK Athens (Europa League Play-off, 1st leg, att. 27,115)

Welcome to ...

5 games in 5 countries in 5 days.  I hadn't planned it that way, it just happened to be I had to get from Poland to Amsterdam to meet the better half.  On this journey I've seen Korona Kielce (Poland), Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic), Kapfenberger SV (Austria) and Schwarz-Weiss Essen (Germany).  Now it's Club Brugge in the first leg of a Europa league play-off against AEK Athens.

I got to the stadium with an hour to kick-off, a walk of a couple of miles or so from the city centre. Not ideally situated and nor is it particularly close to the railway station, though it is in the ‘burbs and closer to some main roads, so perhaps ideal for locals in cars, or on bikes.

Heading out of the city centre.

I was here in Euro 2000, seeing France v the Czechs in the so-called ‘Group of Death’, Nedved lifting his head from his prone position to see the penalty he won dispatched.  I also remember in a crowd of 30-odd thousand, there must have been 10000 English, all soaking up the atmosphere (while ‘proper’ England fans wrecked Charleroi).  Ahhhh….those were the days.

One of Club's 'cooler' players commemorated on a lamppost.

Indeed, I recollect how concrete, how tired the stadium looked.  Think Hillsborough.  Little has changed, apart from it being 17 years later.  Still, once you're inside it's quite impressive (think Hillsborough).  Four large two-tier stands, no overhanging upper tier, instead a wall separates the lower and upper tier.  But what I like about the Jan Breydel is that the highest parts of the stadium are its corners, which jut out into the sky.  There's something a little odd about being able to look down on the roof of the Main Stand. Mind, it is breezier and chillier up here and, unlike the rest of the stadium, there's no cover.

The NW corner.

AEK  fans were in the south-east corner and they brought a few, around 1000.  Maybe the economic situation in Greece is improving or they are making the most of perhaps their last European venture this season.  Whatever, they looked in good spirits occasionally bouncing en masse.  1st half, I was in the same end, so I couldn't really hear them.  In the second half I sat on the northwest corner, as far from them as I could be, so I still couldn't really hear them above the home end.

AEK players applaud their fans at full-time.

Ah yes, my choice of seat.  So I walked up to a ticket booth and was accosted by some young lad of about 20. Him and his mate had bought tickets in the south stand but wanted to be nearer the ultras (in the North End).  The club wouldn't let them swap their tickets, a very poor show.  Was I bothered where I sat?  Well, I wasn't really, so thought I'd do them a good deed and bought one of their tickets.  Didn't they have a bigger problem now - they had two tickets, one for either end?  Little did they know that once inside you could go anywhere you liked.

Back of the zuid (south) stand.

I didn't bother finding my exact seat, just climbed high up somewhere behind the goal.  I didn't see anybody else check their tickets either, suggesting a laissez-faire attitude to where folk sat (it was by no means full).  I was in the end that traditionally houses Cercle Brugge when they’re at home, smaller of the two teams which share the Jan Breydal.  I wonder what sort of crowds they are getting these days.  Aren’t they stuck in the second tier?

Match action

I tried not to be in the stadium too early, but I needed the loo.  Outside, I'd had a ‘braadwurst’, which tasted more like the kind of sausage street vendors ply in London i.e not great.  I'd have had a beer too, were it not for them operating some kind of voucher system. It's even reached beer gardens.  Who will rid me of this plague?

Looking towards the Oost Tribune (East Stand), pre-match.

Then there was the match.  I'm not sure I've seen a team get into so many promising positions without creating anything as Bruges.  Time and again they were free out wide, time and again they dinked a ball gently into the middle for the keeper to catch, or a defender to head clear.  Fortunately, there was half-time for the coach to have a word and have the team try something different.  He didn't.

By half-time AEK should have been out of sight.  For all the possession they ceded, they ripped Bruges apart every time they broke.  If they had someone who could finish they’d be dangerous.  0-3 would have been a fair reflection, but it could have been 5.

Almost looks like something's about to happen...

Second half, Club dominated and AEK retreated into their half.  No chances, but the ref decided to help out by sending an Athens player off (foul, second yellow).  Now we’d really see what an average side Club are as they passed it around at a pedestrian pace, moves breaking down every time they made the box.  They had one chance, as a cut back (a cut back!  Something different!) found an advancing player just inside the box but the shot was blocked.  I still can't remember the AEK keeper making a save, least nothing worthwhile.  Bruges will have to do a hell of a lot better than this to progress.  (As it was, they lost the second leg 0-3.)

The view from the NW corner, 2nd half.

Then I got lost walking back to Bruges city centre.  When you've walked for nearly an hour and then see a sign saying ‘Bruges 2’, you know you've gone wrong somewhere and yet that sign was my saviour.  At least I knew which direction to walk now.

The Damage:

€15 ent

€4 braadwurst

= €19

The Tunes:
The Campfire Headphase (Boards of Canada)
Mogwai Young Team (Mogwai)
Translucent Flashbacks (Spacemen 3)
Greatest Hits (Goldie Lookin’ Chain)
Timeless (Goldie)
Original Pirate Material (The Streets)
N.W.A. Legacy (N.W.A.)

Jan Breydal panorama (I)

Jan Breydal panorama (II)

Pre-match kickabout

Ticket office

Entrance and back of stand.  Concrete ahoy!

Stadium plan

More concrete

I do like a sticky-out bit.

Remember, two teams play here (HOME teams, I mean).

The view from the back row.

The West Stand.

A Greek flag beyond the netting.

The teams line up.

The ultras unleash their flag (I).

The ultras unleash their flag (II).

Back row of the North End.