Holstein Kiel 1-1 Sandhausen, Saturday 27th July 2019

Holstein Kiel 1-1 Sandhausen, Bundesliga 2, att. 10,103 (Holstein Stadion)

Welcome to ...

If today proves anything, it’s that a) I like to get value out of interrailing and b) I’m determined.  Having failed to get in previously at Holstein Kiel (sold out), I took no risks this time, buying a ticket on their website and arranging to pick up.  Going to Kiel, from Dortmund, and doubling back again, was out of my schedule, since deciding against going onwards through Denmark, but I had the bit between my teeth; I was determined to see Anderlecht the next day after another previous failure.

Hello sailor!

As for Holstein Kiel, worth going, but not worth going to see.  After years in the lower divisions/regional leagues, Holstein are on the up.  Now in their 3^rd season of 2^nd tier football, the last time I was here, they still had a small terrace arching around one end, the remnants of a former athletics track.  This had been replaced by a plain stand which dwarfed the other 3 sides of the stadium.  And what with it’s cheap ‘tinniness’, and supporting roof supports, it had an air of temporary about it – so it’ll be here forever.  There was a small paddock in front too, which, with the roof supports which you couldn’t help but be behind, gave it an air of the away end at Hillsborough.  So this was where I bought my ticket.

The view from the Ost tribune.

It started well though.  The lady at the box office complimented me on my shirt choice (a flowery effort, as befits the bloke over 40).   However, wrong box office.  The Ost Tribune had its own ticket collection point, which I must have passed as I came from that direction.  (I’d followed a father and son onto a #11 bus from the railway station.  Good job too, as I’d have had no idea where to get off the bus, it being a 10 minute walk through the backstreets).  I timed it well though, arriving 15 mins to kick off. 

The teams come out.

The steward, sceptical of my satchel, called for his boss.  ‘What are you planning to do?  Read?’ as he found two large tomes.  ‘It’s a long way from Dortmund’ I replied.  Anyway, the short of it was that Holstein is one of those places that won’t let you in with a bag, but they provided a man in a lorry, who gave you a bingo ticket in return for your possessions.  Fingers crossed my numbers come in…

An interesting collection of stands.

As I said, the stand looked temporary.  There’s no internal concourse, or toilets to speak of.  Instead, there's a fenced off courtyard behind the stand with a half a dozen beer/bratwurst stalls and portaloos a-plenty.  But it was glorious, as only German games in the summer can be.  Not wanting to miss the teams come out, I headed straight in.  My seat, near the front, had one of those pillars blocking the whole goal.  Luckily, there was a swathe of empty seats higher up.  Indeed, so high up that I could look down upon the rest of the stadium.

Home standing, home sitting, away sitting, away standing.

The stand to my right was an odd mix; from the far end it had home supporters standing…a no-man’s land…then home fans sitting…then away seating and standing.  And well done to the Sandhausen 80.  It might be the opening day of a new season, but that still doesn’t change the fact they’d have to get a 5:59am train to have a decent chance of seeing kick-off (presuming no delays)…and getting home at 5:01am the following day.  So that’s nearly 24 hours for a match by public transport and doesn’t even involve an overnight stay, for a journey of over 400 miles.  (Note: I didn’t see any Sandhausen fans on the 18:38 out of Kiel.)  Their support was rewarded though as Sandhausen took an early lead.  I hope none of their fans arrived late.  They doubled up on the left and the subsequent low cross was swept home.  The 80 went mad.  Kiel then survived a couple of chances for 0-2, while missing a couple of chances themselves.  It was all rather exciting, considering the heat. 

The Sandhausen 80.

One man not troubled by the heat was Sandhausen’s goalkeeper.  He looked like a man with plenty of time on his hands, judging by how much of it he was wasting.  Then, about to take a free kick, he sat down, apparently hurt.  Several of us took this as our cue for a beer and bratwurst.  And while I was stuck behind the only person more invisible than me in a queue for beer, there was a roar.  Let’s hope the keeper had recovered enough to pick the ball out of the net: one-all.  Two days and two matches running I'd missed a goal.

Milling around the beer and bratwurst stands.

I returned, never saw another goal…then got ignored for a beer again.  How do I get served 3^rd when there was only one person in the queue when I got there?  Kiel went close to a winner, but I was pulling for the little guys and never more so than when a late Holstein free kick, straight down the middle, cleared the Sandhausen defenders for a late arriving host forward to flick it goalwards…only for it to cannon back off the post.  No excuses, shoulda bagged.

Yep, I know that feeling.

Full-time, and all that remained was to pick up a programme someone had left behind, as well as claim the deposit on my plastic beer glass.  Then it was off to join the queue for the (S91) bus and the 3 mile journey back to the station and a return to Dortmund.  Now, let's just grab some beer for the journey...

The Damage:
€26 ent (+2 for pick up)
€4 beer (’Flensburger’ 400ml x2)
€4 bratwurst
€2.50 badge= €40.50

The Tunes:
Music for the Jilted Generation (Prodigy)
Fabric 84 (Mathew Jonson)
Drone Logic (Daniel Avery)
Music Has The Right To Children (Boards of Canada) 
Nowhere (Ride)
Prophesy (Nitin Sawhney)
Polymer (Plaid)

Stayed at: (cost)
A&O Dortmund Hauptbahnhof, £19

Holstein stadion panorama.

Back of the main stand.

The home fans greet their heroes.

Dugout action.

Is this the smallest stand in professional football?

Nice!

Best view in the ground.

Hang on, another midgety stand.

 

Pop-up souvenir shop.

Sandhausen 1-2 Fortuna Dusseldorf, Sunday 27th August 2017

SV Sandhausen 1-2 Fortuna Dusseldorf (Bundesliga 2, att. 6,769)

Welcome to ...

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.

Next up...

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?

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.

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.

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.)

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).

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.)

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

Hardtwald stadion panorama.

Sparkassen Tribune

Paddock of INWO Tribune.

Back of stand.

The view from the Sparkassen Tribune.

Fans in the Sparkassen Tribune.

Hardi the Badger warms up.

The Main Stand.

Standing at the far end.

Match action.

Tin Tunnels

Union Berlin 4-3 Holstein Kiel, Friday 4th August 2017

Union Berlin 4-3 Holstein Kiel (Bundesliga 2, att. 21,242)

Welcome to ...

What can go wrong will go wrong.  I was given so many salient lessons today, many of which I've not learnt from previously.  Will I ever?
Certainly, some things were outside of my control.  Could I help that the Koblenz-Dortmund train was so late I missed my connection to Berlin?  Still, I reached Berlin Ostbahnhof a full hour before kickoff.  One problem: I needed to print out my match ticket.  I looked up internet cafes in the area and headed to one.  I walked into a dead end industrial estate.  That was after going into a business offering printing, which was run by a Chinese lady of limited English vocabulary who suggested that I could have it done ‘tonight’.  Oh well.

1st view of the pitch.

I passed a building purporting to house a hostel, but a couple of staircases later showed it to be only flats.  I walked onto Alexanderplatz.  How come there's always internet cafes when you don't need them? Plenty of businesses, zero of what I wanted.  Walking on, I hit a shopping district too posh for the kind of shop I was looking for.  By now, I was at Hackescher markt and decided to look up internet cafes again on the internet.

Match action, as such as I saw.

I found one and headed towards it.  I turned off a main street and into the alleged street it was in.  Nothing.  I had just passed a hotel so decided to plead my case.  Surely they owned a computer and a printer?  Well, maybe they did, but they ‘didn't offer business facilities’.  ‘Maybe try the Melia down the road?’  I did. ‘Do you have internet facilities and the ability to print?’  ‘Are you a guest?’  ‘Yes.’  Perfect.  The computer and printer were all mine.  The match was well underway by now and the best I could hope for was half an hour or so.

Looking towards the away end (far corner).

I had two emails from Union.  One was a general newsletter and the other contained an attachment, which I presumed to be the match ticket. However, it looked more like confirmation of a ticket bought, rather than an actual ticket.  This would prove to be the case, later. For one thing, it lacked the barcode which is scanned at the turnstile.

So anyways, I was set for the match after going back to the first hotel where I'd left my sunglasses on reception.  Stress isn't a great thing for helping one concentrate.  At least I was near a railway station and jumped on a S-bahn heading east.  I needed to change at Karlshorst for a train to Kopenick, then walk.

Kiel players huddle at full-time.

Once at Kopenick, I could hear the crowd.  Still, the stadium is in the middle of a forest (obvs: it IS ‘Stadion an der Alten Forsterei’) and there was no direct route.  Suffice to say, judging by my journey back, I went completely the wrong way around.  I saw my first floodlight as the clock struck 8.  Get the mints out.

I sidled up to my first set of turnstiles.  Will my confirmation get me in?  No, but try the ticket booths around the corner.  I would, but they were shut.  Why wouldn't they be?  There were maybe 10 minutes left.  I then wandered from gate to gate showing my letter.  ‘Could I come in?’  ‘No.’  ‘No.’  ‘No.’  Finally, one steward offered to go and ask his boss.  ‘No.’  I must have chatted futilely for five minutes with the steward and his compadre.  Other fans were leaving. Could I come in?  It won't harm safety.  I’ll just be replacing him.’  ‘No.’  ‘You're in the right job’ I said before toddling off a little further around, spotting an unmanned gate and strolling in, like I’d just nipped out for a p***.  (Bizarrely, some did this rather than use the toilets inside the stadium.)

'Eisern' (the club nickname) netting.

I was in.  I climbed the staircase to the top of the terrace.  It was rammed.  I walked along the concourse at the top of the terrace looking for a gap to spy some action.  I might have seen 30 seconds, enough for Union to defend a free kick before the ref blew for full time.  It was all over.  Union Berlin 4 Holstein Kiel 3.  So I hadn't missed anything.

Great. Just great.

Afterwards, I scoured the terraces for a match ticket, found none but one was dropped in the forest on the way back to Kopenick.  I had a beer and politely waited while one guy bought 8…9….10 beers.  They were English and THEY’D managed to get in.  Anyway, I'm now the proud owner of a Stadion an der Alten Forsterei plastic glass.  I’d at least seen the legendary home of Union (it was sold out by the way) before further extensions take the capacity to 37000.  Given that’s nearly Hertha’s average attendance at the Olympic Stadium, Union must be really starting to impinge on Hertha’s territory.  With three sides of terracing and cheap tickets and amazing atmosphere (that much I could deduce), Union are a team on the up and up.  They just missed out on a playoff place last season.  How long before the old forester makes it to the Bundesliga for the first time?

Eisern celebrate victory.

The Damage:

€15 ent

€2 booking fee

€5 beer (inc glass deposit)

= €20

The Tunes:

Atomic (Mogwai)

Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (The Orb)

NME Singles of the Week 1993 (Various)

As a 'ps', I e-mailed the club re: the shenanighans.  Turns out there was a problem regarding the print@home service and that I was always meant to pick up my ticket from at the stadium.  Doh!

Stadion an der Alten Forsterei panorama.

Full-time panorama.

The Main Stand

Holstein Kiel fans.

The teams acknowledge their respective fans at full-time.

A little bit of tradition remains.

Food and drink stalls at the top of the terrace.

Won't the path halfway up the terrace upset the rake and impede viewing?

Plastic screens inbetween home and away fans.

Also, why have these pillars actually ON the terrace?

Beer garden at full-time.

The view from the corner.

Behind the goal.

The clean-up operation commences.

Of course, it's in a FOREST.