Darmstadt 98 1-0 Greuther Furth, Saturday 29th July 2017

Darmstadt 98 1-0 Greuther Furth (Bundesliga 2, att. 16,100)

Welcome to...the toilets at Darmstadt.  Classy tile addition.

Who designed Darmstadt?  The train station is in one place, the town centre another and the football ground somewhere else still.  They really manage to sprawl this place out.  Luckily , come out of the station to the left and there's trams which will deliver you straight to the Merck-Stadion  am Bollenfalltor, a good 20 minute chug through town.

A Furth fan at the station.

The Bollenfalltor is unique, even by German standards.  It's an elliptical stadium with the two ends having been replaced by stands within the curves.  Consequently, the new home end, metal terracing and propped cantilever roof (obviously they had a budget / rush on) lies in front of the old curve in what was previously dead space.  Best of all, they've kept the actual curve, including crush barriers, behind the new stand.  I presume the same goes for the opposite end, an identical stand albeit decked out in seats.

The old terrace behind the new stand.

Previously, the only seating save for a few away seats slapped onto existing terracing was a 4000 capacity main stand which is the width of two athletics tracks away from the pitch.  I presume there was an athletics track and after its disappearance the pitch was moved closer to the main terrace, opposite.

The Main Stand.

This fourth side dominates the stadium, a tall open terrace which peels away at either end.  Indeed, it is so unsophisticated that you can still see the grass banking the terracing was laid on top of.  Only slightly ruining the effect is the large no man's land in between the two sets of fans, much larger than strictly necessary but security is key in Darmstadt.

The long side terrace.

Security can best be viewed as an away fan, which I was today.  There were no standing tickets left in the home end, so I figured Greuther won't bring many, let's go in the away end.  What a walk.  You are sent around estates, around an entirely separate sports stadium (belonging to the university) before finally landing yourself a stroll through forest to the away turnstiles.  I’d say you’d not get much change from 20 minutes if you walked from the home end (clockwise; it was probably even longer anti-clockwise).  At least when you get to the turnstiles there's a large car park and a stall selling beer.  You need it.

Trekking thru' the forest with Furth

The match? 1-0 to Darmstadt.  Having just been relegated from the Bundesliga, this is probably their best chance of bouncing back.  I have my hopes.  This is a great (different) ground to go to.  Just make sure you get a ticket in the home end!

The Damage:

€4 beer (500ml)

€14 ent

The Tunes:
Pentamerous Metamorphosis (Global Communication)
Trans-Europe Express (Kraftwerk)
The Back Room (Editors)
Mixmag Jul14 (Scuba)
The White Room (KLF)

Darmstadt panorama from behind the goal.

Darmstadt panorama from the long side terrace.

Fans gather pre-match.

The long side terrace.

Looking down on the new home end.

Metal terracing and general detritus.

Outside the stadium.

Beer stall at the away end.

Where once this terrace just continued...

Old and new.

A camera / steward gantry on the grass banking.

Terracing slapped onto the grass bank.

The Fire Brigade find a perch.

Behind the goal at full time.

I'm obsessed...

The away seating.

Greuther Fürth 2-1 1.FC Kaiserslautern, Monday 12th August 2013

Greuther Fürth  2-1  1.FC Kaiserslautern,  Bundesliga 2, att. 14,030

Catch this bus.  The one with the footballer on it.

As long as you arrive in Fürth in good time, things couldn’t be easier.  Follow a man (or woman) in green from the main station and there’s a bus takes you right to the stadium.  Perfick.  Whilst I had the directions to walk it, it looked a fair trek and I wasn’t against bussing it.

The bus dropped us outside some alcohol cash and carry: handy for those pre-match beers given the warm late summer evening.  Walk around the corner to find a couple of stalls with a selection of t-shirts, badges, scarves, etc and the ticket booths were right in front of me. I asked for a terrace spot and there were two choices: the away end or ‘Der Lohner’ on the opposite corner of the same end.  There was a seated area inbetween the two terraced corners which turned out to be quite sparsely populated.  The main fan kurve, the ‘Nordtribune’, was sold out.  I wasn’t too displeased, I didn’t fancy getting shunted about tonight, so I plumped for ‘Der Lohner’, since I was (!).

1st sighting of stadium

Aside from the seats behind one goal, it was pretty much a full house (14,030) for a match involving two sides tipped to be challenging this season.  Even the Kaiserslautern seats were fairly busy, presumably cos their terrace sold out.  Being a ‘top spiel’, Fürth added €1 for a ticket: €14 to stand.  These 2 sides are tipped as contenders (indeed, after the match, a Lautern fan told me it was a big blow losing, cos this pair would finish top 2.  There’s confidence – only 33 more games to go!

Lautern fans get the pat down

I enjoyed my visit to the Trolli Arena.  It was a mish-mash of stands, with a small hotel in one corner, while the away end and ‘Der Lohmer seemingly built on scaffolding and the terrace made of bolted-on tin.  (Presumably not tin, tho' I’m no expert on alloys.  As shown if tin isn’t even an alloy.  Is it?)  It all has the essence of ‘cheap as chips’ about it, but it works.

Odd gap in the stands

Both sides looked good, intricate passing moves unfortunately breaking down short.  Then, out of the blue it was 0-1. A corner flashed in and the ball was barged in via a head.  While a Lautern player took the plaudits, I wasn’t convinced.  Looked like a home head under pressure; but it was just what was needed as Greuther needed to score.

Duly, within a couple of minutes the equaliser came.  How was it? I write this two days later and I can’t honestly remember.  I do remember that straightaway both sides went back to cancelling each other out.

Welcome to ...

At half-time the entertainment was provided by a female fan trying to hit a gap in the net that had been mostly covered by an advert-strewn tarpaulin.  Good challenge but a bit dull.  The dinosaur mascot looked a little under-employed.  Use him.

During the second half, Fürth’s #33 was outstanding up front, holding the ball up and taking the game to Lautern.  Meantime, his opposition equivalent was struggling, constantly being pulled up for fouls (yet never being carded).  And it was Fürth who nicked it, a far post header off a corner, I think.
Afterwards, I made the obligatory blunder on the way back to Nürnberg.  I jumped off the bus at the Rathaus and had been advised to go one stop on the U-bahn to the hauptbahnhof (7 mins journey to Nürnberg).  However, there’s not so many trains on a Monday night following a 20:15 KO, so I stood on the platform for the best part of half an hour, getting cold.  I should have stayed on U1 – it only led straight to Nürnberg! 
Attendance: 14,030 (Trolli Arena)
The Damage:€14 ent
€3 badge
€3.70 beer (500ml)
€3.50 wurst
= €24.20
The Tunes:
various EPs (Curve)
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (Spiritualized)

2 stands and a hotel..only at Greuther!

Souvenir shop

View from the back over the bubble-roofed opposite stand

Getting ready for live TV (watch out for the dragon!)

The home end welcomes their heroes

3 rows of adverts...a record?

Kaiserslautern Corner (far side)

Hotel with view of the pitch

The crowd awaits the teams

Actually, there's more away scarves than home...

VfR Aalen 0-2 Greuther Fürth, Friday 26th July 2013

Not a house you'd see at the entrance to an English ground...

VfR Aalen 0-2 Greuther Fürth, Bundesliga 2.  

It began badly.  I was in the toilet on the train and put my sun hat on the door hook.  'I mustn't forget that,' I did.  As ever, I realised the minute the scorching sun belt down on my naked head upon disembarcation in Karlsruhe.  Ho hum.  A quick check-in at the hostel and I was back on my way, this time to Aalen.

Germans are keen on their mobile club shops too.

The 'Scholz Arena' turned out to be another quaint lower division German stadium, replete with a side stand covering barely half the touchline and an entirely temporary (looking?) fan kurve, built on scaffolding.  Was this purely for Bundesliga 2?  The 'temporary' home end looked even more incongruous given the large open terrace at the other end, as well as the lowing sun being directly in fans' eyes.  (Admittedly, not every game will kick off at 6pm on a Friday evening.)

Cute main stand

I sat/stood on a virtually empty open terrace, behind the goal, great view.  I also don't often get chance to stretch out on a terrace, barefooted, while watching football, and I don't suppose anyone wants this image now. To my left were the Furth fans, who came in good numbers.  No doubt they're fancying themselves for a promotion charge.

See that tunnel?  That's the players' tunnel that is!

Despite a couple of early half chances, Aalen looked out of their depth, as symbolised by the centre half pairing of a one-footed Syrian (actually, he looked alot like Mido) and a closer to bald than balding oldster who surely came up through the leagues with VfR.  It didn't take Greuther long to score.  An innocuous gentle in-swinging free kick mesmerised the keeper into thinking he could claim it, with the natural consequence being a header into an empty net.  Greuther fans (and German fans in general) make me laugh though. One minute they're bouncing around, then they score and everyone stops to politely applaud.  Later, Greuther get a 2nd.  I don't remember anything about it.

The players coming off at full-time.

Upon the final whistle I retraced my steps, only this time walked through a wood which ran paraellel to the main road. Although not especially close to the station, it's a ground which is easy to find: come out of the station, walk straight ahead, keep going for a couple of kilometres and the the stadium will be at the top of the hill - not that you can see it.  You can't see the wood stadium for the trees.

Attendance: 6,412 (Scholz Arena)

The Damage:
€14 ent
€10.50 2 beers, wurst and chips.

The home end.

I s'pose they can take it down if they get relegated?

The Greuther fans

The home end.

The view from 'my' terrace.

The stadium plan

A watchtower, to prevent escapees?

No!  For the TV camera

A deserted home end after the match

Welcome to the .....

Full-time

The view from the back of the terrace

The walk back.  Beautiful.