Zbrojovka Brno 2-2 Usti Nad Labem, Friday 9th August 2019

Zbrojovka Brno 2-2 Usti Nad Labem, Czech FNL, att. 3,492 (Mestsky fotbalovy stadion Srbska)

Welcome to ....

I had this one sorted.  Spend the afternoon whiling away time listening to live music and drinking in bars overlooking squares (plural), before jumping on a train to Brno Kralove-Pole, the station nearest the ground.  So, obviously, when I got to Brno main station, the train didn’t exist (actually, it probably did; while the main station undergoes renovation, some trains left from a different station, 10 mins away – Brno doli nadrazi). 

Brno seemed full of music box players.

So, after an initial panic, I hit on the idea of a tram, and while studying timetables, it looked like a ‘P6’ would take me to where I wanted to go (it would).  However, I saw 2 or 3 fans in the red of Zbrojovka and when another tram pulled up, they jumped on, so..so did I.

About fifteen minutes later we were off.  Stadion Srbská was a couple of blocks to our left.  I wanted to arrive earlyish, as I was worried about tickets.  A team who until 20 years ago were playing in front of the biggest football crowds in Czech history (30,000+) were now playing in a stadium which could only hold 12,500.  I needn’t have worried.  There were barely 3,000 there.  How the mighty have fallen.

Main Stand ticket office.

I encountered the Main Stand side first.  Well, I say main stand – it had the players’ facilities in it, but was by far the smallest of the four sides.  After a cursory glance around the club shop, I was told the ticket office was around the corner.  There were few fans around, even with half an hour to kick-off.

I bought a ticket in Sektor R – the massive terrace which sweeps around one end.  The lady actually gave me a ticket for Sektor A (in the Main Stand) but my movement would have been greatly restricted.  Wherever you went, it was 100 Czech koruna (about £3.30).

Original viewing platforms.

As I walked around the stadium, more fans approached from the estates higher up the hill.  Most of these fans entered the stand opposite the Main Stand, a steep one-tiered stand with ‘BRNO’ emblazoned in huge white letters across red seats.  It was here, low down, where the 120 or so ultras congregated in front of their cheerleader/drummer (they must be short on numbers, cos he had to do both).

The Brno ultras (see later!)

Good job I was on time too – it was one-all after five minutes.  Usti opened the scoring, and as I looked around for where their fans were cheering from, I realised it was the bench, about 20 of them!  (Usti, from northern Czech Republic, are not a big team and to drag one’s self to Brno for a Friday evening game takes some effort.)  Brno equalised two minutes later, the keeper pulling off a great save before the ball ran back kindly for the attacker.

I think I'd be in their gang!

I’d perched right at the top of the terracing, along with not many others.  There was a gaggle of parents to my left, as their kids enjoyed a bouncy castle (with slide!) or drawing pictures.  What kind of kid chooses to draw pictures rather than play on a bouncy castle (or watch football)???  However, I’d grabbed a couple of the local brew (Starobrno) and was happy on my lonesome.  Queues were small at our end for victuals, and at half-time I got another beer and a klobasa (sausage).  ‘Do you want big or small?’   ‘Oh, definitely a large one’ as two saucy minxes burst out laughing.  One also asked what I thought of the football.  ‘Oh, the football’s s***’, I said, to more laughter.  From their kiosk, they could see everything.  They’ll be watching this rubbish 20 more times this season.

'Big or small?'  The refreshment hut is in front of the white building.

The second half also finished one-all.  Brno looked to have won it with an 81^st minute pen.  However, they were reduced to 10 men on 85 (a 2^nd yellow) and things proceeded to unravel as Usti equalised with a pen of their own on 87.  It happened right in front of me and I’ve still no idea what it was for.  The visitors were then reduced to 10 men themselves, though I’m cheating here, as I’m looking at the match details the day after having no recollection of said dismissal.  That Starobrno must be good stuff.

Usti line up the equaliser.

The Damage:
CHK 100 ent
CHK 55 klobasa
CHK 35 beer (x3)

Free prog

= CHK 260 (£9)

The Tunes:
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (Aphex Twin)
Just For A Day (Slowdive)

Stayed at:
Hostel Eleven, Brno (£14)

Srbska panorama

Dinner time!

Fixture list in the sparse club shop.

Welcome to ....(II)

Ice rink behind the stand.

Pre-match queues.

Fans take their seats.

The curve.  This stadium could fit way more than 12,500 (safely?)

Match action.

The curve towards the main stand.

The teams line up.

The Main Stand.

A deserted (closed) terrace.

The ultras celebrate a goal.

The Balkon(y) Crew.  Great views, but there must be some weight on there.

A Brno free kick clears the bar.

The far end...where the terrace mysteriously disappears.

Fun for the kids.

More closed off terracing.

Come on Brno!

Everything seems so...far away (it is).

Sunset over Stadion Srbska.

Usti Nad Labem 1-2 Znojmo, Friday 8th August 2014

Usti Nad Labem 1-2 Znojmo, Czech FNL, att. 1,212

Not really what you want to be seeing...

What would one do without TV or the internet?  Upon digesting the analysis (!) of Viktoria's game last night, they showed the weekend's Czech League fixtures. But they were somewhat different to what I'd found on the internet the week before (and subsequently booked my accommodations).

I'd planned on seeing Dukla Friday and a long trip to Ostrava on Satdy to see Banik.  However, Banik were now playing Fri night (for telly) and Dukla was Satdy.  A quick double check on my other intended games and I found there WAS another Friday possibility, much more conducive to staying in Prague the same night and that was Usti Nad Labem in the FNL (Czech 2nd tier).  Even better, it was more or less on the way to Prague!

Again, not what I normally see on the way to a game.

I'd been to Usti before - when I arrived in Decin the previous morn, I took the wrong train and spent half an hour there.  It was quiet, but it was early.  What I didn't know was that it was the Czech Republic's 7th biggest city.  Yet you cannot buy a postcard in this town and it's football stadium has a capacity of 3,000 (3,500 on its own website).  It had been refused promotion a couple of years previous because the stadium didn't meet the right guidelines.  In a prior promotion they were allowed to use nearby Teplice's ground, but the goalposts had since moved (sorry).  What I can say is that neither Usti nor Liberec figure in my Lonely Planet Guide to Central Europe.  Good - I won't be distracted from my mission to get to the game on time.

Everything looks simple according to my tourist-information obtained map, find 'Masarykova' and keep walking till you hit the stadium (about 1.5km).  And since I'm sat here nursing a Pilsner Urquell in sight of Masarykova...

Back of the main stand

Kick-off was to be 5pm on a Friday. Do these people not have to go to work?  Do they all start early? Knock off early?

Oh look - there's a Czech bloke with a Wigan Athletic top on. THAT'S not something I expected to see.

5pm.  It is absolutely ROASTING here in Usti.  I walked the 25-30 mins uphill to the stadium, despite numerous buses and trams passing by.  I'll remember those for later. However, with 25 minutes to KO, the turnstiles were STILL closed.  WTF?  I wandered around, took some snaps..and it was still closed.  Mind, the others who'd been waiting by the turnstiles had disappeared.  I could see plenty of people on the far side of the ground, so I ducked down some side streets and found myself outside the open turnstiles.  Phew.

I'm not the only one waiting for the turnstiles to open

For reasons that weren't entirely clear, Usti hadn't opened the large stand I'd previously been standing outside.  This was a blow, since those seats were in the SHADE.  On our side, a tiny roof covered a few hundred seats, all of which were taken. Not good for this pasty Englishman.  I grabbed a beer and sat in the blazing sun.  Even worse, the Usti Ultras and their drum were to my immediate right. In terms of their number, imagine how many people it takes to block a 15 step aisle.  So, about 15 then. They'd pitched up here so they didn't have to sit down,  The sun soon sapped their enthusiasm.

Essential kit: beer and a drum

The shaded stand opposite looked of considerable size.  I'm amazed this place only has a capacity of 3,000 or so.  Maybe the stand is closed for safety reasons?  With a running track, there's also plenty of space for the stadium to be extended, even with temporary seating.

The Main Stand (closed)

Goals after 8 and 18 put the visitors two up and at half time I surveyed the souvenir stall.  3 scarves and a sun hat.  'I'm having that!' I thought.  I tried it on. No I'm not.  It was several sizes too small.  So I queued for a beer and I was pleased this took ages, since it was in the shade.

The souvenir tent

Second half, I did what many others did, foregoing the stand to take a perch leaning on a barrier behind the goal.  There were 5 or 6 rows of seats below, but what with that running track you're not gonna see much.

***latent sexism alert***
And if I wasn't pondering the football, I was wondering why the proportion of stunning women to average (male) fan was so high here.  What's the draw with Czech 2nd division football?  One, in high heels and short black dress wouldn't have looked out of place in Stringfellows. British female football fans - FIX UP!  (Only kidding, I know we men make no effort.)

Walsall away on a Tuesday night

All in all, despite being allergic to the sun and heat, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  But I got a panic on at the station.  I got a tram and at the station went to collect my stuff from the locker.  BEWARE, the lockers have a unique system.  Suffice to say I couldn't open it, despite having the code. Luckily, staff were still on hand and the nice lady found a nice man who got it open.  They even waived the CZK 30 charge for such a service, cos the instructions were only written in Czech and German. Sometimes it pays to be the subject of Her Majesty.

Damage:
CHK 50 ent
CHK 35 beer

(about 3 quid)

You are here.

There's the shade.  About 3 rows of it.

Back of main stand.

Stadium plan.  Only B, E and F open today.

poster on fence (beyond was a training pitch, then the stadium)

Sektor B, side view

Behind the goal.

Yes, it IS sunny!

A goalkeeper labour-saving device.  Cos they do too much as it is.

Znojmo team coach.  And bystander.