Trip Reports

candylandriots

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A few people had written trip reports in one of the other threads (I Want To Go To A Match In Europe), but I figured we may as well have a thread dedicated to people's trips to new stadiums. If one of the mods wants to move the old content from that thread into here, I think it could be a good resource, and a more logical place for them.
 

candylandriots

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This is a massively delayed (by over two months) trip report, and so this may be a bit misremembered. I did take notes, so hopefully it’s not too far off.

After spending a week and a half doing all of the normal tourist stuff in Peru, and having an entire Sunday to kill in Lima before our late night flight (a lot is closed on Sunday), I decided it would be a good idea to go see some futbol.

We had a hard time finding a game. I asked our hotel concierge, who seemed to think we wanted to see the national team. I knew that wasn’t happening, so continued to dig through information on my phone – there’s not a lot about Peruvian soccer in English. Eventually I found out that Alianza Lima was to play Real Garcilaso at Estadio Alejandro Villanueva at 4:30 pm. Real Garcilaso is from Cusco where we had just come from– and where at over 12,000 feet altitude, they must have a killer home field advantage.

Once I explained to the concierge the game we wanted to go to, her demeanor changed a little bit and she tried to dissuade my wife and I from going. This was mainly because the stadium, though not in the worst neighborhood in Lima (La Victoria), was not the sort of place that got many white tourists. She insisted that we have a car waiting for us after the game, especially since it would end after dark. We had her arrange that and just took an Uber from the hotel to the stadium.

The area around the stadium was a typical example of stadium chaos, streets clogged with supporters, vendors food, etc. – and lots of police in full gear. We made our way towards the stadium, looking for somewhere to buy tickets. Two separate women who presumably were trying to sell us their tickets immediately approached us. I speak only very rudimentary Spanish, and wasn’t exactly sure what they were doing. One woman’s method was just to speak louder and hope we got it (I know lots of people that think that works in English. It doesn’t in either language.) I asked a police officer, “donde esta la boteleria?” and he replied with something that I understood to mean that they had to be purchased by phone or Internet.

Not wanting to miss out, we went back to the two women to buy tickets. We ended up working with the quieter of the two, and I eventually determined that they were “social” tickets. They had a face value of 5 soles (a little less than 2 dollars). We agreed on a price of 40 soles each for two tickets (I wasn’t going to haggle with these women over a couple bucks), but I somehow conveyed that she got paid after my wife was able to get in the door. She did, I paid her, and took my ticket and went on in.

Our tickets were on the sideline, but upper level. There were bench seats, not assigned. We found a place to sit and waited for the game to begin. Vendors worked the aisles selling popcorn, candy and soda (no beer). I ordered a Pepsi, and the vendor poured it warm from a 2-liter bottle into, I kid you not, a Popeye’s Chicken paper cup.

As the game began, I estimated the stadium was about 1/5 of the 35,000 capacity (though the official attendance was 4,791). Before the game started, all the people sitting behind the goal (where the ultras sit) all left their seats en masse. And then, just at kickoff, they all ran in to the stadium all at once. They weren’t gone very long; it was kind of weird. They did a lot of jumping during the game as well.

I didn’t notice a clock at the stadium, but the P.A. announcer spoke frequently during the game. It was a very physical game, with very few fouls called. In the 28th minute, an Alianza Lima midfielder hit a very hard shot from outside the box. It hit the crossbar and rocketed down for a goal. All of the ultras ran towards the field to celebrate, even though they were prevented from getting there by a fence, and a moat.

I walked around a bit at halftime and used the trough toilet, with no waiting. There was a little merchandise for sale, some paintings of what I assume were former players, and an odd little restaurant that was recessed into the stadium. They were grilling meat outside of the restaurant though. I didn’t try any, as we had eaten before going to the stadium.

The game resumed, along with the physical play. At around the 65th minute, there was a crushing tackle, and the referee finally issued a yellow card. The lights were on at this point, and I noticed that the light standards spelled AL (for Alianza Lima) on some of them.

Very late in the game, with the visitors sending attackers forward to try and equalize, the home side pulled off an excellent counterattack to take a 2-0 lead, which is where it would end.

We took off and tried to find our taxi. We thought we knew where to go, but it was a little bit of a walk. It wasn’t hard getting out of the stadium, but we weren’t sure where we were going. I called the hotel, and they called the driver. He left us already! There were some cars of people who had gone to the game, but no taxis (and hailing a cab off the street in Lima is dangerous). The concierge was starting to freak out a little bit and was trying to get us another car. It was taking a while though. I kept trying Uber, and had like three different drivers cancel on us. By this point, all of the fans were gone and it was just my wife and I in a dark area of a reputedly rough neighborhood and no transportation. We decided to wait at a gas station, which was pretty well lit, but no one was around. We finally got an Uber, in between about 15 panicked calls from the concierge. We had certainly dealt with worse, but I’m sure that she was trying to figure out what she was going to tell her boss when two guests got mugged in a place she sent them. But the car showed up and we went back to the hotel and all was fine.

The quality of the play was far from the best that I’ve seen, but it wasn’t too bad either. It was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon, and it’s always cool to see how different places do the game. A few pictures from the day are below.










gif hosting
 
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robssecondjob

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Jul 18, 2005
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While not nearly as exciting a locale a jkempa's latest excursion the family and (wife and 12 and 14 year boys) went and saw an Irish Premier match at Cork City a couple of weeks ago. Featuring top of the table Cork City (undefeated at the time of the match) and possible relegation victims Galway.

We had purchased tickets online prior to us arriving in Ireland. We always make a point of catching a match or minor league baseball in our travels. It was purely dumb luck we were staying in the area on match day.

Their stadium, Turners Cross, is a venerable old ~7,000 seater in a residential area. We had no real easy way to get from our guest house to the stadium using the train so we took the rental car and street parked. We parked right next to the Cork manager and walked to the stadium with him. He harassed my younger son that goal scorers are a dime a dozen (he had a league golden boot award shirt on) and real men play defense. This made son #1, the center back, very excited. Open seating with ultra's at one one end, visiting fans on the other end. Season ticket holder were up a few rows behind the benches with a family section (no swearing allowed!) near that. We were pitch side on the opposite touchline. Seats were right on top of the AR. All of us are used to watching the game from the ground level, as players or officials (in my case) so we thought the seating was great. All of the old timers that came in kept pointing out we could move up a couple of row to see better. They filled the stand from high to low. Food was pretty well chips and fried stuff from a modified shipping container. No alcohol in the stadium, no roving food. Attendance was ~3700.

Spirited, physical game with a very confused roster from the Cork side as they just sold a couple of players to a Championship side and were trying to find their way. There was a new mid-fielder that was being chirped at continually by the right back which provided huge entertainment value for those of us close to the pitch. Galway scored early on a weak shot that the keeper never saw. Galway continued to carry the play with one goal disallowed for a handling offense. Should have gone red, ref went yellow.

Second half brought a new lineup with the new mid-fielder on the bench. Cork scored two, including a beauty of a header to take the match 2-1. The locals were not amused at the level of play. The locals really knew the players and the game. I got a great kick out of them all standing and yelling at the ref on every foul only to sit down and and say "that was a dumb foul". It was like they were contractually obligated to ride the officials.

 

The Needler

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Dec 7, 2016
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While not nearly as exciting a locale a jkempa's latest excursion the family and (wife and 12 and 14 year boys) went and saw an Irish Premier match at Cork City a couple of weeks ago. Featuring top of the table Cork City (undefeated at the time of the match) and possible relegation victims Galway.

We had purchased tickets online prior to us arriving in Ireland. We always make a point of catching a match or minor league baseball in our travels. It was purely dumb luck we were staying in the area on match day.

Their stadium, Turners Cross, is a venerable old ~7,000 seater in a residential area. We had no real easy way to get from our guest house to the stadium using the train so we took the rental car and street parked. We parked right next to the Cork manager and walked to the stadium with him. He harassed my younger son that goal scorers are a dime a dozen (he had a league golden boot award shirt on) and real men play defense. This made son #1, the center back, very excited. Open seating with ultra's at one one end, visiting fans on the other end. Season ticket holder were up a few rows behind the benches with a family section (no swearing allowed!) near that. We were pitch side on the opposite touchline. Seats were right on top of the AR. All of us are used to watching the game from the ground level, as players or officials (in my case) so we thought the seating was great. All of the old timers that came in kept pointing out we could move up a couple of row to see better. They filled the stand from high to low. Food was pretty well chips and fried stuff from a modified shipping container. No alcohol in the stadium, no roving food. Attendance was ~3700.

Spirited, physical game with a very confused roster from the Cork side as they just sold a couple of players to a Championship side and were trying to find their way. There was a new mid-fielder that was being chirped at continually by the right back which provided huge entertainment value for those of us close to the pitch. Galway scored early on a weak shot that the keeper never saw. Galway continued to carry the play with one goal disallowed for a handling offense. Should have gone red, ref went yellow.

Second half brought a new lineup with the new mid-fielder on the bench. Cork scored two, including a beauty of a header to take the match 2-1. The locals were not amused at the level of play. The locals really knew the players and the game. I got a great kick out of them all standing and yelling at the ref on every foul only to sit down and and say "that was a dumb foul". It was like they were contractually obligated to ride the officials.
Awesome report; that sounds like an amazing experience. I had to look up the Cork manager - John Caulfield is Cork City's all-time leading goal scorer, and twice led the division in goals scored, ha.
 

Titans Bastard

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Awesome report; that sounds like an amazing experience. I had to look up the Cork manager - John Caulfield is Cork City's all-time leading goal scorer, and twice led the division in goals scored, ha.
Caulfield also has American citizenship, having been born in NYC to two Irish parents. He grew up in Ireland, though. ASN did a feature on him several years ago.

I looked up the game and one of Cork's starters caught my eye: Steven Beattie, who scored a ton of goals playing D2 soccer for Northern Kentucky and was drafted and cut by Toronto in 2011. Played in Iceland and Ireland since.
 

Warning Track Speed

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Jul 20, 2005
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Hello. I also do not have a story as exotic as jkempa's, but I finally made my Premier League debut so I thought I'd share. I'm approaching 50 and I've never left the continent before, so this was a big deal for me.

Our long-planned trip to London was centered around the Harry Potter play, but I was delighted to learn Brighton would be home vs. Stoke the Monday night we were over there. So that day the kiddos and mom trucked off to Harry Potter studios, and dad hopped on a train down to Brighton. I'd describe myself as a casual but long-time fan--the first English soccer game I ever watched was the '83 FA Cup final, back in the early days of ESPN. Plus I wore out the grooves on Quadrophenia as a teenager, so getting to go to the coast was a real treat for me.

The train from Victoria was practically empty and I got down there early afternoon. First pub I walked into, the first handle I saw was... Lagunitas IPA. Grrrrr. I had something a little more local, and made my way down to the beach and the pier for an hour or two. It was, shockingly, a gray and drizzly day, which was perfect for summoning all that teen angst. I Am the Sea, indeed.

Back toward the train station for the train to the game, I had to show my ticket to get into the pub ("Home Fans Only"). I got to the stadium early. The AmEx is kind of out in the suburbs and there isn't a lot going on around it, a few beer stands and food stands but that was about it. I took a lap around and went inside.

I had some (dumb American) issues with buying my club membership and then my ticket, and in the course of working through that with the club I told them my story. A couple weeks before the match I got an email from the club's publications department, asking for a photo and saying they'd like to welcome me to the match in the gameday program(me). Nice.

Then I go up the concourse to my section, and I see there's something sitting on what appears to be my seat:
20171120_115709.jpg


So I open it up, and it's a framed certificate from the club thanking me for traveling to be at the game:
20171120_114211.jpg

I thought that was pretty cool. Smaller club to be sure, but still, the Premier League, and I've been to plenty of sporting events on this side of the pond and never been personally welcomed like this.

Anyway, I was in the west stand, and I guess I was surprised at the... middle-aged? nature of the crowd. You can't take beers to your seats, so the concourse was full of people hanging out fairly calmly until shortly before kickoff. The beer was weaker than I'm used to but also cheaper than most big-league stadiums.


The match was lively and entertaining. Stoke took the lead and bunkered down; Brighton should have had a penalty; Brighton evened right before the break; but just a minute or two later Stoke scored off a corner to lead 2-1. Brighton got the equalizer midway through the second half, and that's how it ended.

------

Later in the week I realized there was a Friday night match in London, Leicester at West Ham. The rest of the family wasn't interested so I scored a decent seat on the Hammers' Web site that morning and set off on the tube.

London Stadium was lacking in character, I'm sure Upton Park would have been a more authentic experience. But the place was pretty full and vocal. Leicester scored within 8 minutes or so, which prompted a chorus of "We're winning away, how shit must you be" from the visiting section. The Irons' fans were clearly agitated for the rest of the first half, but the hosts scored right before the break, and the crowd was more vocal and supportive for the second half. This one ended 1-1.


My appetite is whet for more European soccer. No idea when I'll get back over there, but I enjoyed both of these immensely.
 

Cellar-Door

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Very cool. Question, how loud does London Stadium get? Fans seem to say that the environment is weird, but I know visiting players say it gets crazy loud.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Dec 12, 2004
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That's an awesome story, pretty sweet keepsake to boot.

Re: London Stadium, when I was there for the Liverpool match, it was moderately loud at the beginning of the match (this was the weekend preceding Remembrance Day, so it was expectedly more somber). However, despite the noise the WHU supporters were making around kickoff, the huge area between the seats and the pitch made the overall din sound a bit hollow. Wish I'd been able to catch a match at Upton Park.
 

Warning Track Speed

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Definitely my favorite souvenir from the trip, and probably not something I would have gotten at the Emirates or Wembley.

London Stadium is certainly cavernous but it did get louder than I expected, at times anyway. The home team was crap in the first half but after the break the fans were in pretty full voice. I imagine it could get intimidating under better circumstances.
 

The Needler

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Dec 7, 2016
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Not just a certificate, but a framed one at that. That is a really cool thing for the club to do.
 

candylandriots

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A bit late, but I managed to get to a game during the international break in Bangkok. There's an annual tournament there called the King's Cup. This year included, Thailand (of course), Gabon, Slovakia and UAE.

Due to traffic, I missed all of the first game between Slovakia and UAE, but had plenty of time to make it for the Thailand - Gabon game.

As I approached the stadium, I noticed that there were many other sports that used the grounds besides soccer. For example, there was an archery center outside the stadium. The stadium was also home to the Thailand Snooker Association.

The line for tickets was huge, so I found a woman selling "complimentary" tickets for 300 Baht (about $10) and decided to give that a go. At first it didn't work at the turnstile, and I thought I'd been scammed, but then the ticket taker ran it again, it worked, and he let me in.

The seating was somewhat general admission by section. I was in a good section around midfield and found a spot for the game, after buying some mystery meat, prawn crackers and a coke for 80 Baht. There is no beer available at the stadium.

The game wasn't particularly well-attended, especially on the visitor side. No professional cameras were to be allowed at the game. It was hot as hell inside the stadium, even though sundown approached.

Like some other stadiums I've attended recently, there was a large "moat" around the field to keep spectators away. The Thais unfurled a large Thai flag that passed over my head before the game. There was also a moment of silence for Pierre-Emerick Aubaumeyang's grandmother, who had passed away. Her death kept PEA away from this game.

Thailand had the much better chances in the first half, hitting the crossbar and a 1:1 with the GK from the 6-yard box, but no goals.

The crowd was extremely polite, despite what the moat suggested. How could it not be, it was in Asia -- and no one was drunk. Of course it was a nice crowd!

Many of the cheers were in English, surprisingly. For example, "we support Thailand!" was one.

I believe that the attendance was about 25k out of 50k in the stadium.

There was some action at the end of the 2nd half, where Thailand tried to chip the keeper in the 79th minute, and Gabon's keeper made an amazing save at the 80th.

The quality of play was about what you'd expect with the #49 vs #110 teams in a 0:0 draw.

But we did get to see the game go direct to penalties. Thailand did a stutter-step and scored first, then Thailand's keeper made a very nice save against Gabon. Thailand went up 2-0 after Gabon's shot went straight to the Thai keeper. Eventually ended 4:2 in pens.

I went and had a beer across the street while I waited 20 minutes for an Uber back to the city.

A few pictures from the game.
 

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candylandriots

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Nice work, @jkempa. I'm a big fan of reports from lower divisions and off-beat places.
Thank you very much. I do appreciate it. I’ve been trying to write a bit more now that I’ve quit my job.

Next season I should hopefully have some reports from the 2. Bundesliga (please, not the third) and maybe a game or two from the first. I’ve got a standing invite from a friend to go to a game at Dortmund, which I’m really excited to do.
 

candylandriots

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This has been a little slow in coming, and covers two trips to the Olympiastadion in Berlin. The first was August 26 and the second was September 30. I’m mostly writing about the September 30 game, as I didn’t really take any notes at the first one, and it was kind of a snoozer anyway, as Union was up 4-0 after the first leg against FC Kupio of Finland. The pictures are from both games.

This was my first time at the Olympiastadion, despite living here for a few years. It’s taken Union qualifying for European football for me to make it. As you’ll see from some of the pictures, Union fans aren’t really thrilled about being forced to play in the stadium of their crosstown rivals. I thought originally it was a Covid regulation, designed to allow 25,000 fans in and remain distanced. But it’s not that at all. Stadion an der alten Försterei does not meet UEFA requirements for international competition, as there are tickets without seats. Since Union has only about 3000 seats for about 23,000 ticketed patrons, these games must be played at Olympiastadion.

I felt kind of lucky to get the tickets. I read that there was a four-ticket package available for the playoff. I tried to buy tickets for me and three friends, but was prevented from doing so, as you needed four membership numbers to do so. Later on, I learned that it really was a 4-game package for the Conference League playoff and the three group stage games. So I actually had one ticket for all four.

For the first group stage game, Union suggested that ticket holders go to one of their stores and show their proof of vaccine, ticket and ID to get a wristband to avoid checks before the game. I had some free time, and did that. It’s a good thing I did too, because my ticket was corrupted and I had to call Union’s customer service line to get it sorted. When I went to get my wristband, the older guy in front of me complained that the wristbands were blue instead of red.

It’s not so bad getting out there for me though. In fact, it may even take a few minutes less than going to die alte Försterei, as instead of walking through the forest to get to the stadium, the S-Bahn station is right out in front of the Olympiastadion. It’s also kind of nice to have only 25,000 fans in a stadium that seats about 80,000. Concessions are super-easy to obtain, toilet lines are short, and there is plenty of room to stretch out or move to a different seat if you’d like.

As I went to enter the stadium (in the short line, hooray!), some extremely drunk guys from Köpenick offered me a beer as they had to consume them before getting to the front of the line. They were surprised that an American was there rooting for Union (and I thought, have you seen how many Americans are in this city? But maybe not so many in Köpenick.) The entry to the stadium is on Jesse-Owens-Allee, which is kind of cool given some of the history behind the predecessor stadium.

Like I said, the first game was a snoozefest, and I was just more happy to be at an actual sporting event for the first time in 18 months. The second game meant something, especially after losing a tough 3-1 game against Slavia Prague. Some were already writing Union off. The fans from Maccabi Haifa showed up in numbers for this game. Their green and silver foil was shaking in the away end of the stadium, along with some flares and smoke bombs later on. But it seemed everything was well under control.

Union put out what looked to be a second team, despite if they lost this game, they were going to be in a very tough position. But the league is still paramount to a team like Union, and I understood trying to put some of the depth that they had signed to work. Like in der alten Försterei, there was a lot of interaction between the people with season tickets (who seemed to be on the other side of the stadium (the one primarily shown on TV) and my side, which seemed to be mostly be members without season tickets. There were extended call and response cheers and chants from one side to the other. It went on and on, but I think people didn’t care as they were so happy to be back.

I saw a dude with long gray hair and thought it was J Mascis, but I keep thinking that about everyone with long gray hair I see here once I found out his wife is from Berlin. But it wasn’t him. Then, finally saw my first goal in 19 months! It was scored by Andreas Voglsammer (one of those depth signings) and set up by Kevin Behrens (another). Voglsammer came in on a free transfer from Arminia Bielefeld. Behrens, who then scored the second goal himself is another guy who came in for zero or close to it. When I first heard of Kevin Behrens, it was him coming in as a sub in a Bundesliga game. And I thought, why are they taking up a roster spot with a 30-year old, big, dopey-looking guy who never played above the second division? Well, after seeing him play a few games, it’s because he’s one of those players who scores. Right place, right time, whatever. He just makes it happen. If he were a baseball player, he’d be the fat guy that hits home runs. Your Greg Luzinski, Gorman Thomas, Jack Cust. Or maybe a guy like Youkilis is a better comp. You get the idea though.

After making a few more subs, former Liverpool player (who never played for Liverpool) Taiwo Awoniyi came in and scored too. He’s been very hot since making a permanent home in Berlin, but he still did some Awoniyi things and missed a pretty clear chance before scoring. At this point it was 3-0, and it was about holding on to the three points and also GD, which could be important in a tough group. They did, and Feyenoord defeated Slavia Prague making it Feyenoord 4, Slavia Prague 3, Union Berlin 3, Maccabi Haifa 1 after two games. Next up is Feyenoord in the Netherlands.

A few pics from the games are below.OS1.jpg

Kickoff against FC Kupio

OS2.jpg

Outside after the FC Kupio game


OS3.jpg

Waiting to get into the first group stage match (without wristbands)

OS4.jpg

A look to the visitor section and and Israeli Union fan.

OS5.jpg

Before kickoff with the team anthem

OS6.jpg

Final score

OS7.jpg

"We need the Alte Försterei like we need air to live."
 
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candylandriots

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When my wife and I moved to Berlin four years ago, I had already kind of fallen in love with Union Berlin. I’ve talked about the history and the club culture here, and won’t bore you with it all again. The team was in the 2. Bundesliga, and I didn’t really know anyone, and we planned a lot of travel which would have meant missing a lot of games. So I thought, “no need to buy a season ticket now. I’ll just get one in a couple years when I actually can go to the games, since you really can’t resell tickets here.” Of course, they immediately got promoted, which was great for everything except ticket availability.

Fast forward a bit, and one my wife’s new friends came over to our apartment. She saw that I had Union sandals outside the door, which I use for quick trips out. And a Union rubber duck next the the bathtub, and she got all excited. She grew up in Köpenick and her father has a season ticket with his best friend, Luis. Her dad, Peter, has been going to games there since the 1960s, and has had a season ticket for many years. I’ve been invited a few times to go with Peter or Luis when the other couldn’t go, or when someone scored an extra ticket and have had a great time standing on the Waldseite with them and the other hardcore fans. I’ve even somehow managed to usually find a decent view in the standing area despite being only 5’6”. It’s a great experience.

They invited me to the game on Easter Sunday and then to the semi-final of the DFB Pokal in Leipzig. Since the away tickets are generally only for season ticket holders, I assumed that we’d be sitting among the traveling fans for the game. However, Lisa’s aunt owns some engineering company or something, and is one of the sponsors for RB Leipzig — and thus has 4 VIP tickets for all of their home games. And she gave them to Peter, who shared them with Luis, Peter’s neighbor Nico, and me. Luis and I live inside the ring, so we took the train out to meet Peter and Nico to drive down to Leipzig for the game.

We got there in plenty of time, so walked around outside the stadium a bit. There was a big field adjacent to the stadium, where there were some food and drink stands set up. We had a couple beers and waited until the doors opened. We were basically only seeing people in red and white for Union, but there were a couple Leipzig supporters around. On our way over to the stadium, we heard a loud commotion and saw a group of about 100 guys all in black singing together. We wondered for a second if they were Union fans, but as they got closer, we heard that they were literally singing/chanting “Rasen Ballsport”. Most of you probably already know this, but RB Leipzig is owned by Red Bull. Bundesliga regulation do not allow for sponsors to give their names to teams. So Red Bull called them RB Leipzig and claimed that the RB was for Rasen Ballsport (lawn ball sport) and not Red Bull. And apparently the RB Leipzig fans have taken this to heart. I can’t tell if I should cringe or admire their audacity.

The stadium is beautiful though. It still maintains parts of the original Zentralstadium, constructed in 1956. This was required as it had historical protection. It originally held over 100,000 spectators, which is crazy given that Leipzig has about 600,000 people (1.1 million in metro) — about the same size as it was in the 1950s. Peter and Nico said they were both at games in the original stadium. The stadium was rebuilt by the city, used for the 2006 World Cup, and was used by FC Sachsen Leipzig for a few years, before that club ultimately failed after moving back to their original stadium. So it was empty when Red Bull announced their intentions to essentially build/buy a superclub after buying the license of SSV Markranstädt (after unsuccessful tries to buy more established clubs were met with severe fan backlash), a fifth division club. By 2016, RB Leipzig was in the 1. Bundesliga and in the Champions League by 2017. Red Bull has invested in the stadium and expanded it, with plans to grow to 57,000 seats from the current 47,000.

Since we had these VIP tickets (which apparently cost 400 euros each!), I had a different experience that what I originally anticipated. We entered the stadium through basically the same entrance that the team buses used. We saw the announcer from Stadion an der alten Försterei entering as we were. RB Leipzig asked that we use electronic tickets which they checked and gave us a wristband at a desk staffed entirely by young women dressed in business suits. The elevators were not big enough to handle the number of people coming in at that time effectively, so we huffed it up the stairs and entered the VIP dining area. We were offered drinks and they had kind of a buffet setup, where you could pick from several items that the cooks would plate for you. The food was decent but unremarkable - kind of what you’d get at a big conference or something.

Instead of luxury boxes, the VIP tickets were for more or less regular seats in the stadium that could be accessed by non-VIP holders. You just needed to show your wristband to get into the VIP area if you wanted a drink or to use the toilet there. We were seated pretty close to the middle of the stadium, both in height and width (kind of 40-yard line seats if thinking NFL). We got to our seats about 10 minutes before the start of the game, though I took a few walks out there while the others were eating and drinking, to take in the atmosphere and to take some pictures.

You may also know that because of RB Leipzig’s sponsorship and quick rise to the elite due to that, Union fans do not particularly like RB Leipzig or what it stands for. That’s really an understatement. Union’s very first game in the 1. Bundesliga was against RB Leipzig (they got crushed, 0:4), but the Union fans were determined to show what they thought of RB Leipzig. So in literally their first game in the big-time, they were absolutely silent for the first 15 minutes of the game. It’s become something of a tradition when playing RB Leipzig, and this game was no exception, despite the importance of the match.

There were something like 6,700 tickets for the away section. Despite that, there were lots of Union supporters all around the stadium, except for the ultra area. It wouldn’t have shocked me if 1/3 of the spectators there were supporting Union. But perhaps I’m being optimistic. I was a little surprised by the intensity of the RB Leipzig support behind their goal, but the rest of their supporters were more relaxed about the game it seemed.

Union started strong, despite the quiet Union supporters. When the 15 minute protest ended, the stadium absolute erupted. I am adding a short video I uploaded to Youtube to try and give some sense of what it was like. I checked it out on the replay on ESPN+ as well. Both give a sense of being there, but neither do it justice. It would have been incredible to be among the away supporters, all of whom were wearing the same red sweatshirts. But it was also really cool to be outside of it looking in. The intensity of the Union supporters got the RB Leipzig fans going a bit more as well, and the game really seemed to pick up even more from its strong, early pace. Union were the better side in the early going, and they were rewarded with a nice goal from Sheraldo Becker in the 25th minute or so. There was a VAR check for offside, which went quite quickly when looking at the replay, but lasted an eternity for us because the scoreboard wasn’t updated until they actually kicked off again.

At halftime, we went back to the VIP area, where waiters and waitresses were waiting with glasses of beer and wine. Nico ate for the third time and we chatted about the game while not wanting to get too excited (though we had a little debate before the game about whether, given the choice, we’d prefer to win the Cup or get a Champions League spot. That probably jinxed us).

RB Leipzig were better in the second half, and were awarded a penalty after a VAR review in around the 66th minute maybe. It did not look at all like a penalty from where we were sitting, and we were shocked and disappointed when the referee came with the bad news. Watching it on TV, I guess it was a penalty, but it was fairly soft in my biased eyes. Paul Jaeckel (it always seems to be Jaeckel responsible for something back when I’m at a game) basically half stepped on the toe of the RB Leipzig player, and it was 1:1.

We seemed we were headed for extra time, and with the 8:45 kickoff and a 2.5 hour drive back to Berlin, and a train ride from there, I was starting to think about what time I’d actually get home. RB Leipzig had been pressing hard late on, with their deep bench being used with the 5 sub allowance. Union’s top offensive weapons, Taiwo Awoniyi and Becker were already off, having played extensively on the Sunday before against Frankfurt, and with another game at RB Leipzig in the league scheduled for Saturday. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of extra time because of that, but I would have happily taken that over what happened. After a great goal clearance by one of the Union defenders, a really nice cross came in to Emil Forsberg, who had come on as a substitute. He headed it at the perfect angle, and the Union keeper Rønnow had no chance. It was about 2:30 into the three minutes of added time, so Union really didn’t have a chance to equalize, despite trying a couple of long balls. The stadium erupted after the goal and the final whistle, with the Leipzig support sounding especially loud with the stunned silence of the Union fans.

We sadly made our way back to the VIP area, consoled one another and had another beer (except Peter who was driving) and Nico ate a fourth time! We took a little time to let some of the traffic go and collect ourselves before heading back to the car. I went out a couple of times again to have a look at the stadium, see the Union players come out and salute their fans, and to see RB Leipzig celebrate their good fortune. It looked like there was a big party going on behind the RB Leipzig end, with a mass of people dressed in black singing and celebrating.

On the way out, we actually saw Julian Ryerson, the Union midfielder, who was standing outside in his uniform and Union sandals, chatting with a friend of his maybe. Peter said hello to him and thanked him for a good game and we headed back to the car. We went through this underpass to get to our parking space, and all the Union fans started singing there and it echoed off the concrete.

After getting out of Leipzig, Peter hauled ass back to Berlin and was kind enough to drop Luis at home and me at Ostkreuz station, which cut my trip home down enormously from where we met him and Nico. I thought that the S-bahn was still running at that time, but apparently its only inside the ring that it does, so I had to get a taxi home, which was super easy and only like 12 euros. I got home at roughly a little before 3am, still so wired from the experience and the mental drain of speaking German for 12 hours straight haha. Had the last of the nice bottle of scotch I had and went to bed.

I’ve been privileged to be at some really big sporting events (brag alert: 2004/07 World Series and ALCS, the 2020 Super Bowl, World Cup games and the Copa America Final being probably the biggest ones—which I mention to give context for what comes next), and the atmosphere at this Pokal semi-final was better than all of them. It is really amazing to be a member of this club, to see what it means to people and the community, and share it with people who have literally bled for and built the club with their own hands. I’m hoping to get a ticket to the final game of the season against Bochum, and am hoping that the Champions League bargain we discussed is somehow on the table. The game Saturday again against RB Leipzig and another at Freiburg will be perhaps the most important of the final four games…which Union really probably needs at least 10 points from to have a chance at it. Union currently sits in 6th, four points behind 5th place Freiburg (who have a very tough schedule remaining) and 5 points behind Leverkusen in 4th - how have 3 of the 4 same opponents as Union have in their final four matches. So it won’t be easy, especially as Leverkusen and Freiburg play each other in the final match.

This team has accomplished so much and done it in such an exciting way. Urs Fischer is really a genius as a manager. What he gets out of players that almost nobody has heard of is absolutely incredible. I hope he stays, because other teams in the Bundesliga are noticing Union players, and signing them away. But he’s almost Belichekian in bringing the next guy in to do the job of the one who has left. Hopefully the stability of the team’s spot in the Bundesliga, the return of fans to the stadium and the opportunity to play again in Europe will help solidify the finances of a club that was in dire financial difficulties only a few years ago. They are trying to expand the stadium, but meeting predictable German bureaucracy in doing so. But stuff like that will be crucial for them to continue to compete and hopefully advance.




View: https://youtu.be/DsR_XSrRKTg

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candylandriots

unkempt
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 30, 2004
12,327
Berlin
It’s been a while since I (or anyone for that matter) wrote one of these. I haven’t been to a new stadium for quite a while (except the WC, but those stadiums were generic), but just got the chance to travel to Naples to see Union Berlin in the Champions League. My love for Union Berlin is no secret here, so clearly we were in the away end. My wife came, mainly because we had a vacation end of September/beginning of October to the Amalfi Coast and Capri. I forced us to come back early so that I’d be home in time for the first UCL game in Berlin. This caused us to skip Naples on that trip. Initially, this was quite an unpopular decision with 1/2 of the humans in the candylandriots’ household. However, thinking quickly, I suggested we return a month later by air (we had driven with the dog) to see Union Berlin play at Napoli, visit Pompeii, eat some pizza, etc. This clever save quickly restored my relationship status, as she agreed that two trips to Italy are definitely better than one.

We arrived to Berlin airport at 8am for our 9:10am flight. We have this process down really well now at the new airport, with reserved space in the security line. Strangely enough, someone starts calling my wife’s name, and it’s one of the security personnel. I’m thinking, “this isn’t a good start.” But it was one of her clients, who was working in our security line, who was excited to unexpectedly see her. After saying hello to her, we passed through a bunch of people in red drinking beer already, and boarded our flight to Vienna. Many clapped as we landed in Vienna, and a small “Eisern Union!” chant started.

We had two hours in Vienna before leaving for Naples. Grabbed a quick bite (which ended up being very important) and took off for Naples. The pilot played to the crowd upon landing and wished Union Berlin success in the game, and people started singing “Europapokal-Europapo!” I’m guessing 2/3 of the passengers were Unioners heading to the game, one exception being the 16-year old boy sitting next to me, swiping through Napoli pictures on his phone. He had a sick “Scarface” backpack that made me laugh to myself too.

Took the bus to our hotel, dropped off our stuff, and the woman at the hotel gave us totally confused information about how to get to the game. She also told us to watch out for the dangerous Union Berlin fans. I hadn’t realized that there was an incident the night before, where some 300 Union (and apparently quite a few Gladbach fans, who have their own rivalry with Napoli) showed up and had some trouble with the police.

We finally figured out how to get to the stadium by train. On our walk to the train station, only wearing a black Union shirt so as not to arouse too much attention, I got a double “fuck you” from two guys on a Vespa. When we finally got to the station nearest the stadium, we exited and started walking towards it. I was still just wearing the black shirt, carrying my scarf and red jacket in a ball. I got about 10 meters from the exit of the train station, and was grabbed by a police officer. He told me to go stand over there. I’m like, “what did I do?!?” There was a woman there in a Napoli scarf who explained to me in German, that for our own safety, we would not be permitted to walk to the stadium. Some other Union fans had just piled into a white van and were sped off. We were told another van would be there to pick us up in 5 minutes.

Twenty minutes later, still no van, and some of the Germans are getting restless. I walked into the Tabacchi to get a beer while waiting, and the guy in front of me bought the last three. Went back outside and finally a van showed up. We piled in, and Mario Andretti sped off so quickly I could feel the g-force as we took off, dodged through traffic, running red lights while like 10 fans held on.

Before getting in the van though, we were trying to talk one of the people into letting us walk. He was adamant that it was not allowed, telling us we looked “too German” to get through safely. My wife is constantly confused for Italian or Spanish in Berlin (she has olive skin—her grandparents are Sicilian!) and I have dark hair. But both of us have blue/green eyes, and apparently that was too much.

The reason I tell you all this is because when we finally arrived at the visitor’s section, there was a very confused couple of Napoli fans, with tickets for the main stand, with us! They both had blondish hair, and apparently were racially profiled to be Union Berlin fans.

The stadium is kind of a dump. You’ve seen it on tv probably. All concrete, hard plastic seats and the old track. I can tell you it doesn’t look any better in person. We got very, very heavily patted down. First by stadium staff, then by riot police. We got in to the concrete structure. My wife checked the toilet, and decided we’d both be better off not having any drinks (naturally, there was no beer in the visitor section), as the women’s toilet was unusable. I didn’t visit the men’s, which couldn’t have been better. Not having eaten or drinking anything since Vienna may have paid off.

We had a little more than an hour before kickoff. As soon as we entered the stadium, a Union fan told us not to sit down and to sing twice as loud as normal tonight. I had explained to Danielle already about the not sitting part, so told her to rest up for the game.

Once the players started coming onto the field, they got a warm welcome from the 2500 Unioners. We started singing and cheering. Then, once the announcements of the lineups started, we all kinda realized that the acoustics of the stadium don’t match the “Fußballgott/Eisern Union” chants very well. But that didn’t deter anyone. And the Napoli fans definitely let their thoughts about Leonardo Bonucci be known.

The game got underway, with Union attacking our end. Seemed like Napoli had the better of things, and they earned corner after corner. Union fans were LOUD however. This apparently was not appreciated, because we heard an explosion. Then flying explosives started clearing the wall and landing among Union Berlin fans. People rightly scattered and ran away from the wall and resettled in the stairway by us (we were on the aisle on the section further from the wall near the Napoli ultras, so we weren’t in direct danger). The PA asked people not to do that it Italian and German, getting nasty responses when saying it in German, as it clearly was not us. And it just caused everyone to defiantly sing louder, which invited more bombs, louder singing and so on.

About 30 minutes in, Napoli scored, and that sinking feeling hit everyone. The Union players instantly crowded the referee though, and I was hopeful for a VAR review. After what felt like eternity, i finally saw him run over to the screen, and I started to relax a little bit. Finally he made the rectangle gesture with his fingers and we all celebrated.

It was short-lived though, as Napoli scored a no-doubter a few minutes later. After 12 consecutive losses and a month without a goal, when was this gonna change?

At the end of the half, Union lined up a free kick from outside the area. I said to Danielle, “I think he’s going to score here.” Josip Juranovic, who had a tough night defensively, made a beautiful shot that hit the base of the far post, and squirted harmlessly away, as the half ended. Ugh.

The second half started with more of the same. The explosions started to subside, as Napoli finally sent some stewards up to the ultra section. But they still couldn’t put a stop to them completely. And finally there were some good fireworks, as Becker and Fofana took off on a speedy counter with one defender to beat. Becker took the shot, and I could tell it was going to be saved by the keeper, and my head fell into my hands. But then a massive cheer, as the rebound went to Fofana and he (apparently) put it away. First goal in 32 days and it was a big one. Celebration and jubilation all around. More explosives. But we were even with the Italian champs, playing in such a hostile environment. Although I thought we were still mathematically alive for the last 16, I found the bad news that H2H is the tiebreaker instead of GD, so a run in the Europa League is the best case scenario. Realistically, it’s probably more where we belong, and I love the thought of them getting back to the alte Försterei.

It seemed that Union were more likely to score for the rest of the game, but that may be a bit of bias as it seems that Napoli just earned an endless number of corners. And that was how the game ended, with Leonardo Bonucci, the guy they were calling Leonardo di Perdi (as Union had lost every game since he’d joined the club) clearing away the final threat to seal the draw.

You could see the relief on the faces of the players as they came over to salute the traveling fans. Then we sat. And waited. And waited some more. While chatting with my wife, she asked me a question that absolutely stunned me: “Jeff, why were Union and Napoli playing each other tonight? Is this a friendly?” She wasn’t joking. I now know how little she must listen to me. Twenty-five years together and she still finds ways to make me absolutely speechless.

I know that they wait to send the traveling fans out later, but it took them well over an hour before the stewards had cleared out the few thousand ultras at either end that seemed to be looking for a fight, and they finally let us out a bit after 10pm.

When they released us, it was to a closed road, with buses lining both sides of it. There was no choice, this is how you’re getting back. They were taking us to the port of Naples, which actually was super-convenient for us, but not for a lot of other people. We found an empty bus and found seats, but it quickly filled up. We chatted with the people next to us, and one guy asked if we were on his flight to Budapest. We said no, and then he said, “you’re the woman who knew the security guard at the airport!” to my wife. He was right behind us in the security line in Berlin that morning.

He was there with two friends and his father. One of his friends is a Ukrainian guy who had been living in Germany since 2003, and started going to Union games then even though they were 3rd or 4th division back then, and he lived in Erfurt, 300km away. But he comes to every game, and actually showed us some videos he had of the stadium back from 2005, before the fans rebuilt the stadium. It was a trip, and also funny to see these friends from 20 years earlier too. The German guy from the security line told us he had just been in the US, visiting New York, Philadelphia and Hartford?!? He had gone to see Kevin Behrens’ debut for die Mannschaft.

The bus took the most circuitous possible route to our destination, taking close to 80 minutes to get to the spot that was only like 6km away. But by the time we finally got there, most of the Napoli fans were gone. I removed my jacket and kit, and just had a black t-shirt from a Thurston Moore concert on and we hustled back to our hotel. Once there, I changed and tried to find something to eat or drink. Everything was closed, until I decided to search for a kebab shop on Google maps and I found one open until 6:30am like 500 meters away. Picked up some döner and a ton of water, brought it back to the hotel, and went to sleep to go check out Pompeii the next morning.

As we walked around Naples after visiting Pompeii, we would come across some people who would quietly ask “Eisern?” to one another if they heard some German or thought they recognized someone. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY was wearing red or calling ANY attention to themselves in Naples that next day. Which was the smart move, because I’m not sure I’ve ever been anywhere that seemed so absolutely devoted to one club and really one man, Diego Maradona. It actually is really sweet to observe when there aren’t bombs going off near you.

https://youtube.com/shorts/gg78zx1yGdU?si=M28hwv21hOo2bAlM
 

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