Bielefelder Alm (DSC Arminia Bielefeld)

Sunday 12th December 2009

2. Bundesliga

DSC Arminia Bielefeld 1
Kucera 57

1.FC Union Berlin 1
Peitz 76

Bielefelder Alm, Bielefeld. Attendance: 16,900. Ticket: €12. Travel: €13

——————–

Football in Germany is strange for those living in the East of the country. The only eastern teams currently playing in the nation-wide top three tiers are Hertha Berlin (top tier, but soon to be second tier) , Union Berlin, Hansa Rostock and Energie Cottbus (second tier) and Erzgebirge Aue, Rot-Weiß Erfurt, Carl-Zeiss Jena and Dynamo Dresden (all third tier). So that’s a total of 8 out of the 56 teams in the top three levels. This brings quite a few problems along with it. Firstly, kids growing up need to see successful football teams in their city or surrounding area, otherwise most will start supporting Bayern Munich. Secondly, any team that does get up to the national leagues has a season of monstrous away trips almost every other weekend. Case in point, have a look at Union Berlin/Cottbus/Rostock’s away trips this season:

To put it in perspective, that’s 14 away trips that each total more than a 700km round-trip. That clutch of teams in the Ruhr valley really ruins things. It’s like being a Plymouth fan I suppose. Then again, let’s see Plymouth take 2k to each away day.

I shouldn’t really complain though, long away trips are what makes football great. I love the looks on peoples’ faces when I say I’m travelling 6 hours each way to go and watch a game of second tier football – half of the fun is in the travel. This is why Fergal, Chris and I decided that going to see Union Berlin’s away game in Bielefeld would be a fantastic way to spend a Sunday in mid-December. Our train was leaving Leipzig at 05:05 and would go via Halle, Hannover and Minden to reach the final destination in time for the 13:30 kick off. Then it would be another 6 hours back, getting into Leipzig at past 22:00. The game was at least attractive on paper – at the time it was 3rd vs. 7th with only a few points separating them both. However, Arminia Bielefeld were coming into the match on the back of 3 straight defeats and Union hadn’t won in four. Something had to give right?

On arrival at Bielefeld after sleeping most of the way, the city seemed quiet. A few Union fans were about but not too many. It was a couple of hours till kick off though, so there was still time to kill. We wandered leisurely in the direction of the stadium through an extremely quiet residential area. From afar, the Bielefelder Alm (or Schüco Arena if you’re one of those people who prefers calling St James’ Park the sportsdirect @ St James’ Park Stadium) did look impressive. From our vantage point the stands seemed to have a bit of charm about them which was definitely a good thing.

Chris and I arriving at the Bielefelder Alm

After dropping off my bag, we walked through to the away end and promptly bought two tickets for the standing section (cheaper than the seated area too). We then embarked upon scaling the steps of the huge stand to get to the terracing entrance right at the top. The view from the top of the stand over Bielfeld was spectactular, but that was eclipse once we turned the corner into the standing section. It looked fantastic. Hemmed in right to the left-hand side of the stand behind the goal, we were facing the stand alongside the pitch and had to look right to get a view of the pitch.

Our view from the terracing

Even though it was empty at that time, it was obvious to us that once the Union fans had filled it, the atmosphere was going to be fantastic. And sure enough, once the Sonderzug had arrived at the main station and the fans had made their way to the stadium, the noise started to rise and rise. The Bielfeld ultras opposite us looked impressive with their banners and scarves, but we couldn’t really hear them (probably due to the fact that we were making so much noise). Just before kick-off, the atmosphere was building nicely and flags and banners were being unfurled. Then suddenly things took a turn. A middle-aged man (say 40?) and an older guy appeared in the stand in front of us (kind of a neutral area) and the middle-aged man preceded to unfurl a banner reading Berliner FC Dynamo – DDR Rekordmeister (Dynamo Berlin – Record GDR champions). To say this didn’t go down well with the Union fans was certainly an understatement – Dynamo Berlin being their sworn and vehemently hated enemies. He was instantly hit with a rain of missiles and Union fans started scaling the fron barrier to get to him. A Union fan in the neutral end thankfully went up to him and asked him what the hell he was doing (and then kicked over his beer, amazing), but it was too late. I would say around 25 Union fans got over and went looking for him, although I’ve no idea where he got too. The riot police turned up and arrested a few of them, which was a shame. In the end it died down, but it would never have happened if that idiot hadn’t provoked everyone. I hope he got arrested for his troubles.

To the match itself! It was an even first half I would say, but nothing really happened to be honest and it seemed a bit lifeless. Fortunately, we did not stop singing (see video below) and the boring match was almost a side issue. After the break, Arminia were definitely on top and duly scored from a corner after Union’s keeper came out but didn’t get to the ball. The goal seemed to be a bit of a sucker punch for Union’s players who didn’t really seem to know how to react. But on 65 minutes, a Bielefeld player was sent off after getting booked twice in 3 minutes (Germans call this an Ampelkarte, a traffic-light card, which I quite like!). Five minutes later, it kicked off.

Union fans near the front of the terracing block let off what the Germans call a bengalisches Feuerwerk (Bengal firework) and I’m not sure what they’re called in English. Anyway, the thing was huge and within seconds the entire stand, and then the entire stadium, was filled with smoke. White ash started raining down on us and I was just transfixed by it. I heard some announcements over the tannoy asking them to put it out, but I didn’t realise (partly because I couldn’t see a thing) that the game itself had been stopped. They waited for 4 or 5 minutes until it had all cleared before re-starting. Interestingly, some older fans near the back were not happy at all with the fact that the younger lads had let off a firework, saying that it would only cost them money (in fines) and that there was no need and they were damaging the club by doing it. They had a point to be honest. The stoppage seemed to give Union time to regroup and take a breather, as afterwards they looked much more likely to score. Bielefeld looked like they had had their rhythm disrupted and started giving away lots of needless fouls. It was from one of these free kicks that Union got their equaliser. The ball was floated in from the left and 6’5″ midfielder Dominic Peitz rose highest to nod the ball into the back of the net. The terracing shook. I started hugging people I’d didn’t know. It was great. Interestingly, the older guys behind us who had been complaining about the flare didn’t celebrate the goal. Perhaps they knew that the interruption had aided Union…

THAT flare

The final 10 minutes petered out without much to be honest, and both teams seemed happy enough with a point, although, it did neither any good for the chasing of the promotion places. Thankfully, Greuther Fürth came back from 2 down to nick a point off St. Pauli so it could have been worse. The journey back was non-eventful to be honest, although the train between Hannover and Halle was probably the longest three hours of my life…

EQUALISER!

Next up: Hansa Rostock – Union Berlin 30/01/10 *rubs hands*

Stadion an der Alter Försterei (1.FC Union Berlin)

Friday 4th December 2009

2. Bundesliga

1.FC Union Berlin 1
Mattuschka 25

Energie Cottbus 1
Kweuke 62

Stadion an der Alten Försterei, Berlin. Attendance: 18,212

——————–

1.FC Union Berlin were formed in 1906 in Berlin and became famous (and East Berlin’s most popular side) during the time of the GDR. Despite their popularity, the team was not largely succesful. It could be said that this was because the team was not supported by any govenmental department like, for instance, their bitter rivals Berliner Dynamo, who were sponsored by the Stasi. Due to this, their stadium, the Alte Försterei, was often the place where disguised anti-establishment chants were sung, a very dangerous thing to do in the time of the GDR. This already gives the history of the club an interesting angle, and indeed they are seen in Germany as one of the ‘Kult’ clubs similar to St Pauli from Hamburg.

To be honest, I have been ‘looking’ for a team to really get behind and support ever since I came to Germany. I really hate to say that, as I believe that people should either support the team of their family/parents or the local side. For me, that’s quite impossible here in Germany – a) my family are all in England, b) my girlfriend/her family don’t follow football and c) the clubs and most of the fans in Leipzig are horrible and racists (see below). To be honest, I think I may have found one – before I even stepped into the Alte Försterei I could tell that the atmosphere was different. It is hard to explain, but everything felt more relaxed and friendly – even for this ‘Ostderby’ between two teams who don’t really like each other. An example: on the S-Bahn from central Berlin to the stadium, there were Cottbus fans milling around without much of a hint of trouble. There was also a group of Danish lads who had set off at 6am that morning from Copenhagen to be at the game. I’m not saying that the fans are angels, because that’s far from the case, but they just seemed to be a lot nicer.

Now, to the day itself. I was delighted to hear that Fergal had won tickets for the sold-out game on ebay, and it only remained for me to get the day off work (at very short notice). Fortunately, it was granted so we found ourselves on the train from Leipzig to Berlin with plenty of beer on Friday at 11am. I should explain about the trains really. German intercity trains are expensive, but there are railcards to reduce the fairs to make them reasonable. The German national rail system also offers cheap group travel on what are called Regional Trains. You can search for travel from anywhere to anywhere in German just using regional trains, which go via random towns. This excites me a little, I don’t know why. I must admit there is a little, tiny, miniscule bit of trainspotter in me. So, we went from Leipzig to Lutherstadt Wittemberg to Berlin on the way there, and Berlin Südkreuz to Lutherstadt Wittemberg to Bitterfeld to Leipzig on the way back. This cost me and Fergal and very reasonable €39 using the Quer-durchs-Land ticket (an offer which is unfortunately ending at the end of January – it allows travel anywhere in Germany for one day using only RE trains).

We arrived in Berlin at just after two and I was kind of feeling the beer. We walked outside the station at Alexanderplatz and the freezing cold soon woke us up. It was a noticeable 3/4/5 degrees colder than in Leipzig. We then met Ciara (and a random Kazakh) so that Fergal could drop his bag off with her, and after a beer, we headed to the ground. Once we got to the Köpernick S-Bahn station, there were Union fans everywhere, including aforementioned Dänische Faktion. The man who was selling us the tickets seemed incredulous that two lads from the UK and Ireland living in Leipzig wanted to come to Berlin to support Union. I probably would be the same if two Bulgarians from Leeds wanted to buy tickets to a Vale game off me. So, tickets in hand, we then made the walk with the rest of the fans to the stadium. From quite a way away we could see the floodlights, aided by the fact it was now dark. The walk took us through a very nice looking sports complex where youngsters were finishing up with their training, presumably to go to the game. There weren’t many people heading into the stadium, and it was still 45 minutes till the scheduled KO time of 6pm, so we stopped outside for a beer and soaked up the atmosphere. It was probably a mistake to not go straight in because when we did decide to get through the turnstiles, there were thousands of others trying to do the same. After a brief crush though, we were in.

Ultras from Union Berlin right behind us

Immediately we realised we were in the Union Ultras end, the standing block behind one of the goals, and this caused great excitement. We ended up to quite near the front which didn’t provide us with an amazing view, but meant that we were right in front of the Ultras. The chants started going and they were certainly catchy – Fergal and I found ourselves singing along pretty easily. The Ultras were brilliant and did not stop for the entire game. In the second half, something curious happened though. Someone let off a firework in the Union end and then everyone turned round and seemed to try to identify whoever did it. I certainly got the impression that the rest of the Ultras didn’t want any fireworks being let off. Strange really, because usually Ultras in Germany love their fireworks. In terms of the game itself, I thought it was pretty even and both teams had their own good spells. The Union goal looked amazing from where I was stood, although I’m yet to check out a TV replay. A free kick curled into the right hand corner of the net, giving the Cottbus keeper no chance. Personally, I think Union should have pressed home their advantage at the end of the first half and score another, but they didn’t and they paid the price. In the second half, Cottbus came out looking much more purposeful and duly scored an equaliser (which I missed because I was having a piss). Fergal told me it was a bit of a scramble, maybe a deflection, but it had definitely been coming. Both teams had chances to win it, but in the end each settled with a point. Union will have been pleased to have been able to stop their recent run of defeats but frustrated at not having beaten mid-table Cottbus. They will need a good result at Bielefeld next weekend (a match I will be attending) to keep in touch. All-in-all, a great first experience at the Alte Försterei and I’ll definitely be back.

Our view from right behind the goal

Highlights from the first half (and the fantastic free kick from Mattuschka