MSV Duisburg 0-2 St. Pauli, Sunday 28th February 2016

MSV Duisburg 0-2 St. Pauli, Bundesliga 2 (att. 20,790)

Welcome to ....

Having a weekend away for some Bundesliga action (Werder Bremen yesterday) I thought 'why not pop in and see St. Pauli?'  After all, Dusseldorf Airport is closeby Duisburg, allowing for a quick and easy exit back to Londontown.  Yes, it meant an earlyish start...the train was about 9ish...but as I was staying near the railway station in Bremen, it was easy enough.  I'd also contacted St. Pauli's fanladen for a ticket in the away end, so had to make sure I was at the stadium early to pick up my ticket.  

Will they do the reverse for the journey back to 3.liga?

I already knew where the MSV Arena was, due to previous visits.  If you come out of the correct side of the station, go straight ahead where buses will take you directly there.  (Stand H1?)  It's easy to spot...if you're playing St. Pauli, cos there's big away support and you can't miss them.  As you leave the station, there's even a little bottle shop where everyone tops up their account.  (Don't worry, the shopkeeper has a bottle opener on hand. Drinking in the street is to be encouraged in Duisburg.)

Erdinger...the amber cloudyish nectar!

Arriving at the ground, there were quite a few St. Pauli milling around, having a drink.  One enterprising soul even had Jagermeister on his drinks' stall.  Not your normal pre-match tipple but it was chilly and perhaps folk could do with a warmer-upper.  It looked like all the St. Pauli buses had arrived, including a 'femalebus'.  I asked if anyone knew where the fanladen guys were and I was directed in no time to Sven, who was handling multiple tickets along with a Dutch bloke.  I didn't expect a Dutchman to be involved with the fanladen, but I guess it shows their appeal.  After a little chat, I headed in.

Very slick...personalised for the trip to MSV.

I was in the seats this time, right behind the goal.  My seat was in row 7, lower than I'd like, but it didn't matter; everyone was standing anyway.  I headed further back.  And what a festival of football it was.  Actually, best not to mention the football, it was terrible.  A heading-for-relegation MSV looked it and St. P comfortably won 2-0, a low shot from the edge of the box being matched in injury time with a second.  MSV were hit on the break and as the forward rounded the keeper he hit a shot that I swear was missing the net, but it hit a defender and went in.  All in keeping with the standard of the match.  Despite the result, on this evidence, St. Pauli will struggle to gain the top 3 berth needed for a crack at promotion.

The teams come out.

I also snuck upstairs for the 2nd half; cracking view, though largely empty.  So, after a toilet trip, I went back downstairs to be surrounded by a CROWD.  Warmest I'd been all day.  Then it was back on the (free) bus to the station and a 20 minute journey to the airport.  Job's a good un.

The Damage:
€22 ent

€3.50 beer (x2)

€2.20 bratwurst (x2)

€19 train from Bremen (advance fare)

€5.70 train to Dusseldorf airport

= €58.10

...plus the flight back (£31)

The Tunes:
Plumb (Field Music)

Screamadelica (Primal Scream)

'ello 'ello, what 'ave we got 'ere then?

Are you a 'zebrafreunde'?

Supporters club hut.  Beer in sale here.

Mobile cub shop.  Still no badges (3rd time trying).

The drummers arrive.

Outside the home end.

I've located where all the badges are.

MSV Arena

I love the angles.

stadium plan

Beer seller in ground.

Cushiest jobs in the world #346: policing MSV (see right).

Match action.

We heart St. Pauli!

Full time, 0-2.

The entrance to the home end.

Ticket office after the match.

Duisburg-St. Pauli panorama

Werder Bremen 2-2 Darmstadt, Saturday 27th February 2016

Werder Bremen 2-2 Darmstadt, att. 40,396

The Big Match (as advertised in town)

While the cat’s away…my better half is in Hong Kong with work, giving me an opportunity to have a cheeky German trip (or 2!) and where better than Bundesliga mainstays Werder Bremen?  Especially since it was only £15 to fly out there Friday nite from Stansted (£18 to get to Stansted, mind!)
After spending Sat morn sightseeing around Bremen, I hopped on a tram (line 3) direct to the stadium.  For once, I wasn’t faredodging either, as I already had my match ticket, ordered in advance and posted out to me in England (€5).  So, a stress-free enterprise allowing me to spend a contented pre-match, wandering around, taking pics.

The Weserstadion.

The Weserstadion has one unique feature – it’s floodlights.  Together with its dotted plexiglass ‘cape’, the stadium looks quite grand from outside.  Inside though, it’s a bit dated.  There’s exec boxes jutting into the paddock (a la Everton) while the upper tier, which curves around behind the goal to where the away fans are, is higher on the west stand upper than it is in the north west corner.  No wonder there were so many spare tickets here when I booked.  The higher upper tier to our right means a restricted view in this area.  Even though I was in the front row of the North-west corner, I could only just see the near goal.  And no-one sat to my right despite it being a virtual full house.  Oh, and the concourses are narrow and the toilets are a nightmare, no space to move.

Those floodlights.

Yet, still, my main annoyance is the ‘Werder cards’ you have t buy and oad up with cash to buy anything.  For an occasional (only?) visitor, howthehell do I know how much I’ll spend?  ‘I’ll have 7 euros 80 on there, please.’  No thanks. I wonder what it’s like in the away end?  I presume THEY don’t have to buy these cards.  I couldn’t even get a beer at one of the stalls OUTSIDE the stadium.  (I only wanted the plastic glass with a picture of the stadium on it).  Their loss.
However, there’s any amount of entrepreneurial-types willing to sell you a beer from their shopping trolley full of them.  And why not?  The stadium is also walkable from town (follow the tram tracks…or the river!) and you pass any amount of bars en route.  Or there’s 2 or 3 pubs at the ‘Weserstadion’ tram stop.  So no need to go short.

Ticket booths suitably greened up.

The match?  An entertaining draw, low on quality, high on goals (2-2).  Werder went ahead in the 1^st half when a header back across goal was hooked in past a wrong-footed keeper and defender.  Against the run of play, I thought.  And being next to the incessant racket of the Darmstadt support (though I couldn’t really see them, being higher up) I began pulling for them.  They got their just desserts before half-time when their centre forward ran through, rounded the keeper…and was hauled down.  As stonewall a penalty and red card as you’re likely to see…so the ref gave a yellow.  All I can think was that there was a defender running back to the line…but it was STILL a ‘goalscoring opportunity’.  Oh well.  Coolly despatched, one-all.

One hell of a sweetshop under the stand.

I couldn’t comment on the opening seven minutes of the second half, I was stuck in the queue for a p***.  (Did I also mention the upper tier has one narrow staircase , so it also takes an age to get to the concourse below?  Very poor.)
Anyway, the second half was littered with mistakes and yet few goalscoring opportunities.  Then, the Darmstadt captain, Sulu, decided to envlien proceedings by mistiming a tackle and taking such a swipe he hurt himself AND their player.  Or was he play-acting to avoid a red card?  Relieved to be only given a yellow, he only then goes and scores.  A hopeful free kick is chipped straight down the middle and Sulu flicked it in, with only another Darmstadter for company.  The Werder defence had simply gone AWOL.

Inside stadium panorama.

Queue wild scenes above us as various away fans jump onto the fence to remind us who’s winning.  One particularly unedifying spectacle has a fan grabbing his crotch repeatedly, in a manner not seen since Michael Jackson in the 80s (whatever happened to him?)  All this while hanging off a fence.  Mind, even Wacko never pointed at people while motioning that he would cut their throats. Most unsavoury.  Another Darmstadt fan made the same throat-cutting motion.  Is this what stands for ‘celebration’ down their way?  Werder fans responded by throwing their plastic beer glasses…into the dividing net.

The Darmstadt fans.  (Luckily, I could see the goal if I leant to one side.)

So, perhaps it was with some satisfaction that Werder legend Claudio Pizarro had the final word, the midget heading in his 183^rd Bundesliga goal from a late corner, taking him to 5^th on the all-time list.  Well done that man.  Two-all and no sight of those Darmstadt fans climbing on the fence to congratulate Werder.  How ungracious.  The Werder fans didn't seem bothered though; they'd just seen their team get of gaol.

I wouldn't mind, but the guy next to me was mainly asleep (drunk).

Afterards I went back to one of those pubs at the Weserstadion stop.  I wish I could remember its name, cos it was tremendous.  Bundesliga highlights on telly and weissbier (Franziskaner) on tap, as well as typical German fayre (bratwurst).  After depriving myself pre-match, I really enjoyed those beers, before walking back to town for ‘proper’ food. I stopped at a respectable looking place (‘Café Engel’) for a Maissel’s Weiss, later finding it was one of the places recommended in the guide book.  But I didn’t stay for food;  I had my eyes on a trip to the Rathaus and some local concoction, a version of haggis, played out to the sound of raucous Essex women of a certain age (my age) echoing around the vaulted ceiling.  Ahhh, those cheap flights from Stansted…
The Damage: €30 (+€5 postage) €1.50 

The teams come out.  The scarves come out.

Hedging his bets...

Pre-match.

Smart additions to the stand.

I spy a team coach!

Pre-match inside the stadium.

Lower tier packed out.

The teams line up.

Pre-match watering.

That 'cape' in full.

What a view.

Werder celebrate going 1-0 up.

Pre-match panorama.

Exec boxes.

My entry point.

Keep them away fans caged!

Dortmund woz ere.

Sunset over Weserstadion.

BFC 1-0 Doncaster Rovers, Saturday 20th February 2016

‘Bunny’s too tight to mention.’

It's a sign (literally!)  Come on you Reds!

With Bob back in Vienna, normal service was resumed with the Reds back to deserved winning ways against local traveller outfit Doncaster Rovers.  In fact, the only surprise was it took 81 minutes to score, as we battered them in the 1^st half only to come in scoreless.  It coulda been 4 or 5, but for some great saves and poor finishing.  Shame then (for the keeper) that when we finally made the breakthrough, it was his fault, as he pushed a soft Hourihane effort into the path of substitute Fletcher.  Game over.

A damp day matchday.

There was only one (enforced) change to the team, with Long having returned to Burnley, we upped our quota of Barnsley players in the starting XI to eight;  Roberts was back, with Nyatanga on the bench.  And aside from an early misunderstanding with Mawson which nearly let Donny in, he was generally solid.  Or at least as solid as I’ve seen him.  His distribution was poor at times though; Chris Morganesque.

The teams come out.

Bree also looked a bit iffy at times, while it was a shame to see Aidey White get crippled.  Although a poor tackle which rightly brought a yellow card, I don’t think their lad meant to harm him.  Hope he’s back soon.  His replacement, Williams, didn’t look great either.  Still, for all that, we were in complete control and although we tailed off after the break, we could still bring on Fletcher and Scowen (for Isgrove and Brownhill) thereby upping the tempo and grabbing the winner.

Toby!  Toby!

Winnall continued his goal drought (nought in two) despite several chances, but he was in a positive frame, staying on his feet, etc.  Hourihane again made tackles (who is this new bloke?) but his corner delivery was unimpressive, gently dinking them to the keeper.  Oh, and what did he do with a free kick?  Well, he kicked it over the bar of course.  Why is he still allowed to shoot from free kicks?  Surely we have other players who can also kick a ball over the bar?

*** Hammill.  Who else?  Head and shoulders above everyone else, as he has been since he came.  Ripped them apart 1^st half, brought a superb save from the keeper, tipping a 20 yarder round the post, as well as whipping in crosses and beating players all day long.  So we stopped passing to him 2^nd half.  Twitter MOTM.  
** Hourihane.   Controlled central mid and got the shot in for Fletcher to score.
* Fletcher of Man U.  Supersub does it again.  What a player to be able to bring on and fair play to the management for leaving on Watkins and Winnall and really going for it.

Londontykes Top 3:
1. Hammill
2. Hourihane
3. Mawson

'Barnsley's a sh*thole'.  Oh, the irony.

Despatches:It’s been a while since the away support have hit us with an early round of ‘Barnsley’s a sh*thole’ and it’s always hilarious when it comes from fans of a town (city) as salubrious as Doncaster.  Still, he who crows last crows longest and I did enjoy ‘Donny’s a sh*thole, I’m glad we’re at home’.

Drink du jour: vodka and orange or JD and coke.  Yes, fell asleep and missed my stop, but only by one.  (I think my subconscious self heard ‘Peckham Library’ and I burst into life)

Away: 1,421.  Good turnout from Donny, though they didn’t seem to have much other than those half hearted chants about what a grim place Barnsley is.  Meantime, we had 1500 more home fans than usually turn out, which must have been a surprise to BFC as programmes had run out before kick-off.
On a related to nothing else note, I worked out yesterday that BFC have won their last 5 home league games I’ve seen, as well as the last 4 away games I’ve been to.  I ought to be sponsored to attend.  (ps, I’ll not be at Bury or Crewe, so expect the worst.)
Onwards and upwards!

The Damage: 
19.10 travel
2 fanzine

Aidey White is carried off.

The Ponty v Donny.

The view towards the away end.

Match action.

Home time!