Sunday 28 August 2016

Partizan Belgrade 4-0 Rad Belgrade, Saturday 27th August 2016


Partizan 4-0 Rad Belgrade, att. 2,500 (Super Liga)

Welcome to....Partizan!

Being in Belgrade for the weekend, the last leg of my holiday, how could I not go and try and see one of the Big 2?  And this weekend, it was Partizan’s turn to be at home, in their 32,000 capacity Stadion Partizani bowl.  Just a shame it was only me and two and a half thousand others who bothered.  Too expensive?  I doubt that very much.  But since the break up of the old Yugoslav Republic, there’s only one game worth waiting for all year: Red Star.  However, tonite wasn't Red Star.

Outside the ground.

It was a promising start.  Not only had I caught the right bus (#31) from Hotel Moskva in the centre, I’d managed to get off at the right stop, near Red Star’s stadium.  Belgrade is such a big place, yet both major stadiums are right near each other.  I enjoyed a circular of Red Star’s stadium, peeking in through the gaps, before strolling to Partizan.  Only one problem: I’d forgotten my passport.  Seems I needed a passport, or some decent ID, to get me a ticket.  Fortunately, the young lady in the ticket booth took pity, judged I was harmless, and sold me a ticket for 400 (less than 4 quid).  I scurried away, muttering thanks.  The stadium was another 100 metres on. I nipped into the club shop, which only sold stuff in black.  Good for hiding that figure, I thought.  Then, as I headed up and round the stadium, I heard the away fans arrive.  About 100, in good voice, with plenty of flags, and plenty of police escort.  Rad were another, much smaller, team from Belgrade.

Ultras' graffiti

Then it came to the search.  Nevermind handing over all your knives, you had to hand over all coins and pens.  No-one argued.  But who pocketed all the loose change later?  Serbian football must be in a bit of a bind if fans aren’t allowed in with change.  Inside, there was little to spend your money on anyway.  A bloke set up a few coke bottles on a table on the concourse, ready to pour into plastic beakers, while sunflower seed sellers floated around the crowd.
All concrete and rust; Stadion Partizani.

Partizan’s stadium is an open bowl, with a row of executive facilities above one side.  Not much call for a roof in these parts.  The seats formed neat stripes of black and white, though it all felt a bit like peas rattling around a tunnel. The Partizan ultras were behind the goal, and probably took half the support.  The away contingent was to my left, while a few hundred of us were interspersed by the touchline.  Still, I do like to pick and choose my seat. The match itself was a walkover.  Rad’s resistance lasted all of 3 minutes when  header from a cross broke the deadlock.  
A sparse refreshment counter.

The lead doubled before half-time, another header, this time from a corner.  After the break, a free kick was scored and the player went berserk, while a 4th was poked goalwards from a corner, before being hammered in from close range.  Rad were well beaten, but their fans carried on singing and waving their flags.  For me, it was back into Belgrade city centre and £3.50 mojitos.  Oh, and did I mention I was staying at the hotel the Busby Babes were in before their fateful crash?  No, I didn’t know either till I read their blurb…

The Damage:
RSD 400 ent
RSD 100 coke
= RSD 500 (£4)

Night time panorama

Dusk panorama

What can it mean?

The sleek lines of Stadion Partizani.

Looking toward the away end.

The Rad ultras keep up their racket.

Where the big knobs hang out.

Match action

Looking towards the home end.

Partizani ultras (partisans?)

Two-nil and counting.

Watch your step (electricity cables!)

Plenty of space.

The Main Stand.

The subs warm up.

Thursday 18 August 2016

Vasas 2-0 Honved, Wednesday 17th August 2016

Vasas 2-0 Honved, att. 4,375 (NB 1)

Welcome to ...Vasas Sportclub!

Having been delayed two hours on a train (cos two trains were coming the other way, a problem I’d have thought the Hungarian authorities could have figured out by now) I should have hurried up to check-in and set off for the match.  Instead, I relied on KO being 7, not 6.  My gamble paid off. I’d planned on walking to the Illovszky Rudolf Stadion, but it was a simple journey by public transport.  Take the M3 to Forgach Utca. then turn right and right again out of the metro and walk down Forgach Utca itself until you reach the stadium.  10 minutes, easy.

I see a stadium!

The ticket office and turnstiles are right in front of you as you arrive, and basic affairs they are too.  No need for too many turnstiles in Hungarian domestic football; tonite’s ‘derby’ would bring around 4,000 people to a stadium which holds 4 times that.

Still, there’s an atmosphere.  The fans are either side of the pitch, with the end curves unused.  Keeping their powder dry for a BIG game, whenever that may be.  After worries about needing my passport to buy a ticket (I didn’t; good job since it was back at the hotel) I was in, via my first of 3 searches at the stadium.  Basically, every time you entered a new sector, you got another search.

The ONLY (home) turnstiles.

As the match had just kicked off, I went into the nearest stand.  Turns out they were the ‘posh’ (only) seats.  Only seats in the home end, anyway, though the away terrace had seats plonked at the back, though, presumably, anyone wanting to sit wouldn’t be able to see for those in front, standing. The Main Stand was small, the half or dozen or so rows at the back seemingly added as an afterthought.  At least this bit of cantilever is covered, unlike the vast amount of seating in front.  The rest of the stadium is uncovered, though the terracing didn’t show the neglect I expected.  One quirk is a scoreboard at one end, splitting the terrace.  Odder still, the players must march underneath this to reach the changing rooms, which are technically outside of the stadium perimeter.

Cameraman, and behind him, the scoreboard.

Tonight, the visitors were Honved, who brought a respectable 1,000.  Respectable in Hungarian terms, but this was, after all, a derby and they’re only a few stops apart on the metro.  But, like many a secondary European football nation (these days) it must be a mission of love and devotion supporting your local teams when all the best players are schlepping around in some economically superior foreign league.  Flicking through a few Hungarian football books earlier, the decline of football in that country is apparent; black and white photos from the 1950s showing packed stands and massive crowds juxtaposed with modern statistical analysis showing anything but the size of the crowd.  Too embarrassing to mention these days.  And looking at players’ biographies, the A-Z of Hungarian footballers began and ended with Ferenc Puskas and Zoltan Gera.

Looking towards the away fans.

Stadia such as this at least contain some character.  I sat on the back row, though, having pushed past a few people to get to my seat, I could hardly now leave for a beer.  That would wait till half time.  There was a buzz in the air.  After 5 games, Vasas were top of the league.  Heady stuff.  Though I have to admit, I’d not heard of them till checking out the fixtures.  Ferencvaros, Honved, MTK, Ujpest…yes.  But Vasa played some good football, before taking the lead with an absolute screamer. 25 yards out (at least), it curved all over the place, giving the keeper no chance.

Half time, the players and officials head off.

At half time I walked around the outside of the curve, behind the scoreboard.  The beer queue was too long and I wanted to see the rest of the stadium, as well as avoiding the intermittent screeching of whoever the bugle belonged to in the main stand.  There was also a drummer, yet the ultras were to be found opposite, on the terrace.

Scoreboard and changing rooms.

In the same building as the changing rooms was the club shop.  Small and busy.  I’ll come back at full time.  (Yes I would, and it’d be closed.)  The main building of Vasas sportclub (a large building behind the terrace) held refreshments facilities…as well as a sportshall where the ladies handball team were practicing.  I was tempted, but chose the beer instead.  I’d have welcomed a sausage too, but the closest they came to a savoury snack was some bread.

Refreshments this way.

The second half was mainly characterised by Vasas being unable to take any of a myriad of opportunities on the break.  Honved were no threat and the match was finally sealed in comic circumstances, as a soft shot dribbled over the line as the keeper caught it and somehow dropped it through his legs.  I don’t think he’ll be getting an English lower division contract anytime soon.

On the terrace.

Full-time, and the Vasas players virtually did  lap of honour before finishing in front of the 100 or so ultras, spurred along now by the PA announcer, who implored us to jump around like loons  while he and the players stood in a line, arms around each other.  After struggling last season, perhaps Vasas have the feeling THIS could be their year!



The Damage:
HUF 1000 ent
HUF 350 beer
= HUF 1350

The Tunes:
Last Train to Lhasa (Banco de Gaia)
The Race For Space (Public Service Broadcasting)
Shepherd’s Moons (Enya)
Watermark (Enya)
Blue Bell Knoll (Cocteau Twins)

Illovszky Rudolf Stadion panorama.

The queue for tickets.

No goals, no fans.

Make way for the scoreboard.

Vasas HQ.

The Main Stand extension.

That scoreboard again.

Club shop.

Vasas HQ (back of the terrace).

Terracing designed to be sat on.

Crash barriers in club colours.

The wall hides behind the dugout.

Rebel MC or Disco Stu?  Let;s PAAAARRRTY!!!

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Blau-Weiss Linz 1-1 Austria Lustenau, Monday 15th August 2016


Blau-Weiss Linz 1-1 Austria Lustenau, att. 1,195 (Austrian 1.liga)

The ticket booths outside the stadium

I’m on the homeward-bound stage of my journey now, if heading towards Buapest to meet up with my better half is ‘homeward’.  Certainly, the end of my football tour is nigh, with only an Austrian second tier match and (possibly) a Budapest gig left. Anyway, I’ve not been to Linz (beyond changing trains, once) so it’s as good a place as any to rest up following last night’s overnite train to Munich.  And my abode is close by the footie ground.  Perfect.

1st view of the inside.

Fast forward a few hours and I make another check on the match.  T’internet now suggests the game is at some other stadium, the other side of the city centre, next to the river.  At least 45 minutes’ walk, and that’s even if I go the right way.  I decide to go past the other stadium anyway, just in case…and a good job I did too.  With an hour to KO there are a few fans milling around and the ticket office is open.  I pick up a €14 standing place and then have a stroll through the nearby botanical gardens.

BW ultras as the teams come out.

The Stadion der Linz was much more impressive than I’d come to think.  It’s essentially horse-shoe shaped, around an athletics track, with two stands making up the ‘U’.  The main stand has a few more rows (not many) and covers one touchline and slightly beyond the pitch, while the other stand covers two sides and is populated with ‘rail seating’.  However, what ‘makes’ the stadium is the vaulted roof, its arches dominating proceedings and the cherry on top.

Looking towards the main stand side.

I’d done no homework in advance, I had no idea who Blau-Weiss were playing. I didn’t even know if Blau-Weiss were the biggest team in Linz (or is it LASK?)  One plays at Linz’s premier stadium, the other is towards the top of the league.  Blau-Weiss’s opponents tonite were Austria Lustenau, from the western part of the country.  What I didn’t know was that Lustenau were currently top 3, and Blau-Weiss bottom, 4 defeats in 4. 

Behind the goal...the stadium runs out.

You’d never have guessed this from the opening 20 minutes.  BW battered Lustenau and the latter’s keeper made 3 amazing saves before finally being beaten when he narrowed the angle of one attacker, who squared it for a tap-in.  Defence?  What defence?

I imagined BW would now score  a barrowload.  I don’t think they had another shot on target.  Lustenau gradually took control and equalised before half time, a header smacked in off a corner.  2nd half, Lustenau continued to have the advantage, but couldn’t find a way through.  Overall, the draw was a fair result.

The teams come out.

The crowd was given as 1200, the majority by the touchline, either in or near the ultras, who kept up a noise most of the game.  I was also impressed with the Lustenauers (?)  There may only have been around 30 of them but every single one joined in the chanting.  For reasons unknown, they displayed all of their flags and banners upside down.

The rain comes down, the match goes on.

The beer was standard, but their sausages were huge, and greasy.  More Polish than German. I had two, though I was going to get a schnitzel (‘when in Austria…’) but they’d sold out.  No badges in the club shop (next to the ticket office).  In fact, not a lot full stop.  But if your support is barely 1,000..?  It doesn’t sound great, watching a match in an 18,000 capacity stadium at not even one-tenth capacity, but I really enjoyed it.  Good atmosphere, despite the numbers, beautiful stadium, and adjacent to parkland.  Admittedly, a bit of a walk from the city centre, but any amount of buses go to ‘Stadion’ (17,19,26,27).  Do it.

The BW ultras get some encouragement.

The Damage:
€14 ent
€3.80 beer (x3)
€2.50 wurst (x2)
Free prog
= €30.40

The Tunes:
Greatest Hits (Bob Dylan)
Hail To The Thief (Radiohead)
Ambient 4_On Land (Brian Eno)
Waltz For Koop (Koop)
Mixmag Aug15 (Black Coffee)

Linzer Stadion panorama.
The scoreboard looks over proceedings.


Pre-match kickabout under the arches.

Looking towards the far end.

The skies grow dark...

It's a lonely existence at this end.

Players give thanks at full time.

Full time.  Home time.

Behind the goal panorama.



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