FC Arminia 03 Ludwigshafen – SV Waldhof Mannheim o7 (02-07-2022)

 

The last Saturday I am joined by my friend MT for my last groundhop of this busy European summer trip. We are going to see a friendly between Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar (fifth tier) FC Arminia 03 Ludwigshafen and its big neighbor from the 3. Liga (third tier) SV Waldhof Mannheim. It is a gorgeous afternoon, sunny but not too hot, perfect for a friendly derby.

 

The game is played in the Südweststadion, which the home ground of FSV Oggersheim (or FSV 1913 Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim), not FC Arminia 03 Ludwigshafen, although it used to play there and still occassionamlly uses the ground. It has an interesting history, as it was built on the site of the original Adolf Hitler Stadion, built in 1937 and destroyed by allied bombers during the war. In 1950 the new Südweststadion was inaugurated, with a capacity of 41,383 people (and a record attendance of 82,000!).

 

In the 1980s SV Waldhof Mannheim played its Bundesliga games here but then the stadium fell into disrepair. In 2007 it was renovated and limited to a capacity of 6,100. Today, only one main stand is open, which is very busy, and the vast majority are Waldhof Mannheim supporters. The official tally was an impressive 1,128 people, undoubtedly helped by the weather and low ticket price (€10).

 

We cannot really make out who is who, and for a while we think the better team is Arminia. We are wrong, it’s Waldhof, which in the 10th minute has a beautiful counter but eye in eye with the goalkeeper the striker shoots just wide. Five minutes later, another Waldhof striker goes alone at the goalie, who saves, but in the rebound another player is fouled. The penalty is calmly scored: 1-0.

 

A good fifteen minutes later, after a pinball moment, a Waldhof striker goes alone at the goalie and finishes in the far corner: 0-2. This is also the half-time score. For all the enthusiasm before the game, the fans are a bit dull. There is no real singing and the goals are barely celebrated. People mainly talk and drink beer.

 

In the second half Waldhof remains superior and in the 49th minute a cross is poorly defended, falls in front of a player, who easily scores from 7 meters: 0-3. Roughly 5 minutes later a visitor finishes cool and easy, tipping the ball over the poor goalkeeper: 0-4

 

In the 72nd minute, out of nowhere, Arminia has a counter that is finished beautifully in the far corner: 1-4. After that, the play is disrupted by the many player exchanges. Two minutes before the end, Waldhof counters, the goalie commits too late, and the striker scores from 30 meter into the empty goal: 1-5. That is also the final score.

 

Overall, a very entertaining game in a nice stadium — if you enjoy past glory like me — but much of the atmosphere was made by the away supporters. Hence, do go see Arminia Ludwigshafen but don’t forget SV Waldhof Mannheim either. They are high on my list for the future!

Yverdon Sport FC - Grasshopper Club Zürich (01-07-2022)

 

After a day in Lausanne, I drive up to Yverdon-les-Bains, a small touristic town at the big Lac du Neuchatel. The local team, Yverdon Sport FC, is playing a midday friendly against Grasshopper Club Zürich, once the biggest club in Switzerland, which has recently come back from hard times.

 

Yverdon Sport is a modest team that usually plays in the third or second tier of Swiss professional football. Currently they play in the Swiss Challenger League, the second tier. This preseason friendly is played on a mild Friday afternoon at 3 PM.

 

Although the generic entrance costs a mere CHF 5 ($5), there are only some 150 people — some 50 come in during the game. They are mostly men, and there is some ethnic diversity.

 

The Stade Municipal is in the center of Yverdon-les-Bains, just behind the railway station. It is a cute, small, old ground with two small, relatively new stands on both long sides. The total capacity is 6,600 of which 1,000 are seats. It also has a restaurant with terrace that provides free WIFI! It is the perfect weather for a friendly: sunny with light breeze (20C).

 

The pitch looks great, and is real grass, while both teams play well but create few chances. The first real shot at goal is after almost half an hour, when a Grasshopper attacker is fouled just outside of the box and the free kick is shot low and not too hard at goal; an easy pick up for the goalie.

 

Unsurprisingly, given the lack of chances, it is 0-0 at half time. Still, the first half was actually quite entertaining, although the perfect weather and the excellent free WIFI definitely helped too.

 

The second half starts even more pedestrian and the many player changes don’t help either. There is barely any shot, let alone on goal. In the 67th minute, out of nowhere, a through ball gets behind the Grasshopper defense and a striker puts his toe to it and extends it into the far corner: 1-0.

 

 

In the 85the minute, after terrible defending, Grasshopper loses the ball at 30 meters from their goal and with three passes a striker goes at the goal and finishes hard and high: 2-0. After that Yverdon has one good counter and corner but the score remains 2-0.

 

Undoubtedly, my experience was influenced by the gorgeous weather, but I really enjoyed Yverdon Sport. A small but authentic ground with a bit of luxury (restaurant and WiFi) in the city. Better than all these fancy arenas in the periphery.

 

FC Lausanne-Sport – Dynamo Kyiv (29-06-2022)

 

Dynamo Kyiv is touring Europe to play “matches for peace” and raise awareness and money for the suffering of the Ukrainian people as a consequence of the Russian invasion – just like the Ukrainian national (youth) team has done too. Several of the games are in Switzerland and I pick the one in Lausanne, which fits my schedule the best.

 

This game has been schedule only two weeks in advance, in the early stages of Lausanne’s pre-season schedule. It is one of the few friendlies to be played in the quite new Stade La Tuliere, built in 2017, which is all-seater and covered but quite small (12,544 people). I park at the parking lot next to the stadium and walk over to the ticket office.

 

You get to choose what you pay (CHF 10, 20, 50, 100) and then they assign you a seat. I pay CHF 20 (or $20.50) and join the 4,050 others (official number), at least half Ukrainians, many of them children. Outside is a small Ukrainian stand, where you can get info on the war as well as Ukrainian flags and face paint.

 

FC Lausanne-Sport is a club that hovers between the two top tiers of Swiss professional football. Last season it relegated from the Swiss Super League (first tier), so next season it will play in the Swiss Challenger League (second tier). Although its stadium is very new, and very similar to the many other smaller arenas built in the last decades, it is not too sterile and you sit close to the (artificial) pitch. I can imagine the place to be quite decent when it is close to full.

 

It seems that Dynamo starts with its youth team. It is not very good. In the 5^th minute, a Lausanne midfielder shoots from the top of the box and it flies beautifully in the top corner: 1-0. Some ten minutes later Dynamo has its first attack, over left, but the shot goes across the goal and just wide. Five minutes later a Dynamo free kick is deflected but well saved by the Lausanne goalie.

 

The game moves back and forth well, at times at high pace, but there are few chances. It is quite physical, however, particularly for a friendly. In the 38^th minute, mistakes in the Lausanne defense lead to a Dynamo free kick at the top of the box. It goes low past the wall but is saved by the goalie. In the 44^th minute, a bit out of nowhere, the hosts have a break and the same player shoots effortlessly from 10 meter high in the goal: 2-0. That is also the half time score.

 

In the first ten minutes of the second half the visitors get various half chances but they miss a good final pass. Then Dynamo exchanges almost all players and the first team comes on. Within minutes, they have a great shot from just outside of the box but it is met with an equally great safe.

 

The game has now gotten pretty bad and there are too many fouls. Roughly halfway the second half Lausanne also makes many changes and the rhythm is broken on both sides. Finals score is 2-0.

 

Obviously, this was a unique game, where at least half of the audience was supporting the away team, but was not really too concerned with football. That said, although the Stade La Tuliere is a fairly standard modern stadium, it does not lack for atmosphere, assuming it is fairly busy with enthusiastic supporters.

TSV Schwaben Augsburg -- FC Augsburg (28-06-2022)

As part of my COVID-19 self-isolation I drive from Berlin to Augsburg, in the Southwest of Bavaria, to see the friendly “derby” in that city between Bayernliga Süd (sixth tier) club TSV Schwaben Augsburg and Bundesliga (first tier) FC Augsburg. On the way I hear that my new COVID-19 test is negative, so I no longer have to worry about infecting people.

 

As I drive up about 30 minutes before kick-off (at 19.00), I’m shocked by the number of people who are walking towards the stadium. All have tickets and I don’t see open tickets offices. I start to panic slightly. The game is played in the Rosenaustadion, which used to be the home of FC Augsburg, before they moved to the Augsburg Arena in 2009. Currently the women’s and the men’s second team of FC Augsburg play their home games in this fairly old stadium, which has one main stand with 5,900 covered seats.

 

After having found a rare free parking spot, I walk to the stadium and find that they do still sell tickets (€10), but then I have to join a line of easily 400 people that is not moving — they only have one entrance open.

 

The people in the line are not happy and neither am I. Still, I’m relieved it wasn’t sold out and I didn’t drive 600 km to Augsburg for nothing. And there should be a good atmosphere. Still, I do learn that Germans are not very good at queuing.

 

Although most people waited a long time to get in, and then again to get food and drinks from the one concession stand that is open, they are very quiet in the stand. Even close chances get few cheers. Meanwhile, you hear people everywhere talking to each other. As far as I could see, both teams had a few half chances in between the 20th and 30th minute — I missed the first 20. It’s still 0-0.

 

In the 35^th minute I see the first real chance; a cross from the left and an FC Augsburg player is totally free at 5 meters from the goal and tips the ball in. I cannot believe it isn’t offside: 0-1.

 

A few minutes later FC Augsburg has another big chance, with an easy attack over right, but this time the goalie saves the shot from close range. Five minutes later an almost identical attack ,but this time the goalie is already in front of the striker as he tries to tip the cross in. 

 

Just before half-time FC Augsburg hits the crossbar from a free kick just outside of the box. Although Schwaben have had several counters in the first half, the final pass is lacking. Half time score 0-1.

 

In the second half FC Augsburg starts with a whole new team, while Schwaben does not. After seven minutes a rebound to a corner is saved by the Schwaben goalie, but falls for an Augsburg striker, who stands 2 meters from the goal line but also 2 meters next to the goal, and he shoots it across the goal.

 

Given the massive difference in divisions, the difference in quality is not clear enough. Not only does Schwaben get some counters, FC Augsburg is not very impressive in terms of first contact, positioning, or passing. To be fair, the Schwaben goalie also makes some saves. In the 63^rd minute, however, he has no chance when a good corner kick is headed in from 10 meters: 0-2.

 

Less than ten minutes later FC Augsburg scores the 0-3. Eventually, it will end in 0-5, as the Bayerligist totally falls apart. Still, although this was just the first friendly of FC Augsburg, and the result was nice, a lot needs to be done before this team is ready for the new Bundesliga season.

 

It is difficult to read too much into this game with regard to TSV Schwaben Augsburg, which usually doesn’t play in this stadium. Moreover, the vast majority (90%?) of the circa 4,000 people that were in the stadium this evening were FC Augsburg fans. This notwithstanding, it was a nice experience.

SV Tasmania Berlin -- SV Babelsberg 03 (26-06-2022)

 

As I rest a bit in Berlin, hoping to have passed COVID-19 without too much troubles this time, I see on Sunday morning that there is a friendly game in Berlin at 1 PM. So, I jump into the shower and head out. To isolate as much as possible I drive my car, even though public transport is easier, and find a parking spot just 300 meters from the park in which the football stadium (as well as a hockey stadium) is located.

 

The Werner-Seelenbinder-Stadion is in a beautiful park in the Berlin district of Neukölln. SV Tasmania Berlin has a big building with behind it a couple of artificial pitches and one grass pitch with a stadium with brick stands on two sides and some colorful plastic chairs on one end. Tasmania is a relatively new club in Berlin, founded in 1973, and plays in the Oberliga Nordost, the fifth tier of German football.

 

I am here for a pre-season friendly against SV Babelsberg 03, which plays one tier higher. There are some 200 people, more than half are away supporters, who have made the 30-minute trip from Potsdam. As Babelsberg 03 is known as one of the most outspoken progressive clubs in the former East, there are a lot of black clad, “alternative” away fans. The crowd is very male and very white, particularly for Berlin.

 

The first chance of the game is for Tasmania, in the 4^th minutes, but the striker who goes alone at the goalie shoots well over. Two minutes later, after a wild challenge in the box, Babelsberg gets a penalty, which is shot calmly in the corner, 0-1. 

 

Almost a minute later, as I’m still typing the info about the penalty into my phone, the visitors score their second, clinically: 0-2. And five minutes later, a Babelsberg striker goes alone at the goal and finishes easily in the far corner: 0-3. The celebrations of all goals are fairly muted.

 

After about 35 minute the game becomes a big pedestrian, although there are still some fairly rough fouls. This is not just because it is an early pre-season friendly but also because it is very hot.

 

Although the visitors get several more good chances, it is the hosts who score in the last minute of the first half, when a through pass is deflected and lands well for the Tasmania striker, who calmly finishes in the corner: 1-3. This is also the half time score. Time for more refreshments.

 

After a slow first 10 min of the second half, a Tasmania defender misses the ball completely and a Babelsberg striker can go alone at the goal and score hard through the inside of the post: 1-4. Not much happens afterward. There are too many player changes. It is too hot. And it is too clear who is the better side.

 

Of course, this was not really a close game, and there were few people, but it was still a very nice afternoon and SV Tasmania Berlin is definitely a club to visit for groundhoppers who want to go off the beaten track in Berlin.

BSG Wismut Gera — FSV Zwickau (25-06-2022)

 

After contracting COVID-19 one day before scheduled to go to Oslo and Stockholm, I have to reschedule everything and decide to self-isolate by driving around Central Europe and watch a few games (masked and several meters from anyone else). Unfortunately, there are only friendlies and many of these friendlies are not played at the home ground of the teams in question.

 

Fortunately, BSG Wismut Gera is celebrating its 70th birthday by playing a friendly at the start of the pre-season schedule against big neighbor, 3. Liga team FSV Zwickau. Although it can trace its origins back to 1904, the current club is a fusion team that only in 2009 was renamed BSG Wismut Gera, under which a predecessor had played in the first but mostly second tier of football in the German Democratic Republic. Currently, Wismut plays in the Thüringenliga, one of the state leagues that constitute the sixth tier of German football.

 

Wismut plays its games at the Stadion am Steg, which is tucked away next to a mishmash of roads, yet is still pretty hard to get to. It looks like an old athletic ground that was abandoned and then repurposed as a soccer stadium. It has only one (concrete) stand, , which has 7 rows with seats on only two of them. The other long side is just grass, but you can sit there too. Behind one goal is a big canteen and the VIP section. Officially, the stadium capacity is 7,000, although only 450 seats.

 

It is a beautiful day, very warm (27C), a bit cloudy, with a nice breeze. Between 300 and 400 people have come out for the game, mostly local, but also some 100 away fans (it’s only 50 km). The crowd is pretty mixed in terms of age and gender but also very white (like the town). Before the game there are real cannon shots fired and a local band plays.

 

In the 9^th minute a too easy Zwickau attack is shot at the goalie from 5 meter. Within one minute, the striker shoots low but too weak and the goalie saves again. He is going to be in for a busy afternoon.

 

It is a typical Testspiel (friendly); low pace, too big difference in quality, but not too many big chances or goals because the big team is still figuring things out. Somehow, I missed the first goal and then also the second goal, as I was taking a picture of the ticket. So, a good 20 minutes in and the score is 0-2.

 

A minute after the Wismut goalie saves a volley from 5 meters, he is unable to hit the ball out of the net as a cross is headed in from 5 meters in the 27^th minute. Two minutes later, after the first real good attack, a fast cross over right and a strong header from a totally free Zwickau striker, the score is 0-4. Six minutes later, terrible defense by Gera leads to a comical goal: 0-5.

 

A few minutes later a rebound is shot into wall of Zwickau players who are all offside, one scores, the linesman sleeps, and it is 0-6. In the 40^th minute another long Zwickau attack and a dribble in box is finished simply: 0-7. That is also the half-time score. Wismut had 0 chances, and its goalie made at least 5 good saves! No one seems impressed, not even the away fans.

 

In the 55^th minute Wismut gets its first “chance” but the player shoots soft and far over the goal. Two minutes later a Zwickau player goes alone at the goalie and shoots hard in the goal: 0-8. After that both teams exchange many players, which disrupts the flow of the game (as does the heat).

 

The visitors gets some more chances but don’t seem too concerned with scoring anymore. The hosts struggle on, while most supporters enjoy the beer and sun. Final score is 0-8. Unfortunately, the scoreboard is old school, which means that I can’t capture the score.

 

Obviously, the “game” wasn’t particularly good but I liked the chill atmosphere and the special occasion. Moreover, while it might not be the real “Wismut Gera,” I am happy to finally have seen the club, in some ways a relic of forgotten times.