SV Lichtenberg 47 -- Victoria Seelow (3-6-2018)

To celebrate my birthday in Berlin, I go with JJ, a Dutch journalist-turned-consultant (and despite his support for the wrong Dutch team, a nice guy) to see a game in the lower divisions of German football. There is always a lot of choice in Berlin, which has a wealth of big and small teams. I had chosen SV Lichtenberg 47 in the former East of the city.

We take the metro (U5) to Magdalenenplatz from where it is a short walk to the stadium. As soon as you get out of the metro station, you are in a different city: no American tourists everywhere, no hipsters, just a sleepy residential area with typical communist low-rise flats. When we get closer to the stadium, we see groups of fans standing around, drinking, talking.

We enter the ground and buy a ticket at the one, dilapidated ticket office box -- I forgot how much we paid. Today is the last game of the season in the NOFV-Oberliga Nord (Fifth Division North) and SV Lichtenberg 47 is playing Victoria Seelow, from the town of Seelow, roughly 65 km (40 miles) East of Berlin.

We arrive about 45 minutes before kick-off and go into the canteen to get a drink. People mill around, talking to each other, eating and drinking, talking football. A true community club. I love the atmosphere (and the sausage).

There are some 100 people in the stadium, as far as I remember very few away fans. There is even a big banner among the home fans. Before the game the club says goodbye to a few players and then the game is on. The guests score first, in the 35th minute, and the hosts equalize the next minute. 1-1- is also the half time score. 

While Seelow was the better team in the first half, SV Lichtenberg 47 dominates the second half. The score the 2-1 in the 58th minute, 3-1 in the 60th minute, and the final 4-1 in the 73rd minute. Everyone is happy with the final game of the season and go back to the canteen to celebrate. JJ and I are also happy, as we return to the hipsters and American tourists downtown.

SV Lichtenberg 47 is a great groundhop. It takes you outside of the tourist Berlin bubble, away from the big and boring Hertha and the cozy but hyped Union, to a small, community club that represents a district within a massive city. Definitely worth a visit!

FC Eintracht Rheine - FC Gütersloh (25-05-2018)

On my way from Berlin to the Netherlands, I make a detour to see one of the few games that are played that Saturday -- and by a team I haven't visited yet. FC Eintracht Rheine plays in the Oberliga Westfalen (Fifth Division) and today's game is against Gütersloh.*

FC Eintracht Rheine was only founded in 1994, as a merger of VfB Rheine and SG Eintracht Rheine, but actually has a staggering 18 (!) predecessors. I pay €6, get a generic ticket (but a ticket nevertheless), and enter the Auto-Senger Stadion. Its official capacity is 7,500, but I doubt they ever have more than 750. The stadium has just one stand -- the Dr. Bernd Windhoff Tribüne -- and is in dire condition (see below).

Clearly Fc Eintracht Rheine is not ready for the Champions League -- or to host FC Feyenoord -- as there were bricks and rocks all over the place. Fortunately, no one cared about them. 

 

As it is the last home game, they say goodbye to the players that are leaving at the end of the season before the game. The ca. 100 people applaud politely. The crowd is local and seems to be here more for the social contacts than the football.

I don't directly see any away fans -- Gütersloh is ca. 100 km away from Rheine -- but if there were any, these six guys will probably have been it..

The game is overall rather poor and slow but the weather is nice and there are some decent snacks, so I am having a good time. There isn't much atmosphere though. This changes a bit when they announce that there will be free beer after the game to celebrate the end of the season.

I have to admit that I left with still a quarter to go. At that time it was still 0-0, but it was getting cold, and I still had 4 hours to drive. In the end, FC Eintracht Rheine won 2-0. Not the most desirable groundhop destination, but not bad either.

* I wrote this report half a year later, so the details are a bit hazy.

Hertha Zehlendorf 03 – Brandenburger SC Süd 05 (05-06-2016)

 

Hertha Zehlendorf 03 is a small team from a leafy suburb of Berlin, which at times plays in the first or second round of the German Cup (DFB Pokal). Its stadium is tucked away behind the club offices, where it is part of a football complex with several pitches.

 

Today is the last home game of the regular season in the NOFV-Oberliga Nord. I pay €8 and enter the Ernst-Reuter-Sportfeld, where I find a pretty decent stadium for a team that has never played in the highest divisions. It has one covered and seated stand and one uncovered (standing) stand, both along the long sides of the pitch.

 

There are 105 people, of which 72 are paying customers (according to an official announcement). This includes some 30 away supporters, who have made the roughly one hour trip to the east.

 

Just as I arrive it starts to rain hard and it doesn’t stop during the game. It is relentless and complicates the play after a while. The players seem all local and overall young, combination of mostly “native” Germans and Germans of Turkish decent. Given that BSC is better but too egocentric, and the pitch is challenging for the players, the quality of play is not too high.

 

In the 5^th minute the visitors get a good chance. In the 19^th minute the Hertha goalie gets injured and has to be changed. Two minutes later BSC has a good attack and the low shot is difficult for the new goalie.

 

Only after one half hour do the hosts get their first good chance but the finish is weak. But at least the game gets livelier. In the next minutes both teams get more or less good chances. In the 38^th minute Hertha has a good counter, including a smart through ball, which is controlled with the right foot and finished with the left: 1-0 Hertha!

 

The goal strengthens the home team, which creates several more chance before half time. As BSC puts more pressure on the hosts, Hertha counters, but finishes poorly. In the 46^th minute a low shot from 20 meters is saved in the low corner by the goalkeeper. The corner is headed over. Half time score: 1-0.

 

The second half starts where it ended. In the second minute a slow attack by Hertha ends with a low shot in the corner that beats the goalie: 2-0. It takes everyone by surprise. This lowers the pace of the game even more, as both teams seem to have accepted the Hertha win. In the 60^th minute a blunder by a BSC defender leads to a short from 5 meter at the crossbar. Six minutes later the visitors finally have a half decent chance but the low shot is stopped by the goalie.

 

In the 78^th minute Hertha has a great counter, which pout two players in front of the poor BSC goalie, who pass and score: 3-0. A couple minutes later BSC pulls off one last attack. A free kick at the edge of the penalty box lands on the crossbar. The final action is for the hosts, however. A great through pass puts the striker alone in front of the goalie, he gets around him, and finishes coolly. 4-0 is also the final score.

Hertha Zehlendorf 03 is a good example of the superior accommodations of German football, even at lower divisions. Its ground would be among the better ones in second divisions of many European countries. They don’t attract many fans though, and mainly from the district. Still, a nice groundhop.

Ein schöne, deutsche Groundhop-Tag (09-02-2008)

After our disastrous attempt at a midweek game in Luxembourg on Tuesday, JB and I were determined to make up by scoring a great double hop. And, without even knowing it in advance, we did. This Saturday we were once again reminded that football in Germany is simply geil! And I’m not even starting about the snacks! So, around 11.30 we met at our usual place, Leuven station, to start a hop of some 500 km and 13-14 hours. But it would be well worth the effort!


ETC Schwarz-Weiß Essen – Fortuna Fortuna Düsseldorf II (15:00)

It was not that easy to come up with a double-hop this weekend, as many leagues were still having their winter break (e.g. Luxembourg, lower German divisions). We decided to visit two German teams with a larger reputation that their (current) position would indicate. The first of the two is the second team of the city of Essen: while Rot-Weiss Essen plays in the Regionalliga Nord (Third Division North), Schwarz-Weiß Essen competes in the Oberliga Nordrhein (Fourth Division North Rhine). Although this might change, as the latter are fighting for promotion: who knows, Essen might see a red-white vs. black-white derby next year again!

Despite a stop in the Netherlands, to do some shopping (where else can you buy drop?), we arrived well in time at the Stadion Uhlenkrug. Although we were clearly not the first, we nevertheless could park directly in front of the stadium. We bought standing tickets for just 5 euro, and I bought a beautiful old-school woven pennant for just 10 euro. What a start! And there was more to come, much more, including a delicious Frikadelle (meatball) and Bratwurst (grilled sausage), each at 2 euro a piece (including a fresh roll).

The weather was absolutely gorgeous: sunny, no wind, and some 15 degrees Celsius. It felt like Spring! And with this weather, the Uhlenkrug stadium is the place to be. It’s spacious, open, and despite being run-down, it has atmosphere. For this official Oberliga game against the second team of Fortuna Düsseldorf, some 500 people had made the trip to the stadium, of which a remarkable percentage where men (I estimate some 90-95%, while normally there are at least 15-20% women at German games). There were also at least 100-150 from Düsseldorf (only 35 km south), although it was difficult to estimate, as they were mixed with home fans.

The Uhlenkrug is an old stadium with an alleged capacity of 20.000 to 25.000 (depending on the source). The stadium, like the club (which won the German Cup in 1959!), has seen better days. It has only one covered seating stand and one uncovered standing stand; the areas behind the goals are (now) more or less grass. We joined the most home fans at the huge standing section, which has the letters ETB painted on them (referring to the Essener Turnerbund, of which it is the football section).

The game started well. Already after 5 minutes the visitors had their first good chance, a volley from 3 meters that was miraculously saved by the Fortuna goalie. This would be the first of many big chances of the ETB, mostly missed because of either good goalkeeping or bad finishing. The rest of the first half would see three more big chances of Essen, and only one for Düsseldorf, a great volley from 10 meter. But despite all the chances, half time was 0-0 and people around us were getting slightly annoyed, despite the beautiful weather.

The second half started with a big chance for the visitors, but they shot from 10 meter at a defender. It would take until the 70th minute for the second chance, again for Fortuna, but they failed again. But then things went fast; well, at least too fast for me. I missed the 1-0 (73th minute) and the red cards for a Fortuna player (76th minute) and an ETB player (78th minute).

I did see a header from 2 meters missing the goal and a counter, in the 85th minute, where ETB-striker Sasha Wolf scored his second of the day, after a very cool finish: 2-0. This would also be the final score, to the great delight of the stressed fans around us (including these laid-back drummers).

There is no doubt that the fantastic experience at the ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen was influenced by the great weather. However, there is also something, for the lack of a better term authentic about the club and its stadium. It reminded me a lot of my hop at Frem in Copenhagen. Absolutely a Grondhopper Tip!

After a short snack break in downtown of Essen – as a vegetarian, JB always has a hard time in (German) football stadiums – we drove ca. 90 km north for our second game of the day. Well in time, we arrived.


SC Preußen Münster – SG Wattenscheid 09 (19:30)

Guided by perfect signaling and impressive floodlights, we easily found our way to the impressive Preußenstadion. As we were quite late, and the surrounding areas were already full with cars, we paid 2 euro and parked our car opposite the stadium. It was directly clear to us, Preußen Münster is popular in town. We had to join an impressive line of people in front of the ticket office, before being able to buy our standing tickets at 7 euro a piece.

While SC Preußen Münster was never a big team in German football, it has known better days (including two seasons in the Second division in the 1990s). However, it has had some decent exposure in the German Cup (DFB Pokal), where it tends to draw big clubs. The Preußenstadion has been their home since 1923 and has a capacity of 15,050, of which 1,560 seats. It is old, run-down, but very lively. In fact, JB and I were convinced there were some 5,000 people, until the announcer called the official number at ‘only’ 2,661. I guess some 500 were away fans, who had traveled the 80 km from Wattenscheid, a district of Bochum.

Although I knew the game was for a Cup, I didn’t know for what cup until I asked one of the locals. It seems that access to the national cup competition is restricted for lower division teams, which have to qualify through regional cup competitions. This was a game in the quarter final of the Westfalenpokal (Westphalia Cup), and the winner was only two games away from qualifying for next year’s DFB Pokal.

Before the game the atmosphere was already great. The home fans were signing songs and waving their huge flags (oddly enough, two of them had naked women on them). The home fans are divided over two stands, opposite to each other. At times they shout to each other, on side shouting “Preußen” and the other answering with “Münster”. Toll!

The game started fast and furious. Before we knew it Preußen has a free kick at roughly 20 meters from the goal. While fans will always get excited about these ‘scoring opportunities’, very few players can actually score from that distance. Preußen’s Kara was clearly one of them, as he lifted the ball over the wall and into the goal. Magic!

1-0

After that, the game was often stopped and the referee played a dubious role. Rather than being clearly biased against Preußen Münster, he was just really bad. Of course, the home fans saw this differently, particularly when he awarded Wattenscheid a penalty after holding. 1-1 after 26 minutes!

1-1

Now the game was on, as only 3 minutes later Preußen was again leading: 2-1 after a good attack and a great half-volley. The game remained entertaining and tight, particularly when the referee sent off a home player in the 40th minute (why, I don’t know). The enraged crowd reacted with singing “10 strong Preussen, we’re singing 10 strong Preussen”. Confused by further odd referee decisions, but still with a 2-1 lead, we went into half time.

The second half started with a clear dominance for the visitors. The young team of SG Wattenscheid 09 – a club that truly has fallen on hard time, as I have seen in the 1. Bundesliga in the 1990s, but they now play in the Verbandsliga Westfalen, i.e. the local Fifth Division — played some intelligent and well-executed combination football, though failed to create big chances. In the 57th minute the referee thought it was time to appease the home crowd, so he gave Preußen Münster a penalty and sent off a Wattenscheid defender (as far as I could see, both wrongly).

3-1

So, with only one-third of the game to go, Preußen was 3-1 up and playing 10 against 10. It seemed that the game was over, as the home team was the only one creating chances. While we were mainly enjoying our time by talking about groundhops with two local fans (although one qualified more as a Schalke- than a Münster-fan, by his own admission), the came took an unexpected turn. After a great attack, the visitors scored 3-2 and the excitement was back. After 6-7 minutes of tension, including a great solo and chance for Preußen, the referee finally blew the whistle and the home fans sighed relief: they were in the semi-final of the Westfalenpokal.

We bid our hosts farewell, and got back into our car. Although we wouldn’t arrive back to Belgium until after 1, we were in full agreement: this had been one of our best hops! Both teams should be absolutely prime targets for groundhoppers, come sun or rain!