Patro Eisden Maasmechelen – KFC Dessel Sport (27-02-2015)

Finding a club within three hours from Amsterdam, which plays on Friday night, and which neither my brother nor me hasn’t seen yet, is no easy feat. And yet, we found one: Patro Eisden Maasmechelen in the Belgian province of Limburg, only miles from both the Dutch and German border. Founded in 1935 the club was known as Patro Eisden until 1998, when it decided to add Maasmechelen to the name, to attract support from the broader region.

Patro Eisden MM plays in the Proximus League, i.e. the Second Division of Belgian football. Their home ground is the Patrostadion, a small new stadium, that opened in 2001, and has a capacity of 6,490. We arrive just in time for kick-off. After paying 10 euro for a (standard) ticket, and a quick snack at the snack cart, we join the home fans at the standing only stand.

There are ca. 800 people in the stadium, divided fairly equally across the two long side stands. The vast majority are men between 20 and 50, mostly local, and I have a hard time understanding their conversations. There are approximately 100 away supporters, who made the 72 km (60 miles) trip from Dessel.

The game is played at a rather slow pace and, in good Belgian fashion, both teams play fairly defensive. In the 10^th minute a corner by Patro is missed by three players and a weak shot goes just wide. Roughly ten minutes later a great shot is saved by a beautiful dive by the Dessel goalie.

Three minutes later a Dessel player walks for almost 30 meters without anyone pressuring him and shoots from 20 meters at goal. The ball has an odd bunce, which confuses the goalie, and it’s 0-1.

While the home fans around us softly display their disapproval, the game doesn’t change much. Pace and quality remain low and few chances are created on either side. A couple minutes before half time a shot by Patro from at least 20 meters goes virtually as far wide. Half time: 0-1.

 

Patro pressures a bit more in the second half. In the 53^rd minute a corner is beautifully headed into the goal: 1-1. Several minutes later a Patro attack with several good passes is finished with a hard shot that goes far wide.

The rest of the game does not lead to many more chances. Both teams are careful and tired and take very few chances. If there are some half chances, the lack of quality leads to some comedy capers, including an attack where several players hit over the ball. In the end, 1-1 is the best the two can do.

Patro Eisden Maasmechelen is an old-school small town team from a more rural area. The team is run by some rick local businessmen, most fans are local, and people are fairly appreciative of the little they have.

KMSK Deinze – ROC Charleroi (29-12-2007)

Just two days before the end of the year, JB and I decided to have our last groundhop of the year. Because of the problems in the Tweede Klasse (Second Division), with law suits and temporary suspension of games, there were some games played on the last Saturday of 2007. We decided to drive to Deinze, behind Ghent. Almost one hour before kick-off we parked our car directly in front of the Burgemeester Van De Wielestadion, and bought tickets for the covered standing section at 10 euro a piece.

The canteen of the Koninklijke Maatschappij Sportkring Deinze (Royal Society Sports Circle Deinze) gave us warm shelter until kick-off. Laying just above the pitch, we could see the stadium filling up with some 500 people, 35 of whom from Charleroi, roughly 125 km to the south-east (and across the language border). (With some sense of exaggeration, the newspaper reported 1,198 people the next day.)

Both teams are in the second part of the league, with the R. Olympic Club de Charleroi-Marchienne, promoted last year from the Third Division, a couple of places below the hosts.

The Burgemeester Van De Wielestadion doesn’t look like much if you take the different stands separately, but all together creates quite a nice atmosphere. On one of the long sides is a small standing section, on the other a modern but small seating section (including VIP sections and secretariat). Behind one goal is no stand, although you can stand on the grassy hill itself, and on the other is a small uncovered standing section, which is partly for the away supporters, and the canteen. Officially, the total capacity is 8.000, including 790 covered seating, 1300 covered standing, and the rest uncovered standing.

The game was much what one could expect of two weaker teams in the Belgian Second Division: slow, defensive, many bad passes and controls. In the 4th minute the hosts had their first shot at goal. Although Deinze was a bit stronger, it would be Charleroi that had the best chances, including a strong counter-attack in the 23rd minute. Still, after an unsuccessful attempt two minutes earlier, Deinze scored 1-0 through a great free kick from roughly 20 meters. Charleroi would have a chance to equalize, during a minute-long scrimmage in front of the Deinze goal, but failed. Thus, 1-0 was also the half time score.

During the half time I tested the snacks cart: the sausage was remarkably meaty, for a Belgian sports snack, but couldn’t compete with Thierry’s sausage in Hamoir. After that we took shelter for the cold in the other canteen, where we found some other away fans (which probably brings the total number at around 50). We then walked back to the covered standing section, where we took our place close to the ca. 20 ‘hardcore’ home supporters; the only ones singing in the stadium.

The second half was even poorer than the first. Deinze seemed unwilling to dictate the game, which gave moe space for Charleroi, which was largely unable. Because the visitors were attacking, the hosts would get more space for counters, which created some exciting moments in front of the goal. Unfortunately, however, the passing and positioning was very poor and few real chances were created.

Both teams had some three decent chances, of which Charleroi had the better ones, including a well played out combination with a horrible finish high over the goal in the 86th minute. But at that time most people in the stadium already knew that 1-0 would be the final score. Not because Deinze was so solid in defense, but because Charleroi never gave the impression that they were able to score.

Sympathetic to the cold supporters, who also had to face some snowy rain, the referee hardly counted any extra time and we were extra happy that our car was parked in front of the stadium. It surely was real winter-hop: cold, dark, and rough football. However, I could imagine the Burgemeester Van de Wielestadion to be quite a nice place in the summer. I’m not sure there will be more people, or atmosphere, however.

Groundhopday (11-11-2007)

Given that I have roamed most first and second division teams in a parameter of some 300 km around Antwerp, it becomes more and more difficult to find a groundhop that can combine two new scalps on one day. Moreover, now that the second divisions in Germany and the Netherlands no longer play their games on Saturday, I had to puzzle for a while to come up with a good double fixture.


SC Verl – Rot-Weiss Essen

At 10.00 JB picks me up at the usual place in Leuven and we get on the highway to Germany. We have a drive of 350 km ahead of us, but ViaMichelin has accounted 3.5 hours for it, and we actually hope to do it quicker given that most of it is on the Autobahn. Unfortunately, the German motorways are not only for their lack of a speed limit, but also for their quality of the roads, and that needs a lot of roadworks. And roadworks mean… Stau (traffic jams)! After four hours of horrible driving, a combination of traffic jams and heavy rain, it’s kick-off time in Verl, yet we are only just behind Dortmund, over 60 km from our destination. But then, after 10 minutes, we see an exit that lists a couple of small towns, including Ahlen, and I remember that there is another game in the Regionalliga Nord (Third Division North), namely


Rot-Weiss Ahlen – VFL Wolfsburg II

It takes us another 10 minutes to get to the town of Ahlen, but around 14.20, we parked our car at what seemed to be (close to) the back of the stadium. But even though we could see and even hear the stadium, it would take us another 10 minutes of walking through the rain to get to the one ticket office that is open.

And as we walk towards the main entrance of the Wersestadion, a strong feeling of disappointment comes over me… I have been here before! ☹ Until 2005, RW Ahlen was known as LR Ahlen, and as Leichtathletik Rasensport Ahlen I saw them play in the 2. Bundesliga three years ago. As there are three town named Ahlen in Germany, and I had forgotten which one I had visited, I had not noticed the disappearance of the LR Ahlen and (at the same time) the appearance of RW Ahlen. What a bummer!

Under the motto, better a non-counting game, in terms of groundhop points, than no game, we bought a ticket for the covered standing places for 7 euro, gave off our umbrellas (a disappointing rule for such a low-risk game), and… attacked the “Grill Station”. Satisfied more by the crispy fries than the fat sausage, we took a place on one of the uncovered stands behind the goal and checked out the ground. I estimate that some 1250 people had faced wind and rain to see their local team take on the second team of 1. Bundesliga team VFL Wolfsburg. A surprising 15 fans had actually traveled the 155 km to support the second team of their club. Respect for the oddly named Non Plus Ultra!

From the discussions and shouts from the home fans around us, mostly old men, we understood that the RW Ahlen was heavily disappointing its fans. The mid-table hosts were expected to trash the visitors, who are dead last in the Regionalliga Nord, but did no such thing. In fact, the visitors were the better team in most of the game.

While German football fans are not known for their critical and complaining nature, let alone compared to Dutch fans, the home supporters clearly had been punished too much this season. Amused J.B. and I enjoyed their complaints. It was roughly the only thing to do, as the game itself was very poor. Wolfsbuurg had a big chance in the 40th and last minute of the first half, the second one called for (and received) a great safe from the Ahlen goalie, while the hosts had one good chance, which was cleared from the goal line by a Wolfsburg defender. Half-time score: 0-0.

This is not Grondhopper!

During the break we taste the local version of the waffle – sorry, but they don’t beat the ones from Brussels or Liege, and buy a small pennant for 5.90 euro. We decide to watch the second half on the covered stand at the long side of the pitch, in between the more colorful supporters of the home team.

The second half starts with a Wolfsburg player walking unhindered over 20 meters and than shooting from a similar distance just wide. Around us, the (younger) home fans are as critical as the (older) fans were on the other stand. In fact, when the visitors score out of a counter-attack in the 51st minute, many home fans around us cheer and applaud. Cynicism has overtaken hope. According to the guy behind me, who tells his friends the only reason he still is in the stadium is the beer, it is all “Ultra-Scheisse” (ultra shit).

With rain and wind tormenting the players on the pitch, and them tormenting the home fans on the stands, the atmosphere is at times grim and abusive. Fans taunt their own players, who react frustrated to the fans. Ahlen does get a couple of chances, mainly because of lucky combinations or bizarre goalkeeping from Wolfsburg. Just as the people around us start to loose faith, Ahlen scores the equalizer after a lucky bounce: 1-1 and the youngest fans go wild.

The people around us are too upset to really celebrate. After all, 1-1 against the number last of the league is hardly a result. Even if the equalizer is scored minutes before the end and Wolfsburg was the better team. As the referee blows the final whistle, some of the people behind us actually apologize to us: it is not always so bad here, one says to me.

[ No Scoreboard, No Final Score ]

We run through the rain to the entrance, pick up our umbrellas, and walk the distance to our car. How nice and warm it feels in there. Having chosen Ahlen over Verl, we are now closer to our second game of the day. Moreover, having no problematic roadworks on our trip, we travel the 300 km to our next destination well within the 3 hours predicted by the route planner. In fact, we still have time for a light snack in the center of Geel, where we are confronted with the least friendly Flemish person ever.

KFC Verbroedering Geel – KSK Beveren

Few teams have such a funny name as Verbroedering Geel, which literally translated means Brotherhood Yellow. However, the Yellow is not a choice, but the name of the town, Geel, in the Kempen area of north Belgium. It is about 19.30 when we park in front of Stadion De Leunen and buy a ticket (standing) for 10 euro.

The weather has gotten even worse, and it rains cats and dogs for most of the game. Although we are a league higher than this afternoon, i.e. the Tweede Klasse (Second Division), the game is even poorer. Belgian football is not what it used to be. The two teams both have an odd recent history. Koninklijke Sportkring Beveren relegated last season from the Eerste Klasse (First Division), after some good results in preceding years (including Uefa Cup football in 2004-2005), and decided to let all its Ivory Coasts players go (it had at times played with only one non-Ivory Coast player). Verbroedering Geel promoted to the Second Division last summer, but almost didn’t get a license because of financial issues, which led to a bizarre legal case by another team, UR Namur, and the decision to play this season with 19 instead of 18 teams in the Belgian Second Division (which led to sharp criticism of FIFA).

Some 1000 people had worked themselves through the pounding wind and rain to see this game. Some 250 had traveled the 60 km from Beveren to support their team.

Before kick-off, the announcer said that Geel was waiting for its first home win, which says it all. Soon it became clear why. In the 10th minute the hosts had their first ‘attack’, a weak header straight at the goalie. After that, only Beveren showed something; after having an attack cut short because of offside, they set up another attack just at the border of offside and scored 0-1. After that the game went back and forth without any chances, not helped by the wind and rain. The last five minutes of the first half Geel got two chances, one because of strange goalkeeping, and Beveren got one, but it remained 0-1.

The second half started a bit as the first half had ended: in the first minute the Geel goalie came out too late, but the Beveren striker shot just wide. In the 66th minute a Beveren player dribbled around four defenders, but his weak shot was cleared from the goal line. It would take till the 78th minute for the hosts to get their first attack (which didn’t even lead to a real chance!).

The last fifteen minutes saw two more chances, one for each team. In the 82nd minute Beveren shot a free-kick just wide, and in the 86th minute Geel had its second good attack of the second half, but wait too long with a shot. Thus, final score 0-1.

Wet and cold we headed back to the car. After two relatively long drives of three hours of or more, it was nice too be back in Antwerp after a 30 minute drive.

Groundhopweekend February 2005

My, my, what a weekend! I cannot remember the last time I was so cold! And I mean C-O-L-D!!! And on this cold(est) weekend I was groundhopping. Yep, and it again didn’t exactly go as planned.

Hannover Scorpions -- Iserlohn Roosters (25-02-2005)

On Friday afternoon my brother T.M. and a friend of him picked me up at Schiphol airport and we were on our way to Hannover to see a game in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Having driven around the traffic jams we arrived more than an hour in advance to the beautiful, brand-new TUI Arena. The hall can hold 10.600 people for icehockey games, which makes it a large-size ring. For this game some 6.000 people turned up, among whom a remarkable number of girls and women.

We bought tickets for a standing place behind the goal for 14 euro and entered the stadium. The atmosphere was classically good, as with all sport manifestations in Germany. The icehockey was a lot less good, particularly from the hosts. They were 2-0 behind after 6 minutes and never looked like winning. The final score of 2-6 was deserved, even if Iserlohn didn’t play a top match.

After a short night in the usual F1 hotel we decided to be ambitious after all and head out to Luxemburg, in the hope to see the cup game between Progres Nierderkorn and Dudelange in the afternoon, and a game of Raon L’Etap in the Franse Championnat National (Third Division) in the evening. Almost the whole time we drove through a snowed-under Germany and at times it was still snowing. When we finally arrived at the Stade Jos Haupert, some 40 minutes before kick-off, we saw the squad practice at a training pitch. After inspection of the empty stadium and snowed-under pitch, we decided to also skip the French game and look for a safe alternative instead.

Sint-Truiden VV -- AA Gent (26-02-2007)

And so we drove without any rush to Sint-Truiden in Belgian Limburg. After a short stop at Frituur Juliette (hmmmm) we drove to the stadium to make sure that we could also buy a ticket without a Fancard. The security was watertight: Fancard or identity papers.... or just giving your name. J Thus we bought a ticket for just 7.50 euro and spent the next 60 minutes in Cafe Stadion, warming ourselves and watching the game Hertha-HSV on tv.

It was freezing in 'the hell of Staaien', but fortunately the game was less boring than the last time I visited STVV. This was mainly the merit of AA Gent, who scored early in the game. Thereafter the vistors remained the better team, though most remarkable was how poor STVV is. Only Benji de Keulenaar is a good player, but by himself he was obviously unable to defeat AA Gent. In the end “the Buffalos” won 0-2 and we drove with frozen toes to Antwerp.

KV Kortrijk -- Excelsior Virton (27-02-2007)

After a good night rest in my own bed, and a delicious cup of coffee, we set off to Kortrijk (in West Flanders) for a game in the middle bracket of the Tweede Klasse (Second Division). We knew it was going to be freezing col, but when we got caught in a snow storm just outside of Ghent we were starting to worry for another cancellation. Fortunately the snow storm was local; in fact, it hadn’t even snowed in Kortrijk.

At 14.15 we arrived at the ramshackle Guldensporenstadion of KV Kortrijk. We saw almost none, except for a bus with green-white supporters. We turned out to be at the back of the stadium together with the away fans, in this case some 25 jolly Walloons from Virton. We bought a ticket for a steep 12 euro and joined the Virton fans on Tribune (Stand) 4.

All in all I don’t think more than 500 supporters were in the freezing stadium. This was a shame, as the game was not bad at all. After 5 minutes Virton was already 0-1 up and another 5 minutes later KVK had equalized. 1-1 was also the half time score but there had been some good football, particularly from Virton. In the second half both teams played much weaker, most notably the Walloons. Some 15 minutes before the end of the game Virton lost the game, when it got reduced to 10 men and, shortly after, got two goals against because of individual mistakes. Thus, the final score was 3-1 for KVK in this 6-point game.

LOSC -- Stade Rennais (27-02-2007)

Directly after the final whistle we jumped into the car and drove to Lille to catch a game in the French Ligue 1 (First Division) an hour later. The last time I saw LOSC, they played in the center of town. Whether or not as a consequence of renovation, Lille plays this season at the Stade Metropole, a typical athletics stadium. L We bought a ticket for just 11 euro and entered the bare, concrete stadium.

I’m going to keep it short: could, COLD, C-O-L-D!!! Man o man, how cold were we! At one time I tried to text a friend and my fingers froze so quickly that I had to stop texting and put my gloves back on (which helped only partly). And than also a 0-0 game! Still, I do recommend a visit to LOSC. Not only is Lille a pretty city (for North France), LOSC plays good and attractice football, the atmosphere is (usually) good, and the merguez americaine greasy. But do choose a day that the weather is (much) better!

KV Kortrijk – KV Mechelen (10-06-2007)

Being back in good old Antwerp unfortunately also means less groundhopping. Moreover, with most European leagues having finished, it is almost impossible to still find games… almost! In Belgium the competition is finished with various play-off games for promotion/relegation. The most interesting is a poule competition for a spot in the Eerste Klasse (First Division) between four teams. This year the competition is between four Flemish teams, three of which from the Antwerp province: Lierse SK, Antwerp FC, KV Mechelen, and KV Kortrijk. The first one battles relegation, the other three try to get promotion. J.B. and I went to see a game in the fifth round, between the top team and the bottom team: KV Mechelen needed a win, or at least an equal result as Antwerp FC against Lierse SK, while KV Kortrijk had already lost all hope at promotion. This promised to be a special game!

Guldensporenstadion

At about 14.00 we left Leuven to make the 1h15 drive to Kortrijk, a town in the Southwest of Belgium, close to the French border. While the last time I visited KV Kortrijk, we could park the car practically next to the stadium, this time the visitors were “Malinwa”, not Virton, the team with one if not thé biggest away crowd in Belgian football. So, after 10 minutes of looking for a spot closer to the Guldensporenstadion, we parked and picked up our reserved tickets. Fortunately, we had bought tickets in advance, as people before us were stunned to learn that there were no more tickets.

The explanation could be clearly seen in the stadium, which holods 6.122 people, where at least two-third of the stadium was yellow-red, the colors of Malinwa.

Already walking to the stadium we could here the away fans sing. The had come to celebrate the promotion to the Eerste Klasse. It would be the honorable return to where the team belonged, after having been relegated to the Derde Klasse (Third Division) four years ago to avoid bankruptcy. But before the game started, the home team brought a highly original show of appreciation to its fans. All players (including reserves) wore a t-shirt with one letter, together spelling “Fantastische Fans!!!”.

But although KVK had nothing to loose or win, they clearly wanted to make a point. KVM might have expected a walk-over, but instead got one of the toughest fights of the play-off. Already in the 9^th minute KVK scored 1-0, to the great delight of the (home) supporters around us, who were clearly upset by being outnumbered in their own stadium. About five minutes later KVM headed the ball on the crossbar. Another five minutes they equalized: 1-1. In the next ten minutes KVK hit the post, while KVM again hit the crossbar (this time the KVK goalie had the tip of his finger on the ball). Malinwa seemed stressed by the pressure, which benefited the relaxed home team, which scored again just before half-time: 2-1. In the following minutes the KVK goalie made two more great saves, but despite increasing KVM pressure, promotion seemed far away at half time.

At half time I passed on the opportunity to get me a burger, but instead listened to the radio I had brought. In addition to hearing the first surprising election results, 10 June was also the day of the federal elections in Belgium, I was also comforted by hearing the half time score at Lierse SK - Antwerp FC: 1-0. With these scores Malinwa would achieve promotion after all.

The second half started less exciting as the first half ended. The first 15 minutes Malinwa dominated without creating clear chances. But in the 62^nd minute they were awarded a (soft) penalty, which they converted: 2-2.

A couple of minutes later KVK hit the crossbar, followed by the deserved third goal of Malinwa in the 67^th minute. The yellow-red part of the stadium went mad and accompanied the last quarter hour of the game with loud singing. In the final part of the game KVM had various chances at scoring another, but 2-3 would be the final score.

As soon as the final whistle was blown, the players and fans of Malinwa went nuts. The players ran to the visitors stand, which was completely packed with yellow-red fans (some of them no longer wearing their shirts), and were celebrated passionately.

Final Whistle

Malinwa promoted!!!

Players and Fans Go Wild

Ok, I admit, this groundhop was for me not really about the home team. As said before, I am a Malinwa supporter (in part to thank them for the win against ajax in the 1998 European Cup Final). Moreover, I had visited KVK already before, in a more representative game against Virton. But this was a historic game, in which KV Mechelen celebrated its return to the top flight of Belgian football. I was very happy to have witnessed it.

A.H.’s Farewell Groundhop (10-03-2007)

As announced in an earlier report, my friend and fellow-groundhopper A.H. is returning to Japan at the end of this month. He will be sorely missed, as I know few groundhoppers like him. He can be at Barcelona’s Nou Camp one evening, enjoying the ultimate CL-experience with tens of thousands of passionate fans, and be as happy at a second division game in the middle of Belgium another afternoon, being one of a selected group of people crazy enough to visit a team like SK Ronse or Red Star Waasland without being a supporter or inhabitant of the locality. Obviously, such a man has to be honored with a farewell groundhop, and so J.B. and I had chosen Saturday 10 March 2007 as the day for this event. A.H. had chosen the games to visit and came up with a good combination.

VFL Borussia Mönchengladbach - Hertha BSC

At noon the three of us met at the familiar back entrance of Leuven Station, all sporting our PSV-shirt (we are still trying to make A. a PSV-fan ;-), and got on our way to Mönchengladbach. After a relatively short and uneventful drive of 2 hours and 20 minutes we parked at the Borussia-Park. As so many new stadiums on the outskirt of a city, the Borussia-Park is not striking from the outside, but unlike many others it is beautiful from the inside.

I had booked tickets online, so we had more than enough time to sample the different sausages (so nice and so cheap) as well as the Borussia Shop (as long as they have Lotto, I don’t loose much money there). For 23 euro we had a good spot on the Süd Tribune, straight behind the goal, and with a great view on the Nord-Kurve, where the most fanatic Borussia-fans are.

As so often in the past two decades, BMG is having a bad season. While it all started very well, with Gladbach even being on top of the 1. Bundesliga for a couple of hours, it soon turned sour and they dropped to the bottom of the league. Although the difference between the numbers 18 and 11 are not that big, BMG is surrounded by teams like HSV, which will certainly gain enough point to stay in the top flight. So, the home game against Hertha BSC was again a crucial match for BMG and its new Dutch trainer Jos Luhukay. Over 40.000 had turned up to support their team, which led to a great atmosphere, despite a rather disappointing performance of the team.

From the beginning BMG played sloppy and poor, particularly in defense, with Degen and Delura as the worst examples of underperformance. Hertha seemed fresh and combined easily. Fortunately, they failed to score. Although having virtually no decent attacks or set plays, Gladbach made the most out of a little, and went 1-0 up. This would also be the half-time score. Probably as most BMG-supporters, I felt both happy and embarrassed by the lead.

The second half showed much of the same: poor football from two teams struggling, with occasional decent play from Hertha BSC, and some odd chances by BMG. Still, it was Hertha who would equalize, deservedly so. Even at 1-1 the home team played with only one real striker, Nando Rafael (who came from Hertha two seasons ago). Rafael was undoubtedly the man of the match: not only did he score the 1-0, he also managed to gain quite some clearances from the BMG defense (who mostly shot the ball blindly and as far as possible forward), and score the 2-1.

With the weaker home team back in front, and both teams making various exchanges, the game became (even) less structured. Despite Hertha still being a bit better, it was the home team that would profit from Hertha pressuring: Delura, who had been terrible up to this point, played a nice combination and had several seconds before he could put the ball in the corner of the goal: 3-1 and three much needed points to the VFL Borussia Mönchengladbach 1900 e.V. Will we stay in the 1. Bundesliga after all?

Although more than 40.000 people were in the stadium, it took us less than 30 minutes to get back onto the motorway and drive a small hour to our second game of the day. While we were still in a German speaking environment, we had crossed a state border. And this would soon show it’s relevance. If I have ever been confronted with empirical evidence that institutions created culture, rather than the other way around, it was this Saturday night.

KAS Eupen – Excelsior Virton

Some 70 minutes before the start of the game, we parked our car in front of the Kehrweg Stadion of the KAS Eupen, the only team from the German speaking part of Belgium to play in one of the top two divisions. We walked towards the stadium, only to find it closed. But that was not the only cultural shock. When the stadium opened, with only an hour to go until the game started, only one old guy manned the ticket office. It took him 10 minutes to set it up and when I finally asked for a ticket for the standing side of the stadium, he told me in an irritated voice that I had to go to the other booths of the ticket office. When I did, I found them closed. Five minutes later the same man entered the other booth and (unmoved) sold us our tickets (for 10 euro each). Clearly, this was not German(y)!

We made our way to the large cantina, where we had coffee and watched the Bundesliga on television (unfortunately, we had missed the BMG game). Fortunately I had eaten a third sausage before leaving the BMG game, as in the Kehrweg Stadion the only food on sale was hot dogs. Just before the start of the game we walked passed the 25 young hardcore fans of Eupen to take our place on the covered standing stand.

Overall some 450 people had come to see the game between Eupen, from the German part of Belgium, and Virton, from the Luxembourg part of the country. Both teams are somewhere in the middle of the Tweede Klasse (Second Division), with Europe a couple of positions above Virton. The game was quite open, for Belgian standards, and both teams tried to score. While the level of play wasn’t particularly high, the game itself was entertaining and had us ignore the fact that the weather had changed rapidly from mild and sunny into windy and cold.

To be honest, it is now over one week and one game later, and I remember little for the game. I know I was cold and circling the ground, taking pictures and feeling frustrated that they didn’t have anything else to eat than hot dogs. As far as I do remember, the game started poorly, but became better along the way. After some 30 minutes Eupen scored, not undeserved, and that also remained the final score.

I asked my fellow-groundhoppers whether they still remembered something from the game. JB remembered this:

- only hot-dogs

- mixture of Eupen and Virton-hools

- drummers that kept on drumming the whole game (and singing the same song for

more than 15 minutes)

- Belgian efficiency at the ticket-office (in others words; well-integrated Germans ;-)

- Excellent center-left player (at the Eupen-team)

- Virton wore Barcelona-shirts without Unicef on it

- Bilingual in many facets (swearing, announcing the players,…)

- Of the match itself I remember some spoiled open goal opportunities…

AH didn’t get much further than the both of us either:

- Cars with ASE Eupen since 1945 logo

- A beautiful scenery from the canteen

- The stadium had a nice executive room above the tribune (a colleague from Eupen

told me it’s called ‘business class’;)

- The smell of sauerkraut (German influence?)

- Indeed the excellent left back of Eupen (No. 20)

- A nice header by Eupen (1-0)

- A flag of province Luxembourg in the away stand