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!