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!

Racing FC Union Luxembourg – Royal Excelsior Virton (05-02-2008)

In an attempt to get the most of my remaining months in Europe, I have gotten even more obsessed with scoring new groundhop scalps. So, on a grey and rainy Tuesday, JB and I set off to Luxembourg for a friendly game. We leave early so that we have plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful capital of this small state. Unfortunately, Luxembourg in February is pretty much the same as Belgium in February: grey and rainy! So, rather than walking through the cozy streets of Luxembourg City, we hide in restaurants and cafes, where we read in a local paper that there is an alternative game, played half an hour earlier, from a team that has no functioning website (not uncommon in Luxembourg). After a short discussion, JB and I decide to take our chances, get back to our car, and set route to…

FC Progrès Niedercorn – FC Etzella Ettelbruck

Niederkorn is roughly 25 km southwest of Luxembourg City. This notwithstanding, it would take us a good hour to find their stadium, the Stade am Deich; which, between you and me, is nowhere near a dyke! After driving through the relatively small town for more than 20 minutes, we finally found someone who provided us with bizarre, but accurate directions. So, roughly two minutes before scheduled kick-off (at 19:30), we drive onto the parking lot of the stadium, when I realize two things: (1) the game is canceled (the lack of flood lights and the fact that the first team is at the practice field give this away); (2) I have been here before, roughly two years earlier, and guess what, the game was canceled then too (because of snow, however). Down but not out, we directly set course back to where we came from.

Racing FC Union Luxembourg – Royal Excelsior Virton (05-02-2008)

As the Stade Josy Barthel is very easy to find, and we had passed it on the way into the city earlier, we actually were back in time for kick-off of our original game (at 20:00). And guess what… that game was canceled too! So, in the end we had driven over 400 km to see not one game… not, but two games… not! Let’s hope we are more successful this Saturday!

VC Eendracht Aalst 2002-KSV Oudenaarde (27-01-2008)

It must have been in 1995 that (a much younger) Grondhopper wanted to visit Eendracht Aalst. I was spending a couple of weeks in Brussels by myself and made good use of that opportunity to see as many Belgian teams as possible. My brother and a friend were coming from the Netherlands, but the car broke down and we never made it to the game. Now, 13 years later, KSC Eendracht Aalst has become VC Eendracht Aalst 2002, after the club went bankrupt, and it no longer plays in the top flight of Belgian football but is trying to get out of the Derde Klasse A (Third Division A). Two things remain from the glorious years: a more than adequate stadium and a comparatively large crowd (for Belgian standards).

The Pierre Cornelisstadion has been the home of Eendracht Aalst since 1928, nine years after its foundation, and is situated “in the shadow of the Holy Heart Church”. It can hold 7.500 people, of which 3.500 seated, which makes it one of the bigger grounds in the lower Belgian divisions. We bought tickets for covered standing at 8 euro a piece and a hamburger with samourai sauce at the snack cart in front of the stadium for 3 euro.

With the hunger somewhat satisfied, we circled the stadium and joined a fairly bizarre mix of people; several of them preparing for the carnival festivities that make Aalst (in)famous within Belgium. While in the stadium, it was very hard to estimate how many people were In attendance that afternoon. This was partly because JB and I are no longer used to seeing more than 400 people in one day. ;-) The official website of Eendracht Aalst speaks of 2.800, which was also roughly what we had estimated (2.500-3.000).

Although most fans were very engaged in the game, I was a bit disappointed by the (lack of) atmosphere. There was very little singing and, when it occurred, it was short and not very original. To be honest, I don’t remember much of the game itself (I had forgotten my cell phone at home, and I normally make notes on it). Probably one of the most notable aspects was that Oudenaarde played in the away shirts of Aalst.

Overall, the game was poor and slow. While Aalst was much higher in the table than Oudenaarde, 4th and 11th respectively, I couldn’t really see the difference in quality. Both teams played slow and imprecise, lacking technique and accuracy. The visitors played quite rough in the beginning, which at least had the effect that the hosts created few real chances. This notwithstanding, they did score in the 25th minute, though I can’t recall how. 1-0 was also the half time score.

The Fan

The second half was much the same, but I got increasingly drawn into the game of the number 31 of Eendracht Aalst, local hero Roel Van Den Brande, a bold guy with the heart at the right place, who fights all game, and tries to play forward. While both teams mainly battled it out in the middle of the pitch, they did have a couple of chances. In the end, it would be again Aalst who scored: 2-0 in the 58th minute.

The remaining 30 minutes were as entertaining as the previous 60, with both teams still in balance but without too much effort to fundamentally change the score. The fans around us seemed mostly worried about the scores at the other pitches, as some direct competitors were losing points.

After Roel had gotten his deserved substitution – after having walked off the pitch before, when Oudenaarde’s number 31 was substituted – I lost most of my interest in the game and just used the last minutes to enjoy the fans around me. How can I put it: Aalst produces some remarkable characters! Anyway, it remained 2-0 and everyone happily ran to the bar.

It’s a shame that Eendracht Aalst went bankrupt, but to be fair, it doesn’t seem to have had any effect on the club or its supporters. It still breathes an air of professional football that most teams in the Second Division lack. In other words, if you are in the neighborhood, do visit the Pierre Cornelisstadion and enjoy the people around you!

HC Slavia Praha – HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi (13-01-2008)

I hadn’t been back to Prague since 2003, but boy, what a beautiful city it is. As it was the heart of Winter, and the Czech football league takes a very long winter break, a football hop was out of the question. However, there is something even better, at least in the Czech Republic: ice hockey. In my humble opinion, the Czech league is the most exciting ice hockey league in Europe; or, at least, it used to be in the 1990s.

As my favorite team (HC Sparta Praha) was playing for the European league, my girlfriend MG and I decided to see a game of town rivals Slavia. Fortunately I checked their website the day before the game, as I had completely missed the fact that they had exchanged their old Communist-style stadium for the brand new Sazka Arena. This ultramodern stadium was built for the 2004 Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships and holds 18.000 people, making it one of the biggest ice hockey stadiums in Europe.

After a 15 minute ride with the yellow metro line B, we got out at station Ceskomoravska and walked the 400 meters to the Arena. We were more than an hour early, so the only scattered fans around were the visitors from Usti nad Labem, a destitute city close to the German border (some 85 km north of Prague). We bought tickets a couple of rows behind the dug-outs, which at 250 Czech Crowns (ca. 9.50 euro) a piece must have been among the most expensive tickets I ever bought for a sports game in Eastern Europe. The game between the number two and number last of the O2 Extraliga, the Czech First Division, attracted some 3.500 spectators, not even bad for a Sunday evening in Prague, but fairly pathetic in such a huge stadium. While the home fans were by far the more visible and vocal, the ca. 500 away fans were enthusiastic and seemed to have the day of their life in this ultramodern surrounding.

The expected severe beating of Slovan didn’t take place. Although Slavia did start well, being 1-0 up, Slovan came back and turned the score around to a shocking 1-2 after the first period. While both the visitors and the home fans didn’t believe their eyes, the former enjoyed themselves tremendously.

The second period was fully for Slavia, 2-0, although the team hardly impressed. But with 3-2 after two periods, the game was still well open. With the level of play deteriorating even further, the game remained extremely tight. In the third and last period Slovan fought like devils and came back to 3-3. Unfortunately, Slavia was able to score the 4-3 and defend it to the end of the game, to the relief of their fans.

While MG was raving about her first hockey game, I could not help but feel a bit cheated out of my East European experience. Sure, the Sazka Arena is beautiful, but it has the same problem as all those new ultramodern football stadiums: no character. There is nothing ‘Czech’ about it. In fact, I felt more at a NFL game than at an Extraliga game. I cannot help it, but I missed the old Eden Stadion!

K. Bocholter VV – KFC Mol Wezel (20-01-2008)

Although, strictly speaking, this was not my first hop of the year – I saw the hockey game HC Slavia Praha – HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi in Prague a week before – this Sunday I did see my first football game of the year. Accompanied by my loyal fellow-hopper JB and my girlfriend MG, we set off to the Belgian province of Limburg to watch a game between two mid-table teams of the Derde Klasse B (Third Division B).

After a scenic route through memory lane, we arrived at the humble Damburg Stadion, which can hold a maximum of 3.062 people and consists of only two small stands on parts of the two long sides of the pitch. The new stadium is next to the old ground, where K. Bocholter VV played its games below the four national divisions until 1998.

We tried to get tickets for the main stand, which probably doesn’t hold more than 300 people, but were told that we couldn’t have tickets next to each other anymore. So, we decided to slum it, and at 8.50 euro bought tickets for the standing sections (i.e. everywhere else around the pitch).

Attached to the ticket office was the one snack station, which I passed without noticing at first. Not only is it positioned very badly, i.e. between the guy who sells the tickets and the guys who checks them, it also works with false advertisement. The big sign on the building says “Hot-Dog”, but fronts a picture of a hamburger. To the confusion of the guy in front of me, however, it doesn’t sell hamburgers. The only items they sell are hotdogs and “broodjes frikandel” (a sandwich with a meaty snack); the last one I sampled with some disappointment.

While K. Bocholter VV is a reasonably old team, founded in 1923, KFC Racing Mol-Wezel is one of the many merger clubs in Belgium, founded in 2002 out of a merger of K. Wezel Sport FC and KSV Mol. Both teams made it to the Third Division only recently, after a short stint in the Fourth Division and longer stints in sub-national leagues. As Mol and Wezel are not so far away from Bocholt, between 35 and 40 km, the visitors had taken some 100 fans with them, which made up between one-quarter to one-fifth of the 400-500 spectators this afternoon.

After a beverage in the cozy canteen above the main stand, which had a waiter (!), we took our place at the side of the pitch, literally at 2 meters of the pitch. The weather was typical Belgian: grey, windy, a bit rainy, but not too cold. The first half was very poor. Both teams fought hard and fair, but seemed unable to provide good passes. Instead, we focused on the endless complaining of some players (most notably the No. 10 of Bocholt, Jimmi Catgiu), as well as the two players we did know, both at Mol-Wezel: Kurt Van De Paar, a big youth talent of Anderlecht, who failed at FC Twente and Trabzonspor before ending in the lower regions of Belgian football at only 30, and Patje “Boem Boem” Goots, a cult legend who at 41 has scored over 400 goals in the various national leagues of Belgium. This all notwithstanding, half time score was 0-0.

The second half seemed to be much more of the same. But in the 60th minute the only remarkable player on the pitch showed his class. Goots got the ball inside the penalty box, fooled the goalie by cutting left rather than shooting, simply got free from a defender, and then kicked the ball in the far corner: 0-1! From that moment on the visitors set back around their penalty box and the hosts desperately tried to create clear chances. In fact, in the next five minutes Bocholt created two big chances, but failed to score.

In the 65th minute Goots was substituted. Even more the number 9 of Mol Wezel, Jeroen Van De Kerkhof, became the man of the match. After several big chances of the hosts, and some impressive safes of the Mol Wezel goalie, “Jeroen” (as the supporters next to us all the time shouted) set up an attack, got beyond the goalie, and rather than shooting himself laid off to a team mate, who thankfully scored the 0-2. Even though Bocholt had much more of the play, the victory of Mol-Wezel was deserved. They had the clearer chances and the cooler players.

Overall, it was not a remarkable groundhop. Granted, it was nice to see Pat Goots score his fourhundredwhatevers goal, but the setting was not impressive and neither was the level of play. I guess the best thing about K. Bocholter VV is that it is not a merger club… yet!

THE GROUNDHOP YEAR 2007

On this last day of the year, it is time to make a short overview of the year 2007 in terms of my groundhops. Let me start with the obvious: 2007 has been a great year for groundhopping. Despite the fact that I decided to have fewer longer and more tiring groundhops, i.e. groundhop-weekends of 2000+ km, I visited 37 games in 11 countries.

Belgium (12)
Royal Capellen FC, RCS Charleroi, KMSK Deinze KAS Eupen, Royal Francs Borains, KFC Verbroedering Geel, VW Hamme, RRC Hamoir, KV Kortrijk, Royal FC La Calamine, KV Mechelen, Royal White Star Woluwe

Denmark (3)
Brøndby IF, Frem, HIK

England (1)
Arsenal FC

France (4)
US Boulogne Côte d’Opale, ESTAC Troyes, Valenciennes FC

Germany (3)
Rot-Weiss Ahlen, SV 07 Elversberg, VFL Borussia Mönchengladbach

Luxembourg (3)
FC Avenir Beggen, F91 Diddeleng, UN Käerjéng ’97

Netherlands (1)
FC Omniworld

Northern Ireland (2)
Crusaders FC, Glentoran FC

Poland (1)
KP Legia Warszawa

Sweden (5)
Bunkeflo IF, IFK Göteborg, IFK Malmö, Malmö FF, Trelleborgs FF

USA (2)
Atlanta Silverbacks, Charleston Battery

As I had already visited 5 of these teams and 10 of these countries before, this means 32 new teams and 1 new country/league (Northern Ireland), bringing the grand total at the end of 2007 at 288 teams in 36 countries.

The best groundhop of the year was without a doubt Frem-HIK, a game in the Danish 1. Division (Second Division). The weather was gorgeous, I was with my girlfriend, and the atmosphere was so relaxed. A dream! Moreover, Frem had some of the greatest fanwear I have seen anywhere.

The most impressive stadium was Arsenal’s new Emeralds Stadium. Although all these ultramodern new stadiums are not really my thing, if you are going to do it, do it like them! (Moreover, getting the right result for PSV made me enjoy it even more ;-).

The biggest disappointment was probably IFK Göteborg, a big name from the past which had been on my “to see” list for years. The stadium itself was empty of people and atmosphere.

The worst club was, without a shadow of a doubt, FC Omniworld, from Almere, the Netherlands. Truly everything about the club is wrong! The logo, the name, the outfit, the stadium…

Finally, the worst ticket goes out to Trelleborgs FF. Giving your football fan simply the ticket from the register is simply not done! What’s wrong with all these (Scandinavian) teams anyway, not giving out tickets on the day of the game?!

In short, 2007 was a great year for Grondhopper. I want to thank all my fellow-hoppers for their great company, particularly J.B. who has done most of these hops with me, and all the readers for, well, reading the reports. Do drop by again in 2008 and feel free to leave feedback! Next year I’m going for club 300 and it will be a special one!

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.

RRC Hamoir – KV Turnhout (09-12-2007)

Slightly jetlagged I met J.B. at our usual place to head out to the tiny town of Hamoir (population 3.500) in the Liège province of Belgium. At the program was a game in the Derde Klasse A (Third Division A) between the proud league leader, from Flanders, KV Turnhout, and mid-table RRC Hamoir. After a two hour trip, in part the consequence of my jetlag (which made me an even worse map reader than usual), we parked our car next to the stadium.

Now, when I say stadium, I don’t really mean stadium. As far as I can google, the stadium doesn’t even have a name. The ground can hold only 1.500, while the tiny stand might hold 300 (if you really squeeze tightly together). Not that surprising, as RRC Hamoir entered the Fourth Division only in 2005, and was promoted to the Third Division A last season.

We bought tickets for 8 euro each and, the loyal reader will not be surprised, descended upon the snack booth. Now, I am not a fan of Belgian sausages, but this dude, by the name of Thierry, surprised me with a 10” thin sausage on a baguette with onions and samourai sauce. Divine! And that for only 3 euro. Worth the trip already!

JB had told me that it had been raining for days and we had actually been afraid that the game would be canceled because of a we pitch. However, in the morning I had checked teletext and saw that indeed most games had been canceled in Belgium, but not for the national leagues. However, that the pitch was muddy and heavy was clear from the Hamoir goalie, who looked like a happy piglet during the warming-up before the game.

In the canteen we heard more Flemish than French. It seems KV Turnhout has seriously increased its traveling support since they have made it to the top of the league. Of the roughly 300-500 people at the game, at least half of them had made the 150 km trip from Turnhout in the north of Flanders and they were as vocal as the home crowd. The tiny stand housed some 200 supporters, roughly 100 away supporters on one side and 100 home fans on the other. We were among the Walloons and thoroughly enjoyed their humor and happiness.

Games between Dutch- and French-speaking teams in Belgium always bring something extra, but in these chaotic times – that day Belgium was without a government for already six months as a consequence of conflicts between Dutch- and French-speakers – politics is everywhere, also on the stands. At various times there was some friendly chanting back and forth, such as “Flanders is coming” by the visitors, followed by “anti-Vlaams Blok” by the hosts.

From kick-off the game was entertaining, even if both teams played with many people behind the ball and at a fairly low pace. By far the best player on the pitch was the number 10 of KV Turnhout, Ben Van den Brandt, a young midfielder with (unfortunately) a bit of a lousy attitude. Overall the visitors were the better side, though creating few clear chances and depending quite heavily on Van den Brandt’s creativity. In the 40th minute a Hamoir defender stupidly fouled the poor Turnhout striker. The following free kick was well finished by the visitors, although the goal scorer was aided by terrible defending. 0-1 was also the half time score.

Even before the supporters had settled in for an exciting second half, the game seemed over. In the 48th minute Turnhout played a beautiful high lob over the Hamoir defense, which was coolly executed: 0-2. However, supported by their continuously happy and singing fans, Hamoir equalized two minutes later: a low free-kick disappeared into the goal without anyone noticing: 1-2 and the game was back on!

The game would now go back and forth, at times livened up by bizarre moments. For example, at one time the referee accidentally hit a player in the face, while at another time the goalie walks out of the penalty area with the ball in his hands, thinking he is awarded a free-kick there, but instead getting a free-kick for hand ball against him. But the game also had some real chances, including a disallowed goal for Turnhout (hands).

In the 65th minute Turnhout finally closed shop. Its striker, Ben M Bemba, who until than had been extremely poor and had only excelled in being offside, received a pass in the penalty box, controlled well, turned around beautifully, and put the ball dry and cool in the goal: 1-3. This didn’t seem to matter to most of the home supporters, who kept laughing, drinking, singing, and making fun of the Flamands.

[ No scoreboad, no final score ]

Enjoying the warmth of J.B’s car, we were in full agreement: this was one of the nicest groundhops we had made. An absolutely tiny stadium in a small village, but what enthusiasm and happiness. RRC Hamoir, definitely a big team in a tiny setting!