For those who couldn't make the game this Saturday, here is the full transcript from my article from the match day programme.
Enjoy.
John Seager Goes To Germany...
Giant flags, sold out stadiums, safe standing, friendly fans and loads of bratwurst sausages. No, this was not a typical dream for many modern football fans; this is the result of my fantastic first ever trip to Germany to find all about what their football is really like.
By contrast I have never been to a Premier League game and the way that ticket prices are at the minute - and in the future as well even with a new £5 billion TV deal - I do not intend to go a Premier League game either. However I have had a secret obsession for following German football every week on TV and I finally made a cunning plan to go to see five games in one week in February.
The main thing that sold going to Germany for me was the ticket prices for five games over a week including 4 Bundesliga and one 3.Liga (the equivalent to League One in England) all for the price of 125 Euros which is just over £100. That's almost the same cost of seeing one Arsenal category “A” game in the posh seats at the Emirates. Obviously you have to take other things into account (hotels, flights, food, beer etc) but I decided to see what the fuss is all about and find out if England and the FA in particular can learn something from them.
The first game was in Mönchengladbach and it was a completely different experience from that at Priestfield. Constant signing from the home fans, standing areas behind the goal and yes they even allow you to drink Beer on the terraces and in the stands - albeit watered down beer, but seeing a man walking around with a beer pack on his back made it convenient for me to get a beer whilst watching the game. After the game there was a bus shuttle services from the ground to the station. It was a long journey as the traffic at the ground was horrendous but it was free and a convenient way to get back to the station. One thing I was totally mystified about the game was a man walking up and down the stands selling Pretzels to everyone. I just couldn't understand why Germans are so big on their Pretzels. Borussia defeated Frieburg their visitors with a goal by Herrmann on 23 minutes in a tight game in front of 37,091.
My second game was trip to Dortmund and was one game I was really looking forward to watching. 25,000 people standing behind one goal in a crowd of 80,667. Luckily both sets of fans were in full voice with drums and flags flying everywhere not just on the terrace. The Atmosphere went from electric at the beginning to utterly poisonous as Dortmund lost again at home. The visitors Augsburg scored the only goal on 50 minutes from Bobadilla to leave the Champions League regulars in the relegation zone! Weirdly to get something to eat in the ground you have to buy a food card from inside the ground for €10 (there is a €2 deposit should you wish to hand your card back at full time). Luckily I got my money's worth outside the ground where for €5 I had a roll with onions and three different pieces of sauerkraut and ham. That filled me up and they should have taken that inside the ground as an alternative to Bratwurst. What also was weird was that they sold a massive A4 programme full to the brim of what's happening at Dortmund and they only charge €2 for this. For the same kind of programme at an England game it will set you back £6. Luckily I met up with a Swedish Dortmund fan on the way back to the hotel and he will look into me getting a ticket on the Südtribune - the infamous “Yellow Wall” terrace in the near future.
Perhaps most significantly I also got to try what "Safe-Standing" is like when I went to Schalke 04 against Borussia Mönchengladbach on the Friday night. I was with three other Gills fans that regularly make the trip to Gelsenkirchen and they are part of the official UK Schalke 04 fan club. I have never met a group of fans who have ever been so proud of the team. You cannot walk 200 meters down the street in Gelsenkirchen without seeing a flag or some poster related to Schalke 04 (admittedly there isn‘t much else). Even when I got to their main fanhaus near the Veltins Arena, they proudly welcomed foreign fans like me with open arms. I remember taking one group photo for some German fans, I told them that I was from England and they invited me to join in with my Gillingham scarf. I enjoyed the game as much as mixing with the locals; the standing inside the ground gave a good view of the pitch and the safe standing added to the atmosphere where I saw Schalke 04 edge out another 1-0 win in front of 61,973. Barnetta scoring the decisive goal after ten minutes.
My trip ended up in Köln for a weekend of yet more football and the local Kölsch beer - a nice tasting beer served in small glasses and even better, the waitresses fill your glass up without the need of going to the bar and then operate a “trust system“ simply ticking your beermat and you settle up at the end of the night…. The first game I saw was at FC Köln’s superb RhinEnergie Stadion where the atmosphere was fantastic and again very welcoming to foreign fans but I saw a boring 0-0 draw against Paderborn 07 in a crowd of 49,500. The real drama occurred on the way back when I found out that Gillingham had defeated Sheffield United 2-0. I screamed out in delight in English on a packed tram and I admit a few of the German fans thought I was some sort of lunatic. I then explained in very bad German that I was a tourist and Gillingham fan from England and they eventually understood that everything was ok…
The following day saw my second game, a trip to southern Köln to see Fortuna Köln play out a great 3-0 win against table topping Arminia Bielefeld. It was played at a ground with a running track so the fans from both sides quite were far away from the action. It definitely didn’t help the lack of atmosphere despite the best efforts of over two thousand Bielefeld fans that made the journey across to Köln. But I tried to get involved with the Fortuna Ultras and ended up seeing a few goals at long last and then seeing myself on the TV highlights after the game when I got back to Düsseldorf. Glockner put the home side 1-0 up on 28 minutes, Dahmani made it 2-0 on 52 minutes and Rahn sealed a shock 3-0 win on 79 in front of 4,912.
Overall the whole trip was a memorable one despite the chronic lack of goals which is unusual for the Bundesliga. Nevertheless attending five games in one week has given me the taste to see more German games in the future. One criticism though, I do think that the Germans need to adapt their non smoking policy inside the grounds. Every game I went to there was at least three people around me lighting up and spoiling my view of the match. If I had my way, I would persuade the DFB to follow what we do over there and have a strict no smoking policy inside the ground. That aside though I would highly recommend at least trying to see one game over there to see how safe standing and cheaper prices can work. Oh yes, and anyone fancy a Currywürst?
