The Final Instalment

De Treffers  0  VVSB  1

Tweede Division

Mention the Dutch town of Groesbeek to anyone and the chances are that if they've heard of it, then it will be because of Operation Market Garden and the 82^nd Airborne Division landing close by in the latter stages of the Second World War.

History tells an incredible story of Groesbeek, the Allied forces landed and made their way through the town in an attempt to head off the Nazi invasion as it moved towards the Rhine. The operation, which was powerfully portrayed in the film ‘A Bridge Too Far’, was designed to secure the bridges that crossed the river in the Nijmegen and Arnhem area, but ultimately it failed, and the residents of Groesbeek paid the price. The town was destroyed and its inhabitants forced to flee.

Despite its failure, the Allies were, and still remain heroes in this part of the Netherlands. In Groesbeek itself is the National Liberation Museum which gives a fantastic and poignant insight into the events of the time. Nearby is also the home of the Canadian War Cemetery.

That’s the serious side of Groesbeek, but in a footballing perspective this is one extremely curious town. Firstly some background, the population is just less than 20,000 inhabitants, but, it can boast the following six football clubs.

Welcome to De Treffers

Playing in the third tier are Achilles 29 (who were recently in the second tier) and De Treffers. Germania play in the sixth tier, Rood Wit in the seventh tier along with Groesbeekse Boys, while DVSG are the relative minnows in the ninth tier.

Ok, some of these are at a pretty low level, and some or Saturday clubs, some are Sunday clubs, but at the same time, they still have squads to fill, they still have junior sides, they still need to be staffed, they still need somewhere to play.

20,000 inhabitants is comparably the size of a town like Dronfield. So it would be like having two teams in League One, one in Conference North, two in the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League, and one in the Premier Division of the Northern Counties East League.

Seats

Bonkers isn’t it, and yes, the relative standards of the steps in Holland are nowhere near what they would be in England, but all the same, can you think of another town in England of a similar size that could compare? The only one coming anything like close would be Northwich and it’s various districts, but even that’s pushing it based on the fact most of that is due to basket case management and ownership.

We’ve been to Achilles 29, when they were in the second tier, and saw a pretty dull 0-0 draw with Volendam. The crowd was small, but the official figure seemed nothing like the reality. We spoke to a players parent and he told us the wage bill, it wasn’t sustainable from what we could see, and recent history has seen them relegated in what is believed to be serious financial mire.

Posh!

Many would argue though that in the town, the bigger club is actually De Treffers, and should the opportunity arise, they too would consider a jump to the professional ranks of the second tier. The Dutch pyramid has changed somewhat in the last couple of years so whether that ambition remains is debatable, but, it seemed like it was worth giving them a visit with it being a short distance from base camp.

I have to say, it’s a very impressive set up. A large and spacious car park is easily accessed, and then after buying a ticket you enter the ground behind the goal, and that’s where you are met with the massively impressive site of the two tier clubhouse.

Yeah, Not Bad!

I’ve been in a few clubhouses over the years, from the brilliant to the Beirut, but this place was right up there. Walking in through the main foyer you reach a large room with two bars and a snack bar. It’s plush, comfortable and very well decorated with lots of De Treffers memorabilia adorning the walls. Next door to the main room is a very smart looking business club area, while upstairs are more rooms and a balcony that looks out onto the pitch. Of course, the players and officials are also catered for, with their facilities at the very end of the building.

Pitch side, behind the goal is some terracing, while on the road side is more terracing and a seated stand. Opposite the stand is a long covered terracing area, and that was where we took our places in the first half.

East Side - Give Us A Song.....

It’s not been going so well on the pitch for either team, and in a first half that saw very few chances, it was the visitors VVSB from the Nordwijk area who took the lead with a lofted shot that beat the onrushing De Treffers goalkeeper.

The second half was viewed from behind the goal, and to be honest it failed to capture the imagintaion until the last ten minutes when De Treffers went full tilt for the equaliser. That goal never came, but we did see a pretty tasty scrap!

A De Treffers player went down injured, a visiting playing thought he was faking it so dragged him across the pitch, and this didn’t go down well with the home side. All kinds of handbags were being swung around until order was restored and a player from each side received a red card. The player was actually injured and in the dying seconds he was carried past us on a stretcher, being dragged by one of his legs probably didn't help matters.

Handshakes

De Treffers remain deep in trouble, while VVSB gain some vital breathing space. It hadn’t been as good a game as the previous day, both sides were noticeable inferior to both FC Lienden and GVVV, but it perhaps also wasn’t helped by the fact the game was played on quite an uneven grass surface.

It was a cracking set up though, and a great way to end our famous Football Weekend, however, it wasn’t quite over just yet.

We had our final meal at the place where it began on the Tuesday, Een Mooie Dag, where Edwin and his staff once again laid on a brilliant meal for us. We drank to the Football Weekend, and while it was never discussed, I suspect all of us were hoping we can do it all again next year, for the fourteenth time in a row.

I’m pretty sure we will, Heineken will be most disappointed if we can’t contribute to their profits!

Hendrik - Bob - Edwin - Dad - Theo (The Weekenders)

The Tale Of Fred & Louis

FC Lienden  0  GVVV Veenendaal  3

Tweede Division

If you didn’t have your wits about you then it would be very easy to miss the home of Fred Baars in the Gelderland village of Braamt.

We drove past the entrance first time round, and only when we doubled back did we see the two flagpoles in front of a house right at the end of a long track.

Those two flagpoles signified that we had found the little known ‘Home of Football’ museum that Fred had created in a modest sized building he’d erected at the bottom of his garden.

Fred's Home

Fred is a fascinating man, essentially a follower of Ajax and the Dutch National Team, I have never met someone so passionate about football and its rich history.

With an instantly infectious personality, Fred and his wife met us on his driveway, where a stray chicken was roaming, and led us to the museum. As you walked in, it felt like you were walking into a football treasure trove, a shrine even, to the beautiful game.

Over numerous years, Fred has set about building a collection of memorabilia, but his methods have been quite different to your average football enthusiast like myself. You see Fred got to know Louis Van Gaal via trips to watch Ajax train, as an exercise to gain some tips as to how to help him coach his own junior team. Now, they are close friends. Fred and his wife attended Louis’s Wedding, Louis then offered to come and officially open Fred’s museum.

Ajax

The late great Johan Cruyff was another man Fred got to know personally, because as a gift for his birthday Fred decided to send him an audio tape of some of his greatest goals in the form of a compilation. Johan remembered this, because Fred contacted him some time afterwards when a close friend of his was dying, and one of his final wishes was to speak to Cruyff. Cruyff was only too happy to make that call, remembering only too well what Fred had done for him.

Signed shirts, photographs, tickets, scarves, programmes, books, videos, gadgets, toys, you name it, if it was football related, he had it, but not only did he have it, it was displayed in a creative and artistic way, so from an aesthetic point of view, it looked amazing.

Fred - On The Left - Tells His Story

I could go on forever about some of the unique items Fred had, as I would imagine Fred could as well, because the hour and a half we had with him went by in what seemed like ten minutes, yet you felt he had so many more stories to tell, and that was the point, every item had a story behind it.

But why?

Well a large part of it is his enthusiasm and love of the game, but another part is his desire to put his collection on display for others to enjoy, which they can as long as they make an appointment to see it.

Fred doesn’t take any money for showing visitors round his museum, he just points out a collection box for his chosen charities and leaves it with you. Fred is big on his charity work, he’s seen too many people close to him die too young, and that also drives him. Ultimately when his time is up, he doesn’t want his museum to stay open, he wants the items sold, with the proceeds going to his chosen causes.

But in the here and now, he has plans. He has plans to change his displays around, he has an equal number of items stored away as he has on show. He also plans to cater for the younger fans by having screens with recordings of the greats in action, because as time moves on, youngsters may not know who the likes of Cruyff, Bergkamp, Van Basten, Neeskens and Rep were?

Part of you wanted to stay and search for more treasures, to listen to more of Fred’s stories, and there were loads, but we had to leave as more visitors were waiting, and we had a football match to get to.

FC Lienden v GVVV was a top of the table clash in the Tweede Classe of the Dutch League. The league was only formed at the start of last season and is effectively the third tier of Dutch football. 

FC Lienden

Previously the third tier was split across a Saturday and a Sunday division, whereas now the two have been combined and you have to drop to the fourth tier to get the weekend split.

Lienden is around half an hour from Duiven, sitting ten miles to the West of Nijmegen, and to be fair it’s only a very small town, arguably even a village. The weather had turned noticeably colder and with the only cover at the ground being a seated stand on one side, it was a case of braving the elements.

The game had been selected for live television, it appears Fox Sports have got the deal to show the Tweede Classe, but according to Theo the viewing figures are not that spectacular. That said, its great publicity and clearly extra cash for the clubs involved.

If You Look Carefully - You Can See The TV Gantry

The ground was tidy, but quite basic, however it did have the obligatory clubhouse behind the goal and that did keep us suitably refreshed in the build up to the game. A good crowd had assembled by kick off, probably around a thousand, with well over half looking to have travelled the short distance from just North of the Rhine where Veenendaal is located. Of course, as kick off approached we were treated to the blue smoke bombs, from the away fans it appeared but not that easy to work out as both clubs first choice colours are blue!

On the plastic pitch, the hosts started the stronger, pushing GVVV onto the back foot by moving the ball quickly around on the surface and getting crosses into dangerous areas. GVVV had a lot of defending to do, and managed to soak up the pressure and see out the first half. It had been essentially one way traffic and for me there was only going to be one winner, GVVV of course!

Smoke Bombs!

I was right, it was a complete turnaround in the second half, GVVV did to Lienden what Lienden did to them, only with a more clinical edge. In fact as the second half wore on and the goals went in (three of them), Lienden looked completely unrecognisable from the side in the first period, in fact at times they looked in complete disarray at the back.

It had been a superb game of football though, highly skilful with two very fit sides who were totally comfortable moving the ball around at pace using the minimum of touches. GVVV deserved the win in the end, but both sides deserved credit for the performances they put on.

What was also interesting talking to some in the know when it comes to football at this level, is that it is generally accepted that the standard of football at the top end of the Tweede Classe is actually better than some of the football played right across the league above. The reason being is that many of the players would rather be semi-professional than full time professional for a variety of reasons, so in effect the better players can often be found playing at a lower level that their professional counterparts.

Game wise, it had been the best so far of the Football Weekend, and have a guess how we ended up at it? Turns out Fred had suggested it to Theo when he was booking our visit to his museum, this is a man who truly knows his football.

Fred Baars and his Home of Football – if you get the chance, do it.

The Dutch And The Habit Of Using Two 'A's When One Will Do......

Thunderstruck

Preussen Munster  1  Chemnitzer  0

Germany Liga 3

When a team runs out to Thunderstruck by AC/DC, you know this is going to be one bad ass football club!

Our plans did not go the way we had hoped. The original idea had been to get to Munster around lunchtime, spend some time looking round the place, and then take in the game, but due to the previous evening’s shenanigans and the 4am close, that simply didn’t happen.

By the time we did eventually arrive in Munster it was dark, so sightseeing was out of the question, our aim was to find food! We found a nice looking restaurant, until it came to light it was of the vegan variety, so we made a quick escape to what turned out to be a very impressive Italian job close by.

Munster is a big and busy City, sitting North of Dortmund, and it was around an hour and a half drive from our base in Duiven, but much of that is cross country, with very few populous areas passed on the way. Getting to the stadium from the centre was easy enough and it was handy given that we only had half an hour until kick off to find plenty of room in the car park next to the ground.

Old School

We had purchased tickets in advance so made our way through security checks and beyond the turnstiles, and only then does it hit you. The Preussenstadion is an old school belter, with huge curved terraces behind both goals, covered terracing down one side and a more modern seated stand opposite.

We had terrace tickets behind the goal, the views were excellent but the air cold. The crush barriers had various stickers plastered all over them, most of which belonged to the various ultra groups that had obviously taken up residence at some stage on the curve.

The Flags Are Out

To our left was a specific section that was considerably more densely populated than anywhere else, and as time wore on, the flags and banners started to appear. Then came the songs, then the firecrackers and flares, and finally as AC/DC belted out of the PA system when the players entered the pitch, a collection of smoke bombs were detonated and the air was thick to the point where you simply could not see the pitch.

This was German football proper, with drums and a loudhailer at the front of the terraces co-ordinating the display. It was raw, it was atmospheric and while probably not entirely legal, it was brilliant.

The Munster support made a right racket, almost constantly throughout the game, and with a  crowd of over 6,000 in the stadium, including around 200 from the former East, it was a healthy turnout for a club that were struggling in the wrong half of the table.

And Now The Smoke Bombs....

The smoke eventually cleared and we could finally feast our eyes, albeit from a distance, on the action. To be brutally honest, it wasn’t very good, in fact the first half was spent pretty much spectator watching, it was more entertaining. Neither side could muster up much in the way of goalscoring opportunities.

Simon Scherder scored the only goal of the game just after half time when his shot from the edge of the box took a deflection and found its way into the Chemnitzer net. It was harsh on the visitors who had given as good as they had taken up until this stage, but it was a goal that had looked unlikely based on the way the game had been panning out, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to see many more.

When The Smoke Eventually Cleared

Munster went down to ten men in the closing moments when Stephane Tritz received a second yellow card and his subsequent marching orders, but the man advantage came simply far too late in the game for the visitors to see any tangible benefit.

For Munster it was a relief to get a win, to be relegated to the Regionalliga would be unthinkable for a club of their stature, others have dropped to that level in recent seasons, the likes of Alemenia Aachen, Energie Cottbus, 1860 Munich and KFC Uerdingen, and it does take some coming back as those four clubs have proven.

The Wide Vast Expanses Of The Preussenstadion

Departure from the stadium and indeed the City of Munster itself was pretty easy, and base was soon reached after a very quiet evening on the roads.

While the old style grounds like the Preussenstadion are not everyone’s cup of tea, I simply love going to places like this, they have a true football feel about them, especially on the terraces which have a culture all of their own.

I never thought that within a week of Malcolm Young’s passing I would be hearing one of his finest pieces of work at a football ground, and I guess that could only happen in Germany. The best Country in the World for watching football.

What's Not To Like?

Eddie The Tout

FC Cologne  1  Arsenal  0

UEFA Europa League – Group Stages

As the wind caused the impressive Atomium to rock slightly, and with the Heysel Stadium clearly visible in the distance, it was time to plan our strategy for Cologne.

We wanted to get out of Dodge fast, so a decision was made to head to the North side of Brussels to see one of the iconic  European structures, and then put a plan together for the day. We had a contact, Eddie, who had been put onto us by a third party, and he could guarantee three tickets for the ‘sold out’ game against Arsenal.

The Rhine Energie Stadium - But Would We Get In?

Eddie could do them for 80 Euro’s each, but despite numerous conversations, he was proving a bit difficult to pin down. He was supposed to be in Brussels the same night as us, but it turned out he was in Basel, so could we contact him when we got to Cologne to meet up? Of course we could, but from what we perhaps naively thought was simply a contact of a contact who had some spare tickets, it was now starting to emerge that we were dealing with a ticket tout!

The Heysel Stadium From Atop The Atomium

I took the wheel again and made the way across Belgium to Liege, and then into Germany via Aachen, before finally arriving in Cologne and parking adjacent to the impressive Rhein Energie Stadium. We phoned Eddie, he wasn’t yet in Cologne, he was in Frankfurt, but he would contact us when he arrived.

We got the tram into the centre of Cologne, a place we have visited on a couple of occasions previously, and knowing the format in the area close to the stunning Dom, we soon found a bar in an amongst the many hundreds of Gooners who were clearly enjoying the German beer. Our bar was an Irish bar called ‘The Corkonian’ and while the atmosphere was boisterous and rowdy, it wasn’t threatening or troublesome. The Police were staying close to the Arsenal fans, but kept a sensible and non-provocative distance, which is probably exactly how it should be.

Silver Balls

With time running on we made our way back on the tram to the Western outskirts of Cologne to get ourselves in a position to meet Eddie. A call was made, he said he would be with us in half an hour, then after 45 minutes and no sign of Eddie, another call was made, this time he was on a tram himself as we could hear the noise of the fans singing. More time elapsed, still no Eddie, so more calls, it appeared he was in the McDonalds over the road doing some deals. Shall we go to him? No, we his reply, he would come to us.

Eddie arrived, a confident and friendly German, I would say in his early thirties, he told us he wanted us to walk over to the McDonalds as he didn’t want to be spotted trading by security close to the stadium. By now it was clear, this was a ticket tout.

He lead us upstairs and produced three match tickets, face value 67 Euro for an adult. He spoke in German to Theo and I could tell that the conversation wasn’t going smoothly.

The 80 Euro’s was suddenly 150 Euro’s each, We clearly baulked at that, but he wouldn’t budge, so Mr Hatt senior decided he wasn’t having any of it and walked away. I then pitched in with an offer of 100 Euro each, but Eddie was not having that either, it seems ‘the agency’ had put the prices up since we first did the deal via the third party. Clearly this was bollocks, so when he said his best offer was 130 Euro’s each, I walked away.

Move Your Bloody Head Man!

I was just making my way down the steps, when Theo shouted me back, it appears Eddie was now prepared to accept 100 Euro’s, so we paid up. Clearly, with time running out until kick off (20 minutes) Eddie was thinking about the lack of time he had to find a new buyer, but it just shows  how these guys operate, he had tried to keep us waiting until the last minute thinking we would pay top dollar out of desperation, but that wasn’t going to happen. Who won in the deal? Well we paid over 30 Euro extra for each ticket based on face value, as for Eddie, I’m sure he wasn’t down on the deal, but what he acquired the tickets for is anyone’s guess.

Interestingly though, as we made our way to the stadium, with time running out, Eddie jogged past us and was last spotted asking a fellow tout (there were numerous ones about) if he had any spare tickets to sell? This was now less than ten minutes before kick off, so quite what the optimum time for touting is I’m not sure, but I suspect the number of transactions do lift in the final minutes as desperation on both sides kicks in.

As a final point on Eddie, as we concluded the deal, he told us to keep his number as he could get us tickets for any game we wanted, just give him a call………..

The Arse - Tucked Away In The Corner

By this stage it was a bit of a scrum to get into the ground, which we thankfully managed to do, despite a nervous few moments when you were hoping your tickets were genuine. We raced up the stairs and finally took our seats one minute after the game kicked off. People were still entering the ground up to twenty minutes after the game started, yet there were still spare seats? The game may have sold out, but clearly not every ticket had been used, maybe they were left in the hands of the touts?

The atmosphere in the Rhein Energie Stadium was simply awesome, the Cologne fans never stopped singing, while the Arsenal fans were happy to join in with the fun. The ground is a steep sided rectangle, with striking towers that were lit red and white on each corner. Despite Cologne’s awful season, no wins in the Bundesliga, bottom of the table and only one win from four in the Europa League, their support was amazing, and if you cast your minds back, 20,000 of their fans descended on London for the game at the Emirates at the start of the campaign.

Arsenal, who were destined to win the group, left some of the bigger names out and didn’t really get going on the pitch with any great degree of urgency. They played some pretty stuff and moved the ball around really well, but they did have a habit of over-elaborating, wanting to thread the ball through the eye of a needle and score the perfect goal. Had they got the ball wide they might have had more success but with Jack Wilshire in the middle of the park as the only creative force trying to unlock the defence, his tendency was to go through the middle rather than to the flanks.

Cologne won a dodgy penalty just after the hour mark, and it was left to Sehrou Guirassy to put the ball into the net for the only goal of the game. The hosts were not a good side by any means, but on the night they stayed tight, kept their shape and scored a goal that was always going to come from some sort of set piece as one from open play looked extremely unlikely.

The fans celebrated at the end, by which time nearly half of the Gooners had already left the ground, not doubt heading back to the bars of Cologne. We made our way to the car and were soon back on the motorway North with beer to drink.

Some Football - It's Not All About The Beer You Know?

We finished the night in a local bar in Duiven having an England v Holland pool tournament, then we finally got to bed at 4am after putting the World to rights. I won’t say we drank a toast to Eddie, but it had been an experience, and obviously it gave us something of a tale to tell as we laughed about our meeting with him.

Oh, and we have kept his number, only you never know when he might be of assistance in the future….  

Jupiler - The Redeeming Feature

RSC Anderlecht  1  Bayern Munich  2

UEFA Champions League – Group Stages

I’d never been to Belgium before, not because I’ve got anything against it as a Country, it’s just the chance has never arisen. I did come close once when we went to Tilburg for a game, but because we overlay that morning, we ran out of time to make a token trip over the border just to add another Country to the list!

Anderlecht at home presented a great opportunity, but this was not going to be easy. Tickets were rarer than the proverbial rocking horse manure, but thanks to a contact in Duiven who was pretty well connected, we finally got confirmation on the day before we travelled to Holland that the tickets had been secured.

It was a pretty chunky drive to Brussels, or should I say a pretty chunky journey home afterwards (close on three hours) so a sensible decision was made to book a hotel. That was my job, but more on that later…..

With me at the wheel, it was a lunchtime departure from Duiven, which took us down towards the edges of Eindhoven, before heading over the border and on to Antwerp. The traffic was significantly busier around Antwerp and after some hold ups we were finally on the motorway that went past Mechelen and onto the Brussels ring road. The Brussels ring road is not a road I would want to tackle every day, it was horrendous and that part of the journey to our base took an hour.

That Little Fella Having a Pee

Base was found, it was a modest hotel in the Anderlecht area in the South West of the City, and to be fair, on first glances it became clear the locality was not the best, especially when it became apparent that I’d managed to book a hotel that was a small grenade’s throw away from the notorious Molenbeek area, sometimes known in the European media as Jihadi Central….officially the second poorest municipality in Belgium.

Confidence was not restored as we walked from the Hotel (which was fine by the way) to the Grand Place, the place was run down, and quite frankly, dirty. Immigration is clearly something that Brussels has had to contend with like many major European Cities, and by their own admission, they are losing the battle, and more worryingly, citing Molenbeek as the example, they are also losing control.

The Nice Bit

The Grand Place is beautiful, the architecture stunning, the bars and restaurants warm and inviting on a cold day. We tested out the famous Delirium Bar, which was something of a disappointment, but maybe we caught it on a bad day, given some of the reviews?

A restaurant was found, and that was superb, but it was time to find the Brussels Metro and take the underground to the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Anderlecht. This was achieved without too much trouble, and to be fair, as we disembarked the train and walked up to ground level, it looked to be located in a pleasant residential area. Two minutes later and we were upon the stadium which is tucked in, surrounded by trees and tall houses, on a non-match day, especially at night, it would be easy to walk past it and miss it.

Constant Vanden Stock

The ground was quite small, and had a very Nineties feel about the build. With the stands a continuous oval around the pitch, it was not dissimilar to the stadiums we’ve seen built at the likes of Derby and Middlesbrough, although on a much smaller scale, having a capacity of just over 21,000.

We took our seats, in the North East corner, and despite not having gained a single point in this seasons Champions League campaign, the Anderlecht fans were in full voice, whereas their German counterparts unfurled a banner protesting at the fact they’d been charged 100 Euros per ticket to watch the game.

By half time the score was 0-0 and not particularly inspiring, but with Bayern and indeed PSG having romped the group at the expense of both Anderlecht and Celtic, neither side was especially going hell for leather.

Pure Nineties

Robert Lewandowki produced a clinical finish from a fantastic move just after half time before Sofiane Hanni found the net to equalise for Anderlecht three minutes over the hour mark.

The lead was restored with 13 minutes remaining when another swift move and clinical incisive play saw Corentin Tolisso stoop low to meet a ball from the right with his head and finish superbly.

To be fair to Anderlecht, they put up a great fight and they were roundly applauded by their fans at the final whistle, but the Champions League experience has told them that the gap between the European super powers and the rest is vast. Once in a while Anderlecht were winning cups in Europe, they are a million miles from that now, as are teams from Holland for that matter.

A Cosy Feel

We decided to let the crowds dissipate at the final whistle by having a couple of beers in a bar opposite the stadium, but even then as we returned to the Metro we were greeted by a number of armed soldiers and a battery of Police officers not allowing fans onto the platform. Fifteen or so minutes passed by, it appeared they were trying to get the German’s away from the area.

All was quiet on the ten minute walk from the Metro to the hotel, albeit we did manage to disturb a rat that was rummaging through some rubbish. A couple of bars were open, but they didn’t look in the slightest bit inviting, an attempt to get the hotel to serve us a beer was not successful, so the next best option was to go to bed.

Panorama

I’ll be honest, as much as it was an interesting experience, I won’t be rushing back to Brussels any time soon. Maybe we just happened upon the wrong area, but the drive from the South of the City to the North the following morning did not give you any sort of confidence that it was better elsewhere.

Still, they do serve an absolutely cracking pint of Jupiler, and for that alone, I might just give the Belgians another chance, but it won’t be anywhere near the Capital.

The 100 Euro Protests

The Football Weekend

Borussia Dortmund  1  Tottenham Hotspur  2

UEFA Champions League – Group Stage

The idea of the Football Weekend was born in in the Autumn of 2005 when family friend Theo de Reus invited myself and my Dad to his home in Duiven, with the purpose of spending the weekend with him, watching some football and having a few beers, as lads do when they are together.

That weekend in the October saw us take in games at Ajax, NEC Nijmegen and Vitesse Arnhem, it was a cracking weekend and we vowed to do it again the following year, which we did, massing four games this time round, adding to De Graafschap and Schalke 04 to the list.

The theme continued and over the years the weekend has effectively stretched to a full week, with the record for a trip containing seven games in 2014, but typically now it would be five or six games as a minimum.

The Stunning Entrance Via The Club Shop

So what have been the footballing highlights? Trips to Germany have always been great fun, Schalke, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach and FC Cologne being the most memorable, whereas in Holland you can’t help but be impressed by the intensity of a big game at De Kuip when Feyenoord are at home. The Spakenburg Derby was not an event to forget either, as was a trip to watch Go Ahead Eagles for the special atmosphere the fans of Deventer create.

It’s not always been about big games though, Theo’s local club DVV was always a great afternoon out, one whereby you would rarely return sober such was the hospitality shown towards their friends from England. VFL Osnabruck, from the twin town of Derby, was a great experience as was MSV Duisburg, however, as we were about to embark on our thirteenth successive year of football weekends, one venue stands out for me, and that is the Westfallenstadion (or Signal Iduna Park), home to the mighty Borussia Dortmund.

Pure Awesomeness

We first went to BVB in 2007, to see them play Eintracht Frankfurt in a Bundesliga game, I wasn’t sure what to expect at the time, but I was simply blown away by the stadium, the atmosphere, and the occasion itself, which I feel is unique to football in Germany.

I have been desperate to get back since then, and I’ve followed the clubs fortunes over that time. 

Finally last season an opportunity presented itself when their Champions League game against Legia Warsaw fell perfectly. The game finished 8-4, it was truly remarkable, and in terms of rekindling memories, it was everything I’d hoped for.

The fixtures fell kindly again, this time against Tottenham Hotspur, scheduled for the day we arrived in Holland. Tickets were secured by Theo well in advance, so the chance to watch an English team in Dortmund was going to be something special, especially considering Spurs are young Master Hatt’s favourite team!

Filling Up Nicely

The logistics were simple, we flew into Amsterdam and then got the train via Arnhem to Duiven, where our chauffeur was waiting for us, Edwin, the owner of the excellent Een Mooie Dag restaurant in the town, where we were treated to a superb lunch pre departure.

Dortmund is around an hour and twenty minutes from Duiven and in double quick time we were in the car park located right next to the ground. After purchasing obligatory souvenirs, we made our way to the Strobels bar which sits on the North East corner of the stadium, a venue we have spent considerable time in on our previous visits. With plenty of time on our side we took up seats at the bar and soaked up the atmosphere as Spurs and Dortmund fans mingled in the bar and sang songs.

This is the beauty of German football for me, the culture is one of togetherness, celebration and enjoyment. Fans arrive at the grounds ridiculously early, but that is because of the atmosphere, the beer and the bratwurst, and at the same time the Police, while visible, are low key, they don’t herd supporters around, and as a result the atmosphere is boisterous but never threatening. This has helped to create a family feel to the day out, and with the pricing structure sensible, is it any wonder the stadiums in the Bundesliga are regularly sold out?

West Stand - Give Us A Song

With numerous German lagers inside us, we made our way to the seats which were in the nearby North West corner, almost directly over the corner flag, half way up the stand. The atmosphere was again, amazing, and the Dortmund version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is very special indeed.

Sadly for Dortmund though, they are not the side they were under Jurgen Klopp or Thomas Tuchel. Dutchman Peter Bosz has lead them to a top five place in the league this season, they won’t win it, and they certainly won’t be going any further in the Champions League.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave the hosts the lead but a confident Spurs side, who seemed to be playing within themselves, came out of the traps with more purpose in the second period.

The Subtribune - No Better Sight

Harry Kane finished well before great work from Dele Alli set up Son Heung-Min to put the ball into the top corner. Spurs were comfortable at this stage, Dortmund were out of ideas, they simply weren’t good enough, and sadly, to be in that position of not being good enough, is not where they should be.

It’s the Europa League or bust for Dortmund now, and after drawing 4-4 with Schalke a few days later after being 4-0 up, the knives are out for Peter Bosz. But, the crowds continue to turn out in huge numbers, the Sudtribune remains one of the most impressive sights in football on a matchday with the colour and the noise, and with a restricted 65,000 in the ground for the Spurs game and then close to 85,000 attending league games, this is a support base that deserves better than they are currently getting.

Cue The Theme Tune

The exit from the car park was quite straightforward, and pretty soon we were on the motorway, with a stash of beer, sausage and cheese to accompany us on the journey back. The Football Weekend was truly underway, and we’ll never tire of our trips to Dortmund, which for me is the best football day out you can experience, bar none.

If you get the chance to visit, grab it with both hands, my words barely do it justice, it has to be simply experienced for yourself.

“May Your Dreams Be Tossed and Turned……”   

Spurs Out In Force In The North East Corner

Hunting For Hampsthwaite

Hampsthwaite United  4  Kirkby Malzeard  0

Harrogate & District Whitworth Cup

Sometimes you see the name of a football club and your first thought is “where?”

Following the West Yorkshire League’s pre-season growth strategy of ‘attracting’ three teams from the Harrogate & District League, namely Kirk Deighton Rangers, Knaresborough Celtic and indeed Hampsthwaite United, it was the latter one that caused the curiosity.

I knew where Knaresborough was and had a pretty good handle on Kirk Deighton, but Hampsthwaite? Not a clue.

Google Maps is a wonderful thing, unless you make a living out of producing road atlases, so after a little bit of research I’d found a tiny village to the North West of Harrogate, and judging by the amount of green on the satellite view, my gut feel was that this was going to be a pretty scenic area. I mean, when your neighbouring village is called Kettlesing Bottom, what’s not to admire?

It wasn’t going to be the quickest journey in the World, in fact the thought of it rejuvenated memories of the time I went to Oxenhope Recreation and despite it being on the outskirts of Keighley, it felt like I needed to take three changes of clothes, a tent and some Kendal Mint Cake to survive!

St John Fisher Backdrop

The League Handbook hit the website and that was when it threw a slight curveball. St John Fisher Catholic High School 3G, in Harrogate. I will admit my heart sank a little, but at the same time it did throw up a couple of positives, a 3G meant games would be on when others weren’t, and furthermore, I could do it by train and have a little drinkiepoos!

It was all planned for early September, but it was thwarted at the last minute when my mate Mark delivered the crushing blow of the all UK rail pass, gratis. I had a choice, Harrogate on the train for free, or a double at Maidenhead and Slough, also free? Sorry Hampsthwaite, you lost on that occasion, but if you skip back on my blog and search out Golden Ticket (Parts 1 & 2) you’ll see I had a very splendid time with lashings of all things good in the World.

Matters have complicated further over the past couple of months, I began to notice from the clubs Twitter feed that games were being moved to Harrogate Town’s ground, so I had to do a bit of homework by contacting the club. They were very helpful, the two clubs have a close relationship and indeed share the same sponsor, so they have an arrangement whereby if Town are away, they can use the ground if they wish.

It's A Cage - They All Are Nowadays

Town were at home to Boston United today, so the game couldn’t be moved, it was time to head to Harrogate, but by car. You see, I’ve got a week watching football and drinking in Holland and Germany looming, so to have gone out on the lash today would not have done domestic relations any good whatsoever. Mind you, when I get back I’ve got a cheeky little trip to Nottingham on the public transport radar!

I’ve not been to Harrogate for years, I think the last time was when I was reporting for the Derby Telegraph and went to cover a game against Belper Town. I can remember being caught out because at the point where I was supposed to be ringing the teams through to the Green Un copytakers, I was still in the bar finishing my pint, it wasn’t received well at Northcliffe House when I asked for a couple of minutes to down my lager!

It was the same season that Harrogate Town won the UniBond First Division and I got a request from Radio Leeds to cover their game at Belper, and that was an interesting night as it was the game that clinched them promotion. Having to report from the point of view of the opposition was not an easy job, but an experience all the same, I lost count of the number of Leeds United references I managed to get in!

But It's A Nice Cage - In A Lovely Location!

I’d forgotten just how bad the traffic is getting into Harrogate. Technology took me via the edges of Knaresborough, past Celtic’s ground and across the chaotic Wetherby Road, where solace was sought at the Woodlands pub which sat on the junction of Wetherby Road and Hookstone Drive.

St John Fisher School sits on Hookstone Drive which is a long East / West artery on the South side of the town, and if you did want to travel by train then Hornbeam Park is only a few minutes away. I’m not sure how frequent the service is, but I’m pretty sure there’ll be at least one a day to satisfy anyone of that volition.

The school itself is a mixture of the old and the new, but the old part is the most impressive, providing a backdrop to the sports pitches to the rear. I arrived a bit earlier than planned due to some confusion over the kick off time. I’d had a text from the helpful club secretary the night before suggesting it was 2pm, but the away side tweeted that morning to say it was 1.30pm.

It turned out to be 1.30pm, but I spoke to the referee who couldn’t understand why? The game would go straight to penalties anyway so light wouldn’t be an issue, plus, the floodlights were on, so light was never going to be a problem anyway? Anyway, mine is not to question why…..

Even When It's Cloudy - It's Still Nice

The hosts beat lower ranked Kirkby Malzeard 4-0, although the visitors from North of Ripon put up a decent showing. It was the quality of the Hampsthwaite finishing that made all the difference, in front of goal they were pretty clinical, especially when they started to take their manager’s advice and get the ball into wide areas.

Hampsthwaite’s league form has been a little indifferent so far, so it’s hard to judge them, but on the day they were comfortable victors. I understand though that the club are ambitious and want to progress through the leagues, and I’m sure they have a plan as to how they are going to achieve that.

Whether that plan involves staying in Harrogate, or a return to Hampsthwaite, I can’t answer. I do hope it’s a return to their home, the tent will be ready for an airing by next August!  

Struggling For Inspiration Now

A Very Modern Miracle

Burton Albion  1  Sheffield United  3

English Football League – Championship

In a football sense, what constitutes a miracle?

Leicester City winning the Premier League possibly? Maybe Nottingham Forest winning the Football League and two European Cup’s in consecutive seasons?

Or, perhaps it’s the rise of Wimbledon from non-league to winning the FA Cup, and on the same vein, Wigan Athletic doing exactly the same, albeit over a much longer time span?

In literary terms, one of the great stories was charted in the book ‘The Miracle of Castel di Sangro’ whereby writer Joe McGinnis spent a season following the minnows of Italian football who confounded the odds and made it to Serie B. I guess as well, you could have an argument for TSG Hoffenheim in Germany who have made it to the Champions League, after being nothing more than a village club playing in the fifth tier. However, the Hoffenheim story owes an awful lot to one man’s money.

For me, one of the greatest modern day miracles happened in May 2016 when Burton Albion were promoted to the Championship, the second tier of English football. But to really understand the magnitude of the achievement, it is worth examining the timeline of a club and charting where they came from.

When I first watched the Brewers in the late Seventies, they had just moved from the First Division North of the Southern League, into the Northern Premier League. At that time, that would have been the second tier of non-league football, so in simple terms, it was the sixth level nationally.

Crowds were decent at the old Eton Park, typically in the high hundreds, and for a bigger game, four figures was commonplace. Neil Warnock was manager of the Brewers at the time, and one game that stands out for me was an FA Cup First Round tie against Windsor & Eton that they lost 2-1. The atmosphere that day was incredible. Burton were a renowned cup side as well, with a game against Leicester City in the 3^rd Round of the FA Cup hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons due to crowd trouble at the Baseball Ground.

A move back to the Southern League came in 1987, and to be fair, in the fourteen seasons they spent in that competition, two second placed finishes came in the final two seasons, but that was as good as it got for a club that flattered to deceive.

The Home End

By now, Nigel Clough had arrived, and a decision was made to move back to the Northern Premier League for the start of the 2001-02 season. They won the league at a canter, losing just two games, amassing 104 points and scoring 106 goals. Promotion to the Conference had been achieved, a status that had been many years in the waiting for a club that many considered to be a sleeping giant.

It was in the early seasons of the Conference that the club moved to the impressive Pirelli Stadium which was effectively just over the road from the old Eton Park. Combined with that, it was in January 2006 when an event happened which unquestionably shaped what was to be the immediate future of Burton Albion Football Club.

A run to the Third Round of the FA Cup saw Albion draw the might of Manchester United at home. In front of the TV cameras they performed a minor miracle in holding the Red Devils to a 0-0 draw, thus earning a money spinning replay at Old Trafford. Albion lost the replay 5-0 in front of a full house, but it mattered not, financially the goalposts had moved hugely.

The club missed out in the Conference Play Off’s in 2008, but the 2008-09 season was to be a record breaking one. Under Clough’s leadership the Brewers stormed to a huge lead at the top of the table, to the point where some bookmakers paid out with months of the season still to go. Clough left the club and was appointed into the hot seat at Derby County, Roy McFarland was given the task of steering the ship home.

Pyro's Greet The Opening Blades Goal

He very nearly sank the ship! I was at a rammed Pirelli Stadium for the last home against Oxford United where the title could have been sealed, a 1-0 defeat put paid to that, so it went down to the final game at Torquay, results went in the Brewers favour and the nailbiting end to the season was over. Burton Albion were a Football League club.

The club spent six seasons in League Two, twice missing out in Play Off’s, and we were at the Final in 2014 when they narrowly lost 1-0 to Fleetwood Town at Wembley. The Championship finally came at something of a canter in 2014-15, and League One beckoned.

All expectations were exceeded in that inaugural League One season, Manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink took them to the summit and a returning Clough pushed them over the promotion line on the last day of the season at Doncaster Rovers. It was now the Championship, games against Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Wolves and Leeds United. This was going to be very different to the Southern League Division One North and away days at the likes of Barry Town and Wellingborough Town.

The club survived their first season in the Championship, finishing twentieth out of twenty four clubs. Both Derby and Forest were beaten at the Pirelli, while I was present on the night the Brewers came away from Pride Park with a point. It was an unthinkable result on an unthinkable occasion, and it was that night that really made me realise just how far this club has come. Oh what it must have been like to have started supporting the Brewers in the Seventies and to be now watching this?

This season has been tough as expected, and with Sheffield United due in town needing a win to return to the top of the league, it was time to witness a Championship game at the Pirelli for the first time.

Eton Park It Is'nt

What I like about a trip to the Pirelli is that the feel of the club is no different now than it was when they were a non-league club. Parking is easy, the local pubs friendly, getting tickets is not a problem as crowds of around 5,000 are well within the capacity of the stadium. The food and drink in the ground is good, the welcome is very hospitable and the fans, while passionate, are no bother at all. I said to my mate Mark (a United fan who couldn’t get a ticket for the away end), that it still felt like I was going to a game in the Conference when I sat in the bar, and I don’t for one minute ever expect that feeling to go away, and I suspect it’s the same for many Brewers fans.

United took the lead through a dodgy Billy Sharp penalty, but Matty Palmer scored a cracking equaliser from distance. Sharp beat the defence to make it 2-1, but then disaster struck when highly influential Blades midfielder Paul Coutts was stretchered off with a broken leg.

This seemed to knock United who weren’t as effective in large periods of the second half, but a third goal did eventually come via Leon Clarke who bundled the ball home.

United were worthy winners, and played with a certain confidence and swagger in the first period. Albion’s problem is scoring goals, they are a tight and well organised outfit but create few chances. Could their time in the Championship be up this season?

I suspect it will be, but I’m pretty sure few tears will be shed, because for most Albion fans, to have had two seasons playing at this level of football, would have been simply unthinkable all of the years ago, and even up until recently.

It is a modern day miracle, brought about by hard work, good judgment, sensible decisions and absolutely World class leadership by Chairman Ben Robinson.

Forget Leicester, Forest, Wimbledon and the likes, this achievement is as good, if not better than any seen before in modern day football. Maybe when normality sets in (whatever that may look like), only then will the footballing World begin to understand the magnitude of what they have been witnessing.

Until then…….  

The Packed Blades End