Was in Germany this weekend as well with three of my mates and our sons. We went to see Koln v SV Sandhausen at 1.30 on Saturday and then headed off for the evening match Fortuna Dusseldorf v Nurnberg. Both good stadiums, decent atmospheres and very cheap ticket prices (I think 13 euros for Koln which included free public transport). Group of Sunderland fans behind us as Fortuna, enjoyed swapping stories of Wembley with them.
Last year we did Inter v somebody and Bologna v Juve. The Inter experience wasn't that great as we were sat amongst ultras. Lots of monkey noises and a generally unpleasant edge.
The Thai River Police were good to watch against a team that I've forgotten. I think they lost 4-0. It convinced me not to commit any crimes on rivers in Thailand as their tackling was ruthless, to say the least. I also saw Manchester United beat the Malaysian Under 20 XI by 8-0. It took me a while to realise what was weird about the atmosphere in the ground. Then, I worked it out. The crowd cheered when either team attacked as they were supporting both sides. As the scoreline suggests, the Malaysian youngsters didn't attack too often.
Some great stuff on here, does show just how different football is in England in comparison to abroad. Atmosphere, travel, prices, etc.
Definitely think that we would be naive to not try to learn and adopt ways that are done abroad to make our game even better. I’m not suggesting an integration of supporters in the stands, but more the prices, the beer and the food at your seats/standing areas, the travel, there is a lot that we can improve.
@Jints made a great point about the price that included free transport, it was the same at Mainz. 16€ for the match ticket which included transport on the official shuttle to and from the stadium and main railway station, it also is included for the trains, underground and trams. Very good.
Seen lots in Spain in the top four divisions and have a season ticket for third division Union Adarve but to be honest it's probably conference level at best. The main difference is how they still play it out from the back, no matter the level or actual quality. Very rare to see many long balls. I enjoy the crowd here as well and have learned far more Spanish from football grounds than any classes!
Apart from that watched loads when I was living in Prague fifteen years ago - Sparta, Slavia, Zizkov and Bohemians. Seen some games in Slovakia and Estonia as well and also saw Beckham's debut for LA Galaxy vs New York Red Bulls in 2007.
I travelled a fair bit with Deportivo La Coruña back in my single days. i had a great night out in Bilbao where the noisier fans even ended up on the same terrace behind the goal with nothing amiss, and a big drink up together afterwards, to a cup winners cup quarter final in Zaragoza where we seriously wondered whether we would get out of the city in one piece - nasty fans in Zaragoza. My last match was last season in Espanyol's new ground in Cornella. I don't know why but they have moved the away fans from the corner where the scoreboard was right up into a top corner with no roof (it was a horribly hot lunchtime) with fish netting between us and the match which was a serious pain in the butt). My general feeling here is that the fans generally mix well (but there are seriously dodgy exceptions) but that the atmousphere can be lacking - both Barcelona and Real Madrid are probably the worst examples, while Bilbao and espanyol are much more boisterous.
Went to Sparta Prague vs Slavia Prague in 98, which i think ive posted about before. Dirt cheap to get in, beers allowed while you watched the game, pretty awful right wing support and several fights witnessed! Got a CAFC pin badge outside the ground which cost more than my match ticket! An interesting experience.
Barcelona vs Athletico Bilbao, early 2000's i guess. AB won 2-1, despite the ref giving everything to Barca. The home fans were restless and were waiving white hankies! Rivaldo came off the bench and scored an overhead kick, which was special, but the atmosphere was shit tbh. More noise at Oldham! Wasnt impressed with the nou camp at all, which may surprise a few people!
Not a league game but the WCSF at Dortmund in 2006 - Germany vs Italy. An incredible night, but I didnt fully appreciate it as I'd been in Germany for a week by that point and was a shadow of the man I was when I landed haha!
Utrecht vs Charlton at the beginning of Dowie's reign. 2-2 i think? There was a plastic wall seperating us from the home fans, and when utrecht scored some geezer on their side dropped his kecks and pressed his bare arse up against the wall. Unique. Couldn't stop laughing for about an hour afterwards! I appreciate this wasnt a league game either, but thought I'd share the story!
Many games around Europe & North America. I went to see Benfica play at the time we bought Martin Pringle - wrote an article in GBH about it. I had a Portuguese contact who turned out to be one of the leading Ultras. The Missus - not the world’s biggest football fan - wasnt too impressed that we ended up in the Ultra section - a seething mass of extremely drunk/stoned & belligerent hoodlums. Makes me laugh when i see those muppets a Selhurst pretending they are cut from the same cloth.
Went to see Atletico Madrid v Qarabag in the Champions League, the game itself was dull with a great equalizer from Atletico and two sendings off to liven it up, but I enjoyed the experience. It was only the fourth or fifth home game at the new ground, which is in the arse-end of nowhere, so they didn't have a road into the stadium yet, just a sort of bit of scrub desert. Don't know how it looks now, but this is how it looked in the day before the evening game:
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Last year we did Inter v somebody and Bologna v Juve. The Inter experience wasn't that great as we were sat amongst ultras. Lots of monkey noises and a generally unpleasant edge.
Plans for the Netherlands next year.
Definitely think that we would be naive to not try to learn and adopt ways that are done abroad to make our game even better. I’m not suggesting an integration of supporters in the stands, but more the prices, the beer and the food at your seats/standing areas, the travel, there is a lot that we can improve.
@Jints made a great point about the price that included free transport, it was the same at Mainz. 16€ for the match ticket which included transport on the official shuttle to and from the stadium and main railway station, it also is included for the trains, underground and trams. Very good.
And Bohemians V Shamrock Rovers a few years ago when I was working in Dublin. Pretty poor standard and the ground was a wreck, only 2 sides open.
Apart from that watched loads when I was living in Prague fifteen years ago - Sparta, Slavia, Zizkov and Bohemians. Seen some games in Slovakia and Estonia as well and also saw Beckham's debut for LA Galaxy vs New York Red Bulls in 2007.
Barcelona vs Athletico Bilbao, early 2000's i guess. AB won 2-1, despite the ref giving everything to Barca. The home fans were restless and were waiving white hankies! Rivaldo came off the bench and scored an overhead kick, which was special, but the atmosphere was shit tbh. More noise at Oldham! Wasnt impressed with the nou camp at all, which may surprise a few people!
Not a league game but the WCSF at Dortmund in 2006 - Germany vs Italy. An incredible night, but I didnt fully appreciate it as I'd been in Germany for a week by that point and was a shadow of the man I was when I landed haha!
Utrecht vs Charlton at the beginning of Dowie's reign. 2-2 i think? There was a plastic wall seperating us from the home fans, and when utrecht scored some geezer on their side dropped his kecks and pressed his bare arse up against the wall. Unique. Couldn't stop laughing for about an hour afterwards! I appreciate this wasnt a league game either, but thought I'd share the story!