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Experiences of Foreign League Games

So whilst most of you were either at AFC Wimbledon yesterday or following the game online, I am in Frankfurt this weekend so as they’re away at Hannover today, I was at my first league game on foreign soil yesterday. Mainz 05 v Schalke 04 for my first German Bundesliga match.

The atmosphere was great and so different to England, I was behind the goal where the big Mainz fans were, but what struck me too was how mixed the Mainz and Schalke fans were before and after the game. Prior they were all singing and drinking together and after the game when Mainz had won 3-0 they were just as integrated all getting on the shuttle back to the main station. You’d never really get that here, not without it kicking off somewhere.

I was however still following the Charlton result yesterday on the way back from the game and celebrated Igor’s winner on the train, much to the surprise and strange looks I got from the German Mainz and Schalke fans! 

Has anyone got any experiences or stories from times abroad where you have caught a game?

With it being so different at times in comparison to back home and following Charlton, I thought it would be interesting to hear other experiences people may have had. Good, bad, funny, whatever they might be.
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  • Went to Sevilla vs Betis, one of the biggest derbies in Spain, a couple of years ago. A couple of thousand Betis supporters tucked in the corner but also plenty in the home areas proudly wearing their Betis shirts and presumably attending with Sevilla-supporting friends and family. Can't imagine there were many Liverpool shirts display in the Stretford End today.

    Also went to Villarreal vs Real Madrid. Dragged myself up about 5 flights of stairs and was delighted to find,, just before I reached the summit, some CAFC graffiti scrawled on one of the steps.
  • Went to Flint Town Utd v Rhyl last weekend, does that count?
  • MrLargo said:
    Went to Sevilla vs Betis, one of the biggest derbies in Spain, a couple of years ago. A couple of thousand Betis supporters tucked in the corner but also plenty in the home areas proudly wearing their Betis shirts and presumably attending with Sevilla-supporting friends and family. Can't imagine there were many Liverpool shirts display in the Stretford End today.

    Also went to Villarreal vs Real Madrid. Dragged myself up about 5 flights of stairs and was delighted to find,, just before I reached the summit, some CAFC graffiti scrawled on one of the steps.
    Betis is the team in Seville for the locals. I think they regard their rivals as a bit plastic. A bit Palarse like.
     I was very disappointed with the whole day when I watched Sevilla, couldn’t even buy a beer to lessen the boredom.
  • Went to a match in Holland last year. The main things I took from it was the ‘bring your entire family including those who play games on their tablets for the whole game’, the number of spliffs on show ( you could get a buzz just taking a deep breath) the beers you could enjoy as you watched the game, and the incredible number of people who went back home on their bicycles after the match!  
    I enjoyed the experience tbf, but it was definitely different to here.
  • Been to a few Italian league games. Great atmosphere in all of them along with some behaviour that wouldn't be acceptable here!
  • @Sage Interesting post, glad you got to the game. Good mate is a Frankfurt fan, when he found out I was passing through one weekend he said that he would take me to Mainz - Frankfurt, which is a derby. Despite being a season ticket holder and pretty well off he couldn't get tickets, and we watched it in a pub. Which in a way is positive. The right people getting the tickets in Germany.

    So being out here a long time, here is my problem with Czech league games, actually all the games: The crowd isn't as engaged with all the action as a British crowd is. We Brits cheer every corner, every tackle, every track back by a forward. Did you feel that German crowd was doing that? I still haven't been to a big German game, only to Jena, so I don't know, but Czech crowds are generally a bit cynical if the game isn't a big one. They wait for the team to do something worth getting excited about, like scoring a goal.

    I'm also not keen on this ultra choreography shit where they keep up a racket all game, regardless of what's happening, led by a bloke with a speaker with his back to the game. WTF? And then there are the bloody flares.
    My neighbour has proudly sent me this from today's Sparta game against their old foes, Banik Ostrava. I dunno. I suppose it looks impressive, but...I mean suppose the opposition scores while you are doing all that. You look a right bunch of berks then, dontcha? 
    Great stuff @PragueAddick

    Thankfully there were still quite a few seats available yesterday but I would assume the derby between Frankfurt and Mainz would be far busier.

    I thought the two guys with the speaker/microphone were a little annoying at times but on the whole, it was a different atmosphere and really got the rest of the crowd going. Mainz also sing You’ll Never Walk Alone in English and play in red and white, which was odd too but quite cool.

    Regarding the comparison between getting behind tracking back and tackles, I think it wasn’t as much as us Brits, but it was still there. Especially at one point during the game yesterday, they really got behind every tackle and pressing the players done, this actually lead to the first goal.

    I’d be fascinated at how other countries do things and watch games in their culture, it was a good experience yesterday but can see how other countries would be more aggressive with flares etc. Security was hot yesterday as I wasn’t even allowed my bag in the ground, so I think that kind of stuff stops before even entering the ground.

    After yesterday, I would definitely recommend going to a German game and hope to go to other ones from different countries in future.
  • RedPanda said:
    I've been to about sixty abroad, I have a full list at work. 
    The best atmosphere I've had was Vasco da Gama 2-2 Fluminense in the last game before they tore town the old Maracana. 
    Most scared I've been is stepping off a train in Naples amid a near riot. Saw a taxi set on fire, fireworks got set off at those of us queuing to get in, we got chased down some side streets and I had some second hand tier gas. I did consider just finding a bar somewhere. 
    Legia Warsaw's fans may be the coolest. 4 large displays in 90 minutes and it finished nearly half an hour late due to their smoke and pyro. 
    My favourite ground is San Siro. Have been there 4 times. 
    Was in Rio during the close season and did the tour of the new Maracana, a very dull stadium. Also visited Vasco's home ground, which is magnificent (I think it's got some sort of listed building status) and situated in a really interesting neighbourhood. Definitely a priority next time I'm over there. 
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  • edited February 2019
    MrLargo said:
    RedPanda said:
    I've been to about sixty abroad, I have a full list at work. 
    The best atmosphere I've had was Vasco da Gama 2-2 Fluminense in the last game before they tore town the old Maracana. 
    Most scared I've been is stepping off a train in Naples amid a near riot. Saw a taxi set on fire, fireworks got set off at those of us queuing to get in, we got chased down some side streets and I had some second hand tier gas. I did consider just finding a bar somewhere. 
    Legia Warsaw's fans may be the coolest. 4 large displays in 90 minutes and it finished nearly half an hour late due to their smoke and pyro. 
    My favourite ground is San Siro. Have been there 4 times. 
    Was in Rio during the close season and did the tour of the new Maracana, a very dull stadium. Also visited Vasco's home ground, which is magnificent (I think it's got some sort of listed building status) and situated in a really interesting neighbourhood. Definitely a priority next time I'm over there. 
    Vasco's stadium looks scary from that airport road, really intimidating for away fans. 
    Of four games I found Brazilian atmospheres hit and miss - two real quality and two were poorly attended and pretty quiet. I think they're a bit more fair weather than say Argentine fans. Sadly there was no domestic football when I visited there (although I did see the national team at Monumental). 
  • RedPanda said:
    The best atmosphere I've had was Vasco da Gama 2-2 Fluminense in the last game before they tore town the old Maracana. 

    SImilar - best I had was at a cup final between Fluminense v Flamengo at the Maracana. We were in with the Mengo fans.
  • Been to quite a few games here in Australia. Boring as batshit, no atmosphere, so Ive given up.
  • I know it’s easy to say English fans are hooligans who couldn’t deal with not being segregated as well as foreign fans can, but I’m sure that’s only because they’ve been segregated for so long. I reckon if home and away fans were suddenly put together, after the novelty of being able to kick lumps out of each other has worn off, they would peacefully coexist just like German fans or any other fans.
  • edited February 2019
    JaShea99 said:
    I know it’s easy to say English fans are hooligans who couldn’t deal with not being segregated as well as foreign fans can, but I’m sure that’s only because they’ve been 2segregated for so long. I reckon if home and away fans were suddenly put together, after the novelty of being able to kick lumps out of each other has worn off, they would peacefully coexist just like German fans or any other fans.
    When I read your post I was going to 'lol' it.

    However, this could work for a lot of games, you only need to look at Fulham's neutral section which has been for about 5 years to see it can succeed.

    I do not think it could work all the time though.
  • Been to Barcelona - missed Messi as he was being rested between Champions League games, but watching Xavi and Iniesta live was amazing.  The angles they found and the speed of their passing was absolutely incredible.

    Tempted to jump on a Eurostar to watch Lille sometime.
  • I've only been to one foreign league game: West Coast v Collingwood at Subiaco Oval, 2007.

    It was West Coast's first home game of the season and the match at which they unfurled their third AFL Premiership flag after beating Sydney in the previous year's Grand Final.

    I was sat in the front row of the top deck of the Three Tiered Stand, behind the goals at the Subiaco End (right of screen for those who were watching on TV). It felt like a similar height to my seat in the back row of the Cupboard End but I couldn't see anything at the other end of the ground, it was so far away!

    Subiaco Oval was the longest ground in the AFL and to put the size into some perspective, The Valley pitch is 112 yards long (and 73 yards wide) whereas Subi was over 190 yards long (over 133 yards wide but still skinny by AFL standards). Thank goodness for the big screen as it meant that I could then see what was going on at the City End of the ground as I didn't have binoculars.

    An interesting feature of the scoreboard/big screen was a counter in the bottom corner that told you what the attendance was. It was linked to the turnstiles (electronic jobbies like we have now) and you could see that rising as people were entering the ground.
  • One difference you will notice abroad, definitely Italy and Germany, is that they actually serve decent tasty food in and outside their grounds!
  • Cologne v St Pauli many years ago.  Boring, even with Litbarski.

    Torino and Marseille last year.  Both great fun.
  • Only league games I have seen are at the Bernabeu. Saw Real stuff Bilbao 5-0 then get beaten 3-1 by Barca. Weird atmosphere at both games, barring the Ultras section very little engagement from the fans. Apart from the odd rendition of calling Barca whores the crowd were largely silent.

    Stuff being on the cleaning team afterwards as practically everyone's eating these bags of nuts and just chucking the shells on the floor.
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  • Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory with @Danepak.

    Quality very poor but games are pretty exciting and end to end in the A league. 

    Had the pleasure of sitting a few rows behind Kevin Muscat which kept me entertained. 
  • Wollongong Wolves v Bankstown City (NSW Premier League) in 2010

    Really nice venue, very little supporter interest yet based on the standard of Football am not surprised... Both teams got awarded penalties, both were taken by the Goalkeepers and unsurprisingly both missed!!
  • JaShea99 said:
    I know it’s easy to say English fans are hooligans who couldn’t deal with not being segregated as well as foreign fans can, but I’m sure that’s only because they’ve been segregated for so long. I reckon if home and away fans were suddenly put together, after the novelty of being able to kick lumps out of each other has worn off, they would peacefully coexist just like German fans or any other fans.
    Didn’t someone try having no segregation a couple of years ago, MK Dons maybe?
  • edited February 2019
    se9addick said:
    JaShea99 said:
    I know it’s easy to say English fans are hooligans who couldn’t deal with not being segregated as well as foreign fans can, but I’m sure that’s only because they’ve been segregated for so long. I reckon if home and away fans were suddenly put together, after the novelty of being able to kick lumps out of each other has worn off, they would peacefully coexist just like German fans or any other fans.
    Didn’t someone try having no segregation a couple of years ago, MK Dons maybe?
    Yeah was Dagenham v MK Dons

    Dont think it worked particularly well either

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2011/01/the_99p_football_match.html
  • Went to see a game in the Maltese league a couple of years ago, and there were about 20 fans present. Not even exaggerating 
  • Went to Real Mallorca v Villareal (sp) about 6 years ago...was in Majorca for the weekend and staying in Palma with some mates, it was the first game of their 'super sunday' triple header and a midday KO.

    we were absolutely hanging from the night before, walked to the ground, paid €50 each for a ticket to be seated in the open air (direct sunlight and it was scorching) saw a turgid 0-0 draw and the beer was non-alcoholic.

    found a bar after and watched Chelsea v Man Utd

  • edited February 2019
    se9addick said:
    JaShea99 said:
    I know it’s easy to say English fans are hooligans who couldn’t deal with not being segregated as well as foreign fans can, but I’m sure that’s only because they’ve been segregated for so long. I reckon if home and away fans were suddenly put together, after the novelty of being able to kick lumps out of each other has worn off, they would peacefully coexist just like German fans or any other fans.
    Didn’t someone try having no segregation a couple of years ago, MK Dons maybe?
    Fulham has a neutral area in the away end which is as close as having non-segregation.
  • Was in Frankfurt three years ago for work. Same weekend we played Brum away last game. Eintracht we’re away but FSV Frankfurt were at home to Aalen in Bundesliga 2. Cracking atmosphere, flags and non stop singing. Sat there with a beer in the sun. Had a bet in the first goal scorer and he did!! After the game you could get the usual food and drink but I opted for a Nutella and banana crepe. 😂
  • When I was 14, I saw Real Madrid beat Real Valladolid 4-2 at the Bernabeu, including a brace from Raul. Benzema looked like a donkey, and was outshone by the Valladolid counterpart - a certain Diego Costa. Atmosphere was alright, but the Madrid fans clearly just expected a win, and a load of them had left by the 80th minute or so, which was strange.

    My last two experiences, with "the lads", have been pretty crap, however:

    - Dortmund 2017: I was in the city, but not the stadium, as the famous Yellow Wall was shut for the one game I was gonna be there. We had tickets in that stand and missed out on a 3-0 win. We went to a battle of the bands in the evening, though, and one of the German dudes we met ate a whole lemon (peel included), so that was something.

    - Barcelona 2018: Nou Camp is pretty impressive, but we saw a genuinely turgid 0-0 against Getafe. Got mugged right off. Wasn't worth the 80 euro price tag by any stretch of the imagination.
  • Been to a few German and Italian games over the years, but my favorite weekend was when we managed to get 3 Italian games in 2 days. 

    Saturday we went to see Chievo v Caglieri, then on the Sunday we went to Atalanta v Roma in the day, followed by the Milan derby in the evening. We stayed in Milan, so the travel to each ground was simple enough. 

    Epic atmospheres, and beautiful grounds! As many have said above, the singing, atmosphere, fans, beer at your seat, etc really makes the Italian games special. 
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