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| Programme was free but note the wrong date |
As the 2013/14 season wheezed out it's last breath, a pal suggested a Bank Holiday weekend jaunt to Germany to round things off. With the main leagues all wrapped it up, it was time to watch some lower level stuff.
An early morning flight took us from Stansted to Nuremburg, then a local train took us 60 miles north to the town of Bayreuth. This northern Bavarian town is famous for Richard Wagner's opera house, where an annual festival of the composer's work takes place.
We were there not to indulge in any operatics but to see the local football team in action as SpVgg Bayreuth were aiming to finish the season in style after aleady wrapping up Bayernliga Nord (level 5 in Germany) title and, with that, promotion to the Bayern Regionalliga.
The club have been in existence since 1921 but the closest they have ever come to being put on the international map, so to speak, was losing the Bundesliga promotion play off in 1979.
I met up with friends who had travelled down from Hamburg and as you can imagine a few beers were consumed. They were still in state of relief after The Dinosaurs maintained their Bundesliga place last week after beating Greuther Furth in the relegation/promotion play off.
It was whilst we were sitting a bar by the Hauptbanhof the heavens opened, and I mean opened. The rain started to lash down and there were rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning. Suddenly the thought of a P-P (or V-V) rushed through my mind but there was no need to worry and the game went ahead.
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| The Championship celebrations start with a bang! |
The impressive Hans Walter Wild Stadion was rocking as the homesters seen off (just) an already relegated ASV Neumarkt to get the Championship party going.
The 'Old School' took the lead in the first minute thanks to Lorenz Hoffman. Sven Bauer equalised for Neumarkt in the 6th minute before Julian Pötzinger (33) gave Bayreuth a half time lead.
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| Free beer! Danke! |
Markus Auner (52) netted a second equaliser for Neumarkt before Thimothy Nicolaus (73) scored the winner for the Champions.
At the end of the game, and to no doubt help the celebrations, free beer was served to the fans on the terrace - a very nice gesture in my opinion!
At the end of the game we were invited back to the Bayreuth supporters club, where we were made most welcome. It is basically contained within an old factory close to the train station but it has a museum with an impressive archive. A woman, whose husband had died, gifted his collection to the fans and there is a superb selection of memorabilia, including every programme since the war. As a football anorak, it was a privilege just to be able to have a peek at some of the items on display. A great way to end another great day in Germany.
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| A lovely old pennant on the wall in the Bayreuth supporters club |
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