SG UNION SANDERSDORF (Sportzentrum Stadion)

OBERLIGA NOFV SUD, SG UNION SANDERSDORF 3-0 FSV BARLEBEN, ATTENDANCE: 300 (est)

After three games in the upper echelons of German football, it was now time to drop down a few levels and watch some real stuff!

After watching RB Leipzig the previous evening I was based in the city of Leipzig for the night, so was looking for something close by. There were a few games in Berlin, but that would have taken me further away from where I needed to be for my Saturday game.

One fixture that caught my eye was the Oberliga Sud derby between SG Union Sandersdorf and FSV Barleben. A 30 minute train journey took me from Leipzig Messe to Bitterfeld, where a connecting bus service to Sandersdorf took a further 20 minutes.

Sandersdorf is a small village with a population of less than 10,000 people. Luckily where the bus dropped me off there was a bar where I was able to have a couple of liveners before heading over to the ground.

SG Union Sandersdorf was founded in 1911 as BC Union Sandersdorf, joining the Central German Football Association. In 1933 SV Sandersdorf joined the club then after the Second World War, when all German football clubs were disbanded, the club was reformed as SG Sandersdorf, later changing it's name to BSG Work Hermann Fahlke Sandersdorf.

In 1948 the club then became  BSG Aktivist Sandersdorf and in 1957 was forced to merge with BSG Chemie Wolfen and become the reserve team of that club (a common theme with East German clubs).

In 1959 the name was changed again to BSG Chemie Sandersdorf. Throughout the history of the old GDR, the club never played any higher than the Bezirksklasse leagues. After German reunification, the present name was adopted and in 2013 the club was promoted to the Oberliga Sud, where it still competes.

The club play at the Sportzentrum Stadion which, as the name suggests, is in the middle of the town. The ground is an athletics track surrounded by banks of terracing, of which in the middle of one side there are seats bolted on and covered. It was only this side of the ground that was open tonight.

Sandersdorf took the lead after 4 minutes when Felix Krause tapped home after an initial shot was saved. Barleben came back into the game and hit a well worked move wide and then a headed effort came back off the crossbar.


The home side also dragged a couple of efforts wide before extending their lead after 25 minutes when a corner kick hit the unfortunate Benjamin Karg (pictured right) and deflected into the net. Barleben were reduced to 10 men after 32 minutes when Phillip Linze was shown a straight red card for a foul.

Any hopes of a Barleben comeback were extinguished 25 seconds into the second half when Dan Lochmann scored to make it 3-0. After that the game petered out as both teams went through the motions. Luckily events off the pitch were more enjoyable as there was a young lady walking round with a tray full of ale, selling it to whoever wanted a cold beer. Naturally I could not resist!

The last bus back from Sandersdorf to Bitterfeld was at 2134 (and I was the only person on it) and I comfortably made the train back to Leipzig. All tucked up in bed before midnight and all set for my final leg of the week...

My player of the match!