SV EINTRACHT TRIER (Moselstadion)

REGIONALLIGA SUDWEST, EINTRACHT TRIER 0-1 WALDHOF MANNHEIM, ATTENDANCE: 1,375

After much deliberation I decided to join a couple of fellow groundhoppers on another European weekend that involved taking in three games in three countriesin 39 hours. A new route from Birmingham to Luxembourg was launched last year and this was the first time I had taken advantage of this. From Luxembourg City there are a myriad of doubles and trebles available within Luxembourg, Saarland and Lorraine.





So for this particular treble, the first port of call was the city of Trier in southern Germany.

The direct train from Luxembourg to Trier took less than one hour so there was time to pay a visit to the famous city attraction, Porta Nigra, the UNESCO world heritage site, which is a Roman city gate dating back to 200AD.

From there it is a 20 minute walk to the Moselstadion where today the local football club Eintracht Trier were hosting Waldhof Mannheim in a Regionalliga Sudwest game. 

As we approached the ground we noted the heavy police presence surrounding the visiting fans, which made us ponder as to whether Waldhof Mannheim have a bit of reputation?

It seemed a bit much for an end of season dead rubber as the game had nothing riding on it. After losing 2-1 to Stuttgarter Kickers last weekend, Trier's bid to avoid the drop into the Oberliga for the first time since 2009 was unsuccessful, whilst Mannheim's bid to win the title for the second year in succession failed but they have secured runners up spot and a place in the promotion play-offs for 3.Liga (they lost to Regionlliga West champions Sportfreunde Lotte in last season's promotion play-offs).

The Eintracht Trier in existence today was formed in 1948 after a merger of SV Westmark 05 Trier and SV Eintracht 06 Trier. The highest level the club have reached is the second tier of German football as on two occasions they have had a spell in 2.Bundesliga.

The first period was from 1976 to 1981, when the league was split into north and south, but when the two leagues merged in 1981, Trier missed the cut and were dropped back into the Oberliga. They were back in the 2.Bundesliga in 2002 but were relegated after three seasons. The club dropped to the fourth tier of German football in 2006 and have remained there since, but will obviously start next season in the fifth tier of German football.

The Moselstadion, built on the banks of the river Mosel that flows through the city, is another superb example of grounds that can be found in the lower reaches of German football. 

Originally opened in 1930 the ground has a capacity of around 10,000. There is a large seated main stand, with wooden benches in the lower section. The other the three sides of the ground are terracing, of with one side is covered. Tremendous set up, even allowing for the athletics track!

The drinks kiosk was doing a roaring trade in bottles of Bitburger as the famous brewery which started brewing in Bitburg, a city which is just 25 miles north of Trier. I had to partake in a couple. It would have been rude not to.

The game was watchable enough as both teams went on the attack but the end product was woeful, especially from the visitors. On another day Mannheim could have scored three or four goals but they were let down by some poor finishing. However they did finally find the net three minutes from the end when a headed clearance dropped into path of Sebastian Gärtner who shot home from inside the area. The result meant Trier finished second bottom of the league and went down with a whimper. Waldhof will now play Regionalliga Nord Champions SV Meppen in the play-offs.