HALLESCHER FC (Kurt Wabbel Stadion)

3.LIGA, HALLESCHER FC 2-1 VfL OSNABRUCK, ATTENDANCE: 5,328

The final leg of this weekend's trip took me East to the former DDR city of Halle an der Salle. I had been here previously back in May when visting the othe team in the city, VfL Halle.



Destination this time was the Erdgas Sportpark, or Kurt Wabbel Stadion as it used to be known. The ground has been redeveloped in recent years into a modern sports ground. Only the outer wall remains from the original stadium (click here).

Hallescher played in the East German top flight until reunification before suffering the fate of many former East German teams by dropping down the leagues. In 2012 though they finally returned to the upper echelons of professional football by clinching the Regionalliga Nord title and with it promotion to Liga 3.

The origins of the club can be traced back to 1900 but the club in it's current form was founded in 1966 as FC Chemie Halle. This is when the football club broke away from it's parent sports club. The Chemie was dropped in 1990 but remains the clubs nickname.

Today's game was a great advert for 3 Liga football. though Hallescher really should have had the game wrapped up by half time.  Marco Engelhardt (13) gave the homesters the lead before proceeding to miss a hatful of chances, including an effort that rattled the crossbar.
Hallescher finally made it 2-0 after 36 minutes through a Tim Kruse header. The chances continued after the break but Hallescher proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot by conceding after 64 minutes when Massimo Ornatelli fired home a free kick for Osnabruck.

Osnabruck found themselves down to 10 men when Dominic Rau was shown a second yellow card. Despite being a man down they piled the pressure on the Hallescher defence but just couldn't find the breakthrough.

So my latest German football trip was at its end. Post match I managed to join the crowds in the city centre as the Halle Christmas market got underway. More Gluhwein on which to end proceedings....

SV DARMSTADT 98 (Stadion am Böllenfalltor)

2.BUNDESLIGA, SV DARMSTADT 0-0 KARLSRUHER SC, ATTENDANCE: 15,200

For the second instalment of this weekends German trilogy I, along with a group of friends, headed south to the state of Hesse as SV Darmstadt faced Karlsruher in a second division clash.

SV Darmstadt 98 were founded in 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt before merging with Darmstädter Sport Club 1905 to become SportVerein Darmstadt 98.

Darmstadt had two seasons in the Bundesliga (1978–79 and 1981–82) but in recent times the club has seen plenty of struggles. Financial problems led to relegation to the Oberliga Hessen in 2007 and in March 2008 Darmstadt entered insolvency proceedings with debts of over €1 million.

Darmstadt were still promoted to the Regionalliga Süd in May 2008 and undertook various measures to avert bankcruptcy, such as a friendly against Bayern Munich, but investors financial contributions eventually secured the club's future.

Since then the club has risen through the leagues, though in 2013 the club was initially relegated from 3.Liga but Kickers Offenbach was refused a licence for the new season and relegated to the Regionalliga instead.

In 2014 Darmstadt finished third in league and beat Arminia Bielefeld in the play offs, on away goals, to secure promotion to 2. Bundesliga. They are currently 3rd in table and could be on course for a return to the top flight for the first time in 32 years.

Disproving the idea that the trains in Germany always run on time, due to a delay we missed our connection at Frankfurt and were late getting into Darmstadt. After dumping our stuff at our hotel we jumped on a bus to the ground which then proceeded to crash into the back of a car en-route, which meant walking the last few metres on foot.

The Stadion am Böllenfalltor, which has been Darmstadt's home since 1921, is simply a fantastic example of a proper old school ground with it's vast open terraces. Sadly, the stadium in it's current form is doomed as it is due to be redeveloped within the next couple of years.

My tickets were in the guest section and this meant a 15 minute walk through the woods to the entrance as you could not directly walk around the stadium. This meant arriving with minutes to spare before kick off but luckily it also meant missing out on hearing the fans sing THAT bloody song!

There was plenty of perspiration but no inspiration in a match sadly lacking in clear cut chances. It was quite obvious from early on that this game had nil-nil written all over it. The closest either side came to scoring was in the first half when Darmstadt goalkeeper Christian Mathenia pulled off a tremendous save to deny Karslruher's Daniel Gordon.

The game was held up for a couple of minutes in the second half when the Karsruher fans decided to put on a pyrotechnic display (click here) I got a great view from where I was stood.

Post match it was a taxi back into the city centre where we ended up in a bar recommended to us by my mate's Darmstadt supporting friend. It was Kareoke night and, as the beer went down, I was coerced into doing my finest Johnny Logan impression. Luckily for the bar owners, I didn't empty the place!

VfL WOLFSBURG (Volkswagen Arena)

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP H, VfL WOLFSBURG 0-2 EVERTON,
ATTENDANCE: 23,375

Another November weekend, another European adventure! This time it involved my beloved Blues as I joined the 5,000 or so Everton fans making the trip to Germany.

I had been advised by many a groundhopper that there is not much going on in Wolfsburg as nothing really exists beyond the Volkswagen car factory (incidentally the biggest of it's kind in the world). The city was only founded in 1938 specifically to house workers of the newly built factories. They would build the iconic Beetle car.

I therefore based myself in nearby Hannover. The 'Weihnachtsmarkt' had started the previous Monday so there was a stall outside the main train station doing a roaring trade in Gluhwein, so that set the ball rolling regards pre-match beverages!

I met up with my friends from Hamburg and we took the train to Wolfsburg. We got chatting, and shared a bottle of beer, with a 'Wolfie' fan on the way. My mate reckoned he was part of their Ultras but I found this hard to believe as he was wearing a 'half 'n' half' scarf' in my eyes that only means one thing....

After a few more beers in a Wolfsburg supporters bar, that was rammed with fellow Evertonians, we made the short 15 minute walk to the ground. The Volkswagen Arena was opened in 2002 and has a capacity of 30,000 but that was slightly reduced to 26,000 tonight as the terracing is converted to seating for European games.

I was sat in amongst the home fans, but like Nuremburg in 2007, they were very friendly and there was absolutely no hint of any trouble. The police and stewards kept a watchful eye, but at a distance. Maybe they could have a word with their French counterparts?

The Everton fans inside the stadium made a great noise

Wolfsburg, Bundesliga champions as recently as 2009, were in good form prior to this game and were second in the table to Bayern Munchen. This would be a tough test for Everton.

It was a consummate away from the Toffees as Wolfsburg dominated possession and had more of the chances, albeit mostly long range efforts, but Everton clinically finished them off with two counter attacking goals.

Admittedly Everton rode their luck at times, especially when a linesman incorrectly ruled out an Ivan Perisic header, but the back four held firm.

Romelu Lukaku gave Everton the lead after 43 minutes when he beat the defender and burst through beat Diego Benaglio in the Wolfsburg goal.

At half time the result of the Lille v Krasnador game came through meaning both Everton and Wolfsburg were through regardless, but it would be nice to top the group and the Blues ensured that happened after 73 minutes when Lukaku played through Kevin Mirallas who sealed the victory.

Eto'o! Eto'o!

Post match we returned to the supporters bar where we were pre-match only this time the shots were flowing along with the beer. The landlady was also happy to join us for a few as well!

We caught the last train back to Hannover, where I met a few old mates from Work/School - small world isn't it? - before collapsing into bed in the wee small hours. Another great Everton European away trip.

KING BAUDOUIN STADIUM (Belgium v Wales)

UEFA EURO 2016 QUALIFYING GROUP B, BELGIUM 0-0 WALES,
ATTENDANCE: 55,000

It was time for the main event as I made my way from Grote Markt  to The King Baudouin Stadium in the north of Brussels.

The stadium is forever remembered for the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985 when 39 football fans lost their lives at the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus. Their fans were separated by a neutral block, set aside for Belgian fans. This block however was filled with Juventus fans and before kick off both sets of fans began baiting each other, throwing missiles at each other (including bits of the crumbling terrace). Liverpool fans then charged at the Juventus fans and as they fled a wall blocking their escape collapsed on top of them.

There is a memorial in the corner of the ground where the tragedy occurred. It is a sundial with 39 lights and there is a plaque with the names of the victims.

The stadium has been completely rebuilt since those events of May 29th 1985 and was renamed after the Belgian monarch who died in 1993.

This Euro qualifier was a highly anticipated game and tickets for the Wales end were seriously oversubscribed. The allocation of 2,400 were quickly snapped up and it is estimated a further 1,000 travelled without tickets.

Wales have a great start to qualifying, winning two and drawing one of their three games but tonight was to be a big test against the team ranked 4th in FIFA's ranking.

It was a fantastic, back to the walls, performance from the boys in yellow as they held out to gain what may prove to be a valuable point. As you can imagine Belgium had most of the possession, Eden Hazard weaving his magic, and most of the chances with Nicolas Lombaerts hitting the post.

Wayne Henessey was also in top form, pulling off some fine saves. Christian Benteke had a chance to win the game in stoppage time but the Welsh defence held firm. Inevitably Wales' best chance came through Gareth Bale but he dragged his effort wide.
A fine result and the Welsh fans celebrated with gutso as they dispersed in the Brussels night.