Damage In The Box!: VITESSE ARNHEM (Gelredome)

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

VITESSE ARNHEM (Gelredome)

EREDIVISIE, VITESSE ARNHEM 0-2 AZ ALKMAAR, ATTENDANCE: 18,200

Tonight was the beginning of a jaunt across The Netherlands to take in four games/grounds in four days. The journey began in Arnhem, a city synonymous with Operation Market Garden during World War II.

The British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were given the task of securing the bridge at Arnhem. The units were parachuted into the area on 17 September 1944. They were dropped far from the bridge and never met their objective.

A small force managed to make their way as far as the bridge but encountered stiff resistance from the German SS Panzer divisions, which had been stationed around the city. The forces at the bridge eventually ran out of ammunition and were captured on 21 September and a full withdrawal of the remaining forces was made on 26 September. These events were dramatised in the film 'A Bridge Too Far'.

I also paid my respects by visiting the War Cemetery in Oosterbeek, which contains the graves of most of those killed during the September landings. Quite a sobering experience.

As a tribute, the rebuilt bridge was renamed 'John Frost-bridge'
after the commander of the paratroopers

Back to more trivial matters, it was a 10 minute bus ride from the main train station to Gelredome stadium. Opened in 1998, as a replacement the Monnikenhuize Stadion (where Norwich City played in their famous 1993/94 UEFA cup run) the ground has a retractable roof (which was closed tonight) and a pitch that can also be retracted when concerts or other events are being held at the stadium.

There were no issues with tickets and they were readily available to buy on the night.

Once in the ground, It was a strange sensation watching the match as it felt as if I was watching a game in a leisure centre!

The atmosphere was pretty good until AZ Alkmaar took a 2 goal lead before half time. An own goal from on loan Chelsea player Patrick van Aanholt (20) and an Aron Johannsson (42) effort gave the visitors a comfortable lead.

At the interval lots of home fans began to drift away and the game petered out in the second period as Vitesse never looked like getting back into the game. The loss was their 3rd straight defeat and seriously put a dent in their title aspirations.