1.FC NEUBRANDENBURG (Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion)

DFB POKAL 1, 1.FC NEUBRANDENBURG 1-3 KARLSRUHER SC, ATTENDANCE: 3,500

After waking up with a somewhat sore head, I boarded a train at Berlin hauptbanhof going north to Neubrandenburg (at this point I will shatter some illusions as the train journey took longer than expected due to delays, track closures and bus replacement services). 

The town of Neubrandenburg is about 85 miles north of Berlin and is an old medieval fortification and you can enter the town through one of four gates.

Ticket booth outside
1.FC Neubrandenburg's
normal home venue

Oberliga Nord 1.FC Neubrandenburg were taking on 2.Bundesliga Karlsruher SC in the DFB Pokal, my final game of my European jaunt. The reason for choosing this game above any others was the chance of a very rare "tick"

Neubrandenburg's Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion (another stadium named after the 19th century German gymnastics educator) was being used today for football for the first time in years. 1.FC Neubrandenburg normally play on the 2,500 capacity Liga Platz adjacent to the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion but because of the expected large crowd, the game was switched to the main stadium.

The club have only been in existence for the last decade having been founded in 2004, when the clubs FC Neubrandenburg, Neubrandenburg Tollense  and SV Nevag Neubrandenburg all came together as 1.FC Neubrandenburg.

The roots of 1.FC Neubrandenburg can be traced back to 1947 with the formation of SG Fritz Reuter Neubrandenburg. The club underwent various name changes and reached the second tier of  East German football in 1954 as BSG Turbine Neubrandenburg and then reached the top flight in 1964 as SC Neubrandenburg. 

In 1965 the club changed it's name once more to BSG Post Neubrandenburg and played at the main Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion until the mid 1980's before moving. To the best of my knowledge, please correct me if I am  wrong, competitive football has not been played on this ground until today's game, hence the rare "tick".

The first half was pretty much a non-event with very little goalmouth action. Neubrandenburg took the lead after 48 minutes through Christoph Fischer but their joy was short lived as the visitors were level within three minutes when Gaetan Krebs (51) equalised.

Karlsruher were then awarded two (in my opinion) soft penalties converted by Jan Mauersberger (55) and  Ilian Micanski (67).

This game brought an end to another great European jaunt, hopefully another will follow later on in the season courtesy of Everton's Europa League campaign!

Ye olde scoreboard, sadly not working

The Karlsruher fans 

FC VIKTORIA 1889 BERLIN (Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark)

DFB POKAL 1, FC VIKTORIA 1889 BERLIN 0-2 EINTRACHT FRANKFURT, ATTENDANCE: 10,514

My second game of the day took me back into Berlin and a visit to the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark.  The duel purpose stadium (athletics/football) is the second largest in the city after Hertha Berlin's Olympic Stadion with 20,000 seats.

Originally built in 1952, it has been used  by various Berlin football sides such as Hertha Berlin II, Türkiyemspor Berlin and Dynamo Berlin who, having used the stadium in the past for European matches, have returned here on a permanent basis this season after promotion to the Regionalliga. The old East German national side also played international matches at the stadium.

Tonight, Regionalliga Nordost side FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin were taking on Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt. The game was switched to the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark on safety grounds as Viktoria's home ground, the Stadion Lichterfelde, was felt unsuitable for such as big game due to it's small capacity of around 4,500. In fairness it was probably the correct decision as Frankfurt probably brought more than that themselves.

FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin was formed only last year following a merger between BFC Viktoria 1889 and Lichterfelder FC and they qualified for the first round of the DFB Pokal by winning the Berliner Cup for the first time since 1953.

In fairness they put up a good show against their more illustrious opponents but a goals in each half from Alexander Meier (9) and Haris Seferović (90) ensured that Eintracht Frankfurt went through to the next round.

At this stage of my European trip I finally caught up with my friends from Hamburg and, as the fat was chewed, the beer was swilled, I slowly but surely started to go downhill rapidly as the evening wore on...hic!

No pyro, no party - The Eintracht Frankfurt fans at half time

FSV OPTIK RATHENOW (Stadions Vogelgesang)

DFB POKAL 1, FSV OPTIK RATHENOW 1-3 FC SANKT PAULI,
ATTENDANCE: 4,500

After all the excitement of the Friday night in Chemnitz, I headed to the small town of Rathenow. It is part of the state of Brandenburg and lies 60 miles west of Berlin.

The town is famous for its manufacturing of spectacles and other optical instruments, which continues to this day, but when the town was part of the old GDR it supplied most of the Eastern Bloc and employed thousands of people.

The local amateur side, FSV Optik Rathenow, were taking on St. Pauli In the first round of the DFB Pokal at their own Vogelgesang Stadion.

Rathenow play in the Oberliga Nord, which is the fifth level of German football, and qualified for the DFB Pokal by virtue of winning the Brandenburg Landespokal. For me, this was the first part of a Saturday double.

Thanks to a friend, I managed to secure a ticket in the St Pauli section of the ground. However, by the time I arrived most of the standing area under cover had been taken, no problems in the bright afternoon sunshine, but just before kick off the heavens opened and I proceeded to get absolutely soaked. Luckily though this soon passed and the sun re-appeared as the game progressed.

You sensed it was going to be a long afternoon for the homesters when after a couple of minutes St Pauli hit the post and had an effort cleared off the line. It didn't take long for the breakthrough to be made though when Chris Nöthe (9m) gave the visitors the lead.

St. Pauli controlled the game and had plenty of chances but it took until the 31st minute before they doubled their lead when Ante Budimir scored. Rathenow had a couple of half chances from corners just before half time but that was about it for the Optiks.

St Pauli finally killed the game off early in the second half when Nöthe (51m) bagged his second and the game petered out.

Seven minutes from time Rathenow scored a consolation goal, which was celebrated like they had won the game, when Shelby Printemps scored.

CHEMNITZER FC (Stadion an der Gellertstraße)

DFB POKAL 1, CHEMNITZER FC 5-5 FSV MAINZ (AET; 3-3 after 90 minutes; Chemintzer won 5-4 on penalties)  ATTENDANCE:10,287

Today was an early start for a nine hour train cross border journey which took me from Switzerland to the East German city of Chemnitz.

  

Get your tickets!!

Chemnitz is located at the northern foothills of the Erzgebirge Mountains and the city was part of the old GDR and from 1953 to 1990, when it was known as Karl Marx Stadt, after the founding father of Communism, who the countries then Communist leaders wanted to honour.

The club was originally formed by students from Mittweida (a town about 18km north of Chemnitz) as Chemnitzer SC Britannia on 2 December 1899. The club were founding members of the DFB a year later. In 1933 the club folded due to financial difficulties but were immediately reformed as Chemnitzer BC 1933 before becoming FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1966 (in fact some fans tonight were still chanting FC Karl).

After German reunification in 1990, Chemnitzer FC, as they were now known again, were members of Bundesliga 2 before dropping as low as the Oberliga in 2006. The club is now on the rise again and are currently members of Liga 3. German football legend Michael Ballack began his career at Chemnitzer before moving to Kaiserslautern in 1997.

Chemnizter’s ground, Stadion an der Gellertstraße, is currently under redevelopment. The two sides of terracing behind each goal have been demolished and replaced with identikit stands. One stand was open tonight, but with no roof (this didn’t help the crowd in there when the rain started hammering down) whilst the other remained closed. I was stood in the corner of the current main stand, on a covered terrace. This stand is due to be developed next along with the open terrace opposite from where I stood.

Pre-match was spent in a bar not too far from my entrance to the ground, where Einsiedler beer was just €2 a pop, a relief to my wallet after drinking in Switzerland for the past two days!

Tonight was the first round of the DFB Pokal (the German equivalent of the FA Cup) and Chemnitzer were hosting Bundesliga outfit FSV Mainz, who had a great 2013/14 season by finishing 7th and qualifying for the Europa League, though they lost their manager, Thomas Tuchel, in the summer and failed to beat Greek side Asteras Tripolis in the Europa qualifying round.

Where do you start with this game?

There was absolutely no indication of the drama that was about to unfold as Mainz strolled into a 2-0 lead just after half time thanks to goals from Niki Dige Zimling (24) and Shinji Okazaki (49).  However within a minute Anton Fink (50) had halved the deficit then levelled things up just three minutes later.

Okazaki was twice one on one with Chemnitzer ‘keeper Phillip Pentke, first missing an open goal after rounding him, then hitting the crossbar after chipping him. Ja-Cheol Koo (73) eventually restored Mainz’s lead before those misses proved costly when an own goal from Niko Bungert (87) took the game to extra time.

In the 103rd minute a Markus Ziereis header gave Chemnitzer the lead for the first time before Bungert made up for his own goal by making it all square once more (109). When Marco Kehl-Gomez scored for Chemnitzer in the 119th minute it seemed that was it and they were through but an amazing shot from the halfway line from Mainz substitute Johannes Geis made it 5-5 and took the game to penalties.

All the penalties were converted until Pentke saved from Mainz’ Gonzalo Jara, so it was left to Chemnitzer’s skipper Anton Fink to score the winning penalty and take the sky blues through to the next round (pictured left).

An unbelievable night at the Gellertstraße and I felt privileged to be present. After all the excitement though I was need of drink and I happened to find the excellent Karls Brahaus opposite the Karl Marx monument, which kept me going into the wee small hours. Hic.

click here to see the match highlights

The current main stand at the Gellertstraße 

The Chemnitzer players celebrate...

...the Mainz fans probably did not!

FC BASEL 1893 (St Jakob Park)

SWISS SUPER LEAGUE, BASEL 0-2 St GALLEN, ATTENDANCE: 27,483

The day began with a fantastic, beautiful train journey alongside Lake Geneva, heading north, via Lausanne and Bern, to the city of Basel, where Swiss, French and German borders all meet. 

The pronunciation of the Basel depends on whether you speak German or French, but the city is predominately German speaking.

Football Club Basel 1893 are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, having won the Swiss Super League 17 times. Since the millennium, between 2002 and 2014, Basel have won the championship nine times and, for good measure, have also won the Swiss Cup 11 times.

They have competed in European competition every season since 1999/2000, beaten teams such as Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Chelsea, and went as far as the Europa League Semi-Final in 2013.

Basel play their home games at St Jakob Park, which has a capacity of 37,500. It was opened in 2001 and regularly holds Swiss international games (Wales played here in 2010 and England are due to this September). The ground hosted 6 games during Euro 2008, including the tournaments opening game between Switzerland and Czech Republic.

The ground is easily reached by tram from the city centre, where I had parked myself in the splendid Fischerstube for my pre-match beers (for a forthcoming beer festival they have introduced their own take on Scottish beer called Mac-Ueli, which tasted ok) and to shelter from the torrential downpour that hit the city, in which I got absolutely soaked.

Tickets for this game were booked online and printed at home and there was a substantially bigger crowd at this game than there was at Servette. Basel's support base is huge in comparison to other Swiss clubs, though sometimes their fans can overstep the mark and earlier this year the club had to play a Europa League tie behind closed doors due to crowd trouble at a previous game.

There was certainly nothing to get the fans excited tonight and the game was a damp squib, with neither goalkeeper forced into any meaningful action. The only thing Basel goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík had to do was pick two efforts from St Gallen's Albert Bunjaku, (40 & 44) out of the net.  I'm sure former Swansea manager Paulo Sousa would have been disappointed with his charges failure to conjure up any real efforts on goal but, nonetheless, a great away win for St Gallen, their first at Basel since 2002.

The jubilant travelling St Gallen supporters