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!