ERZGEBIRGE AUE (Erzgebirgsstadion)

LIGA 3, ERZGEBIRGE AUE 0-0 HOLSTEIN KIEL, ATTENDANCE: 6,700

"This is one, this is one I've waited for" sang those Mancunian funsters, well in terms of Groundhoping this is the one I've been waiting to visit since my trips to Germany became a regular thing.

Why? Well I can't really put my finger on anything specific. Could it be the name, Erzgebirge Aue? Erzgebirge being the mountains within which the club is located. Could it be the city of Aue? The location is really awkward to get to as it is virtually on the border with the Czech Republic? Could it be the old stadium is about to undergo a "modernisation" programme? Maybe it's combination of all three.

Regardless, I left Leipzig at 7am where a bus replacement service (I learnt another German word this week - Ersatz) was waiting for me.

After being dropped off in the middle of nowhere (Neukieritzsch) I picked up the train to Zwickau (and met up with a mate of mine who had travelled from Munich) where another bus replacement was waiting to take us to another station to pick up the train to Aue (this week has destroyed any myth in my mind about German trains).

It is about a 20 minute walk from the main train station, all up hill too, to the ground. The ground is a bowl shaped arena, built into the valley. The views are stunning. The pitch is surrounding by an athletics track but that doesn't diminish the atmosphere, I am glad I opted for the terraces where the noise, led by a megaphone man, was fantastic.

The ground is a mix of standing and seating, with the most recent upgrade in 2010 when part of the terrace was covered and seated along with the installation of Schalke's old scoreboard. As mentioned, the ground is due to be "modernised" soon, with work due to start in the next few months and to be completed by 2017.

The club was founded as SG Aue in 1945 and in 1948 became BSG Pneumatik Aue after the local construction tool works. Further changes in sponsorship led to the club's name being changed to Zentra Wismut Aue (1949) and then to SC Wismut Aue (1951).

The most bizarre name change though occurred in 1954 when the East German government, in typical fashion of the time, decided that the nearby city of Karl Marx Stadt (Chemnitz as it is now) deserved a successful team so the club was renamed SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt. However, unlike other clubs that had been forcibly merged, Aue did not have to relocate as, for example Dynamo Dresden did when they got moved to Berlin, so you ended up with a club named after a city in which they did not play!

It was during this time though the club enjoyed it's most successful period, winning the GDR championship four times in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1959, with an East German cup in 1955 thrown for good measure. This success also meant that Aue represented the GDR in the newly formed European Cup competition. 

In 1963 though Karl Marx Stadt finally got a team to call its own, so Aue's team became BSG Wismut Aue. The club stayed in the GDR top flight until reunification, though they did not win another championship. The club changed name again in 1993 to their current name, to recognise the location of the club in the Erzgebirge mountains. 

After the leagues merged the club spent the next decade or so in the lower reaches of German football before they won promotion to the 2.Bundesliga in 2003. The club was relegated in 2008, thus becoming a founder member of 3 Liga.

The club bounced back to the second level in 2010, but are now back in the third tier, after finishing 17th last season, where today they were taking Holstein Kiel, who I saw play at Energie Cottbus earlier in the week.

The game was an insipid affair that ended goalless, but I guess the visitors will be the happier of the two teams after earning a point on the road.

Post match we managed to find a superb brauhaus in the city centre, where a few beers were sunk, some great food was eaten and time was spent reflecting on another fantastic week of groundhopping in Germany.

The main man with the megaphone!

SG UNION SANDERSDORF (Sportzentrum Stadion)

OBERLIGA NOFV SUD, SG UNION SANDERSDORF 3-0 FSV BARLEBEN, ATTENDANCE: 300 (est)

After three games in the upper echelons of German football, it was now time to drop down a few levels and watch some real stuff!

After watching RB Leipzig the previous evening I was based in the city of Leipzig for the night, so was looking for something close by. There were a few games in Berlin, but that would have taken me further away from where I needed to be for my Saturday game.

One fixture that caught my eye was the Oberliga Sud derby between SG Union Sandersdorf and FSV Barleben. A 30 minute train journey took me from Leipzig Messe to Bitterfeld, where a connecting bus service to Sandersdorf took a further 20 minutes.

Sandersdorf is a small village with a population of less than 10,000 people. Luckily where the bus dropped me off there was a bar where I was able to have a couple of liveners before heading over to the ground.

SG Union Sandersdorf was founded in 1911 as BC Union Sandersdorf, joining the Central German Football Association. In 1933 SV Sandersdorf joined the club then after the Second World War, when all German football clubs were disbanded, the club was reformed as SG Sandersdorf, later changing it's name to BSG Work Hermann Fahlke Sandersdorf.

In 1948 the club then became  BSG Aktivist Sandersdorf and in 1957 was forced to merge with BSG Chemie Wolfen and become the reserve team of that club (a common theme with East German clubs).

In 1959 the name was changed again to BSG Chemie Sandersdorf. Throughout the history of the old GDR, the club never played any higher than the Bezirksklasse leagues. After German reunification, the present name was adopted and in 2013 the club was promoted to the Oberliga Sud, where it still competes.

The club play at the Sportzentrum Stadion which, as the name suggests, is in the middle of the town. The ground is an athletics track surrounded by banks of terracing, of which in the middle of one side there are seats bolted on and covered. It was only this side of the ground that was open tonight.

Sandersdorf took the lead after 4 minutes when Felix Krause tapped home after an initial shot was saved. Barleben came back into the game and hit a well worked move wide and then a headed effort came back off the crossbar.


The home side also dragged a couple of efforts wide before extending their lead after 25 minutes when a corner kick hit the unfortunate Benjamin Karg (pictured right) and deflected into the net. Barleben were reduced to 10 men after 32 minutes when Phillip Linze was shown a straight red card for a foul.

Any hopes of a Barleben comeback were extinguished 25 seconds into the second half when Dan Lochmann scored to make it 3-0. After that the game petered out as both teams went through the motions. Luckily events off the pitch were more enjoyable as there was a young lady walking round with a tray full of ale, selling it to whoever wanted a cold beer. Naturally I could not resist!

The last bus back from Sandersdorf to Bitterfeld was at 2134 (and I was the only person on it) and I comfortably made the train back to Leipzig. All tucked up in bed before midnight and all set for my final leg of the week...

My player of the match!

RASENBALLSPORT LEIPZIG (Red Bull Arena)

2.BUNDESLIGA, RB LEIPZIG 1-1 SC FREIBURG, ATTENDANCE: 25,869

A Thursday night live TV game afforded the chance to visit one of the most contentious German clubs of recent times and, in the process complete a hat-trick for myself.

In 2009 Austrian energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull bought the licence of  fifth division side SSV Markranstädt and changed the team's name, crest and kit colours to that of Red Bull, becoming the fourth club in the world to do so following Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls (these are the two clubs I had visited previously) and Red Bull Brasil.

The German Football Association would not allow the corporate name Red Bull to be part of the team name so, in order to comply with these regulations, the club adopted the name RasenBallsport Leipzig, which literally translates as "Leipzig Lawn Ballsports" it is a meaningless name as such, but the club now have the initials 'RB' in their name.

In 2010 RB moved to the 44,300 capacity Zentralstadium in Leipzig, which had been rebuilt for the 2006 World Cup but wasn't in regular use by any team. The ground was actually built on the footprint of the old ground, so the pitch is in the same position. The old terraces are now grass banks but you still enter via the same steps. It is a hugely impressive stadium.

Since Red Bull took over in 2009, Leipzig have moved from the fifth tier in to the second tier, winning promotion three times in five seasons. I will not bet against them being in the Bundesliga top flight before too long. The club are putting money where their mouth is. For example, this season they signed German youth international Davie Selke from Werder Bremen, a multi million Euro contract encouraging him to drop down a division.

It has been used as another stick in which to beat the club. RB Leipzig has been met with hostility and protests throughout it's short history but the flip side of this coin is that since the fall of the wall no East German side has met with any long term success, maybe RB Leipzig could be a club to break the Western stranglehold. The club are managed by a man with plenty of Bundesliga experience, ex-Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick

Visitors to Leipzig tonight were SC Freiburg, who were making another ridiculously long journey for the 'Englishce Week' with their fans being subjected to a 1,200km round trip. A fair few made the journey north to support their team.

RB Leipzig were fourth at the start of play, with Freiburg in second place. On paper it looked a tight game and so it proved.

Nils Petersen (29) gave Freiburg the lead in the first half before Red Bulls levelled through Davie Selke (47) soon after the restart. Freiburg's Alexander Schwolow was the busier of the two goalkeepers as the home side took control in the second period, but the game ended all square.

The legendary Jurgen sinks a few ales whilst watching the game!

ENERGIE COTTBUS (Stadion der Freundschaft)

3.LIGA, ENERGIE COTTBUS 1-2 HOLSTEIN KIEL, ATTENDANCE: 5,122

An early morning train took me cross country, to the old East Germany, to the Brandenburg city of Cottbus. Upon arrival in the city it is noticeable that all the signs are bilingual.

As the city is only 25km from the border with Poland I mistakenly thought is may be Polish, however I actually discovered it was Lower Sorbian, a Slavic minority language spoken in eastern Germany, but mainly spoken in and around Cottbus.

The 13th century Spremberg Tower provides
superb views over the city. If you look closely you can
see the floodlights poking out from behind the trees.

Energie Cottbus were founded in 1966, but like most of the old East German clubs their genesis was a series of mergers, takeovers and movement of players for political and/or sporting reasons.

The club hasn't had an illustrious history to speak of, their solitary title being a Regionalliga championship in 1997.

The did reach the Bundesliga at the turn of the millennium, staying for three seasons, and also had another three season spell between 2006 and 2009. The club do hold a footnote in Bundesliga history as they were the first side to field an all foreign team (versus Wolfsburg) in April 2001.

The club play their games at the Stadion der Freundschaft, which was opened in 1930 as the Städtische Stadion and was given it's present name in 1950. It became the home of Energie Cottbus in the late 1970's and the club eventually bought the stadium in 2011.

Tonight FC Energie were hosting Holstein Kiel, only a 960km midweek round trip for their fans, so hats off to the 60 or so hardy souls that made the journey east.

Cottbus had not won in seven games, and had sacked their coach Stefan Kräme on Sunday, so it came as no surprise when Kiel took the lead after Raphael Lewerentz (16) was sent clear to fire home.

Cottbus though came out firing for the second half and were level after Joni Kauko (50) bundled home after the Kiel goalkeeper dropped a cross.

However, their joy was shortlived as Dominik Schmidt (54) headed home to put the visitors back in front.

Kiel soaked up the late pressure as Cottbus pushed for an equaliser, but they held on for the victory.