ROT WEIß ERFURT (Steigerwaldstadion)

3.LIGA, ROT WEIß ERFURT 0-3 HALLESCHER, ATTENDANCE: 8,168

The third tier of German football kicked off today so I decided to leave Dresden behind and take the 2 hour train journey across to Erfurt.

Rot Weiß Erfurt (RWE) are a mainstay of the 3.Liga, having been founder members in 2008. Today they were hosting Hallescher FC in the season opener, as they looked to improve on last season's 8th place finish.

Like a majority of old East German clubs, RWE are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year having been founded in 1966 when, like a host of other clubs, the football department became a separate from the more general sports clubs. The origins of the club though can be traced back to the 1880's and in 1900 Sport Club Erfurt were founder members of the German Football Association. The club won their league title in 1909, advancing to the national semi-finals before losing 9-1 to eventual winners Phönix Karlsruhe.

The two clubs of SC Turbine Erfurt and BSG Optima Erfurt were merged in 1966 to form RWE and competed in the old East German Oberliga until reunification in 1991 when a 3rd placed finish meant they were placed in Bundesliga 2 and also qualified for the UEFA Cup, where they eventually lost to Ajax in round two. This meant they were the last team to represent East Germany on a European stage.

The Steigerwaldstadion, which was opened in 1931, has undergone extensive redevelopment in the past year or so with the old terracing replaced by a modern seated stand, with blocks of terracing at each end for the home and away fans. Walking around the ground there is still evidence of construction work. The "new" stadium is due to be officially inaugurated with a friendly against Mainz in two weeks time.

This afternoon's game turned out to be a routine away win for Hallescher. Once RWE fell behind to an early Benjamin Pintol goal, who tapped in from close range after three minutes, they were always struggling to get back in the game as the vistors were happy to play the counter attacking game.

Hallescher almost doubled their lead before the break but a Martin Röser free kick crashed against the bar. RWE came out fired up in the second half but, despite their possession, they did not trouble the visitors goal.

Hallescher made it 2-0 after 66 minutes through Toni Lindenhahn before substitute André Wallenborn wrapped up the three points with seven minutes left.

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!

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.

1.FC MAGDEBURG (Stadion Magdeburg)

3.LIGA, 1.FC MAGDEBURG 2-1 ROT WEISS ERFURT, ATTENDANCE: 21,079

Welcome back to my humble little blog. Hope you are all rested and recuperated and ready to go again!

Season 2015/16 got under way with a Friday night game at Magdeburg's MDCC Arena. This stadium has been open less than a decade, having been opened in December 2006. It replaced the old Ernst Grube Stadium. 

Magdeburg is the capital of the state Saxony-Anhalt and from 1949 until German reunification in 1990, Magdeburg was part of East Germany. 1.FC Magdeburg came into existence in December 1965 (so they will be celebrating their 50th anniversary later this year) when the football division was separated from Sports Club Aufbau Magdeburg, but that particular season ended with relegation. This ironically led to the start of the most successful period in the clubs history. 

Heinz Krügel was appointed manager and led the club to an immediate return to the top flight and also won the East German Cup in 1969. The club were East German champions in 1972, 1974 and 1975 and also won the cup again in 1973. This meant entry into the UEFA European Cup Winners' Cup, which they went on to win, where the beat AC Milan 2-0 in the final in Rotterdam. Magdeburg would be the only East German club to win a European competition.

 After the highs of the 1970's came the lows of the 1980's and, after reunification, the 1990's found the club in the lower divisions of German football. The 2000's saw the club consolidate in the Regionalliga before winning the Nordost title in 2015. This meant a play-off with Sudwest champions Kickers Offenbach, which they won 4-1 on aggregate. 

A banner on display from the FCM U-block ultras
highlighting the lowest point in the clubs recent history,
to remind people how far they have come

Magdeburg therefore find themselves back in a professional league for the first time in a quarter of a century. Naturally on such an historic occasion, plenty of people want to bear witness ensuring a near capacity crowd at the stadium this evening. Even in the town square before the game, as fans congregated for a beer or three, you could feel the excitement in the air.

There was a superb atmosphere in the ground, there is something different about watching games under floodlights, and the Magdeburg fans really got behind their team. The noise inside the stadium was up there with some of the best I have heard in Germany. For a new build, the place was bouncing!


Magdeburg were taking on old East German rivals Rot Weiss Erfurt and they, and the fans, were rewarded with a victory as Lars Fuchs scored a 89th minute winner. This was after Magdeburg had fell behind to a Mario Erb (31) strike in the first half.

Christian Beck (60) headed home the equaliser for the home side before Fuchs made the decisive intervention late on. A great way to kick off the weekends proceedings....

Not to be outdone, the RWE fans put on a show of
their support