SV MEPPEN (Hansch-Arena)

3.LIGA, SV MEPPEN 2-1 SPORTFREUNDE LOTTE, ATTENDANCE: 7,448

After spending a few days in The Netherlands, visiting Enschede and Alkmaar,  I crossed the border into Germany for a weekend of Groundhopping across four leagues.

Hungover but with a free
t-shirt!

First port of call was the town of Meppen. After forsaking a revisit to Ajax, I decided to spend a day 'sightseeing' in Amsterdam so it was with a slight hangover I boarded a train for the 5 hour train journey into Germany.

Meppen is about 20 miles from the Dutch border and the football ground is about a 20 minute walk from the train station.

SV Meppen were formed in 1912 as Amisia Meppen. The club then joined gymnastic club Meppen in 1920 to form TuS Meppen. The football branch then left TuS Meppen in 1921 to form a separate club called Sport Club Meppen 1912.

The Hansch-Arena, as it is currently known, has been home to SV Meppen since 1924. It was renamed the Hindenburgstadion three years later to commemorate the 80th birthday of Reich President Paul von Hindenburg. The ground was renamed Emslandstadion in 1992, Emsland being the district in which Meppen is located, before sponsorship deals took over over in 2009.

The club has spent most of it's history in the lower leagues of German football but they did have an 11 year spell in 2.Bundesliga from 1987 to 1998. They dropped as low as the Niedersachsenliga (level 5) but returned to the third tier for this season after being crowned Regionalliga Nord champions in 2017.

The there was nothing riding on this mid-table derby, apart from local pride, and it was a hard fought game. Luka Tankulic headed Meppen into the lead after 5 minutes. Five minutes later Andre Dej missed a glorious opportunity to level things after being sent clear through on goal.

Tankulic and Thilo Leugers missed further chances for Meppen and Lotte could consider themselves fortunate to be just 1-0 down at the break.


Meppen came out firing for the second half but, as is usually the case after missing chances, they conceded in the 56th minute when Alexander Langlitz fired home for Lotte. Cue the pyro! Lotte nearly took the lead moments later but Maximilian Oesterhelweg fired over.

Meppen were not to be denied through and it was a goal worthy of winning any game. In the 68th minutes a cross came over from the left and an unmarked Max Kremer volleyed the ball into the bottom corner. A sublime strike.

The win sent the home crowd into raptures but unfortunately I couldn't hang around to join in the celebrations. I had to get back to the station in order to catch the last train back to my hotel in Osnabruck. A good game and a very good ground!

 

VFB LÜBECK (Stadion an der Lohmühle)

REGIONALLIGA NORD, VFB LÜBECK 0-2 SV MEPPEN, ATTENDANCE: 1,668

They say things happen in three's. Well that certainly was the case today as I had a rather eventful first day in my latest journey to Deutschland.

Firstly, my flight to Hannover was cancelled leading to me being put on another flight via Dusseldorf, secondly, this delay led to me missing my train North meaning I had shell out for another ticket.

Thirdly, I could have, inadvertently, got a good hiding at the game!

When I innocently went on the home terrace, minding my business, taking a few snaps, as I always do, some home fans basically made it abundantly clear that "groundhoppers are not welcome" and told me to get out "or there would be problems" I can take a hint! They wouldn't let me pass until I'd deleted said photos. Clearly they didn't want any images taken of them, even if I wasn't specifically photographing them.

I thought it just may have been me, but a German groundhopper I know told me he had problems in Lübeck and was also informed strangers are not welcome. Apparently some of their fans seek out "strangers" at every game.

Anyhow, a little bit shaken I managed to upgrade to the main stand for additional €7 (the terrace was €7) to watch SV Meppen win 2-0. The home side wasted that many chances though, the game should have been over before Meppen had netted their first goal.

Skipper Martin Wagner fired Meppen into the lead after 30 minutes, with a shot from just outside the area. Erdogan Pini doubled the visitors advantage after 44 minutes. This led to a number of Meppen fans going bare chested, à la Newcastle, in celebration.

The visitors played the last 20 minutes with ten men after goalscorer Wagner received his 2nd yellow card, but by this point Lübeck had ran out of ideas as Meppen comfortably saw the game out.

Even at the end, when the stadium was virtually empty, I thought I would try again but a couple of other fans appeared from nowhere and starting to question me for taking pictures of a deserted main stand. The evening left a rather unpleasant taste in the mouth.

I have to be thankful that I was able to walk away from the ground, which is actually rather good, but I will certainly be in no hurry to visit VfB Lübeck again. I would advise any groundhopper going to the Lohmühle to be vigilant.