HANSA ROSTOCK (Ostseestadion)

3.LIGA, HANSA ROSTOCK 2-0 WEHEN WIESBADEN, ATTENDANCE: 15,200

After watching SV Meppen and stopping over in Osnabruck on Friday there were more obvious destinations on this Saturday than the Baltic coast. However for reasons I can't really explain Hansa Rostock is a football club I have always wanted to visit, so today was when I decided to scratch that particular itch, for the want of a better phrase.

This meant catching the 0723 from Osnabruck to Hamburg before changing onto regional trains from Hamburg to Rostock via Lubeck and Bad Kleinen. I arrived in Rostock just before 1pm. Hansa Rostock versus Wehen Wiesbaden was kicking off at 2pm so I had no time to explore the city, which I am certain will be put right at some point in the future.

If you think that journey sounds a little ridiculous, then spare a thought for the Wehen fans who faced an similar journey but with an even earlier start. I tip my hat to the 23 supporters who made the effort to head north.

The Ostseestadion, which translates as the Baltic Sea Stadium, has been home to Hansa Rostock since their formation in 1965, the year zero for the old East German elite football clubs, but the ground was completely re-built in 2001 (the original Ostseestadion was built in 1954).

Hansa Rostock won the last ever GDR league title, and the GDR Pokal for good measure, in 1991 meaning they took their place in the Bundesliga (with Dynamo Dresden) after German re-unification. They were relegated in their first season but returned in 1995 for a decade before suffering another relegation in 2005. They returned in 2008 before suffering back-to-back relegations to 3.Liga in 2010. After finishing runners up in 2.Bundesliga in 2011 they dropped back to the third tier in 2012 where they have remained since.

For Hansa Rostock the game had nothing riding on it but for Wehen Wiesbaden they needed a win to keep their slim chances of automatic promotion alive, whilst cementing their position in the promotion play-off spot.

Wehen's top scorer this season Manuel Schäffler was injured in the warm up and had to be replaced, meaning the game kicked off 5 minutes late. Wehen started the game like they meant business and missed plenty of good chances in the opening period of the game. However it was Rostock who should have taken the lead midway through the half when Fabian Holthaus missed an absolute sitter from 5 yards, blazing the ball over when all he had to do was tap into an empty net. This was soon forgotten though when, after 29 minutes, Pascal Breier ran onto a through ball to fire home.

Wehen continued to press hard for the equaliser in the second half, especially as other results were going against them, and they certainly had Rostock under the cosh. However with 12 minutes remaining Stefan Wannewetsch tapped home a second goal for Hansa, after a Luca Scherffas shot was parried into his path by Wehen 'keeper Markus Kolke.

The home side managed to keep Wehen out to clinch the three points. The result meant automatic promotion for 1.FC Magdeburg and SC Paderborn. The best Wehen Wiesbaden can hope for now is the play-offs by finishing third, but with Karlsruher breathing down their necks this is going to go to the wire.

I must end by giving a special mention to the Rostock fans. The support they gave their team this afternoon was absolute fantastic. The noise and choreography was simply brilliant and it made for a great atmosphere inside the ground. If only grounds back home could create atmosphere's this good, eh?

Stefan Wannewetsch celebrates with his teammates

The travelling Wehen Wiesbaden fans

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I have the groundhopper app installed on my phone and whilst checking into this stadium I pressed the feature to see if there were any fixtures nearby, just for my reference. It said there was a game in Güstrow at 1800. I then checked the internet and it did indeed confirm that the information was correct. So from Rostock I jumped on the train and took a 20 minute ride south to....

Verbandsliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Güstrower SC 1-1 SV Pastow
Attendance: 124 (h/c)

This is the sixth tier of German football, which promotes to the Oberliga Nord. Güstrower play at The Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Stadion, which is 10 minute stroll from the main train station.

There are two pitches next to each other, the main grass pitch and an artificial pitch. The game tonight was being played on the artificial pitch. There are two small bits of cover and the ground looked rather pleasant bathed in the evening sunshine.

The game was not of the highest quality. Alexander Bonecke gave Pastow the lead after 20 minutes before Rico Keil levelled 5 minutes later. Despite constant pressure from the home side, they could not find a way past a stubborn Pastow defence and a 'keeper, Jonas Wiek, in top form. Güstrower are the league leaders but the other teams chasing them down have games in hand so they really needed the win this evening.

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!

 

AZ ALKMAAR (AFAS Stadion)

EREDIVISIE, AZ ALKMAAR 4-3 VITESSE ARNHEM, ATTENDANCE: 16,067

Following to visit to Enschede, I headed to the north of The Netherlands to the city of Alkmaar. AZ Alkmaar were playing Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie. The journey north took about 45 minutes, on the train, from Amsterdam Central.

This is the 10th anniversary season of Everton playing AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup. This was a game which The Blues won 3-2 and famously ended AZ's 32 game unbeaten run at home in European competition. Unfortunately it was also a game which I could not go to so a trip to Alkmaar has effectively been on my agenda for just over a decade.

Alkmaar is famous for it's medieval architecture and it's cheese market. Unfortunately the cheese market is on a Friday so there was no Edam for me but there was, briefly, time to see some of the buildings in the city. There was time for some some pre-match imbibing at the excellent Cafe 't Kooltuintje and Proeflokaal de Boom. There were some excellent beers to be tried which meant a taxi to the ground as the clock was ticking towards kick off.

The stadium is about 5km from the centre of Alkmaar. The stadium was opened in 2006 with a friendly against Arsenal (the Gunners won 3-0). It was originally known as the DSB Stadion but became the AFAS Stadion in 2010 when the DSB bank went bankrupt.

Despite the commercial naming, the  ground is referred to by some as the Victorie Stadion, a name that makes reference to the victory over Spanish troops besieging Alkmaar during the Eighty Years' War. The tribune behind the goal where the AZ Ultras congregate is called the Victorie Tribune.

The ground has a capacity of just over 17,000 but plans for expansion were put on hold as a result of the DSB collapse, as they were the main financial backers. The ground replaced the old Alkmaarderhout stadium, which had been in use since 1948, which was demolished in late 2006.

Alkmaar Zaanstreek, to give them their full name, were formed in 1967 as a result of a merger between Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek. They have won the Eredivisie twice in 1981 and 2009. They reached the 1981 UEFA Cup final, where they were beaten 5-4 on aggregate by Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town.

The build up to tonight's game was dominated by the forthcoming KNVB Cup Final, where AZ will be playing Feyenoord in the final this Sunday, as they attempt to win the competition for the fourth time in their history.

Whether the minds of the players were focused on that game rather than tonight's, I do not know, but it was a fantastic game to watch as a neutral.

The game ebbed and flowed and the scoreline could have been absolutely anything. Us in the crowd just had to settle for the seven goals in the end!

Wout Weghorst opened the scoring for AZ after 7 minutes before the Iranian international striker Alireza Jahanbakhsh (12) doubled their advantage. However by the interval Vitesse were level as first Bryan Linssen (22) and then Tim Matavž (40) found the back of the net.

Jahanbakhsh (46) restored AZ's advantage seconds after the restart before completing his hat-trick in the 53rd minute. Mason Mount (66) made it 4-3 but despite pressure on the respective goals there were no more additions to the scoreline. A great effort from both sides and well worth the effort of obtaining a ticket.

Footnote: Feyenoord beat AZ 3-0 in the 2018 KNVB Cup Final.