Groundhopping

[CosbehFox]

So getting excited now. 

 

Feyenoord v AZ on Sunday; although nervous I have been told my screenshot of a ticket should be okay, Feyenoord have gone to an app system but the bloke who sorted tickets said he couldn't keep the tickets on the app because it would then affect his ability to buy away tickets. 

 

Friday - the possibility of Dordrecht v Jong PSV. Dordrecht apparently a pretty place. Approx 25 mins on the train but it's whether we can be arsed after being on two trains for such a period. Especially with the opposition. 

 

Saturday - we have four options. 

• Jong Sparta v AFC - sadly being played at Excelsior Massluis' ground rather than Het Kasteel.
• Capelle - 20 odd minutes on the tube, 5th tier, decent little ground
• Heersjandam - fifth tier, 30 minutes journey but a beautiful of a main stand 
• Quick Boys - QB play in Katwijk which is on the coastline, there's no direct train rather you get to Leiden and then bus the rest. So it's a 1hr to 1hr 30 journey for 40km. However! This ground is simply stunning in its location. It sits next to the sand dunes. https://www.europlan-online.de/index.php?s=stadion&id=9321&t=s 

 

 

[CosbehFox]

On 07/11/2023 at 12:21, CosbehFox said:

So getting excited now. 

 

Feyenoord v AZ on Sunday; although nervous I have been told my screenshot of a ticket should be okay, Feyenoord have gone to an app system but the bloke who sorted tickets said he couldn't keep the tickets on the app because it would then affect his ability to buy away tickets. 

 

Friday - the possibility of Dordrecht v Jong PSV. Dordrecht apparently a pretty place. Approx 25 mins on the train but it's whether we can be arsed after being on two trains for such a period. Especially with the opposition. 

 

Saturday - we have four options. 

• Jong Sparta v AFC - sadly being played at Excelsior Massluis' ground rather than Het Kasteel.
• Capelle - 20 odd minutes on the tube, 5th tier, decent little ground
• Heersjandam - fifth tier, 30 minutes journey but a beautiful of a main stand 
• Quick Boys - QB play in Katwijk which is on the coastline, there's no direct train rather you get to Leiden and then bus the rest. So it's a 1hr to 1hr 30 journey for 40km. However! This ground is simply stunning in its location. It sits next to the sand dunes. https://www.europlan-online.de/index.php?s=stadion&id=9321&t=s 

 

 

Dordrecht on Friday - was like a hybrid of non-league and second tier football. Felt like a good chunk of the crowd didn't really have much skin in the match but there was still banners, smoke bombs and loads of kids having a great time. Ground was a traditional Dutch arrangement. Didn't spent any time in the town but pretty houses (similar to around Bruges ground)

 

Saturday - went to go Capelle but it was called off waterlogged, we spent 8 minutes in their club house before heading off Feyenoord Amateurs who kicked off later. Free to get in, and you could watch Feyenoord's Under 14s play PSV Under 14s if you wanted. Superb facility across the road from the De Kuip. Dutch football was amateur until the late 60s - so clubs such as Feyneoord and Ajax still have their original amateur club with paid members. Game was woeful but the end when the visiting RVVH got it back to 2-2 and then Feyenoord got a winner. Went over to watch Feyenoord Basketball across the road lost to Den Helder Suns. 

 

Sunday - De Kuip is a proper football ground. Club bars playing trance. Big cheers to the Ajax score. Pre-match atmosphere was really lively. Locals told us it should have been a good game. It was instead pants. 1-0 over AZ - both teams looked tired and leggy, you'd be a bit pissed as AZ fan as they never went for it. Atmosphere started really well and good after the goal but was poor at times. When the noise did get up, the whole stadium got up....European games would be immense here. We walked back but they had constant trains and trams on to get back into the centre of the city. Also literally thousands come on their scooters and bicycles utilising the cycle lanes. 

 

Ran around Excelsior and Sparta's grounds on Saturday morning - the latter is a brilliant intimate ground which has just been extended. 

 

Next ground in a hopping capacity I am looking at is Chorley on 30th December 

Edited 15 November 2023 by CosbehFox

[grobyfox1990]

7 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

Dordrecht on Friday - was like a hybrid of non-league and second tier football. Felt like a good chunk of the crowd didn't really have much skin in the match but there was still banners, smoke bombs and loads of kids having a great time. Ground was a traditional Dutch arrangement. Didn't spent any time in the town but pretty houses (similar to around Bruges ground)

 

Saturday - went to go Capelle but it was called off waterlogged, we spent 8 minutes in their club house before heading off Feyenoord Amateurs who kicked off later. Free to get in, and you could watch Feyenoord's Under 14s play PSV Under 14s if you wanted. Superb facility across the road from the De Kuip. Dutch football was amateur until the late 60s - so clubs such as Feyneoord and Ajax still have their original amateur club with paid members. Game was woeful but the end when the visiting RVVH got it back to 2-2 and then Feyenoord got a winner. Went over to watch Feyenoord Basketball across the road lost to Den Helder Suns. 

 

Sunday - De Kuip is a proper football ground. Club bars playing trance. Big cheers to the Ajax score. Pre-match atmosphere was really lively. Locals told us it should have been a good game. It was instead pants. 1-0 over AZ - both teams looked tired and leggy, you'd be a bit pissed as AZ fan as they never went for it. Atmosphere started really well and good after the goal but was poor at times. When the noise did get up, the whole stadium got up....European games would be immense here. We walked back but they had constant trains and trams on to get back into the centre of the city. Also literally thousands come on their scooters and bicycles utilising the cycle lanes. 

 

Ran around Excelsior and Sparta's grounds on Saturday morning - the latter is a brilliant intimate ground which has just been extended. 

 

Next ground in a hopping capacity I am looking at is Chorley on 30th December 

That sounds like a brilliant trip, well done! Now city kick off at 7.45pm on Boxing Day, would you recommend anywhere local for a 3pm game on the day? You clearly know your biscuits

[CosbehFox]

58 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

That sounds like a brilliant trip, well done! Now city kick off at 7.45pm on Boxing Day, would you recommend anywhere local for a 3pm game on the day? You clearly know your biscuits

Local to Ipswich? 

[grobyfox1990]

7 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

Local to Ipswich? 

No, Leicestershire. I meant there’ll be no 3pm game to watch now so try and take in a local game before watching city in the evening 

Edited 16 November 2023 by grobyfox1990

[CosbehFox]

2 hours ago, grobyfox1990 said:

No, Leicestershire. I meant there’ll be no 3pm game to watch now so try and take in a local game before watching city in the evening 

Barwell v Coalville - the derby at the highest level in the county, 3pm. Barwell normally right spoilers for Coalville but hardly fierce rivalry 

 

The level below has games with probably more riding on it

Anstey Nomads v Loughborough Dynamo - ground is sadly on the basic side with not the biggest clubhouse but best game on paper. 

Shepshed Dynamo v Quorn - more traditional non-league ground, both upper mid table

 

[goody2028]

3 hours ago, grobyfox1990 said:

No, Leicestershire. I meant there’ll be no 3pm game to watch now so try and take in a local game before watching city in the evening 

You got Futbology? Could always use your location and it’ll give you a list of Nearby Fixtures. 

[CosbehFox]

On 17/10/2023 at 10:37, Voll Blau said:

All booked for me and my brother to take my dad to Germany at the start of December as a 60th present.

 

Doing Bochum v Wolfsburg on the Saturday, then Sunday presents the chance for a double-header as Wattenscheid are at home in the afternoon and Dortmund II at home in the evening against 1860 Munich. Hoping the latter might be played in the Westfalenstadion, although it's most likely to be the Rot Erde right next door to it.

 

Friday fixtures didn't fall too kindly so we'll chuck in a bit of Christmas Market action and a trip to the German Football Museum. Job's a good'un.

Looks like going the Rot Erde may have been worth it if you pulled it off 

[Voll Blau]

On 04/12/2023 at 19:07, CosbehFox said:

Looks like going the Rot Erde may have been worth it if you pulled it off 

Yes, we did. Best pyro display I've seen in the flesh from 1860. Really great numbers too given Munich station was closed all weekend because of the snow down there.

 

Was the coldest I've ever been at a football match so we sacked it off at half-time though - even the Glühwein (terrace drink of choice for the weekend) wasn't touching the sides in that weather.

 

Wattenscheid was off due to the weather so we opted for Concordia Wiemalhausen (sixth tier), only for the ref to then call that off 10 minutes before kick-off.

 

The Football Museum was great though. Spent nearly three hours in there and imagine a native German speaker could easily do double that. There's an exhibit about the Geoff Hurst "Russian linesman" goal that's made to resemble a crime scene, which gave my old man a chuckle. His first time in Germany and he loved the experience of it all.

[CosbehFox]

On 15/11/2023 at 14:45, CosbehFox said:

Next ground in a hopping capacity I am looking at is Chorley on 30th December 

Went and on way back now. Called off after 75 minutes 🤣 Have to see what’s on offer weekend of January 20th 

 

Booked Bologna for second weekend in Feb. Friday night - possibility of SPAL or Bologna Baketball in EuroLeague 

saturday - Modena v cosenza and/or Sassuolo v Torino 

Sunday - Bologna v Lecce 

[LCFCJoe96]

Got games at Lyon’s & Nantes’ grounds booked in for the Olympics in the summer.

 

Had a change of plan on a few things so eyeing up Italy in October/November instead of February. AS Roma at the Olimpico is #1 on the list and then any others I can tick off whilst there.

 

Should be half a dozen so more domestic grounds to visit for the first time over the rest of this season too

[SemperEadem]

4 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

Went and on way back now. Called off after 75 minutes 🤣 Have to see what’s on offer weekend of January 20th 

 

Booked Bologna for second weekend in Feb. Friday night - possibility of SPAL or Bologna Baketball in EuroLeague 

saturday - Modena v cosenza and/or Sassuolo v Torino 

Sunday - Bologna v Lecce 

I have a contact in Basketball over there if you neef.

[grobyfox1990]

Went to Salford last night. Poxy little ground but really welcoming and friendly staff. The local brewer is Joseph holt and had some very nice ales in the pubs pre match. Next one will be FCSB in the Romanian league in feb (provided tv doesn’t move it) as in Bucharest for a night 

[CosbehFox]

34 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

I have a contact in Basketball over there if you neef.

For Virtus? Their ultras ends look superb 
 

Me and Tommy are going as it stands. 

[Stuntman_Mike]

Frankfurt Arena in June.

 

We managed to get tickets for England v Denmark in the resale.

 

 

[CWC1983]

13 hours ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Frankfurt Arena in June.

 

We managed to get tickets for England v Denmark in the resale.

 

 

Great Stadium. Nice stroll through the forest lined with mobile bars and bbq's. 

 

Plenty of bars at the stadium too, you won't go thirsty. 

 

Bit of a pain in the arse getting out and back to the railway station, guess it depends on the level of policing.

We got kept in for an hour and frogmarched through the forest in the pouring rain. 

 

Old town Frankfurt was good, the bit round the station not so. 

 

Enjoy.

 

 

[Voll Blau]

Met this guy by chance in Bochum's club shop, think it must have been 12 years ago. That was his first trip over there!

 

Enjoyed following his trips online ever since. Some effort.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-68228740?fbclid=IwAR0o__Fel8CHi9z-I2FSii1IdX8zIZL8_9dFcZcLFzhsDu5WDys5ZgtjDO0

[CosbehFox]

On 30/12/2023 at 17:21, CosbehFox said:

Went and on way back now. Called off after 75 minutes 🤣 Have to see what’s on offer weekend of January 20th 

 

Booked Bologna for second weekend in Feb. Friday night - possibility of SPAL or Bologna Baketball in EuroLeague 

saturday - Modena v cosenza and/or Sassuolo v Torino 

Sunday - Bologna v Lecce 

Yeah that was the dogs bollocks of a weekend 

[CosbehFox]

To extend then, great weekend. Helps that Bologna is an excellent city. Probably the most beer friendly city in Italy I’ve visited. The grub is outstanding across the board. 
 

Modena is a decent city as well - probably home of the best pub we went too. 1-1 there. Cosenza brought over 1,000. They are from Calabria which is 8 hours away. 
 

Sassuolo is a nothing club really. Got very lucky in finding a craft beer bar nearby the ground. Reminded me a lot of Reading. We’d bumped into a Bradford fan we had early been chatting to it and Tbf he made a great laugh. Another 1-1. Another away end soaked. 
 

Then Bologna. Well the ground is an absolute classic. Nifty side too. It just oozed gazetta. It’s beautiful to see how unruly it is yet still so inclusive. Walloped Lecce 4-0, aiming for CL and a huge derby on Wednesday v the Viola 

 

Basketball was added bonus. Crazy atmosphere really. Superb team as well - two ex NBA players looked a level beyond anything I had seen. 
 

Spent the night looking at how to make other Italian destinations work. 

Edited 12 February 2024 by CosbehFox

[Voll Blau]

21 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

To extend then, great weekend. Helps that Bologna is an excellent city. Probably the most beer friendly city in Italy I’ve visited. The grub is outstanding across the board. 
 

Modena is a decent city as well - probably home of the best pub we went too. 1-1 there. Cosenza brought over 1,000. They are from Calabria which is 8 hours away. 
 

Sassuolo is a nothing club really. Got very lucky in finding a craft beer bar nearby the ground. Reminded me a lot of Reading. We’d bumped into a Bradford fan we had early been chatting to it and Tbf he made a great laugh. Another 1-1. Another away end soaked. 
 

Then Bologna. Well the ground is an absolute classic. Nifty side too. It just oozed gazetta. It’s beautiful to see how unruly it is yet still so inclusive. Walloped Lecce 4-0, aiming for CL and a huge derby on Wednesday v the Viola 

 

Basketball was added bonus. Crazy atmosphere really. Superb team as well - two ex NBA players looked a level beyond anything I had seen. 
 

Spent the night looking at how to make other Italian destinations work. 

Fair play, sounds a top trip!

 

Finally round to doing Ultra by Tobias Jones on audiobook at the moment, presume a few of the characters were in that Cosenza end!

[CosbehFox]

3 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

Fair play, sounds a top trip!

 

Finally round to doing Ultra by Tobias Jones on audiobook at the moment, presume a few of the characters were in that Cosenza end!

Yeah fitted their left wing politics to with Palestine flags in the end. The lad we met had been in the away end with them at Pisa, said they were nutters 

[Leicesterpool]

Im hoping to do Germany before the euros, so i can do a stadium and travel guide for fans planning to go for youtube. Just finding the time is the problem before the end of season. 

[SemperEadem]

On 13/02/2024 at 22:24, Leicesterpool said:

Im hoping to do Germany before the euros, so i can do a stadium and travel guide for fans planning to go for youtube. Just finding the time is the problem before the end of season. 

If you want a ticket or two for Bochum just let me know.

[CosbehFox]

Looking at Tiverton on Saturday on the way back from Plymouth. Would be ground 297. Waiting to see if Valencia are playing at Mestalla when I am over there for a stag, that would be an excellent ground 300 

 

Bit mad how many clubs contained with the South-West given they are long stretches of nothing. 

[Voll Blau]

Viktoria Köln 3-5 Preußen Münster on Saturday after attending my mate's wedding in Bochum the previous day.

 

A high-scoring thriller aided by both defences' dreadful inability to deal with anything aerial. Fantastic atmosphere in the away end, even when Preußen were 3-1 down.

 

My second time in a Preußen away end and I've seen 15 goals in total! They're definitely now my second team in Germany.

 

Sportpark Höhenberg is a quirky ground (temporary home terrace covering half of one end and temporary-looking double decker executive boxes at the other, with a main stand and long away terrace down the sides) set in pleasant parkland in the east of Cologne. Worth a visit if you're in the area.