Floating Fox Posted 26 August 2007 Posted 26 August 2007 After We got outplayed & outsung by the germans mid-week I stubled accross this report: Me and some mates spent last Saturday afternoon watching Hertha Berlin play German champions VfB Stuttgart in the Olympic Stadium. One of the few top German grounds that's officially all-seated. The entire Hertha end stood for the whole game, as did the Stuttgart fans that were next to where we were sat behind the opposite goal. Well, I say stood. Actually they spent a large part of the game either doing the pogo or arms linked moving laterally each row swaying in the opposite direction to the one in front of them. John De Quidt would have had a fit! An afternoon at the Olympiastadion supports standupsitdown's arguments very nicely I'd say. The stewards restricted themselves to the sensible activities of monitoring the crowd and keeping the aisles and exits clear. Job done, everybody's happy. Plod also took a very low profile in the ground, despite there having been a bit of bother before the match outside. Well, I say bother, more formation running about really. Bit like the old ritual "hold me back" terrace charges of the 1970s here. Nobody seemed really intent on twatting anybody, including, thankfully, the local Babylon who have a level of restraint and an idea of what constitutes a reasonable, proportional response which the Plod in Italy particularly seem completely incapable of. They look bloody fearsome in their riot gear but don't appear interested in thumping citizens unless it's REALLY necessary to protect life and limb. They sorted out the bother with a minimum of fuss with an attitude of "bugger off and grow up you annoying little tits" which was just what was called for. Managed to restore order without breaking any heads. We watched this with amusement from our perch in a beer garden overlooking the main drag up to the ground (the "Jessie Owens Allee" would you believe!). Our seats were €18.50 or around £13 which included free public transport anywhere to and from the game in the Greater Berlin area. It got better. Not only can you drink in the ground whilst watching the match, they even bring it to your seat. How good is that! It was €3.50 a half litre which works out at about £2.75 a pint (half litre is 0.9 of a pint). In a touchingly German concern for the environment the beer (and a bloody nice drop of lager it was too. God bless the "Reinheitsgebot" or German pure beer law passed in 1516, which prohibits the use of nasty chemicals in the brewing of German beer. The only ingredients allowed are malted barley, hops, yeast and water) was served in reusable plastic jugs on which you got a €1 deposit back every time you surrendered one to a vendor or at a beer stall. I think we made the afternoon of the kid who was serving our sector. Every time he passed our row it was "Dreizehn bieren bitte! (13 beers please!) I'm a firm believer in tipping well for good service. It's usual to tip the odd coppers to the nearest round number for at seat beer service in German grounds. We plonked €5 on top for every round. Worked. All we had to do for the rest of the game was wave and he plotted up about 2 mins later with 13 beers! At half time it was Berliner sausages in lovely fresh bread with that wonderful German mustard. The best football snack ever for my money. What a bloody rip-off though. €2.80! A little less than £2. The Germans have got NO idea how to rip people off! Keep on fighting the good fight folks. Regards Steven Powell
Joe. Posted 26 August 2007 Posted 26 August 2007 Sounds great. Just makes you more pissed off with the status of football in England today We should learn off these Germans.
Floating Fox Posted 26 August 2007 Author Posted 26 August 2007 We should learn off these Germans. I bet you never thought you'd say that in your lifetime.
Joe. Posted 26 August 2007 Posted 26 August 2007 I bet you never thought you'd say that in your lifetime. :laugh: You're right.
lildave3 Posted 27 August 2007 Posted 27 August 2007 A thread posted by Andy containing German Football? Good god.
Geo V Posted 27 August 2007 Posted 27 August 2007 Sounds great. Just makes you more pissed off with the status of football in England today We should learn off these Germans. They don't do hardly any perks for fans because they don't have to in England! The entry fees at times are crazy and so is the price of some of the merchandise and clubs will try everything they can to get more and more money out of the fans and dont give a shite about us. From what I can see early doors this season, more and more fans are turning away from the game as they cant afford it, especially in the Premiership, and the game is turning away from the average fan to the corporate sector which is another reason why at some grounds there is little atmosphere. Its time the clubs in England did something about the way that footy is going in this country and start making it more appealing to the average man and woman.
Leonisco Posted 27 August 2007 Posted 27 August 2007 Sounds too good to be true! The problem is, English clubs know they can treat their fans like dirt (i.e. extortionate ticket prices, Hitleresque stewarding etc.) and they will still turn up in their numbers. If the German clubs tried any of that shit, the fans would just simply not go. Simple as that, really.
purpleronnie Posted 27 August 2007 Posted 27 August 2007 Sounds too good to be true!The problem is, English clubs know they can treat their fans like dirt (i.e. extortionate ticket prices, Hitleresque stewarding etc.) and they will still turn up in their numbers. If the German clubs tried any of that shit, the fans would just simply not go. Simple as that, really. Thats absolutely 100% correct. What makes me mad is fans in england moan moan moan but when it comes to doing anything about it where are they?
hebangsthedrums Posted 27 August 2007 Posted 27 August 2007 I really do envy German football fans, and it shows how if the fans are treated well thjey respond - I think (though may be wrong) I read recently that they have the highest average attendance in europe with something like 38k. I also read a really good article about fc st pauli - check out their wikipedia page for a bit of an insight.
Sods Posted 27 August 2007 Posted 27 August 2007 Thats absolutely 100% correct.What makes me mad is fans in england moan moan moan but when it comes to doing anything about it where are they? Exactly, leicester city fans all over.
Manwell Pablo Posted 27 August 2007 Posted 27 August 2007 The Germans do have it sorted some respects. Big games manage to avoid alot of violent trouble and they are very liberal in how the control games. However they've never had close to a 100 people die in a stadium and they've never been responsible for a mass blood bath at a European cup final. They also have terrible problems lower down the leagues in at the the Regional division level (about League One/Two level) with violence and I think someone even died last year. The Germans also have to fight to keep things they way there are with plenty of polticians and high ranked police officers wanting the current laws regarding football changed.
Daggers Posted 27 August 2007 Posted 27 August 2007 A thread posted by Andy containing German Football? Good god. It's the new Dodds
Ultra Posted 28 August 2007 Posted 28 August 2007 I really do envy German football fans, and it shows how if the fans are treated well thjey respond - I think (though may be wrong) I read recently that they have the highest average attendance in europe with something like 38k. I also read a really good article about fc st pauli - check out their wikipedia page for a bit of an insight. In the Bundesliga, yes. Lower league clubs are nowhere near as well supported. The ownership of German clubs is also significant. I believe they're run by members and not by megalomaniacs and sugar daddies as is often the case here.
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