Wuppertal v Fortuna Düsseldorf U23s
Next morning and back to Cheb station.
Despite a very tempting pair of 1960s vintage class 240 'Laminate ladies' on a coal train...
...I was on a DB class 628 for the short hop over the German border to Marktredwitz and on to Nuremberg. Whilst in the U.K. this would be formed of a Pacer, these units are two-car, diesel Pendolinos, suited to the winding route through the Fichtel mountains.
Update for the fellow caffeine-free Coke Zero connoisseur , it has now spread from Belgium and is available in Bottles in Czecho.
With a proper game to watch in the evening, I was hoping the snow would do the right thing and disappear gradually as I progressed through Germany, but it was still very evident.
However, by Nuremberg it had gone, and I was onto a Frankfurt bound ICE, which had made its way up from Vienna that morning.
At Frankfurt, it was onto an IC service up through the Rhine Valley, Koblenz and Koln, and finally, this was my destination for the evening, taken from the train. Clues are; a stadium by a zoo, a monorail station. Oh, and the fact that I've already told you at the top of the page what game I went to.
Confirmation for those that still haven't guessed. Wuppertal is actually the conurbation of a number of towns in the valley of the river Wupper; a bit like Stoke except it isn't currently hosting a legion of parasitic racist liars for an upcoming election. Anyway, Wuppertal was an early pioneer of the German industrial revolution, and was the home of then paint manufacturer Bayer, who diversified into pharmaceuticals when one of its employees discovered aspirin to overcome the chemical fumes. The city was also where the vacuum cleaner was invented, and speaking of noisy, monotonous tools, was also the birthplace of a Giles Brandreth.
But for all those details about the place, this is the one thing that it is known for, the Schwebebahn, or dangelbahn as it is more colloquially known. This is a suspended monorail that runs along 13km of the valley floor, mostly spanning the river. It was opened in 1900, primarily as a demonstration track by the builders, who were hoping to flog a much larger system to Berlin. However, no further orders materialised and the system at Wuppertal is unique, but forms the central part of the cities public transport system. It is perhaps best known for a 1950s incident when a circus owner was transporting elephants, when one fell out into the river. Weren't the old times funny?
So suspended monorail was my 31st form of transport to have got to a game (Walking, car, bus, boat, Train, bike, plane, lorry, van, barge, tram, hovercraft, rickshaw, horse and cart, monorail, amphibious vehicle, chairlift, milk float, tractor and trailer, floating bridge, sledge, trolleybus, rail bike, sailboard, helicopter, quad bike, motorbike, tandem, transporter bridge)
I was off at the stop for the town zoo, which is also where the football ground is located.
The entrance is very strange, with seemingly voluntary ticket windows located in archways...
...which leads to this majestic pavilion...
...behind which the ground is located.
Wuppertal 5 v Fortuna Düsseldorf U23s 1, Regionalliga West
Düsseldorf is the sort of place that proudly boasts that one fifth of people attending trade fairs in the world, do so in Düsseldorf. It is so dull it is twinned with Reading. Fortuna Düsseldorf were formed in the 1920s from a lengthy string of mergers that had been going on since the 1890s. Like UKIP voters, Fortuna look back at 1930s Germany with a sense of nostalgia, though for them it is because this was when their team was most successful, with a series of title wins. Since then, they have had varied success, with long stints in the Bundesliga but also dropping down as low as the fourth tier. This was their U23s side who are allowed to compete in the Regionalliga.
The ground is a very oddly arranged bowl.
On the far side was the main stand. It was rebuilt in the 2000s with an extremely high roof added, which doesn't seem to offer much protection from the elements.
The main congregation of fans was on the large open terrace behind the goal.
It's opposite number wasn't required so remained empty.
I took my place on the side terrace, which also had a thin strip of bench seating at the front.
The open corner by the main stand offered a vantage point for some Schwebebahn spotting.
Meanwhile, the home supporters had emerged themselves under a giant banner.
I remember reading somewhere that when Man United beat Bayern Munich in Barcelona, MUTV was showing a reserve game versus Coventry from earlier in the season, which attracted 23 viewers. I am always minded as to who these 23 people were who had chosen to watch it, when on the other channel, was their first European Cup final for thirty odd years. Well tonight was a similar scenario though on a lesser scale, in that the Düsseldorf first team were playing at home at the same time, about 20 minutes away. However, three reserve team devotees had made their way over, and I took my place amongst them.
Text book German fan ware.
The teams entered the arena, but guess what rousing tune whipped the crowd into a frenzy?
Well, find out for yourself. (I didn't try too hard with this video so it changes orientation about four times, the main thing is the sound).
This did prompt some extravagant pyrotechnics from the home fans.
As the game started, the ground was enveloped in a swirling clag of flare smoke. However, despite British hysteria against such displays, no one had died.
Once the smoke had cleared, this quite fantastic banner was revealed. It depicts a vintage danglebahn unit, in it are club legends, of which one of them I think is Uwe Fuchs' dad.
Almost immediately Wuppertal took the lead.
I headed down to the seats at the front, which were occupied solely by people guarding banners. I would have to say, Wuppertal's giant banner v supporter ratio is very impressive.
Good to see an @keepers_towel present.
The home side added a second.
Immediately before half time, an almighty bollocks up in the away defence gave Wuppertal a third.
For the second half, I watched amongst the masses on the end terrace, who started the half submerged between another large banner, pushing the ratio up even more.
The motivating entry music for the second half was Spandau Ballet.
However, two youths emerged from it, strangely wearing shoe coverers, like they were attending a scene of crime. In the U.K. they would have been, as they proceeded to place two huge fireworks at the back of the terrace.
These were then lit, putting on quite a show.
Though it coincided with the away side pulling a goal back, so the crowd seemed largely uninterested.
Back on the terrace, there was more pyrotechnics. I don't know, smoke bombs, flares, fireworks, and yet still no-one had died, who'd have thought it.
Wuppertal added a fourth.
And then a fifth.
The teams going off to a rousing chorus of 'China in Your Hand', which I suppose with its Frankenstein theme does have some Germanic relevance.
And It was back on the Schwebebahn to the centre.
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