Herr Mike in Deutschland

This Saturday I took my biggest football pilgrimage so far - a 600 mile round trip to the Westfalen Stadion (now known as the Signal Iduna Park thanks to a massive sponsorship deal) the home of German football giants and 1997 champions of Europe Borussia Dortmund.

Norman and I set off at around 6 in the morning on the fan bus which was pretty hard going but he party soon started when everyone woke up. With the FCN songs on the stereo and numerous crates of beer the journey didn't seem to take that long. We did stop every couple of hours for 'Brotzeit' - a feats of bread, sausage, cheese and gherkins which kept us fuelled and ready for the game.

We got to the stadium in good time and had a good bit of banter with the Dortmund fans. Though the police came and seperated us it was all in good spirit and when it was time to head into the ground we all shook hands and wished one another a good game. Most sporting.


The stadium itself was awesome. Unlike many grounds in Germany there is no running track around the pitch and with the sides being so steep you feel right on top of the action - it's a real cauldron.

Throw in the largest standing terrace in Europe and you have a hell of an atmosphere -25,000 people stand in the ground's southern stand which observed from the other end was just a yellow and black wall of sound.
It was nearly a full house for the game - around 80,000 and when they sing you understand why the place is nicknamed 'the opera house'.



Of course I and the 4,999 other FCN supporters were hoping for a Nuremburg win when the fat lady came to sing - it would have been the first for Der Club over BVB since 1992.

The game itself didn't do the stadium justice really, FCN looked a little defensive, obviously giving Dortmund the respect they deserve. The bright yellow home team knocked the ball around efficiently but didn't take there chances, polish striker Ebi Smolarek heading there best opportunity over the bar. 0-0 was a fair result.

The way back was another party for about the first 2 hours then I think the tiredness set it and I, along with most of the other travelling fans, fell asleep.

We got back to Erlangen with it still just about St Patricks day and we joined the others, including my boss Andy, to toast the emerald isle with a pint of the black stuff before retiring.

Labels: FCN