Fortuna Koln 2-2 FC Koln U23
Sudstadion (Att 1,149)
9 March 2013
City Derby with a Difference
The western section of the 4th tier in German football has three teams in it from Koln. Based on the chants heard at this game, it is fair to say that two, Fortuna and Viktoria, are shall we say, your more traditional rivals (the recent game between the two at Viktoria drew over 6,000 fans). This leaves today's visitors as the odd one out, in many ways. As many of you will know there are a number of teams in the lower reaches of German football that are top teams suffixed with a 'II" (I think in Werder's case there is also a 'III'). These are U23 teams, and they have to comply with special rules as to which league they can play in (there has to be a certain number of tiers between them and their parent club).
And so the 'Derby' between Fortuna and FC Koln II took place against a back drop of no away supporters. Firstly (with the noticeable exception of Dortmund II) these clubs generally draw home crowds of a few hundred and get very little in the way of away support, but in the case of Koln II this afternoon, the game took place at the same time as FC Koln were playing a Bundesliga 2 match a couple of kilometers away.
This didn't prevent 30 policemen turning up, together with a solitary police dog!
On the pitch you also get somewhat of a contrast in that the U23 teams generally play more football and are less inclined to 'put themselves about' even for a derby. That said, this was a very watchable game and, if anything, the lower rank visitors probably did enough to win the game. The draw left the hosts level on points in second place with Viktoria, 7 points behind the leaders but with both having a game in hand.
Three games from the end of the season, Viktoria are the visitors to Sudstadion, in what promises to be a more traditional derby match.
And so the 'Derby' between Fortuna and FC Koln II took place against a back drop of no away supporters. Firstly (with the noticeable exception of Dortmund II) these clubs generally draw home crowds of a few hundred and get very little in the way of away support, but in the case of Koln II this afternoon, the game took place at the same time as FC Koln were playing a Bundesliga 2 match a couple of kilometers away.
This didn't prevent 30 policemen turning up, together with a solitary police dog!
On the pitch you also get somewhat of a contrast in that the U23 teams generally play more football and are less inclined to 'put themselves about' even for a derby. That said, this was a very watchable game and, if anything, the lower rank visitors probably did enough to win the game. The draw left the hosts level on points in second place with Viktoria, 7 points behind the leaders but with both having a game in hand.
Three games from the end of the season, Viktoria are the visitors to Sudstadion, in what promises to be a more traditional derby match.