SV Darmstadt 0-0 Borussia Moenchengladbach
(5-4 after penalties)
Stadion am Bollenfalltor
Att: 16,500 with 3,000 away
Cupsets
When you ask people what teams they know in Germany it's not long before someone says Gladbach, unsurprising given that they can be classified as one of the giants in the game, being 5 times German champions, 3 time cup winners and have had a rather strong showing in Europe, being runners up in the European Cup in 1976/77 and two time winners of the Uefa cup. Although in recent seasons they haven't quite lived up to this reputation, save for a champions league appearance last season, they are still a massive club. So come 5pm after this game we couldn't be in any doubt that we'd just witnessed a giant killing, what more Gladbach deserved to lose this in my opinion. Darmstadt only qualified by winning the Hesse Cup.
Despite Darmstadt coming from near Frankfurt the day didn't start too early, and even then we managed to arrive around an hour and forty-five minutes before Kick off. For today's match we'd managed to secure a ticket in the away end so were able to park in a small multistory car park a 10 minute walk from the away end. This walk felt rather menacing with away fans stood about with the police in the darkness of the forest not far behind, even the vendors seemed to have a bit of edge about them. After another routine search we were traipsing up the slope into the back of the terrace to get our first glimpse of the ground. Despite being so early there were probably more people in the ground than a Darmstadt league game, the last match they managed to attract 5,200. The big crowd for this match helped to bring the ground to life, and did it more justice than being under half full.
The ground itself dates back to 1921, when a 8,000 capacity venue was built following a merger in 1919 between two of the cities teams. After the second world war the Americans used the ground for Baseball, but by 1950 SV Darmstadt were once again playing football at the venue. They played in the top league at the time and as such had to begin to develop the ground to meet these needs. Between 1950 and 1952 there were several renovations, this bought the ground to a 25,000 capacity. In 1975 the current grandstand was built and by 1978 the capacity had been further expanded to hold 30,000. In the present day the capacity of Bollenfaltor is 19,000. The grandstand prior mentioned sits along one side, a large cantilever stand with a seating capacity of 4,000. The remaining sides are a open bowl, all standing. They start off smallest in the corners nearest the main stand but increases in size by the time it reaches the other side. I liked the ground, particularly as it was full, so it's a shame that while doing some research on the ground that I have discovered there are plans to redevelop it in the not so distant future, so I'm somewhat relieved we made the effort to get down. Otherwise I'm 99.9% sure we wouldn't have gone prior to any potential redevelopment and we'd have regretted it.
The build up to the match, and the result, suggest that this was a classic cup match. The players entered the pitch and the Darmstadt fans put up a nice display stretching the width of the stand, the fans slowly built up the atmosphere. Then nothing, it all went flat. I said going into extra time that Darmstadt deserved to go through simply as they were the only team that was putting in any effort. Although saying that, it was still a game lacking any action what-so-ever, so much so I'm getting bored thinking of it. The only memorable piece of action, prior to the penalties was a disallowed goal for the home side as we approached full time. Penalties was when, as expected, it livened up. Darmstadt missed one, as had gladbach (unsurprisingly through Luuk De Jong) and it was in the hands of the Darmstadt keeper to do his bit and preven Hrgota from scoring. As it was Hrgota decided to chip the ball, why no one will know, and it bounced of the cross bar and away to safety. Darmstadt won, their fans were happy. Gladbach had lost, they weren't so happy, as scenes became rather sour.
As we left it was only then it truly sunk in that, despite the dour game, this was perhaps the biggest cup upset that I'd seen in person and probably will for a while.
Despite Darmstadt coming from near Frankfurt the day didn't start too early, and even then we managed to arrive around an hour and forty-five minutes before Kick off. For today's match we'd managed to secure a ticket in the away end so were able to park in a small multistory car park a 10 minute walk from the away end. This walk felt rather menacing with away fans stood about with the police in the darkness of the forest not far behind, even the vendors seemed to have a bit of edge about them. After another routine search we were traipsing up the slope into the back of the terrace to get our first glimpse of the ground. Despite being so early there were probably more people in the ground than a Darmstadt league game, the last match they managed to attract 5,200. The big crowd for this match helped to bring the ground to life, and did it more justice than being under half full.
The ground itself dates back to 1921, when a 8,000 capacity venue was built following a merger in 1919 between two of the cities teams. After the second world war the Americans used the ground for Baseball, but by 1950 SV Darmstadt were once again playing football at the venue. They played in the top league at the time and as such had to begin to develop the ground to meet these needs. Between 1950 and 1952 there were several renovations, this bought the ground to a 25,000 capacity. In 1975 the current grandstand was built and by 1978 the capacity had been further expanded to hold 30,000. In the present day the capacity of Bollenfaltor is 19,000. The grandstand prior mentioned sits along one side, a large cantilever stand with a seating capacity of 4,000. The remaining sides are a open bowl, all standing. They start off smallest in the corners nearest the main stand but increases in size by the time it reaches the other side. I liked the ground, particularly as it was full, so it's a shame that while doing some research on the ground that I have discovered there are plans to redevelop it in the not so distant future, so I'm somewhat relieved we made the effort to get down. Otherwise I'm 99.9% sure we wouldn't have gone prior to any potential redevelopment and we'd have regretted it.
The build up to the match, and the result, suggest that this was a classic cup match. The players entered the pitch and the Darmstadt fans put up a nice display stretching the width of the stand, the fans slowly built up the atmosphere. Then nothing, it all went flat. I said going into extra time that Darmstadt deserved to go through simply as they were the only team that was putting in any effort. Although saying that, it was still a game lacking any action what-so-ever, so much so I'm getting bored thinking of it. The only memorable piece of action, prior to the penalties was a disallowed goal for the home side as we approached full time. Penalties was when, as expected, it livened up. Darmstadt missed one, as had gladbach (unsurprisingly through Luuk De Jong) and it was in the hands of the Darmstadt keeper to do his bit and preven Hrgota from scoring. As it was Hrgota decided to chip the ball, why no one will know, and it bounced of the cross bar and away to safety. Darmstadt won, their fans were happy. Gladbach had lost, they weren't so happy, as scenes became rather sour.
As we left it was only then it truly sunk in that, despite the dour game, this was perhaps the biggest cup upset that I'd seen in person and probably will for a while.