Dortmund II 2-0 MSV Duisburg
Stadion Rote Erde
3. Liga
22 February 2014
I read somewhere that on any given home game at the Westfalenstadion, Borussia Dortmund get 3,000 overseas visitors, all coming to visit one of the most famous sporting arenas in Europe, mainly to stare in awe at the massive south terrace. As these thousands of football tourists embark from the U-bahn and make the short walk to the stadium, I wonder how many have given a second thought to the small athletics track nestled up against the east stand, with its wonderful brick entrances and sweeping terraces. This is the 25,000 capacity Stadion Rote Erde, built in 1924, some 47 years before its much larger and more famous neighbour.
It is the proud home of Borussia Dortmund II (the U23 team) who ply their trade in the third division of German football, the highest level that one of these ‘II’ teams can play in. Now I know that many of you are totally offended by the whole concept of these teams in the national leagues, but, as with many things connected with Borussia Dortmund, this ‘II’ club is a little different. Unlike many other junior teams it has its own ground, it has its own supporters (there are actually fans who just go to watch them play), they have away supporters (there were over 2,000 Dortmund fans in the return fixture in Duisburg) and they are one of only two U23 sides playing at such a high level.
That said, today was not one of those days to substantiate one of these claims as home support accounted for barely 500 of the 4,580 crowd. Perhaps it was the thought of thousand of blue and white 'Zebras' invading their ground along with the hundreds of obligatory green suited riot police, but it was slightly disappointing to see so few of them.
That disappointment paled into insignificance compared with that of the away performance, where the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the MSV’s season was all too clear to see. Behind after 8 minutes to a soft header that should have been cleared not once but twice in the build up, they huffed and puffed but could not find the equaliser. The ineptitude of the defending for the first goal was surpassed in the last minute when a mistake at the back left the Dortmund attacker to drill the ball home into an empty net from something like 30m out.
We stayed to finish our beer before finally being kicked out the stadium some 20 minutes after the final whistle. Probably just as well as there appears to be an incident among the away fans back at the train station, that left us playing hunt the Black Golf amongst the police vans (2nd last picture).
So, if you are ever fortunate to be one of the 3,000 heading to see the ‘Yellow Wall’ and you pass this great old ground, do give it a second glance, you won’t be disappointed.
It is the proud home of Borussia Dortmund II (the U23 team) who ply their trade in the third division of German football, the highest level that one of these ‘II’ teams can play in. Now I know that many of you are totally offended by the whole concept of these teams in the national leagues, but, as with many things connected with Borussia Dortmund, this ‘II’ club is a little different. Unlike many other junior teams it has its own ground, it has its own supporters (there are actually fans who just go to watch them play), they have away supporters (there were over 2,000 Dortmund fans in the return fixture in Duisburg) and they are one of only two U23 sides playing at such a high level.
That said, today was not one of those days to substantiate one of these claims as home support accounted for barely 500 of the 4,580 crowd. Perhaps it was the thought of thousand of blue and white 'Zebras' invading their ground along with the hundreds of obligatory green suited riot police, but it was slightly disappointing to see so few of them.
That disappointment paled into insignificance compared with that of the away performance, where the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the MSV’s season was all too clear to see. Behind after 8 minutes to a soft header that should have been cleared not once but twice in the build up, they huffed and puffed but could not find the equaliser. The ineptitude of the defending for the first goal was surpassed in the last minute when a mistake at the back left the Dortmund attacker to drill the ball home into an empty net from something like 30m out.
We stayed to finish our beer before finally being kicked out the stadium some 20 minutes after the final whistle. Probably just as well as there appears to be an incident among the away fans back at the train station, that left us playing hunt the Black Golf amongst the police vans (2nd last picture).
So, if you are ever fortunate to be one of the 3,000 heading to see the ‘Yellow Wall’ and you pass this great old ground, do give it a second glance, you won’t be disappointed.