Werder Bremen 2-1 Fortuna Dusseldorf
Wesserstadion
18 November 2012
Bundesliga
The List
Come on, admit it, you all have one. The list; 10 grounds you want to visit most. Visit one and update accordingly with another. That is the joy of being a ground hopper; there is a virtually inexhaustable supply of grounds. Well, as long as I have had a list, Werder Bremen has been on it. I have no idea why it has taken this long, and certainly most, if not all, of the other 'original 10' have long since been ticked off. I also have no idea why it got on there in the first place.
But that matters not, as I certainly was not disappointed.
Having spent the morning on the neighbouring pitches watching the ladies cup match with Jena, I had significantly more time to hang around the outside of the ground than normal, sampling that totally unique approach the German's have to pre match entertainment.
The ground itself still has the feel of a traditional ground although half is very new. The developments in 1989 left a covered oval bowl whose ends were set well back from the goal. Since then two new ends have been built eliminating this. The side stands remain, with supports extending above the previous roof supports allowing for a continual ovel roof. The whole stadium is clad with a new metal frame, providing a more modern look to the stadium than is actually the case for the two sides.
The home fans have 'safe standing' terrace in the East Stand. The away fans are housed in the upper tier of the West Stand and they too have a significant allocation of safe standing.
A really good game ensued. Fortuna (backed by their very vocal travelling army of fans) took an early lead through a penalty. Werder fought back and equalised just after the break through a well taken header from a decent cross. Despite going down to 10 men (the ref didn't have a good game) Werder won it when the impressive Kevin De Bruyne (yes folks another good young Belgian - you will not doubt get used to the name when he returns to Chelsea from this loan) scored with 8 minutes to go.
Leaving the ground gave me one last opportunity to see the real stars of this stadium in action, the stunning famous floodlights.
And so I need to update the list once more; but it was undoubtedly a worthy entrant for all these years.
But that matters not, as I certainly was not disappointed.
Having spent the morning on the neighbouring pitches watching the ladies cup match with Jena, I had significantly more time to hang around the outside of the ground than normal, sampling that totally unique approach the German's have to pre match entertainment.
The ground itself still has the feel of a traditional ground although half is very new. The developments in 1989 left a covered oval bowl whose ends were set well back from the goal. Since then two new ends have been built eliminating this. The side stands remain, with supports extending above the previous roof supports allowing for a continual ovel roof. The whole stadium is clad with a new metal frame, providing a more modern look to the stadium than is actually the case for the two sides.
The home fans have 'safe standing' terrace in the East Stand. The away fans are housed in the upper tier of the West Stand and they too have a significant allocation of safe standing.
A really good game ensued. Fortuna (backed by their very vocal travelling army of fans) took an early lead through a penalty. Werder fought back and equalised just after the break through a well taken header from a decent cross. Despite going down to 10 men (the ref didn't have a good game) Werder won it when the impressive Kevin De Bruyne (yes folks another good young Belgian - you will not doubt get used to the name when he returns to Chelsea from this loan) scored with 8 minutes to go.
Leaving the ground gave me one last opportunity to see the real stars of this stadium in action, the stunning famous floodlights.
And so I need to update the list once more; but it was undoubtedly a worthy entrant for all these years.