Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Torlos

An attendance of 27,000 was very respectable for a Third Division (Regionalliga Nord) game though the stadium (LTU Arena) was only half full/half empty. The kick-off was delayed as over 10,000 Essen fans travelled the short distance to the game and the organisation was a amateur. More of a disgrace was the bar facilities which saw only non-alcoholic beer being served.

These new arenas (impressive as they may look at first glance) are souless, corporate/family places which, ultimately, may lead to the extinction of football. Still, it was cheap to get in (10 Euros), train and U-Bahn travel was included in the price of the ticket and the lack of alcohol meant I did not spend that much.

The game itself was OK (that's an English OK not a German OK) despite ending 0-0. After their exhausting game at the weekend, Rot Weiss seemed happy to play for a draw and fully deserved their first point of the season. Düsseldorf, one of the favourites for promotion, were disappointing.

After the match two people greeted me as though they knew me well though I struggled to recognise either of them. Both had spoken to me on previous away trip with Rot Weiss (Fürth and Koblenz respectively) but drink had obviously got the better of me on those days.

Torlos - Goalless
alkoholfrei - Alcohol-free
Der Trainer - Coach/Manager
das Auswärtsspiel - away game

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