Monthly Archives: November 2008

A Tale Of Two Cities

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 For the first time ever I put the destination for this week’s match on the blog and opened it up to you dear readers to determine my destination.  Over 50% of your voted for a trip south west to watch the Blue Square Premier league game at Salisbury, which was a popular choice with me – especially as three of the four votes I received were actually from me!  So sorry Mr Campbell who obviously voted for the Dagenhame game at Leicester and some sadistic fans who liked the idea of sending me to watch Millwall.  Whilst it was never going to be the most exciting game to see, I was fascinated after studying the map to see what the ground was like as it appeared to be located in the middle of a farmer’s field with nothing else around.

Salisbury have floated around the Southern sections of the non-league pyramid for most of their sixty year history without actually making any impression.  All of this changed in 2005 when under former Southampton midfielder Nick Holmes the club reached the Southern League Premier division, thus moving into the Conference South.  In their first season they finished second, and after beating Braintree Town in the playoff game took their place in the Conference National (now the Blue Square Premier) for the first time.  During that season they also reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup, and brought the BBC cameras to the Raymond McEnhill stadium when they drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest in front of a record capacity attendance of 3,100.  Last season they finished 12th which was a commendable performance considering that finances were tight.  This season the situation has deteriorated and the cup has been forced to off load players, including three the week before this game, despite some decent results.

Their opposition know all about hitting rock bottom.  It is only four years ago since the club lost their league status after seventy five years in the Football League.  Fifteen years ago they beat Crewe Alexandra at Wembley Stadium in the Play Off finals to reach the third tier of English football.  12 months later they nearly reached the now-Championship but lost in the play off semi-finals.  Since then things have gone from bad to worse for the club as they have slipped down the league and were embroiled in a strange set of events when US investor John Batchelor took over the club.

So since they were relegated to the Conference they have struggled to adjust to life in the Non Leagues and have yet to challenge for a place back in the Football League.  So far this season they have struggled, and in the week before the game manager Colin Walker was sacked, and replaced by Martin Foyle.

So off I headed, relying on TomTom to get me there.  Having only left at 1pm I was concerned that I would not get there in time, but for once traffic was light.  As I was directed off the A303 onto some country lanes I started to swear at the small screen in front of me as it seemed to be taking me on a magical mystery tour of Wiltshire country pubs.  The road went on and on, with no signs for Salisbury.  Eventually after some ten miles I saw a sign for the football ground, and in the distance, in what appeared to be in the middle of a field was a set of floodlights.  I was directed into a field next to the “stadium” for a bargain £2, and then headed into the ground.

It is certainly a basic affair.  One very strange main stand, which is technically two tier dominates the ground.  Opposite are two small single stands, either side of the half way line with approximately 100 seats in each.  The away fans had four steps of terrace behind the goal and up the side of the pitch, whilst the home fans had a similar space at the far end although it was covered.  From the top step you could clearly see the fields with sheep in behind the east side of the stadium.

It was a very cold day.  After grabbing a tea, and plugging in my IPOD to listen to the latest England rugby disaster I found an empty space on the terrace to watch the drab game.  I will not pull any punches on this – although I am sure if it was a nice warm sunny day the game would have taken on a different look.  But with the temperature hovering around the 4 degrees mark, and England getting thumped by the All Blacks in my ears it did not inspire me.

Salisbury City 1 York City 1 – The Raymond McEnhill Stadium – Saturday 29th November 2008 
A bit of a panorama of the stadiumYork City had brought a crowd of around 40 for this game, and the home fans had hardly turned out in force, so when the game kicked off it really was the high point of the afternoon for most.  In the first twenty minutes there was not one single chance on goal.  Salisbury’s centre midfielder had adopted the Captain Caveman look with ridiculously long hair which would have been too tempting for an opposing player just to pull.  In terms of glove watch there was four players sporting them, including the Salisbury centre back who had the short sleeve shirt and glove combination – farcical!

The ball spent most of the first half in the air as both teams tried to hit the ball long with little effect.  The breakthrough came eventually when Salisbury’s Rory Hill launched the ball long and Charlie Griffin managed to poke the ball past the on rushing Ingham in the York goal and ran past him to finish the job off.  OK – confession time.  I didn’t actually see what happened.  I was retuning my IPOD and as I could not hear the crowd noise I looked up to see Griffin walking the ball into the net, and the York goalie holding his head in his hands.  Griffin took his celebration a bit too far and was booked for taunting the one York fan who shouted something at him.

The teams took over fifteen minutes for half time, quite sensible considering the plunging temperature, and on the restart neither seemed happy to be out there.  York did through everything they had at Salisbury and were certainly the livlier of the two but still created very little, until the Eighty third minute when substitute Brodie turned the ball in from close range to earn a draw for York.

So at this point I will offer an apology.  I was too cold to inject my normal humour into my report.  All I could think of was getting home to CMF and the little Fullers and escaping the rural surroundings.  The countryside has its place in our lives, but as a setting for football?  No.  Perhaps I should have gone to Millwall after all!  

About the Raymond McEnhill Stadium
In 1997 Salisbury City moved to a purpose built stadium at Old Sarum, named after the then chairman. The Raymond McEnhill Stadium’s capacity officially stands at 3,500 (although it is technically able to hold 5,000, with covered accommodation for 2,247 fans.

A then record crowd of 2,570 saw the FA Cup first round 2-0 defeat by Hull City in 1998. This figure was beaten twice during the FA Cup run of 2006-07 – against Fleetwood Town in the first round proper and then against Nottingham Forest in the second round, with 3,100 attending the 1-1 draw. The record league attendance figure of 2,633 was set on 19 January 2008 when Salisbury City played Torquay United.

The stadium is basic to say the least. The unusual main stand has six rows of seating at the front, with a small upper tier that acts as a balcony for the four executive boxes. Behind the north goal is a covered terrace of four steps, and the same behind the south goal although this end is uncovered. The east side of the ground backs on to rural farm land and two small stands hold around 100 fans each.

How to get to the Raymond McEnhill Stadium
The ground is located to the north of the city on the edge of rolling fields.  If you are driving to the ground follow signs for the Park and Ride, where you can either park and walk (it is about 10 minutes away) or carry onto the ground which is off Portway and park at the stadium for £2.  For most games you will not have an issue parking here.  Alternatively you can park in Old Sarum and walk as it is only around 5 minutes away.  Bus 69A runs to the stadium from the city centre and railway station which is a couple of miles away.

How to get a ticket for the Raymond McEnhill Stadium
Entrance to the stadium is £13 for Adults and £9 for Concessions.  This allows entry onto the terrace areas at either end – although you cannot walk around the stadium.  For £2 extra you can transfer to either of the covered seating areas.  Tickets for 90% of matches played at the stadium are pay on the door.  If you want to reserve a ticket in advance then give the club a call on 01722 323100.

More details can be found on Duncan Adam’s excellent site – http://www.conferencegrounds.co.uk/salisbury_city.htm

When Two Blogs Collide

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Visits to the lower leagues are becoming more and more appealing as the greed of the Premier League and Championship clubs (and some 1st and even 2nd division clubs) flies in the face of the credit crunch. The realisation that us fans can no longer control the same level of disposable income is completely lost on the fans and born out by my beloved West Ham who are hawking Christmas special packages for our “exciting” game versus Stoke City at Christmas for £100 a head if you want a meal as well. A real festive season bargain. Add in some of the other places I have seen this year such as the Aldershot Chairman who bemoaned the fact that fans weren’t turning up in their thousands at over £20 a head to watch the 4th level of English football. So it is refreshing to dip my toe into the Blue Square Premier League once a month and see what is happening. After away days at Grays Athletic and Crawley Town so far this season I looked forward to a short trip south to the town of Lewes, which according to BA’s High Life magazine this month is one of the top 50 places in Europe to visit in terms of its unspoiltness (a new word?) as well as its smart High Street and of course the presence of the Harvey’s Brewery, brewer of one of my favourite tipples, Sussex Best Bitter.

This would also be a meeting of great powers on a scale of Reagan and Gorbachev’s first ever conference in Reyjkavik as I was meeting Danny Last of http://europeanfootballweekends.blogspot.com fame. Between the two of us we control majority of the reporting of European football weekend away market – pretty impressive eh? I had to check the insurance policy to see if we were allowed to be in the same room together as well as ensure we did not take the same route to the ground just in case a sniper wanted to take us both out at the same time.

Lewes is one of those towns where few people could point out on the map. Fans of the A23 and A27 will know it well as it sits just a few miles north east of Brighton. It is actually the county town, and more importantly home to Harveys Brewery and the old fashion town centre is dominated by the castle. However, the rise of the football was planned to bring the town to national prominence.

After years playing in the local leagues the club moved through the Isthmian League with speed in the late 1990′s and early part of this decade until they found themselves in a position to challenge for a place in the Conference National league. Stiff ground regulations meant that they could not take part in the end of season matches, but once the work on the Dripping Pan had been completed they cemented their meteoric rise in May 2008, capturing the National League South title. On the final day of the season every single player in the squad, bar one plus the manager Steve King were basically told they would not be offered a contract for the club’s first season at the highest level in a move most fans today still cannot begin to understand.

This season has unsurprisingly been a struggle from day one. It is unclear whether they are officially up for sale or not, and up until now they had only managed two wins all season as they propped up the rest of the league. Just two places and four points above them sits Grays, in a very similar position off the field as the club struggle to continue to be able to financially compete at this level. A money spinning replay in the 1st round of the FA Cup was spoilt by a floodlight failure with the team 1-0 versus Carlisle United. More importantly it would bring me face to face with “our Barry” again (see http://theballisround.co.uk/2008/10/26/the-magic-of-the-fa-cup-in-deepest-essex/) and hopefully his fan club.

I headed down with the little Fullers and after a very pleasant lunch in the High Street they headed off to a play area and I off to meet Mr Last in one of Lewes’s finest pubs. I was introduced to Dave, a man with a trivia head after my own and we were soon swapping a few facts that needed dusting off from the grey matter (Q: Most expensive ever British teenage signing in the 1970′s? Answer at the end of this post). Both Danny and Dave explained how they have turned their back on League football, finding solace in the rough beauty of football at the Non League level.

We walked the few hundreds yards from the pub to the ground, passing the station on the way. Such was the proximity of the railway to the ground meant that within 3 minutes of the final whistle you could be on a train on the way back to Brighton. The club had a small issue, as we discovered on reaching the gates. Due to an issue with the printers there were no match programmes available for the game, which for some ground hoppers I know would have been a disaster and would have not counted on their “done that” list.

The ground is certainly unique. I tried to ascertain why it was called the Dripping Pan and got a number of different answers, none of which were 100% certain. I liked the idea that the club simply wanted to be different. It has a small modern main stand with around 8 rows and ran 2/3rd of the pitch. Opposite this was a large steep bank with a single barrier at the top where some fans would stand. Overlooking the ground were some flats that were obviously acting as “executive boxes”. The focal point of the ground though was the west terrace which included the club offices, changing rooms and the infamous club bar. Changes to the regulations in the Blue Square Conference has meant that the bar is not able to open during the game, and they even have to close the blinds with ten minutes to go prior to kick off.

We headed into the bar, but had not factored the fact that the Norwegian branch of the Lewes fan club were in town, and the nine of them had cleaned the bar out of every beer except Guinness. Quite an impressive achievement and only the second time it had happened in the history of the club. Quite why they were Lewes fans, and why they were over for the game is still unclear although one did explain that their ancestors had landed close by on their Viking raids and they settled the town, building the first castle in the town. I thought this was quite believable until he also added that John Arne Riise is the biggest ever export from Norway. Hmmmm.

Lewes FC v Grays Athletic – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 22nd November 2008

Lewes outplsy Grays to record a vital win

Lewes outplsy Grays to record a vital win

If ever the term “six pointer” could be applied to a game, then this was one. Lewes were stranded at the bottom of the league with Grays one place and four points above. The good news was that the club were bouyed by the performance of their youth team who had made it through to the next round of the FA Youth Cup and had drawn Hull City at home. Some of these players were in the squad for this game, notably the left sided midfielder David Wheeler who was in action from the first minute.

Four minutes were on the clock when a smart ball past the Grays static defence allowed ex-Grays striker Scott Taylor the opportunity to round the keeper and slot the ball home. A great start for the home team but could they keep the pressure up? The answer was yes and after a blatant penalty shout was turned down, Wheeler beat Grays captain Stuart for pace and he could only try and illegally block him, conceding a penalty. Michael Standing calmly slotted the spot kick home to double the lead.

Despite a two goal advantage the crowd were restless and felt that every Grays attack would lead to a goal. Yet there was very little that should have worried them. Somehow four minutes of injury time were added that did little for the nerves of the home fans.

After the customary change of ends at half time we were joined by fifty or so Grays fans who seemed more pessimistic that the home ones. Their unease spread onto the pitch and apart from a late free kick that hit the bar neither team looked capable of scoring and after another ridiculous five minutes were added (9 minutes in total yet only one injury stoppage) the referee brought an end to the suffering and three points belonged to Lewes. And sure enough three minutes later my hosts Danny and Dave were on their train, and I was in the Fullermobile on our way north.

A very enjoyable afternoon in a very hospitable place. If the club have the balls to throw some of the youngsters in the team then they will pick up points. All it needs is the locals to get behind the team – a crowd of just over 500 were rewarded with some good football so more of the locals sould have a walk down the hill from the town centre and take in a game.

A final word – Our Barry had a stinker and was booked in the second half, although at least he didn’t have his fan club in tow today.

The answer to the question from above was Ray Stewart who joined West Ham United from Dundee United for £430,000.

About the Dripping Pan – Capacity 3,000 (600 Seats)
Thanks to Lewes FC for providing the following information on the ground:

Lewes’ uniquely named ground ‘The Dripping Pan’, had previously been used by Lewes Priory Cricket Club which continues to play in the fields behind the ground, though the arena itself had been used by the people of Lewes as a centre of recreation as far back as records exist.

The original purpose of the ground is unclear, although local legend suggests that it was part of a salt making industry run by monks from the adjacent Cluniac Priory.

The spoil from the excavation forms the mount behind the ground and both appear in the very earliest maps of Lewes from 1745. The ground may merely be the excavation pit for the mount itself, which has been suggested as the original ‘temporary’ motte and bailey fortress constructed by William the Conqueror’s close ally, William de Warenne, before he developed Lewes Castle on higher ground. An archaeological survey during construction of the new terrace failed to reveal any further insights into either the purpose or the age of the banks. In recent years, the grass banks which used to provide a natural amphitheatre have been replaced by concrete as the club looked to secure ground grading standards.

In 2003 the Philcox Stand was opened behind the west goal and three years later, the 500 seat Rookery Stand replaced the old wooden South Stand which ran virtually the length of the pitch on top of the grass bank.

Last season the Terry Parris open terrace was built at the Ham Lane end, despite the protests of some local residents who opposed the destruction of a section of historic flint wall to make way for emergency access and a turnstile
A “B” grading was secured in April 2008 and work continues on the rest of the ground to ensure it gets the required “A” grade certificate by April 2009.

How to get to the Dripping Pan
The ground is located very close to the station – in fact I do not think I have visited a ground that is closer.  If train is your arrival mechanism come out of the station, turn left and after 50 yards turn left at the roundabout and the ground is straight ahead of you.  If you are driving and coming via the A27 from Brighton then take the first Lewes turn off.  When you reach the crossroads where Lewes prison is, turn right and follow road down hill.  When you reach small roundabout turn left into Southover High Street and follow until you see the ground straight ahead.  There is a small pay and display at the stadium, and one the other side of the station.

How to get a ticket for the Dripping Pan
Crowds are disappointingly low at the stadium and there is no need to book tickets in advance for virtually every game.  If you are here to see the local derby with Eastbourne Borough then it would be advisable to purchase in advance by calling the club on 01273 472100. Tickets are £12 for Adults and £8 for Children and this allows you to either stand or sit in the main stand.

Deutschland, Deutschland wo für heraus Deutschland…part 1

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Well what can you say about an away trip to your greatest rivals in one of the best cities in the world, where you come away with a win after fielding your almost second string team?  Quite alot actually, so here goes, without the need to rely on cheap Top Gun (or The Mobiles for those who remember their one hit wonder in 1982) song titles.  This was always going to be the pinnacle of England’s away trips for the past few years – well certainly since Amsterdam in 2006.  I am not going to dwell on the history of games between these two great foes, but I think there was enough in the payback bank from Wordl Cup 1990, Euro Championship 1996 and of course Munich in Septmber 2001 to ensure that this was more than just a friendly.

As soon as the game was announced, and the venue confirmed as Berlin the anticipation from the fans was immense.  The German FA allocated nearly 8,000 tickets for England Fans and most were snapped up well in advance, ensuring that the atmosphere was going to be tip top.  But it wasn’t all about the mouthwatering game.  Berlin itself was a great result as a venue.  The new capital of Germany is one of the youngest in the World (prior to the wall coming down in 1989 the capital of West Germany was Bonn), as well as one of the most hedonistic.  Meaning that whatever the visitor is looking forward, he (or she) will find it somewhere in the city.  One only has to mention the words Kit Kat Club to many visitors to draw a knowing smile (go on you know you want to Google it now – just wait until the children and your boss is out of the room though). 

There are a number of great things about Berlin including:-

  • There is no real centre to the city which means that crowds are dispursed and never too busy
  • There is history galore, and most of it is free to see
  • There is of course German beer and sausages
  • It’s full of German women who are not backward at coming forward

But there are a number of bad things too:-

  • There is no real centre to the city which means that attractions are in places quite afar apart
  • There is a lot of “sensitive” history that does attract the wrong type of visitors
  • Too much beer and sausage makes you very poorly
  • It’s full of German women who are sometimes too forward

So a bit of a balanced scorecard really, although most people who visit the city vow to come back time and time again.  I had been on three occasions before and captured its forever changing face.  In 2000 I surprised CMF with a birthday day trip to the city and we wandered around Europe’s largest every building site that today is the impressive Potsdamer Platz development. Three years later I was back to see a game at the Olympiastadium which at the time was in the midst of its huge upgrade in time for the World Cup finals in 2006, and finally I was here on a day trip with Football Jo so that she could stock up on some dody DVD’s.  I had a good idea of the bits to see and the bits to avoid and this would come in useful later in the day.

As the days counted down before the game, more and more of the first choice players pulled out.  The Manchester United trio of Ferdinand, Rooney and Wes Brown were already declared injured before the squad was announced but it came as no shock when firstly Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard pulled out of the squad after playing a full match for their clubs a few hours before.  Unsurprisingly there was no place for Robert Green, despite him putting in a fantastic performance at home to Portsmouth in front of Capello.  Instead he went with the 38 year old David James, Scott Carson who hadn’t played since the Croatia home game twelve months previously where he had a nightmare, and finally Manchester City’s Joe Hart, who had been between the sticks for the previous few games in which Man City had performed so badly.  Hart was ruled out after City’s game at Hull on the Sunday, but instead of Green he called up Paul Robinson who must have thought, along with 99% of Blackburn Rovers fans that his international career was over.  With no place still for Michael Owen there was alot of specutation as who would start up front from the quartet of Defoe, Crouch, Bent and Agbonlahor, whilst the central midfield pairing of Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick would start for the first time together.

I had managed to snare my flights on a rumour, twenty four hours before the fixture was officially announced.  So I wsa flying on at 7am on the day of the game direct to Berlin Tegel, returning twenty four hours later.  Dagenham Dan and Shents Bull were flying out with me and I managed to arrange a lift to Heathrow with Dan, although the pick up from Embankment at 4.30am did mean another night where I got to say hello to the milkman as I left the house.  This was going to be my first visit to Terminal 5, and first impressions were very positive and you can see how it took so long to build, although they could have improved the painfully slow security process surely.

The airport had a heavy police presence since this was a game that was going to be too tempting for a number of the ”old faces”.  In general the police that you find at the airports are very personable and will try and have a joke with you – especially in Dan’s case when he was recognised straight away for his heinous crime of being a Dagenham and Redbridge fan.  We passed through the terminal after security very quickly, including a full english pit stop.  We had turned down a Wagamama’s Full English early on, not exactly relishing the tought of sausage, bacon and wasabi, as well as Gordon Ramsey’s Plane Food offering that at £20 was a tad overpriced, and settled for the Express Full with a guarentee of fifteen minutes.

Fast forward ninety minutes and we were exiting the tiny terminal at Berlin’s Tegel airport and boarding a bus that would take us down to the city centre.  Tegel is so small that you can walk from curbside when you exit your taxi to jetty which connects the plane in less than thirty steps.  This means that the airport can get incredibly congested and it still retains the Eastern European feel today, although there are now firm plans to demolish the airport in 2012 when the new Berlin Brandenburg airport opens in the south east corner of the city.  The bus deposited us outside Zoo Station (made famous by U2 in 1991 as the title of their opening track of the Achtung Baby album) and we headed around the corner so the boys could drop their bags off, and we then started on some sightseeing.  I took them on a circular route from Potsdamer Platz along the wall route to the Brandenburg Gate and down to Checkpoint Charlie.  We had also picked up a few more visitors on the way including Young Joe, who when he discovered I wrote a blog insisted that I refer to him as Gypsy Joe.  I cannot possibly comment on why he liked to be called this, although we did lose him a couple of times as we passed building sites that needed a driveway completed.

After a brief souvenir stall stop at Checkpoint Charlie (where we filled up our passports with genuine East German and Soviet border stamps) we went for lunch at one of my favourate spots in the city – the Play Off Bar and Diner which is located in the Arkadan shopping centre at Potsdamer Platz.  Now what is so special about an American diner in a shopping centre you may ask?  Well I have been a regular visitor over the years for four main factors.  Firstly they are one of the only bars in the city that served Schwarzbier, or “black beer” which is addictive once you have tried it once; secondly they serve huge portions of bascially every type of meat known to man; thirdly it has TV’s dotted around the location showing sport from all over the world, and finally because of the waitresses.  We are not talking in the Hooters league here, but they are above average for German women.  OUr particular waitress, Steffi, took a shine to Dan and myself straight away and flirted like mad, and kept “squeezing” past us to get to other tables, taking the opportunity for a quick feel as she passed.  She was certainly not backward in coming forward and I think things could have got a bit messy if we had stayed for a few more Schwarzbiers in more ways than one.

Berlin was gearing up for its annual Christmas market, with many of the stalls being set up around Potsdamer Platz.  Most were not yet open but some of the sweet stalls were, including the infamous “let’s dip all of the fruit we can find in chocolate and put it on a stick” stall.  One of the stands was a Milka stand, selling a variety of purple cow products.  Being brave after my Black Beers I went up to the pretty maidens behind the desk with Shents and asked “Do you know where anywhere sells chocolate”.  In a response that brought me straight down to earth I had one of those moments where you wish you were somewhere else.

“Are you English people so stupid you cannot see?  We sell chocolate here – now do you want some or are you going to sod off?”  In one of the biggest climb downs known to man, and with my support crew now in hiding around the corner I handed over my €2 for a bar of Milka with chilli beans in.  I could have at least got something I liked!  In preparation for the change in temperature that was due to kick in at the weekend, the local authorities had installed a real snow slope where for €1.50 you could speed down in a tyre.  Only Gypsy Joe and Shents were brave enough to venture down the slope, and their girly screams were enough to have the rest of us heading into the U-Bahn in fits of laughter.

We headed off back to Zoo after the alpine experience as the boys were fascinated by the Erotik superstore and museum that is located across the road from the station.  It was here in April 2006 that I nearly walked into a scene from a porno – although not the kind that either CMF or myself would want to watch.  I was there with Football Jo as I have already mentioned and she wanted to try and “out porn” her brother so she wanted to look in the “special” section of DVD’s.  Now coming from the most liberal country in Europe where hardcore porn is shown regularly on state TV before the watershed and they have monthly magazines such as Golden Shower Monthly and Bukkake Bonanza, the special section really caters for a minority of the market, and Jo was in her element.  I was desperate for the bathroom and noticed a Gents in the corner so I headed in that direction.  As I was about to push the door open, three young men with leather pants and very tight t-shirts emerged, swiftly followed by a middle age suited man who looked a little bit flustered. On seeing the potential for a new “trick” they smiled at me and I headed back to the same arms of of Stacheldrat und Vanillepudding section (use Babel fish if you want to know!) where Jo was, much to her amusement.

After a thirty minute giggle we felt the need for some more culture and so we headed east to Alexanderplatz, which was the centre of the East German universe.  Slap bang in the middle of the square is the Fernsehturm, built in the late 1960′s and one of the tallest freestanding structures in Europe at 368metres.  The viewing platform at 204metre is a great place to get a view of the whole city and Shents and I were the only two brave enough the 30metres a second lift and the magnificent panoramic views.  So we did what all English football fans would do in this situation – we headed for the bar and had a beer.  Time was getting on, and we headed off down Under den Linden for a final bit of culture before heading off to the stadium.

Oh what it’s like to follow England abroad.  The train was packed with fans from both countries.  The Germans being quite drinking their litre bottles of beer, and the English full of toneless songs which started off fine such as “God save our Queen”, “Rule Britannia” and then progressed onto “Ten German Bombers” and other great songs taken from the Xenophobics greatest hits cd.  We pulled into the station next to the stadium and within a few minutes we had passed through the various security cordons, been given our free programmes and stocked up on warming food and drink as the temperature started to fall.

So what more can I say about the stadium?  It is truly magificent and history seems to seep from every brick.  During the 1990′s the stadium was taken apart block by block, completely cleaned and replaced.  A huge roof was put in place as well and the stadium was ready to host the World Cup Final in 2006.  England had been given the upper and lower tiers either side of the Olympic torch platform, and the view of the action from my seat in the upper tier was very impressive.  The teams emerged to a “raise the flag” that Mr Perryman would have been proud of, although we couldn’t actually see what the message was.  Christians entering the Coliseum perhaps?  Well ninety minutes would decide whether we would exit battered and bruised or carried on the shields of the vanished.