Munster Pre-season 1st August
It’s been a regular complaint that Saints give so little notice of their pre-season schedule, but they just about announced the game at third tier Preussen Münster in time for sensible planning. The same cannot be said for the first game, arguably a more attractive one at Bundesliga 2 Eintracht Braunschweig. Maybe just as well that so few managed to make that trip, though, as my guide book says Braunschweig (Brunswick) has been named Germany’s most boring town – maybe Chairman Mick, who was there, can confirm or deny. We won, anyway.
Münster is in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany’s most populous province, and the majority of supporters would have flown to one of Rhineland’s commercial hubs of Köln (Cologne) or Düsseldorf, whereas Münster is further north, amongst Westphalia’s countryside. A walk through the old town shows evidence of this attractive place’s past and current academic, ecclesiastical, judicial and trading importance, but that’s not why we went there… the old town is away from the ground, but it does house the Pinkus Müller brewery, and their superb products were well worth the detour.
Suitably prepared for watching the Saints, we found the Preussenstadion to be under construction, with one side still a building site. Like many stadiums in this part of the world, it used to be an oval to accommodate a running track, and with open terraces at both ends. Crumbling concrete and modern demands necessitated a rebuild and our game marked the re-opening of the east curve, occupied by home ultras.
Preussen started brightly and punished Harwood-Bellis’s error with a well taken goal by Higl, only for Scienza to equalise soon after; the home side did cause plenty of problems in the first period, though. The game was the second of the day as there had been a 70 minute morning match up behind closed doors (1-1), and I suspect Southampton’s squad was better able to cope with this arrangement. Certainly we dominated the second half, despite having to wait for Dobbin’s late winner.
Back down to cosmopolitan Düsseldorf afterwards, and the following day (Sunday), the rest of the party visited an historic tramway in nearby Wuppertal – yes, this was an old blokes trip. I managed to find another match, though, as it was the first day of season in the second tier of women’s football. The best option at a major stadium involved SGS Essen, a sports club best known for its women’s team who play at Rot-Weiss Essen (men’s tier 3).
Photographs outside from R-W’s 1950s heyday showed that the Stadion an der Hafenstrasse was also an open terrace oval but the present ground is a complete rebuild more or less nextdoor and opened in 2012. Like Preussenstadion will be, it is in what is now the predominant continental style for medium sized stadiums, with four distinct stands and open corners.
Frauen Bundesliga 2 seemed to be at about the same standard as our WSL 2, home to SFC’s women’s team. Sadly that extends to the goalkeeping under crosses and SGS fell behind to a goal direct from a corner before running out 3-1 winners – they should have had more.
It’s a bus journey to and from downtown Essen, past the extensive university, and then train for Düsseldorf. The train network by the Rhine and in and around the Ruhr valley reads like Bomber Command’s former to-do list, but it maybe as much a result of post-industrial economics as conflict that the only signs of Essen’s heavy industrial past were preserved pit-head winding gear and Kruppstrasse, a road near the station – the university is on the site of the old Krupp steelworks. A nicely planned reconstructed town that was not at all what I expected.
My first Saints pre-season since Ralph took us to Austria – we hope for more accessible overseas trips… but please tell us about them early! Eric
We’re about to win
Stadion an der Hafenstrasse, exterior
Stadion an der Hafenstrasse, interior
Eric Shadick
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