After finishing my pretzel and coffee, I headed for the U-Bahn again. This time Fürth was the destination and I decided to go there early as I wanted to do some sightseeing. I got off the metro at the town hall and was met by the sun, beautiful buildings and positive vibes.
It felt completely different from what I had experienced the evening before. I strolled around for a bit and enjoyed the weather. And eventually, I started seeing more and more people dressed in the colours of SpVgg Greuter Fürth. The team I had come to watch. Not only was it the green and white scarves, hats, jackets and everything else that stood out but there were surprisingly many people wearing the colours of Borussia Mönchengladbach – the opponents for the day.
To see many fans walking around together felt a bit odd to me. And this was only the beginning.
After a bit of sightseeing, I started to feel the thirst kick in. Especially after I saw a group of joyful people dressed in green and white with drinks in their hands. They looked like they were walking with a destination in mind. So I started to awkwardly follow them around and after a few short minutes, we arrived at our now shared destination. The local pub!
It looked like we arrived quite early because the place was half empty. I ordered the recommended beer for a measly €2.60 and sat down at an empty table. Sitting there in my loneliness I was drinking in the atmosphere. Looking at the locals, chuckling to myself about the sign for someone named Christine who had a designated parking spot for her rollator and just enjoying my time. This was exactly what I had imagined getting from this trip.
After sitting there for a while I decided to step outside, not only for the sun but also because more of the younger audience was out there. Once again I ended up sitting on my own but I did not mind. I was listening in to some conversations around me, trying to get more used to the language and see how much I would understand.
And then it was time for the highlight of my trip. I love football but it isn’t just the sport in itself that I love. It’s that it brings people together. The highlight for me was when two guys, Andreas and Daniel, approached me and asked if they could sit down.
It turns out that they were supporting the away team but still they had ended up in this pub with the locals. And they were not alone. Although this was a pub for people supporting Greuter Fürth – everyone was welcome. It was still odd to me, but I started to grasp that this is just how German people are. Friendly, welcoming and accepting.
After talking for quite some time about Budget Away Days and other things, we ended up taking the bus to the stadium, Sportpark Ronhof, which was for free. After entering the area, we said our goodbyes and they headed for the away end.
I had to walk around pretty much the whole arena to get to my section, but on the way there I picked up some lunch. A schnitzel sandwich and a beer with a total cost of €8.50. A big shoutout to @FootyScran on Twitter for making me excited for the stadium food!
The match ticket cost me €39 and for the money I got myself a seat close to the halfway line. This is my preferred area, as you get the best view of the game but also get to drink in the atmosphere from both sets of fans. Germany had just changed some of their regulations regarding Covid-19 and this made it possible for all fans to enter the stadium.
The home fans took the opportunity to put on a real show with their tifo saying “Lange liefen die Emotionen ins Leere, dem Spiel fehlte die Seele. Wenn die Kurve nun wieder bebt, seht ihr wovon der Fussball lebt.”. This roughly translates to “For the longest time the emotions ran into emptiness, the game was lacking soul. When the curve now finally rumbles again, you’ll see what really brings football to life.”.
“Lange liefen die Emotionen ins Leere, dem Spiel fehlte die Seele. Wenn die Kurve nun wieder bebt, seht ihr wovon der Fussball lebt.”
The travelling fans didn’t disappoint either as they gave their team very strong vocal support. You’ll find a clip of them over at my YouTube channel. If I had to choose, I would rather be with the home fans though. It looked like they had a great party and they didn’t stop at any point.
But what about the game then? Marcus Thuram had a great chance a few minutes into the game and although he didn’t score that time, he would get his chance later on. His fellow Frenchman Alassane Pléa set him up with a beautiful pass in the 18th minute and he could easily slot it home.
6 minutes later it was time for Plea himself to score and this time from the penalty spot. Stefan Lainer was brought down in the area and the referee didn’t give anything at first, but after being called to the monitor for a VAR check the penalty was given.
My countryman Andreas Linde went in the right direction, but unfortunately, he couldn’t make the save and keep the game alive. Gladbach dominated the first half and there wasn’t much else to discuss.
Greuter Fürth started the second half much better and it became a more competitive game but they were never really close to scoring. If anything, Borussia Mönchengladbach would’ve been the team to score. If you would like to see some highlights from the game, you can find them on Bundesliga’s YouTube channel.
After the game, I made my way back home to my little room to get some rest and charge my phone. It was getting closer to kick off in the next game I was about to visit, a game from Zweite Bundesliga. A game that you will get to read about in the next part of my trip to Germany.
