A few of us are on a full blown bender tomorrow, and Wednesday if the old liver holds up, so a day earlier than planned is this weeks look at a stadium, myself and various members of the Squad have visited. This week it is the turn of one of my favourite teams, in possibly my favourite town. We are of course in the capital of Bavaria, Munich. The team in question is not the over blown corporate Goliath Bayern, but the more down to earth TSV 1860. Not that it makes much difference, as they both call the Allianz Arena home. Occasionally referred to as the "Schlauchboot" (inflatable boat), it was built to replace the Olympic stadium they both played, and also for the 2006 World Cup. It has what looks like a giant tyre surrounding it, that can be illuminated either blue or red, depending on which team is playing at home. There are no obstructed seat in the building, and refreshingly, in comparison to the rest of European grounds, you can purchase a beer and take it to your seat whilst the game is being played. Very civilised indeed. The bar and food stands operate a credit card system, which is a bit of a pain in the arse, but I fear it may be the future, as Wembley are already adopting plans to introduce a similar system. The fans at the TSV game we were at were plenty friendly, and added plenty of noise and colour, particularly in the standing areas. All in all a wondrous architectural feat. Now for the downside. The stadium is a long way out of town. From the main station, it was at least a thirty minute journey by train, and on arrival there is bugger all there. The tickets came in at just over twenty euros, very reasonable, but apart from a small caravan selling beer ther
e was nothing around the stadium at all. These out of town stadia may make a load of sense on the planning board, and financially be more viable, but to me they are a mistake, something that has been realized in the USA. During the 60's and 70's there was a big rush to move stadiums out into the suburbs, but now just about every new stadium built in America is downtown, usually as the centre piece of urban renewal. It definitely adds to the game day experience, unlike being shuttled out to some wasteland, next to a motorway, or in the backlot of some supermarket. It is a fine arena, as I pointed out earlier, but the lack of anything nearby means it doesn't qualify, in my mind at least, as one of the very best.Statistics
- Capacity-69,901, seating and standing, 66,000 seating only
- Concessions-Real Beer! No pies but plenty of Wurst...When in Germany....
- Built-2005
- Did You Know?-Home to Europe's largest parking structure and it only costs 50 euros to light the outer rim for an hour
- Visited By-Euro Bri, Funky, Crespo, King Dave, The Boy Dazzler and Dangerous Pete
- Rating-Coliseum, dreary surrounding prevent highest rating
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