Away Days

We stay at the higher end of stadia this week, as we visit Borussia Park, home of Bourussia Monchengladbach, one of Germany's best supported teams. A brief history of Die Fohlen (the Foals), really starts with their 1970's heyday, when they won three consecutive Bundesliga titles, a couple of UEFA cups, and in 1977 lost to Liverpool in the European cup final. Since the mid eighties however, they have fallen on harder times, and currently reside in the second tier of the German leagues. When we first planned this trip a couple of months ago, we were hoping for a promotion battle at least, and even better a championship decider, but TSV's wretched run of form had meant they were playing just for pride, as Borussia pushed on at the top of the table. Enough background, now on to the day itself. The ground suffers from the modern curse of out of town planning, and with Monchengladbach being a small city, this means a twenty minute bus ride from the centre. The ground itself is smack in the middle of nowhere, and there is nothing near it. No bars, vans nothing. On approach it looks a pre-fabricated mecano structure, but the outside gives way to a stunning interior. There isn't a bad seat in the house, and the ground was near capacity at kick off, and the atmosphere is electric. The locals chant and bounce throughout the game, and the go mental whenever they score. The game was pretty good as well. Bourussia were all over Der Lowen from the off, and after rattling the woodwork, took a deserved lead. But TSV hit them on the break, and after equalising through a deflected shot, went in front just before half time. Bourussia equalised from the spot, former German international Oliver Neuville scoring his second. Both teams had chances after that, and as we got drunker, the crowd got louder, but it ended all square. We then had the trip from Hell on the way back, as all that Kolsch and Alt meant we were in desperate for a piss, and had to walk for ages to find a garage. Then it was a long wait for a bus, before getting lethered in the city centre. A most enjoyable day indeed.

Statistics

• Capacity-54,067 including standing, 46,294 seated
  
• Concessions-Real beer! Alt and Pils, and you can drink in your seats! Remember to take your empty beakers back, you get a Euro off your next drink. No pies, but more Wurst than you could shake a stick at. Top notch
  
• Built-2004
• Did You Know?-Was the largest Bundesliga stadium not chosen for the 2006 World cup, even though it has a higher capacity than several actually chosen to host a game.
  
• Visited By-Euro Bri and the Kolschinater (a.k.a. Shouty)
  
• Rating-Field of Dreams. Great fans, excellent facilities, but stuck out in no-mans land. I would however return.