Away Days

This weeks it is back to Der Fatherland, and the scene of England's demise at the 2006 World Cup, Gelsenkirchen, or as Sandro refers to it, Gherkin-Kit-Kat. Before we went to see a game at this stadium, we went to pick up our tickets for the Italy-Czech Republic game, so we already knew how far out of town it was, and even by modern standards, it is truly mile away from anything. The nearest train station was a 30 minute tram ride away, and there is absolutely nothing near it. The day we went to see the England-Portugal quarter final, we drove, so getting there was not much of chore, but apart from a couple of caravans selling beer, there was just a hotel selling beer, and it was rammed. Still we were like a trio of giddy kippers waiting for the game. None of us had seen England play before, never mind a knockout game of this magnitude, and we had paid through the nose to get tickets that bore the names of three German people, one that appeared to be a ladies name, so as we approached the gate, fortified with plenty of ale, we were slightly nervous. They checked our bags, and took the briefest of glimpses at our tickets. We were in!! We celebrated with several beers and took up our seats to belt out the national anthem, and get ready to see the lads finally perform to the level we new they could. We wished. The highlight of the first half was the whistle signalling its end. During the half time interval, Volker Wanderlust (Danny) introduced himself to Harry Enfield, who just happened to be wandering bye. Then when we back to our seat, we found out he had been sitting behind us all the time. The Second half was a tense affair, ending at 0-0. When the Portuguese seemed to have scored the winner, only for it to be ruled offside, Stevie treat Mr Enfield to a "Calm Down" style scouser, which if it didn't amuse Harry, sure amused the boy Queso. Of course everyone knows what the eventual, some would say inevitable, outcome was, and we sloped off back to Holland, drunk and dejected. To make matters worse, we took a wrong turn, and ended up walking miles the wrong way round the ground, surrounded by celebrating Portugeezers. Skanks kicked off, of course, and ended up getting his collar felt.

So what about the stadium itself? Well it is considered one of the most modern structures in the world. Fully retractable roof, not a bad seat in the house, and the highest UEFA rating. The pitch is on rollers, so it can be moved outside the ground, keeping the pitch in tip top condition, and the concession stalls are the best I have seen outside of the USA. But it totally lacks soul. It might be different with roof open, I am not the biggest fan of indoor arenas, or if Schalke were playing, but I can only go on my experiences. Would I go again? Only if Schalke were playing the mighty TSV 1860.

Statistics

• Capacity-61,482 (all seating 53,951)
  
• Concessions-The best I've come across on mainland Europe. Beers in seats, quick and efficient, with plenty of choice, especially if you like wurst.
  
• Built-2001
  
• Did You Know?-Is built above two old mine shafts, and the foundations contain 600,000 m³ of packed slag, a waste product from the local coal mines.
  
• Visited By-Euro Bri, El Grande Queso and Volker Wanderlust
  
• Rating-Park Pitch-A geeks wet dream, it is technologically impressive, but to me it is just a big hangar that hosts football games. There is nothing unimpressive about the structure. it just leaves me cold. And talk bout out of town! It's official website proudly boasts that it is within 50kms of live 6.4 million people, but there is bugger all within 2kms of the actual structure. As I have said in my post, perhaps visiting for a big Schalke 06 game might change my mind, but I doubt it. Worth a visit, but I wouldn't go out of my way.