Coldplay and Leon Andreasen – Never meant to cause you trouble

A spider web and it's me in the middle

Having last played in April 2010(!), Leon Andreasen's cinderella-esque return into Hannover's first team was _the_ story of the still young 2012-2013 campaign. The Dane even managed to score the team's first goal of the season at St. Pats' (Europa League qualifier).
-->
28 months of suffering seemed to have come to an end. Well, at least until yesterday's 4-1 Bundesliga victory over Nuremberg. Andreasen had to come off after twisting his knee at one of the many uneven spots of an really awful pitch – traces of a Coldplay concert four days ago.

The 29-year-old had to be substituted after just 9 minutes when the score was still 0-0. So worst of all, he maybe had to witness Hannover's deafening goal celebration song a mellowing four times: "Viva La Vida!" by, ehm, Coldplay.

Please don't get me wrong: Coldplay may be shite, but how the heck does one get the idea of arranging an open-air stadium concert during one of the busiest stages of the season with loads of mid-week matches?

Andreasen however was brought to the hospital with a suspected cruciate ligament rupture, which has now been confirmed. We wish him all the best.

Read more »

If Hannover fans were cool...

..., a banner like this one would be in their hand luggage for today's journey to Dublin:

Read more »

2012-13 DFB-Pokal First Round Proper Draw (German FA Cup)

[blow bubbles here]

Yesterday, the draw for the 32 first round ties has been made by Oliver Bierhoff in Gdansk.
Holders: Borussia Dortmund.



2. Bundesliga versus Bundesliga
Jahn Regensburg v FC Bayern München
Erzgebirge Aue v Eintracht Frankfurt

2. Bundesliga versus 2. Bundesliga
VfR Aalen v FC Ingolstadt 04
SV Sandhausen v Energie Cottbus

3. Liga versus Bundesliga
Karlsruher SC v Hamburger SV
Alemannia Aachen v Borussia Mönchengladbach
1. FC Saarbrücken v FC Schalke 04
Kickers Offenbach v SpVgg Greuther Fürth
Preußen Münster v Werder Bremen
Wacker Burghausen v Fortuna Düsseldorf

3. Liga versus 2. Bundesliga
Arminia Bielefeld v SC Paderborn
1. FC Heidenheim v VfL Bochum
SpVgg Unterhaching v 1. FC Köln
Hansa Rostock v 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Chemnitzer FC v Dynamo Dresden
Hallescher FC v MSV Duisburg

Regionalliga (level 4) versus Bundesliga
FC Oberneuland v Borussia Dortmund
Berliner AK 07 v 1899 Hoffenheim
FC Carl Zeiss Jena v Bayer Leverkusen
SV Wilhelmshaven v FC Augsburg
TSV Havelse v 1. FC Nürnberg

Regionalliga (level 4) versus 2. Bundesliga
SG Sonnenhof Großaspach v FSV Frankfurt
Wormatia Worms v Hertha BSC
VfB Lübeck v Eintracht Braunschweig
Rot-Weiss Essen v 1. FC Union Berlin

Oberliga (level 5) versus Bundesliga
FC Nöttingen v Hannover 96
SC Victoria Hamburg v SC Freiburg
SV Rossbach/Verscheid v FSV Mainz 05

Oberliga (level 5) v 2. Bundesliga
Offenburger FV v FC St. Pauli
FC Hennef v TSV 1860 München

Verbandsliga (level 6) v Bundesliga
SV Falkensee-Finkenkrug v VfB Stuttgart
FC Schönberg 95 v VfL Wolfsburg

--

No real highlights, if you were to ask me. Saarbrücken v Schalke smells like deep 80's 2. Bundesliga mediocrity at least. Preußen Münster v Werder Bremen also is a tie to watch with some upset potential.

Read more »

The state of German non-league football?

Simply stick to Erkenschwick

...or as Goscinny didn't say: All of the Recklinghausen disctrict is under Schalke's control, except for one small village of indomitables that still holds out against the Royal Blues.

Read more »

Leapfrogging Oberliga

The sky is the limit!

What reads like an enormous bug in Football Manager 2012 is actually happening in German non-league football right now: some teams have a historic opportunity to gain promotion from level 6 directly to level 4 of the league system.

The reason for this is that the current three Regionalligen (4th tier) will be expanded to five with the beginning of the 2012-13 season. Bavaria, for example, will get it's own division (only god knows why).

The promotion play-off rules differ from region to region. Far in the west, in our biggest federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, even two former Bundesliga sides take part in the crucial matchups: KFC Uerdingen and SG Wattenscheid 09.

The competitors play two matches against each other on a home and away basis (away goals rule applies). Mighty SGW qualified as champions of Verbandsliga Westfalen II (6th tier) and therefore are one the clubs that aim to skip Oberliga (5th tier). Albeit their opponents SV Bergisch Gladbach might also have a say in the matter...

Fixtures
Thursday, 07th June 2012, 15:00 CET
KFC Uerdingen 05 v FC Kray
SSVg Velbert v SV Lippstadt 08
Bergisch Gladbach 09 v SG Wattenscheid 09

Sunday, 10th June 2012, 15:00 CET
FC Kray v KFC Uerdingen 05
SV Lippstadt 08 v SSVg Velbert
SG Wattenscheid 09 v Bergisch Gladbach 09

Read more »

23 Tons of 96

Hannover 96 may be the most boring club from the most boring town in the world... but then again they have something "not to mess with":

Read more »

The Rest of Leipzig

Leipzig's not only the setting for a soda producer's plan of world conquest, it's also home of the country's most noteworthy football statue. Or eleven noteworthy statues, to be precise.

Summer of 1963. Despite being GDR's 2nd city and having two teams in the top flight, Leipzig hardly noted any success as far as football is concerned. Therefore mass sports organization DTSB decided to unify the two sides to a central Leipzig's sports club – Lokomotive and Rotation turned into SC Leipzig.

The newly formed club's first team was compound from the supposedly best players of its two forerunners. The remaining players, who could not put themselves forward for Leipzig's new footballing flagship, were transferred to BSG Chemie Leipzig.

Chemie were given the vacant Oberliga place and during the run-up to the season the team gained the nickname "Rest von Leipzig" – "Rest of Leipzig". Legendary manager Alfred Kunze shaped a committed gang, solid in defence and good on the break. The team sensationally won the league eventually, probably the biggest upset in the history of the GDR Oberliga.

The championship team of Klaus Günther, Dieter Sommer, Manfred Walter, Bernd Bauchspieß, Heinz Herrmann, Horst Slaby, Wolfgang Behla, Lothar Pacholski, Dieter Scherbarth, Bernd Herzog, Wolfgang Krause, Klaus Lisiewicz and Hans-Georg Sannert was life-sizedly poured in concrete a few years later:

The Rest of Leipzig comic style statues

Over the years Chemie Leipzig became an "elevator side" and were not left untouched by German reunification. The club changed its name to FC Sachsen Leipzig and in 1992, their ground, former Georg-Schwarz-Sportpark, was renamed to Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark.

In March 2009, the club had to declare insolvency for a second time in its history and finally folded on 30 June 2011. As today, SG Leipzig-Leutzsch and BSG Chemie Leipzig both consider themselves as legal successors of the dissolved FC Sachsen. Both clubs face each other in the "Sachsenliga" on level six of the league system.

Confusing stuff, I know. But in all these trials and tribulations, however one constant remains – the "Rest of Leipzig" right next to the main stand of Kunze-Sportpark:

Main stand with the Rest of Leipzig on its right

All photos by courtesy of our friends from German Football Grounds, where you'll find more photos of Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark.

Read more »

Relegation does not necessarily mean Relegation

Hertha's last lifeline

One of the local specialities of German football: the relegation play-offs. It's simply called "Relegation" in this part of the world, which might sound strange to foreign ears. Indroduced in the 1981-82 season, the 1. Bundesliga relegation playoffs were played until 1991 and then again since 2009 following a 18-year hiatus.

Easy formula: Third team from bottom of 1. Bundesliga plays a two-legged playoff with the third-place team of 2. Bundesliga, with the winner playing 1. Bundesliga the next season. Away goals rule applies. The same format is used since 2008-09 between 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga.

This year's fixtures:

1. Bundesliga Relegation Playoffs
10th May 2012, 20:30 CET: Hertha BSC v Fortuna Düsseldorf
15th May 2012, 20:30 CET: Fortuna Düsseldorf v Hertha BSC

2. Bundesliga Relegation Playoffs
11th May 2012, 20:30 CET:  Jahn Regensburg v Karlsruher SC
16th May 2012, 20:30 CET:  Karlsruher SC v Jahn Regensburg

Read more »

Madrid vs Bayern: "90 MINUTEN IM BERNABEU SIND SEHR LANG"

This is how Spanish daily sports tabloid "MARCA" welcomes Bayern Munich on today's front page:

MARCA front page, 24 April 2012

The pro-Real-Madrid newspaper has some German words in advice prior to tomorrow's Champions League semifinal clash. "90 MINUTEN IM BERNABEU SIND SEHR LANG" translates "90 MINUTES AT THE BERNABEU STADIUM CAN BE VERY LONG" in English.

Read more »

Borussia Metaphoric

A wait at the bus station uses to be a boring affair. But sometimes...

Suddenly it catched sight of it. Laying on the soil behind the trash bin, almost flawless between fag butts and any kind of dirt. A button displaying Borussia Mönchengladbach's logo. It just could be emblematic for the cub's recent success. From dirty relegation battle to the spotlights of European football. Risen from the ruins.

Welly well, the beauty of small things. Or maybe I'm just a desperate nerd, seeking for a bit of football in virtually everything.

Read more »

Dynamo Dresden: Sold out empty stadium

NOT a valid matchday ticket

Because of riots during a cup tie in Dortmund, Dynamo Dresden will have to play today's home encounter with Ingolstadt behind closed doors. Despite the ban, the second division outfit started to offer tickets to the fans.

This proved a resounding success: yesterday, Dynamo announced that they sold any of the 32,066 available "ghost tickets" (which equals the stadium's capacity). In order to fulfill continuing demand, the club are going to extend the sale until kick-off and appeal the supporters:

SG Dynamo Dresden request any ticket owner to close ranks inside the ground. This is the only way for anyone interested waiting outside to NOT watch the game.

Limited edition T-shirts commemorating the "Geisterspiel" (English: "ghost game") are on sale as well. The tickets, which range from 5 EUR (terrace) over 10 EUR (seated) to 20 EUR (VIP), are nothing more than memorabilia likewise. As a reminder, Dynamo outline the privileges of "ghost ticket" holders on their website:

NOT to visit the match vs. Ingoslstadt
NOT to use the tickets for short-distance public transport
NOT to enter the ground
NOT to consume beer and bratwurst

Read more »

D€RBY

Nomen est omen: Commerzbank-Arena

How to increase your club's budget by more than 14 percent? Easy! Your overpowering local rivals just have to get relegated.

This season 2. Bundesliga (level 2) side FSV Frankfurt are able to spend € 5.15 million, a plus of € 0.65 million compared to last year's campaign. Simply because they moved one game to Commerzbank-Arena, a World Cup 2006 venue with a capacity of 51,500.

And they nearly sold out the huge stadium when they hosted their neighbours Eintracht for the first Frankfurt derby since 1962 on matchday 5. FSV lost 0-4. Currently ranked 16 the move will possibly be exposed as a very profitable mistake in the upcoming relegation battle.

Read more »

One-Way Rivalry

Neither inner-city opponents like Union Berlin or TeBe nor Energie Cottbus from provincial Brandenburg are considered to be Hertha BSC's main rivals. No, this iffy honour dues Schalke 04.

What is particularly astonishing for various reasons. First of all, Gelsenkirchen is about 320 miles away and really no one there seems to give a shit about Berlin or Hertha. The capital club are perceived as an Bundesliga competitor just like the rest of the league. Nothing more, nothing less.

And then, what are we to think about a rivalry which is allegedly based on two incidents in the 60s and 70s while keeping in mind that a majority of Herthas's following exist only since 1997. Even in the 90s, they had gates of 3,000 and lower.

To cut a long story short: Sounds not very authentic to me.

Read more »

Greuther Fifth

The rather odd logo

The construct of SpVgg Greuther Fürth was actually formed by a merger of three times German champions SpVgg Fürth and the prosperous village club TSV Vestenbergsgreuth in 1996.

Just one year later this convenient marriage of tradition and cash payed off with promotion to 2. Bundesliga. Greuther-Fürth have been playing there since then, making them the longest serving of any current second division teams.

Somewhat quaint, the Shamrock nicknamed team achieved national recognition for finishing in fifth position. Seven times during their actual 14 season lasting stint to be precise:

1997-98: 9th
1998-99: 8th
1999–00: 7th
2000–01: 5th
2001–02: 5th
2002–03: 5th
2003–04: 9th
2004–05: 5th
2005–06: 5th
2006–07: 5th
2007–08: 6th
2008–09: 5th
2009–10: 11th
2010–11: 4th

After completing the first half of the ongoing 2011-12 season, Fürth are ranked on a promising third place. But since the reintroduction of the relegation playoffs in 2009, even this position would not secure automatic promotion for an eventual Greuther Third.

Read more »

Pool

Pool's famous Kop

"The Reds" beeing the club's well know nickname does not prevent a lot of... ehm, let's call them "internet Premier League fans" in Germany using the term "Pool" when referring to Liverpool FC. Not "The Pool" as one of the city of Liverpool's bynames, but simply "Pool".

Pool. Never heard it England, so why is it so popular amongst English football enthusiasts over here? If I only knew. I've propably read the term for the first time on a football message board more than ten years ago. So maybe someone used it on another board, and another one... and so it may have grown in popularity that way over the years. But all in all, it remains a case for Mulder and Scully.

Read more »

Hansa Rostock–FC St. Pauli rivalry

Following the xenophobic Lichtenhagen riots in 1992, both sets of fans clashed for the first time during a 2. Bundesliga match one year later. St. Pauli's left-wing attitude and nationalistic tendencies amongst parts of the Hansa fan scene seemed to "connect" immediately.

These incidents were inspiration for the 1993 drama movie Schicksalsspiel (English title: Soccer love).  In a Romeo and Juliet kind of story, a St. Pauli supporter falls in love with a local waitress before an away game in Rostock. Back in Hamburg, the trouble starts.

As of today, there have been 16 competitive matches between the teams. Hansa won 10 and St. Pauli 6 with no draw, yet. Their last meeting on November 19 in Rostock saw a new quality of violence. In the course of a 1-3 defeat, Hansa fans started shooting firework missiles into the away end. A level of behaviour even worsened by an applauding and cheering mob of morons. Dumbstruck.

Read more »

The green Reds

Have you ever wondered why Hannover 96 are nicknamed "The Reds" despite their green and white club colours? (a question obviously presupposing that you already know of the existence of a green-white colored club called Hannover 96 playing in a not-so flashy city called Hannover, which, in fact, even a lot of German football fans are not aware of)

Well, no need to worry, even the club were not able to close this knowledge gap, yet (in german).

Read more »