Most random match you've paid to watch
Discussion
What's the most random professional match that you've actually paid to watch in a stadium?
There have to be some rules to this:
1) Official competitive professional matches only, so no friendlies, tour matches, testimonials, charity matches, youth teams etc.
2) It cannot include any team you support
3) You had to pay with your own money, so no freebies from friends or business partners, or corporate hospitality.
I think mine has to be FC Tirol Innsbruck of Austria v FC Metz of France in the first leg of Round 1 of the UEFA Cup in September 1996. I happened to be staying in Innsbruck on business that evening and noticed that the match was on, so I mosied on down to the stadium to watch. Of course it was awful and ended 0-0, although the best player on the pitch was one Robert Pires. Oh and Rigobert Song played too.
One other match also springs to mind.
December 1992: CSKA Moscow v Rangers in a Group game of the first ever Champions League. Due to the severe winter weather in Moscow, this tie was switched to Bochum in Germany. At the time I was living in Germany about 40 miles away and thought I'd make the journey to see it, especially since Rangers were a quality side back then (Hateley, McCoist, Steven etc.) and had seen off Leeds in the previous round. The Russian end of the stadium was a sea of camouflaged soldiers, since CSKA was the army club in Moscow and Russia still had plenty of troops in Germany. It ended 1-0 to Rangers thanks to a deflected Ian Ferguson goal.
I also paid to watch Schalke v Slovan Liberec in the Intertoto Cup around 2003/4 whilst I was on visit to the area, so that was pretty random!
There have to be some rules to this:
1) Official competitive professional matches only, so no friendlies, tour matches, testimonials, charity matches, youth teams etc.
2) It cannot include any team you support
3) You had to pay with your own money, so no freebies from friends or business partners, or corporate hospitality.
I think mine has to be FC Tirol Innsbruck of Austria v FC Metz of France in the first leg of Round 1 of the UEFA Cup in September 1996. I happened to be staying in Innsbruck on business that evening and noticed that the match was on, so I mosied on down to the stadium to watch. Of course it was awful and ended 0-0, although the best player on the pitch was one Robert Pires. Oh and Rigobert Song played too.
One other match also springs to mind.
December 1992: CSKA Moscow v Rangers in a Group game of the first ever Champions League. Due to the severe winter weather in Moscow, this tie was switched to Bochum in Germany. At the time I was living in Germany about 40 miles away and thought I'd make the journey to see it, especially since Rangers were a quality side back then (Hateley, McCoist, Steven etc.) and had seen off Leeds in the previous round. The Russian end of the stadium was a sea of camouflaged soldiers, since CSKA was the army club in Moscow and Russia still had plenty of troops in Germany. It ended 1-0 to Rangers thanks to a deflected Ian Ferguson goal.
I also paid to watch Schalke v Slovan Liberec in the Intertoto Cup around 2003/4 whilst I was on visit to the area, so that was pretty random!
Japan v Uzbekistan in Tokyo. It was on and I was there. Great game, 5-1 to Japan. Worth going for the opening goal alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_YZFtTQVCA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_YZFtTQVCA
Arbroath v Celtic in December 2012, their stadium is right by the coast and it was absolutely baltic, I'm English but I live up in Aberdeen and had to head down that way to audit a training school that our apprentices visit - I thought that it would be rude not to!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/20604699
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/20604699
In both 2000 and 2004 I applied for and got tickets for both semi-finals of the Euros. (Also tried for final tickets both times and didn't get any.)
So twice I had a holiday with mates to watch football matches without knowing what we'd see.
We got
2000
In Brussels, France 2 - 1 Belgium
in Amsterdam, Holland 0 - 0 Italy (Italy 3-2 penalties)
2004
In Lisbon, Portugal 2 - 1 Holland
in Porto, Greece 1 - 0 Czech Rep
Being in Lisbon after Portugal got through to the final was unbelievable. People dancing in fountains, the whole city went utterly bonkers. We partied so hard we almost didn't get to the next game in Porto.
So twice I had a holiday with mates to watch football matches without knowing what we'd see.
We got
2000
In Brussels, France 2 - 1 Belgium
in Amsterdam, Holland 0 - 0 Italy (Italy 3-2 penalties)
2004
In Lisbon, Portugal 2 - 1 Holland
in Porto, Greece 1 - 0 Czech Rep
Being in Lisbon after Portugal got through to the final was unbelievable. People dancing in fountains, the whole city went utterly bonkers. We partied so hard we almost didn't get to the next game in Porto.
A 2-2 draw between Garforth Town and Tadcaster Albion in November 2004.
It was very cold, we were on a stag do, drank copious Guiness in the ground.
Oh, and Socrates played.
It was very cold, we were on a stag do, drank copious Guiness in the ground.
Oh, and Socrates played.
Muanthong United FC v someone in same league.
Thai premier league. Was in Thailand with the lads and saw there was a game on so went! Was very welcomed by the locals and a couple of us bought the official shirt, still got it. Was about £12 I think? Met one of the owners pre game outside the ground, a Canadian oldish man. Took a pic with us, think we're on the website
Thai premier league. Was in Thailand with the lads and saw there was a game on so went! Was very welcomed by the locals and a couple of us bought the official shirt, still got it. Was about £12 I think? Met one of the owners pre game outside the ground, a Canadian oldish man. Took a pic with us, think we're on the website
Vitesse Arnhem v Dundee United (UEFA Cup) - lived in Holland at the time, miles away from Arnhem though, one of the expats was Scottish so thought what the heck.
Galatasarray v Monaco (in Cologne) - also whilst living in Holland. Gala were banned from playing at home due to crowd trouble in the previous round - so they played the game in Cologne. We drove from up near Groningen in Holland to Cologne in a convoy of 4 cars, had some great Turkish food before the game and then headed for the stadium. It was the same as a home game, 60,000 Turks in the stadium, our mate was Turkish and looked after us (we stood out a mile). Atmosphere was electric , the Turks are just completely fanatical - including my Turkish mate ! He becomes a different person at a football game , the look in his eyes and the loud gesturing. whenb theyt say they want to kill the Ref, they mean it !
In Turkey visiting same mate years later, went to watch Antalyaspor play after they made it to the top league (but before they had signed Samuel Eto !!), 10,000 in the stadium all very peaceful with about 200-300 away supporters going nuts
Also went to Milan for a weekend and walked up to the San Siro to check out the stadium - there was a pre season triangular friendly match happening that evening , we got tickets for 10 euro ....AC Milan v Inter Milan v Juventus - each played the other for 45 minutes. All the top players on show.
Galatasarray v Monaco (in Cologne) - also whilst living in Holland. Gala were banned from playing at home due to crowd trouble in the previous round - so they played the game in Cologne. We drove from up near Groningen in Holland to Cologne in a convoy of 4 cars, had some great Turkish food before the game and then headed for the stadium. It was the same as a home game, 60,000 Turks in the stadium, our mate was Turkish and looked after us (we stood out a mile). Atmosphere was electric , the Turks are just completely fanatical - including my Turkish mate ! He becomes a different person at a football game , the look in his eyes and the loud gesturing. whenb theyt say they want to kill the Ref, they mean it !
In Turkey visiting same mate years later, went to watch Antalyaspor play after they made it to the top league (but before they had signed Samuel Eto !!), 10,000 in the stadium all very peaceful with about 200-300 away supporters going nuts
Also went to Milan for a weekend and walked up to the San Siro to check out the stadium - there was a pre season triangular friendly match happening that evening , we got tickets for 10 euro ....AC Milan v Inter Milan v Juventus - each played the other for 45 minutes. All the top players on show.
Funny you should mention hooligans. My first ever game when I lived in Germany was Schalke v Dortmund in August 1991. I joined a local train to Dortmund and befriended some Dortmund fans. We then changed to a "football special" (remember them!) direct to Gelsenkirchen (where Schalke plays).
As soon as we arrived at Gelsenkirchen station, the mood turned nasty. Unbeknown to me, these two clubs were fierce rivals and Schalke had only just been promoted back to the First Division, so this was their first league meeting in quite a few years.
We were transferred to a fleet of buses and whisked through the town with a police escort. Bystanders were yelling abuse and I even remember one old lady standing at her apartment window giving us the middle finger greeting.
We (Dortmund) got thoroughly beaten 5 - 2, but the real trouble started after the final whistle. There were running battles from the away end terrace back to the bus area. When we were safely inside a bus, the guy I had befriended earlier that day promptly kicked out an entire side window onto the Schalke fans baying for blood outside and then sprayed them with a can of CS gas he had hidden in his jacket! By now the terrified bus driver had had enough and set off at full speed. In fact the police took us to a separate railway station, because the main one was filling up with Schalke fans wishing to bid us a safe journey home....
In all my years of watching football matches, that was by far the worst violence I ever witnessed. English clubs had cleaned up their act by then, but Germany was still like the wild west days of the early 1980s.
As soon as we arrived at Gelsenkirchen station, the mood turned nasty. Unbeknown to me, these two clubs were fierce rivals and Schalke had only just been promoted back to the First Division, so this was their first league meeting in quite a few years.
We were transferred to a fleet of buses and whisked through the town with a police escort. Bystanders were yelling abuse and I even remember one old lady standing at her apartment window giving us the middle finger greeting.
We (Dortmund) got thoroughly beaten 5 - 2, but the real trouble started after the final whistle. There were running battles from the away end terrace back to the bus area. When we were safely inside a bus, the guy I had befriended earlier that day promptly kicked out an entire side window onto the Schalke fans baying for blood outside and then sprayed them with a can of CS gas he had hidden in his jacket! By now the terrified bus driver had had enough and set off at full speed. In fact the police took us to a separate railway station, because the main one was filling up with Schalke fans wishing to bid us a safe journey home....
In all my years of watching football matches, that was by far the worst violence I ever witnessed. English clubs had cleaned up their act by then, but Germany was still like the wild west days of the early 1980s.
I was in Barcelona a few years ago and did the tourist thing of the stadium tour. We found out that they were playing Lavente the next day so randomly decided to buy some tickets. Messi and Eto were amazing, Ronaldinho just fell over a lot and lost the ball every trick he played and Thierry Henry didn't make it off the bench. Happy days.
LotusOmega375D said:
Funny you should mention hooligans. My first ever game when I lived in Germany was Schalke v Dortmund in August 1991. I joined a local train to Dortmund and befriended some Dortmund fans. We then changed to a "football special" (remember them!) direct to Gelsenkirchen (where Schalke plays).
As soon as we arrived at Gelsenkirchen station, the mood turned nasty. Unbeknown to me, these two clubs were fierce rivals and Schalke had only just been promoted back to the First Division, so this was their first league meeting in quite a few years.
We were transferred to a fleet of buses and whisked through the town with a police escort. Bystanders were yelling abuse and I even remember one old lady standing at her apartment window giving us the middle finger greeting.
We (Dortmund) got thoroughly beaten 5 - 2, but the real trouble started after the final whistle. There were running battles from the away end terrace back to the bus area. When we were safely inside a bus, the guy I had befriended earlier that day promptly kicked out an entire side window onto the Schalke fans baying for blood outside and then sprayed them with a can of CS gas he had hidden in his jacket! By now the terrified bus driver had had enough and set off at full speed. In fact the police took us to a separate railway station, because the main one was filling up with Schalke fans wishing to bid us a safe journey home....
In all my years of watching football matches, that was by far the worst violence I ever witnessed. English clubs had cleaned up their act by then, but Germany was still like the wild west days of the early 1980s.
Love going to Dortmund, the Southbank, yellow wall, is amazing, especially v Bayern or Schalke. Best atmosphere I've ever experienced. As soon as we arrived at Gelsenkirchen station, the mood turned nasty. Unbeknown to me, these two clubs were fierce rivals and Schalke had only just been promoted back to the First Division, so this was their first league meeting in quite a few years.
We were transferred to a fleet of buses and whisked through the town with a police escort. Bystanders were yelling abuse and I even remember one old lady standing at her apartment window giving us the middle finger greeting.
We (Dortmund) got thoroughly beaten 5 - 2, but the real trouble started after the final whistle. There were running battles from the away end terrace back to the bus area. When we were safely inside a bus, the guy I had befriended earlier that day promptly kicked out an entire side window onto the Schalke fans baying for blood outside and then sprayed them with a can of CS gas he had hidden in his jacket! By now the terrified bus driver had had enough and set off at full speed. In fact the police took us to a separate railway station, because the main one was filling up with Schalke fans wishing to bid us a safe journey home....
In all my years of watching football matches, that was by far the worst violence I ever witnessed. English clubs had cleaned up their act by then, but Germany was still like the wild west days of the early 1980s.
I'm off to watch Boca v River in a couple of weeks, be interesting to see how that stacks up against Dortmund.
Dunston UTS FC v Whitley bay (Northern League Division One)
Was down in Newcastle on holiday last month so looked for a local match and this fitted the time/location.
Entrance was a narrow path through trees/bushes that looked like it lead nowhere and opened up into a decent small ground, forgot it started early (7.30) and we missed an early goal but no worries as they won 8-0
Was down in Newcastle on holiday last month so looked for a local match and this fitted the time/location.
Entrance was a narrow path through trees/bushes that looked like it lead nowhere and opened up into a decent small ground, forgot it started early (7.30) and we missed an early goal but no worries as they won 8-0
T'was way back on 13th February 1990 when i worked for a local newspaper in Yeovil. Best mate was a journo and supported Exeter City, I was an ad rep and a fan of Yeovil.
So one day he said, let's do Carlisle v Exeter for the craic, one of the longest trips there was. So the fixtures came out and it was February, far from ideal but then that added something to the experience really. He said a couple of his mates, Dave and Mitch, wanted to join us so at 9am, I left Yeovil and drove to Exeter to pick his mates up from the station. Drove then right up to Carlisle, getting there at 7.20pm after a couple of wee stops on the way. City lost 1-0 and after the game, it was decided we'd go across the border to the first pub in Scotland and have a pint, just to say we did.
First pub we came to was in Gretna, and I fancy it was called the Crossways Inn and run by an ex Rangers player. Had a pint, chatted with the locals who quite frankly, were finding our presence ever more baffling by the minute then left as he rang the last orders bell. Two more stops on the way home and I pulled into Exeter around 5am, dropping Dave and Mitch off. Back up to Yeovil, got home at 6.30am and had a shower and breakfast, walking into work slightly the worse for lack of sleep at 8am.
Best night's sleep of my life the following night. Although I'd been sat on my arse for the best part of the preceding 24 hours, I was absolutely beat. 834 miles I think I drove inside 24 hours, nigh on killed me.
So one day he said, let's do Carlisle v Exeter for the craic, one of the longest trips there was. So the fixtures came out and it was February, far from ideal but then that added something to the experience really. He said a couple of his mates, Dave and Mitch, wanted to join us so at 9am, I left Yeovil and drove to Exeter to pick his mates up from the station. Drove then right up to Carlisle, getting there at 7.20pm after a couple of wee stops on the way. City lost 1-0 and after the game, it was decided we'd go across the border to the first pub in Scotland and have a pint, just to say we did.
First pub we came to was in Gretna, and I fancy it was called the Crossways Inn and run by an ex Rangers player. Had a pint, chatted with the locals who quite frankly, were finding our presence ever more baffling by the minute then left as he rang the last orders bell. Two more stops on the way home and I pulled into Exeter around 5am, dropping Dave and Mitch off. Back up to Yeovil, got home at 6.30am and had a shower and breakfast, walking into work slightly the worse for lack of sleep at 8am.
Best night's sleep of my life the following night. Although I'd been sat on my arse for the best part of the preceding 24 hours, I was absolutely beat. 834 miles I think I drove inside 24 hours, nigh on killed me.
Great story and thanks for contributing.
My above 1991 Dortmund story was the start of a long period of support for the club that remains to this day (by the way, there were over 70,000 spectators at that Schalke match, at a time when Man Utd were averaging barely half that). Even nowadays I take in the odd match every now and then, when I am visiting Germany and I did the stadium tour last year. I still have my day-glo 1992 shirt.
There was one match I can't include, because I never actually got there! The same Dortmund hooligan and I decided to hitch-hike from Dortmund to Kaiserslautern for an away league game with a 3.30pm Saturday afternoon kick-off, back in 1991/2. We set off at breakfast time on our 200+ mile journey South, but it was very slow going. Germans are not keen on hitch-hikers and by kick-off time, we were still 30-odd miles short of our destination. The only highlight was being picked-up by a BMW 750i which the driver took to the limiter (155mph).
At this point we decided to cut our losses and start the long slog home, but this was even slower and evening was drawing in, so opportunities for hitch-hiking were getting ever more limited. Finally we met a guy who said he could take us to Aachen. Although that was North, it was still about 100 miles from Dortmund. However, my hooligan friend announced that he had an old military service mate living in a flat there and that the unwritten code of his band of brothers was that you would help out a former colleague in need.
Anyway I don't think his mate's live-in girlfriend was best pleased when we called him from a payphone in Aachen city centre about midnight. He dutifully came and collected us and they kindly gave us some soup and put us up for the night. The next morning we were despatched to the tram station with a few Deutsch Marks for the long and slow journey home. I finally got to my apartment about 30 hours after I set off. Oh and Dortmund apparently lost 2-0, so we didn't miss much!
My above 1991 Dortmund story was the start of a long period of support for the club that remains to this day (by the way, there were over 70,000 spectators at that Schalke match, at a time when Man Utd were averaging barely half that). Even nowadays I take in the odd match every now and then, when I am visiting Germany and I did the stadium tour last year. I still have my day-glo 1992 shirt.
There was one match I can't include, because I never actually got there! The same Dortmund hooligan and I decided to hitch-hike from Dortmund to Kaiserslautern for an away league game with a 3.30pm Saturday afternoon kick-off, back in 1991/2. We set off at breakfast time on our 200+ mile journey South, but it was very slow going. Germans are not keen on hitch-hikers and by kick-off time, we were still 30-odd miles short of our destination. The only highlight was being picked-up by a BMW 750i which the driver took to the limiter (155mph).
At this point we decided to cut our losses and start the long slog home, but this was even slower and evening was drawing in, so opportunities for hitch-hiking were getting ever more limited. Finally we met a guy who said he could take us to Aachen. Although that was North, it was still about 100 miles from Dortmund. However, my hooligan friend announced that he had an old military service mate living in a flat there and that the unwritten code of his band of brothers was that you would help out a former colleague in need.
Anyway I don't think his mate's live-in girlfriend was best pleased when we called him from a payphone in Aachen city centre about midnight. He dutifully came and collected us and they kindly gave us some soup and put us up for the night. The next morning we were despatched to the tram station with a few Deutsch Marks for the long and slow journey home. I finally got to my apartment about 30 hours after I set off. Oh and Dortmund apparently lost 2-0, so we didn't miss much!
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