Bundesliga 2019/20

[KnaresboroughBlue]

Slovan Bratislava v Besiktas (if I can get in - theres a stadium ban at the minute)
Bohemians (Prague) v Fastav Zlin.
Sparta Praha v Slavia Praha

I used to follow Bohemians home and away when I lived in Prague. Bit of a yo yo team but a nice little stadium and good atmosphere usually but doubt it will be rocking against Zlin.

Sparta v Slavia could be a bit tasty and should be a good atmosphere.

 

[Bembeltown]

Dresden is absolutely stunning (so is Prague). But its amazing what Dresden has become since the reunification of Germany.

The only absolutely horrible thing is the local dialect. For the English it most likely won´t matter much but as a German it makes my toenails curl.

 

[BosnianBlue]

I think any team in the former Communist bloc that had the prefix Dynamo was a team of the authorities / secret police. Booing and giving such teams shit at games was a legitimate way of abusing the regime ! Similar to the way the Basques abused Real Madrid - as they still do today - as a proxy for hurling abuse at Franco.

Not in ex Yugoslavia. Dinamo Zagreb had pretty strong Croatian dissident element and state clubs were Partizan Belgrade (mainly, partizan a communist fighter in WW2) and Red Star.

 

[BosnianBlue]

Dresden is absolutely stunning (so is Prague). But its amazing what Dresden has become since the reunification of Germany.

The only absolutely horrible thing is the local dialect. For the English it most likely won´t matter much but as a German it makes my toenails curl.

So, that's Liverpool for English. And the rest of the world who can speak some. I don't understand a word Carragher is speaking.

 

[Bembeltown]

Frankfurt played Chemie Leipzig in Frankfurt to celebrate the 15 year old friendship between Ultras Frankfurt and Diablos Leipzig (Ultras Leipzig).

Purpose of the match was not just to celebrate the friendship but to help Leipzig finance Floodlights for their ground. Eintracht Frankfurt donated 100000 Euro to the cause and both sets of fans celebrated the friendly like there is no tomorrow.

Frankfurt won, but in the end it was all about celebrating the friendship. Great atmosphere from both sides, pyro and choreos....

The match was played in the ground of our local rivals FSV Frankfurt, 9000 people attended and 1500 of them were from Leipzig.

 

[Innsbruckblue]

Booked a trip to Bratislava, Prague and Dresden in a couple of weeks, instead of going to Shakhtar for the 3rd time in 3 years.

Slovan Bratislava v Besiktas (if I can get in - theres a stadium ban at the minute)
Bohemians (Prague) v Fastav Zlin.
Chemnitz v Carl Zeiss Jena
Dynamo Dresden v Jahn Regensburg
Sparta Praha v Slavia Praha

Chemnitz (formerly Karl Marx Stadt) is twinned with Manchester, and they play in sky blue. As a result they were often the team I'd select to control on Championship Manager, so I'm looking forward to going to a game. Its bottom versus second bottom at the moment, but it is an East German derby of sorts. Hoping for a good atmosphere.

I believe Chemnitz have been in the press this season for sacking their captain after he "openly displayed" sympathy with a neo-nazi group (amongst other things he shouldn't have done previously). Their fans are also very right wing - theres a fan group called HooRaNa (Hooligans, Racists, Nazis), so I probably wont be joining in with the chants for this one.

Looking forward to visiting Dresden though. I'd say it is the last "big" German city I haven't been to before.

I lived in Dresden years ago and it's a beautiful city. Make sure you head across the river to the Neustadt side of the city for beer (Luisenstraße, Görlitzer Straße, etc. and hit the Lebowski Bar for White Russians!). The Altstadt is just for tourists.
Do NOT wear anything purple in Chemnitz (the colours of Erzgebirge Aue, their biggest rivals). I worked there years ago and made the mistake of wearing a purple Fred Perry polo one morning. Let's just say I was accosted by some Chemnitz ultras who decided to show me their tattoos based on a famous design from 80 years ago.

 

[Bembeltown]

Fred Perry polo one morning

I think the issue might not just have been the colour but the brand. Not sure about England but over here Fred Perry is one of the remaining casual brands which are often worn by Hooligans.
Stone Island is no more, as the brand for whatever reason is now worn by all kind of hipsters, including Bundesliga Coaches on matchday. Used to be a hooligan brand over here as well (same as in the UK).

 

[Cellarite]

Looks class as ever Bembeltown.

 

[Cellarite]

St Pauli are about to beat Hamburg in the derby.

How do you German lads feel about these two clubs?

 

[St.Pauli support]

St Pauli are about to beat Hamburg in the derby.

How do you German lads feel about these two clubs?

Honestly? ;-)

Hamburg is brown and white tonite. 1st derby home win since 1960...