Advice Needed - Bundsesliga Team near Berlin

[labelsman]

Hi There,

I am after a bit of advice, i am off to Berlin on a stag do on the 30th March, unfortunetly Hertha Berlin are away. As my German football knowledge is poor, i was wondering if there is another team in Berlin (What sort of attendance do they get?) or where is the nearest other Big team to Berlin....

Thanks in advance for any advice

Nath

[Mertesacker]

Union Berlin have a home game on the 31st.
They play 3rd level and are the only team worth watching in Berlin imo. (Sorry Dandy).
Right now they lead the Regionalliga Nord:
http://www.dfb.de/bliga/spiel.php?liga=rln&spieltag=10&art=t&saison=06&saisonl=2006&lang=D

They average about 6.000. Here are some pictures from the game against Mönchengladbach II:
http://www.unveu.de/fcunionvsgladbach1.htm

http://www.unveu.de/2006-2007/vsgladbach/vsgladbach2-6.jpg

And a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ErakL40VIs

What's a 'stag' btw?

[Mertesacker]

Cottbus also has a homegame on the 31st against Werder Bremen. It's about 90 minutes away from Berlin by fast train.
I wouldn't advise going to Cottbus though, their fans are kinda known for beeing right-wing and it would be difficult to get tickets.

[Schwalker]

FC Union Berlin - Rot-Weiss Ahlen...The 31 march, sounds tempting eh ;)

To be honest i´m not recommending you and your mates to visit Union or Dynamo in Berlin, they are our versions of Millwall one might say...

[Mertesacker]

I would say Union Berlin fans are even less right wing and hooligan than Hertha Berlin's fans or especially Cottbus' fans.
I attented more than 10 games there and if you're not looking for trouble you won't have. I certainly enjoy watching games there.

Ca't say the same about Dynamo though. You're right about that.

[gk_milan18]

Maybe you can watch Tennis Borrusia Berlin :cool

[The Biff]

Union Berlin have a home game on the 31st.
They play 3rd level and are the only team worth watching in Berlin imo. (Sorry Dandy).
Right now they lead the Regionalliga Nord:
http://www.dfb.de/bliga/spiel.php?liga=rln&spieltag=10&art=t&saison=06&saisonl=2006&lang=D


I remember when Union Berlin played FC Haka in Finland some years ago. It seems like there are still drunk Germans in Valkeakoski who never got on the bus to get home. :devil

[Eintracht]

...Union Berlin have a home game on the 31st...Here are some pictures from the game against Mönchengladbach III attended this game! :drinkbeer
was my 1st game at the "Alte Försterei" and I can recommend it!
Union gets a decent attendance (unlike TeBe or BFC) and theres a friendly atmosphere.

Went to BFC Dynamo the next day at Jahn-Sportpark and it was completely different...about 500 spectators (and 3/4 of them actually looked like you imagine BFC fans :ninja ) and lots of police.
Still worth a trip, only once tho ;)

TeBe Berlin or Babelsberg (Potsdam) would be other options. Both play 4th league football, just like BFC.

[Schwalker]

There are some fangroups like "COMRADES" that might resent a stag party in their stadium...Closely knit group the Union faithfuls.

[labelsman]

There are some fangroups like "COMRADES" that might resent a stag party in their stadium...Closely knit group the Union faithfuls.

Thanks for the info, much apprieicated....

To summersie :-
FC Union Berlin play in the third division, and get a crowd of around 6k. They are followed by lunatics, who might not take kindly to a stag do (Albiet a quiet one made up of mostly doctors) there. Is there an end they normally go? Then we can avoid. Are tickets easy to come by? Is it a racist crowd?

Hertha are the only team in or near Berlin who play in the top 2 divisions. The nearest apart from that is Cottbus, who are a right wing crowd, and it would be really hard to get tickets.

Are any of these other teams near Berlin? Home teams
Arminia BielefeldvBorussia Dortmund14.30Bayern MunichvSchalke 0414.30Borussia M'gladbachvEintracht Frankfurt14.30CottbusvWerder14.30HamburgvWolfsburg 14.30MainzvBayer Leverkusen14.30NurnbergvHertha Berlin14.30VFL BochumvVfB Stuttgart

Many thanks for all the infomation...

[Schwalker]

The thing is that Berlin is a bit offside...it´s the capital but the surrounding areas are former eastgermany which make them a bit rougher in some areas..The Union fans might decide that they like the idea of a stag party in their stadium and show you areas of Berlin far from the tourist magazines glossy covers, why not give it a try?
As long as none of you wear any Hertha, Dynamo or TeBe regalia you will be ok I reckon...;)

The most likely outcome is that they won´t notice you anyway.

Tickets might be fairly easy to get and tickets are cheap in Germany actually..The crowd are mostly from the east-Berlin area and there are some dodgy fangroups but they are not really political I think.
If you want to meet some of Union's hardcore support, have a drink in the pub named Abseitsfalle (Offside trap) on Haemmerlingstraße before or after the game.

[The Southern Dandy]

If you want to watch ****ty football, yea go watch Union. I don't care what you say. There's a reason that Union still play in the lower leagues. Their fans are also a bunch of ******* assholes.

[iowaplasticpaddy]

how much do tickets usually cost?
i'm goin to germany next summer, 3 weeks, early june, so i probably won't catch a match

i don't know where exactly i'll be goin, but i'm pretty sure Bavaria, and Hamburg

[Eintracht]

...Is there an end they normally go? Then we can avoid. Are tickets easy to come by? their main support is in section J. Calm areas are F and the main stand (A-D). You can buy tickets at their club shop before the game.

http://img101.imagevenue.com/loc579/th_76148_stadionplan_122_579lo.jpg (http://img101.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=76148_stadionplan_122_579lo.jpg)


Are any of these other teams near Berlin? Home teams
Arminia BielefeldvBorussia Dortmund14.30Bayern MunichvSchalke 0414.30Borussia M'gladbachvEintracht Frankfurt14.30CottbusvWerder14.30HamburgvWolfsburg 14.30MainzvBayer Leverkusen14.30NurnbergvHertha Berlin14.30VFL BochumvVfB Stuttgartnot really. Hamburg is 1.30h on the ICE


@iowaplasticpaddy
you can get terracing for 10 Euro. Most terracing areas in the Bundesliga are sold out with season tickets tho. Seats usually start at 20-25 Euro

[labelsman]

Thanks for all your advice. It is this weekend, so should be all good. Any further advice on FC Union Berlin would be much appriecated...

LM

[iowaplasticpaddy]

http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/unionbe.html

[iowaplasticpaddy]

@iowaplasticpaddy
you can get terracing for 10 Euro. Most terracing areas in the Bundesliga are sold out with season tickets tho. Seats usually start at 20-25 Eurotook me a while to see this:laugh
I'll be there way past the end of the season
i got to Frankfurt (more accuratly Hanau), Munich, Salzburg, and a few others, but from like june 9th to june 29th. bit late for fussball

oo, and how much to stadium tours cost? i'm thinking of Westfalenstadion and Allianz arena.
i'll prolly go to the world bowl, just to laugh at germans who like American Football

[OpaPritschikowski]

I think they ll laugh at you supporting the Doofmunders:laugh

[iowaplasticpaddy]

I think they ll laugh at you supporting the Doofmunders:laughmeh, will prolly be in the 2. Bundesliga with Frankfurt

i'll be in a bind if BvB gets relegated, and St. Pauli miraculously get promoted