Sunday 18 May 2008

Past EFW Classics Part 4

Weserstadion - home to Werder Bremen.

Werder Bremen 0-0 Schalke 04 *sigh*

No goals so let's take a snap. Danny (left) and Nick.

St Pauli - The Rebels Choice.

What's not to like!?

Evidentially 'football fans are not criminals'.

Football + beer = Danny (left) and Nick in silly photo shock.

Hamburg 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen (22:04:06)
Werder Bremen 0-0 Schalke 04 (23:04:06)

You just knew this was going to be a good weekend when upon unveiling my curtains in the morning I realised our hotel was overlooking the Millerntor Stadion - home to the Rebels Choice - St Pauli FC.

Anyone who has ever spent a night or two in the Jolly Roger pub in the St Pauli district of Hamburg will remember it and that's for sure. It's a dream place for drinking, singing, talking football, politics and general wibble.

St Pauli weren't at home that weekend so we headed to their hated neighbours Hamburg with 57,000 others for their game with Bayer Levekusen. Aside from Borussia Dortmund - who I have a liking for due to their fans who have always been brilliant to us - I can switch my German football allegiance at the drop of a hat.

Nick and I made it our mission to get into every side of the ground at Hamburg and we achieved this with surprising ease. As Bayer Leverkusen (complete with young Dimitur Berbatov) were winning 2-0 we decided to end up in with the away fans. Ten minutes before the end of the game we were in with them and as usual we ended up celebrating as if we'd won the world cup.

Hamburg is a helluva place to go drinking and by the end of the evening we were singing and dancing with a group of Leverkusen fans who gave us their scarves at the end of a memorable night.

Complete with enormous hangovers we got the train down to Bremen the next day for their game with Schalke 04. Bremen is a very nice city and home to the Becks brewery - don't mind if I do - cheers!

We decided to walk along the river to the stadium and stop for a few beers en route. Thank the lord that Bremen had magnificent floodlights to marvel at which eased the pain of watching a dull 0-0 draw.

Post match we stocked up on Becks for the train back to Hamburg - talked an enormous amount of irreverant rubbish, interspersed with fits of the beer giggles and headed back to the Jolly Roger to finish ourselves off. Another European Football Weekend with no bother - tick.



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