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DORTMUND DIARY (MFC Exiles Club Newsletter 5) | |
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DORTMUND DIARY (MFC Exiles Club Newsletter 5) | |
Sunday:- Our trip to watch 'Well's third away match in Europe began on Sunday evening in Motherwell. We were travelling as part of Liz Mullen's party and a big Parks of Hamilton decker was to transport us on our Euro adventure The journey went smoothly and the night passed pretty quickly. That was until a Karaoke video was put on and the bus began to jump as about 120 'Well fans all began to singalong.
Monday:- It wasn't long before we arrived in Dover and caught an early morning ferry to Calais. By the time France was reached drink supplies were running low and a 24 hour cash and carry was hit early on Monday morning as thirsty 'Well fans stocked up on the loads of cheep beers and wines on offer. In some cases with bottles working out at only 20p each you could see why drink was being bought in bulk. The journey carried on through France, Belgium and Holland helped by a video of the 1991 Cup Semi Final against Celtic. I must have watched this game around 50 times now and it is still as good as the first time.
Our base in Germany was to be in Bochum, home of Bundesliga side VFL Bochum and we arrived at our destination in early afternoon. After dumping the bags and freshening up it was time to explore the town. Already there was a good showing of claret and amber as other group of 'Well fans hit the streets. The football supporting locals could easily be picked out since they were the ones staring at us blankly, turning bemused to their friends and looking at us blankly again. Bochum seemed like your usual continental town and was complete with trams running up the middle of the streets. A sports shop was found and various footy souvenirs were purchased. As you would expect the local team VFL Bochum had most of the goods on offer with Dortmund and Bayern Munich with the next biggest selections. Prices were a bit steep with a scarf costing almost three times as much as we would expect to pay at Fir Park. Night time and most 'Well fans headed for an Irish pub not too far from the hotel although there were other fans scattered across the town. Eating out was proving a wee bit tricky too with the language barrier meaning it took a while to explain what you actually wanted to eat. I experienced this myself in a Chinese restaurant where it was a case of try and explain as best you can and see what you get! Back at the hotel the atmosphere was beginning to build up a fans eagerly looked forward to the following days game.
Tuesday:- Match day and after checking out of the hotel we made for Dortmund early in the afternoon. Dortmund was about 45 minutes away from Bochum and by this time everyone was getting really hyped up. On arrival at the Westfalenstadion some fans went into the centre of Dortmund while others wandered around the huge complex. By all accounts those that went into the city had a brilliant time with their German counterparts and there was absolutely no trouble at all. Even 3 hours before kick off time there were a good few thousand milling around the stadium. Dortmund have football, netball, hockey, basketball and handball teams etc. and all play in the one big complex. You have the Westfallenstadion where the football team play, immediately next to that is their old ground where they played until 1967. There is a huge arena which is apparently one of the largest indoor venues in Europe and it even has its own tram/railway station. Add to this the numerous large carparks, catering points, toilets and club offices and it doesn't take much to imagine this is one big place. Outside the stadium is a large concourse with various stalls selling many Dortmund souvenirs and this proved popular with 'Well fans eager to purchase momentos of the trip. As kick off approached a pipe band was laid on to entertain the supporters and this also went down well. Exchanges were taking place all around as scarves and strips were swapped. The gates opened and the early arrivals were treated to a boys football match. The atmosphere continued to grow and grow and there was tremendous roar as Motherwell came out on to the pitch to warm up. The crowd was pouring in and star of the show was none other than 'Well grounds man Andy Russell who walked in resplendent in a tartan suit! Kick off soon approached and the stadium was packed to its UEFA Cup capacity. All around was a mass of claret and amber and yellow and black. The fans at the 'Well end were meant to be segregated but it wasn't long before everyone was mixing such was the good spirit of the occasion. The trip was notable too Exiles wise as I met one of our members, Gordon Scott from East Yorkshire and encouraged a London based 'Well fan Jullian Lillington to join up The Motherwell support did themselves proud giving the Steelmen superb backing throughout. Even when Dortmund scored it only succeeded in drawing further encouragement from the 1000 or so Motherwell fans present. The match ended 1-0 to Borussia and this was met with a huge roar from the Motherwell fans. In a game where so called experts predicted we would come home thrashed Motherwell had given a performance that even had the Daily Ranger, er Daily Record newspaper calling us the Pride of Scotland. The Dortmund fans had long since departed before anyone even thought about leaving and the players were given even more applause as they came out to do their warm down. It was a very satisfying feeling indeed travelling back on the bus and what else was there to do when we got home but savour it all again on video!