One of my mates, who goes by the moniker Mr Struth on FF, was getting married and the stag weekend had been set for the second last weekend of the Bundesliga season, destination: Berlin. Which team happened to be playing Hertha Berlin at the Olympiastadion that weekend? Hamburg of course! (or to give them their Sunday title, Hamburger Sport Verein).
After speaking to a few fellow posters, one of them got in touch with me - BlackandTanMan - and offered to get me Hamburg end tickets for the match in Berlin. A series of private messages flowed between us and it turned out that we had actually known each other for the best part of 20 years, indeed, we had both travelled on the same RSC to such places as Belgrade, Brugges, Turin and Copenhagen together. So the plan was put in place that myself and 3 mates would meet up with BlackandTanMan in Berlin on 6th May.
True to his word, BlackandTanMan turned up 5 briefs sitting together in the Hamburg end, and arrangements were made to meet at a hotel bar close to Spandau train station where the HSV train was due to arrive. Now if you had the pleasure of travelling to Aberdeen on the old football special out of Queen Street you're probably thinking why would anyone still travel this way in 2006. But, the HSV supporters train is certainly no "football special" - it is owned by the fans, decked out in the club colours, and took 700 fans in relative comfort on the 2 and a half hour journey from Hamburg to Berlin while they were entertained by the train's DJ!
After a raucous night out in Berlin on the Friday night, an early morning sobering walk around the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag saw the four of us increasingly looking forward to the football in the afternoon. Well almost all of us, my mate Alex - the solitary Clyde fan among us bluenoses - was worried that, as we had away end tickets, we would be herded into and back from the ground by the Polizei, thereby ending up on the train back to Hamburg!
Upon meeting up with BlackandTanMan and his German mate Joachim - a member of the Hamburg Loyal RSC - they told me that they'd had some other FF posters over in Hamburg for a recent match (Parkhead Bear covered that very trip in his FF article ?Hamburger SV - Koenige des Nordens!).
It was apparent that this was no ordinary weekend for HSV. This was their last away game of the season, traditionally a trip that as many fans as possible try to go on, and the second spot in the Bundesliga (and automatic qualification for the Champions League) could have been secured. Indeed, for the "Keep believing" brigade among the HSV fans the possibility of the title was still a faint hope with them trailing Bayern Munich by 4 points with just 2 games to go.
Joachim assured me that HSV were taking around about 17,000 fans to the Olympiastadion for the match and, to be honest, I thought this was probably an exaggeration. However, after we left the hotel bar and walked up to Spandau station to get the train to the Olympiastadoin, I realised I shouldn't have doubted Joachim. Spandau station was besieged by HSV fans all taking advantage of the free train travel in Berlin that was included in the 19 Euro (approx. £13) match ticket price - I started to believe that 17,000 away fans could be an accurate estimate.
The atmosphere in the train station was immense, with the HSV fans - every single one of them decked out in club colours - doing the bouncy and singing at the top of their voices. One stop later and we arrived at the Olypiastadion, the venue for this year's world cup final. It really is a mightily impressive sight and the stone-walled exterior of the stadium looks exactly as it did in the infamous Jesse Owens Olympics of 1936.
We got inside the stadium just as the teams were walking out in front of a capacity crowd of just over 74,000, the 17,000 away fans amassed at the end with the gap in the centre of curve. The atmosphere was electric, with the HSV end being co-ordinated by the obligatory bare-chested fans with loudhailers. It pains me to say it but, despite the best efforts of the Blue Order, the atmosphere inside the Olympiastadion put Ibrox to shame (barring the Old firm games of course).
The match was a real end-to-end affair. To say both defences were very shaky would have been an understatement - BlackandTanMan assured me that HSV defence was badly missing the influence of Daniel van Buyten, the Belgian internationalist. However, going forward they looked impressive against the defence of fourth placed Hertha.
It only took 10 minutes for HSV to break the deadlock through Piotr Trochowski much to the delight of the massive travelling support. However, in keeping with the match so far, it was only a matter of time before another goal was scored. Unfortunately it was at the wrong end as Hertha equalised through Andreas Neuendorf. By 19 minutes, HSV had retaken the lead through Benjamin Lauth. It really was a brilliant match to watch and we were savouring every minute of it.
The HSV end was bouncing as everyone, including us, sang "Super Hamburg Ole, Super Hamburg Ole". But it was just about to get better as news came through on the stadium scoreboard that lowly Kaiserslautern had taken the lead against Bayern Munich - we just kept saying "Keep Believing" as HSV's title dream seemed alive again. However, the news of Bayern trailing bizarrely seemed to have a negative impact on the HSV players, as they retreated into their shells and were fortunate to make it through to the half-time whistle in front.
Given how the first half finished it was no surprise that Hertha grabbed an equaliser on 55 minutes through Alexander Madlung - HSV were really floundering now. But in this pulsating match nothing could be taken for granted and things looked up just 4 minutes later when the Hertha scorer, Andreas Neuendorf, was sent off for his second bookable offence. Game on I thought, expecting HSV to pile the pressure on ten-man Hertha.
Just as we were starting to hope that HSV could use their numerical advantage to regain the lead, the stadium scoreboard flashed up that Bayern had equalised against Kaiserslautern. Within sixty seconds HSV had gone 3 - 2 down when Hertha scored through Niko Kovac. The Hertha end was rocking by now and many of the HSV fans were now slumped in their seats watching on in disbelief as the team disintegrated in front of their eyes. Just 3 minutes after going down 3-2, Hertha scored a 4th through Marko Pantelic - it really was game over now and the title was, once again, heading south to Munich.
The final whistle went and the 17,000 HSV fans trouped out the Olympiastadion knowing that the title was lost. With their main rivals, Werder Bremen, winning 6 - 0 at home against Cologne, the automatic champions league spot would now come down to their final home match against Werden Bremen at the Volspark Stadion. A one-point lead over Bremen meant that a draw would be enough to secure 2nd spot, but with the team visibly sapped of confidence after losing to ten-man Hertha, Joachim and friends knew it was going to be a long week ahead.
Much to Clyde Alex's relief, we managed to avoid being herded onto the train back to Hamburg and had the pleasure of a pre-arranged post match Warsteiner with BlackandTanMan, Joachim and friends in a small pub near Spandau station. The atmosphere in the bar was one of despondency, but we had soon downed a few beers and the stories following Rangers and HSV throughout Europe started to flow. What really came through in our conversations was the passion these born and bred Germans had for Rangers - it really was heartening to hear of their experiences in coming over to Ibrox to see their second love.
BlackandTanMan and the German lads soon had to head to get the supporters train back to Hamburg and we said our goodbyes knowing the we had, despite the result, had a cracking time with new and old acquaintances alike.
That night in the numerous bars of Berlin, four Glaswegians - Mr Struth, Dougie Gray, Clyde Alex and myself were in fine voice signing "Super Hamburg Ole, Super Hamburg Ole", and telling the others in our party of the German guys with Rangers Baseball caps, scarfs and even tattoos. I still don't think they believe us, but just to prove the point we're going to organise a trip to a HSV home game next season and introduce them to our new friends from Hamburg.
So if you get the chance to go see HSV, look up BlackandTanMan and the lads from the Hamburg RSC, they made us feel very welcome and gave us a day that will live long in our memories. Thanks guys, you are a credit to both your clubs - HSV and Rangers.
Sadly a week later, HSV lost 2 - 1 at home to Werder Bremen, meaning Bremen leapfrogged them into 2nd place and the automatic Champions League spot. HSV have now got a 3rd qualifying round to play to get to the Champions league proper - drawing Hearts would be a good trip wouldn't it? Anyone care to join me in the away end at Tynecastle?
Forza Rangers, Forza HSV.
SCREEBS