The Germans joined in the frolics at every given opportunity, it is sad that they have to report on being flooded with counterfeit currency! Tram system was 1st class, again honesty bound here as you bought and stamped your own ticket! Bears I spoke to rode around for four days unchecked. Match tickets, for those lucky enough to possess, included your fare to and from the stadium; our journey a superb mix of excited Germans, and all singing dancing (and bouncing)! Bears, trying to see who could be loudest, bystanders at subsequent stations along the line looking on in amazement.
Footnote here to the Bear who tried unsuccessfully to start" 2 world wars and youse won fuck all". I hope the toe curling silence that greeted this spoke volumes to you, somehow I doubt it. Same goes for the lunatic nazi saluting inside the ground. (Other Bears told this idiot were to go). Absolutely embarassing.
The G-D Stadion looks impressive from the outside, and I daresay the inside if you were a VfB fan. Bears with home tickets definitely got lucky as the away pens were a disgrace, surrounded by huge fencing topped with rolls of barbed wire. With hundreds of Bears in on forged tickets, no police/stewards inside, and bizarrely, NO TURNSTILES!!.
I tentatively opened the top of the envelope to show a glimpse of our 2 tickets to a cop I thought was screening. This turned out to be the last time I was asked for a ticket. Stairs led over the turnstiles(!!) and once inside, it was a free for all. Bears of my acquaintance never got as far as their seats and left after 75 mins unable to see the park.
Getting in half hour before KO at least afforded my wee other half a seat to stand on, so she could see a wee bit of the action.
As ko approached however, the situation around the rabbit-hole were fans emerge became frightening, as a brawl broke out among the swaying crowd, the vicinity dangerously overcrowded. Bears fighting, others screaming at them to stop; and thousands more sashing it up oblivious, the place threatened ugly; which, when you`ve someone to look for, ain`t enjoyable.
Room seemed easier to come by second half, probably due to the fact that the suits, originally horrified at being grouped with mere mortals, had long since went on realising the scene inside was more akin to the 1970`s than 2003. The irony here is it`s their presence in the first place that leads Billy Ordinary to take such desperate measures to gain entry.
All in all, the trip was superb, save for the away section, which unless VfB get the finger out, is a disaster in the making.
As for the game itself, Bears with a good view, leisurely supping lager in the home sections, will tell you our team acquitted themselves well, without ever really threatening to get the required result. Sheer endeavour could not bridge the gap. Walking away from the ground, I couldn`t help reflecting how I`d imagined things to be, compared to the reality. A trip back early 70`s hadn`t even entered my thoughts, for sure.
ROCKET