Standing Room

From the BBC:

Football terraces, which were phased out at big grounds after the Taylor report into the Hillsborough tragedy, could be brought back under the Tories.

Conservative leader David Cameron vowed to review the ban taking into account the views of fans, police and clubs.

Safety had to be "priority number one", he said, but there may be a way to organise limited standing areas.

All-seater stadiums were recommended after 96 people were crushed to death in Sheffield's Hillsborough stadium.

Football clubs in England's Premier League are legally obliged to have all-seater grounds.

In response to a question on the Tory leader's website, asking about the possibility of reinstating standing areas, Mr Cameron said: "Obviously the first principle here has got to be safety first after the dreadful events at Hillsborough."

"But I do understand the point that other countries manage to organise things in a slightly different way, and there may be some more modern ways of organising the limited standing areas."

He said he would ask his sports minister to review existing regulations and "have a really good look at this".

"But priority number one has got to be safety," he said.

TeBe 1:0 Tuerkiyemspor

3 points, (at least) -3 degrees

Mommenstadion, 23rd February 2007

Team: Ulbricht - Schalle, Thiam, Galic - Kurbjuweit, Petrowsky, Camara (55. Lemcke), Scholl, Griesert (87. Konal) - Savran, Fuß.

Scorer: Savran (65)

Attendance: 346

FINALLY the 2nd half of the season got under way on Friday night after a seemingly interminable winter break of 2/1/2 months. It was a bitterly cold night, so Hancot came prepared, complete with long johns, snowboard gear and a thermos flask of piping hot mulled wine :)

To be honest, there's nothing much to report about the match. I felt TeBe controlled proceedings without really threatening, Tuerkiyemspor offered little or nothing, it was one of those non-descript nights, and for a long time it looked like we were going to play out an uninspired 0-0, until Savran rose like a salmon to head home a cross and secure the win. A very Babelsberg-esque win, 1 goal in it without really impressing.

Thought the new boys made a good impression, especially the keeper Ulbricht and Camara the midfielder, who surprisingly was taken off after 55 mins, mybe not yet match fit. Fuss looked a bit overweight and wasn't his usual sharp self, and Benny had a stinker, a complete contrast to the hat-trick hero I last saw.

Disappointing crowd, but it was ball-freezing, the game wasn't advertised at all, we are 12 points behind with no real hope of promotion, and there's nothing to play for. We really need to get out of this league. Top 4 next season before the league is restructured is a necessity; our cause won't be helped by Hertha II looking like they're going to get relegated into our league. I thought Block E had one of their noisier evenings, the 'chaos singing' being my personal favourite.

Really was a night to chat with familiar faces one hadn't seen for a while and catch up. 3 points, thank you and goodnight.

The stand on the other side, fairly empty

Bart's cool TeBe Sponge Bob banner. (Playing on TeBe's reputation as 'the gay club', it says 'better gay than no sex at all'

Block E, fairly busy

The final whistle blows, a relief for all

The old German 'la ola' of victory

Photos also 'viewable' on my flickr page.

And now what you've all been waiting for, a short video clip of the eejit Party Army in action:

Sachsen Leipzig 2:3 TeBe

Friendly match

Alfred Kunze Stadion, Leipzig, Saturday 10th February 2007

Team: Greil, Scholl, Schalle, Camara, Petrowsky, Kurbjuweit, Ndoja, Thiam, Schmidt, Griesert und Savran

Goals: Griesert (3)

Attendance: approx 160 (6 TeBe fans, +1 in the dugout)

Who's that nobleman looking cold on the left?!

A not-too-early start for the 5 hardy members of the Party Army travelling by train (we were glad due to Weekend Ticket that the Internet Beer Distributor didn't show up)10am at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, reading material was purchased and we set off on the ridiculously long time-consuming journey to Leipzig.

A possible first was established in that of the 5 members, only one was consuming alcohol, the others contenting themselves with 'fun' beer, water, lemonade and pineapple juice! It certainly was an intellectual journey, a new readers' corner set up, all fans travelling in 'casual' style. There was some scepticism as to whether the game would even take place ue to the snow, but a quick phone call ahead assuaged our fears.

Upon arrival in Leipzig, we were met at the station by loads of police, for once, not to welcome TeBe fans, but in preparation for Lok Leipzig- Aue II and the trouble that would inevitably ensue. Bags were safely locked away and we took the S-Bahn to the stadium, on which we met our first amigos.

I was mightily impressed by the ground when we got there. 3 EUR entrance was a bargain too. We met more acquaintances, including the two lucky fans who travelled in the team bus, B. and D., the noble fan who got to sit on the bench for the game! We attached banners, then took our places in the stand to roar TeBe on. There were a few choruses of 'Lila Weisse Westberliner Sch*isse', the usual stuff, but they were all taken in good spirit. TeBe started the game a little dodgily, the new left-back seemingly lacking pace, but they quickly adapted to the surface much better, despite going behind to an early penalty. They played some nice stuff, Benny looked dangerous down the wing, their keeper made a few good saves, and I thought Daniel was good in centre mid. Still, we were 1 down at half-time.

By this stage we were freezing, so most of us made our way to the Casino for Gluehwein, beer, coffee, warmth. People there, esp the 'mob action' people, were getting worked up about all the trouble they expected from Lok Leipzig fans, many of them went off to defend Conne Island, see what was happening, etc.

On the way back round, behind the goal, we saw TeBe's equaliser, a back-post header from the boy Griesert after a nice move and cross. Arriving back to the stand, which was much emptier this half, we discovered T. had made a kind of ice-rink on the row I was standing, which was to prove fateful later on.

TeBe broke away again on the right, Savran powering forward and hitting a perfect low cross into the centre for Benny to again sneak in at the back post and fire home.

Not 5 minutes later, it was 3-1, an exquisite Ronaldinho-esque free-kick from 25 yards out placed to perfection, just below the angle of bar and right-hand post, clipping the inside of the post before nestling in the net. What a hat-trick!

The team celebrate Benny's third (I think)

Understandably the small Party Army where in full voice by this stage. TeBe were playing really well, the new signings settling in very well, battling, sliding, lovely skill, I was very impressed at my first match of the year, esp as the last one had been one big disappointment (Rostock away). Unfortunately, our day was to take a turn for the worse.

I'd seen them coming. Two stocky guys walking round from the other side, behind the goal, in our direction. I joked that 2 Nazis were after us for being too loud. It wasn't until they walked up the steps near where we were standing and one of them, smiling, punched z.Toni in the side of the face, before we all realised what was going on. I was shocked, to be honest. I'd never experienced anything like that anywhere, never mind in a stadium, and I froze. I couldn't kick out anyway, standing on an ice rink with crappy white trainers on. One big hefty Nazi traded punches with z.T, and tbh we're lucky it was him that was first in line, as he knows how to look after himself, and managed to defend himself and get stuck back in. The other Nazi just stood behind his mate. Our lot couldn't do anything as they were behind z.T in the same row, but DBA managed to smack the Nazi in the face with a plastic glass with 3/4 of its beer left in it. B. got a swollen fist as well from fighting back. They didn't even say a word, just smiled and *bam*. I didn't know what to do. I *should* have taken photos or filmed them, but I was just shocked. I'm not proud of myself for not trying more to help the brave warrior z.T. I ran down onto the terracing, shouting to the stewards to come do something. They reacted very slowly, and were at least 50 metres away from the action anyway. Other older spectators nearby shouted for them to stop. We were unfortunate in that all our Chemie friends were not on the scene, but on the other side of the ground, they quickly came to our aid, but by then it was over.

The Nazis eyeballed us for a bit, then just walked off. The stewards followed them at a distance. DBA says they were not ejected, but stayed in the ground on the other side. I remember one kid when I was walking to take our banners down shortly after eyeballing me as if he wanted to fight, following the Nazis back round to the other side. I couldn't believe it. It appears that either our feistiness in singing, or the Antifa TeBe 'Not an inch of ball to the fascists' had provoked them into attacking and wanting to steal the banner. Or maybe it was just that we are (seen as) the Jews, and antifa, a dodgy combination in Saxony.

Understandably this took the gloss off the day. We watched the rest of the game in relative silence, in the company of our Chemie acquaintances. It was all Chemie in the last 10 minutes, we'd made a few subs and really took the gas off the pedal, they pulled one back due to an own-goal from Conde and hit the post right before the end, the rebound bouncing off a Chemie player and almost in. But TeBe ran out winners, deservedly so. No la ola this time, it was too ball freezing.

On the way out, another surprise awaited us. A group of younger fans, possibly having heard/seen what happened, wanted a rumble with us outside the ground. They were standing outside the gates, waiting for us, shouting 'you're gonna get it, you wanker' etc. Fu cking nuts. Luckily, our accompaniers formed like a protective shield for us, one social worker gut (thanks M.) had a word with them, and they left us alone. But we got to the station just a few seconds too late and missed our s-Bahn back into the centre, meaning we had to wait in the freezing cold for another half hour. It was hell, I just wanted to get home. Leipzig main station was closed due to fear of trouble from Lok fans, and was swarming with police, so no comfort beers for 2 of our fans. The train ride home was peaceful, warm, and contemplative.

Good football display, but events off the pitch really soured it for me. Scumbags. No need at all. And this IN the stadium, with no punishment for the attackers.

Photos of the wintry scenes here.

Chemie fan forum reaction to the incident (German) here. Apparently we were being too loudmouth in their stand and deserved it. So that's alright then. Even though we didn't sing ONE anti-Chemie song. *rolleyes*