TeBe Party Army On Tour: Vienna

Old men get 40 winks

The big Viennese 3rd Division Derby match, Wiener Sport Club - First Vienna, was the occasion for TeBe fans to make a wee trip to Austria and renew old acquaintances with various Vienna friends from tournaments past.

We set off on Thursday evening, got ourselves a compartment to ourselves, picked up z.Toni en route, got a bit of drink in us to help us sleep, then got there late thanks to a 1-hour delay in Nuremberg. Fact: Nuremberg station and environs is dead at 3.30am.

We picked up Roland on the way and made our way to our host's house to drop off our stuff. A breakfast and a doing the tourist thing occupied much of the day, then we headed to the ground early via a typical Viennese restaurant where much schnitzel and goulash was consumed.

Getting there nice and early, just before 6, we were perturbed by the continuous heavy rain, and to hear that the game was in doubt. We decided to drown possible sorrows anyway in the fan club, nicely located at the entrance to the stadium.



The match went ahead, but the weather was awful, possibly the 2nd worst conditions I've ever witnessed at a match after almost getting exposure as a 9-year old in torrential rain.




I was mightily impressed by the ground. 8 Euros in, it was a tight wee ground, the lucky away fans getting a stand with roof, while we were on an uncovered terrace, exposed to the elements. But it was enclosed and lent itself to a cracking atmosphere. Not many photos and unfortunately no films as it was too wet, we were literally all soaked to the skin and freezing.

The Wiener Sportklub fans were great. They sang non-stop, at least in the centre of the terracing where I was, and had a wide wide repetoire, most of which was in English, including their versions of 'Amazing Grace' and the Superman theme.



TeBe fans were well represented, with at least 8 fans there. They even get a mention and the flag is shown on this video:

WSC - First Vienna 23.03.07



Onto the match itself. The awful weather conditions made good football difficult, and especially by the touchlines, and in the boxes, the water was sitting, but I thought it was an entertaining game. Tbh, and I said it to the Sport Club fans later, I thought Vienna were better, certainly in the first half, and at the time deserved to take the lead, despite the goal looking blatantly offside. I kinda missed Sport Club's equaliser, having gone to get beer and being too small at the back to see, but it was a cracking shot from 20 yards. WSC came much more into it in the second half, but no team really looked like scoring the winner, and to be honest, a draw was probably a fair result on balance.

After the game, we were soaked, so we piled into the fan club along with hundreds of others. We soon dried off and got stuck into the beer again (including our two teetotalers, tut tut), chatted away with fans of both teams, who mixed freely, but most of us avoided the cheesy disco, and we headed home earlyish...

Saturday, hangovers, big plate of cold meats for breakfast, then a trip to the Prater, Vienna's year-round fairground. Except it was still pouring down, there was no-one there and so most of the rides were shut. We found a video arcade for some driving and biking, then a wee go-cart track, where Jim Alonso showed his skills, Roland impressed and z.Toni didn't :) We headed back home, and wired up the Playstation2, where Hancot ruled supreme in the music quiz game Buzz!, much to the chagrin and rage of 3000-album-possessing Endi!



Then it was time for our second football match of the weekend, Austria- Ghana in a friendly. Wolfi, WSC fan extraordinaire, organised places for us on a FairPlay (a group supporting anti-racist initiatives) bus, which turned out to be full of Ghanians. As such, let's say the journey was a lively affair, with drums and songs aplenty! 'Billy Bop' is still echoing through my head... The bus (2 hrs to Graz) plus ticket cost 20 EUR, bargain.

We got there in good time, and headed to a wee pub for a bite to eat - 2 schnitzel burgers and 2 beers, to be precise, mmm. It was still freezing, so we left it late before entering the stadium.

Ghana fans in full voice

Linfield here, Linfield there...

UPC Arena, Graz, Euro 2008 Stadium

Plenty of colour from the Ghana fans, but it was drums and songs in a chaotic fashion all over the place. The stadium was only half full (I think), it's one of the Euro 2008 grounds and was a nice wee stadium, if a little lego-esque. Some bad things were 1. that you had to pay to have a pee, and 2. only one entrance/exit to the away end, a bit dangerous.

The teams line up

The game itself was a leisurely affair, a big shame that Essien and Appiah didn't play. Ghana played some lovely passing football, and Austria seemed to let them do it. The press were surprisingly optimistic about Austria's performance the next day, but I don't see why, they were bereft of ideas, gave Ghana far too much time and space and didn't seem to pressurise as a home team should.

Austria on a rare attack

Austria took the lead during one of their few periods of pressure near the start of the second half, but their defence looked shaky throughout, and it was no wonder that a defensive mistake let in Ghana for the equaliser:



The celebrations were entertaining too (both my own work, I hasten to add! :) )

Players salute fans after the final whistle

We got back into Vienna late, then headed off to meet the others in a 'club' that I can only describe as a village disco in the city, complete with eclectic cheesy music, Scooter, No Unlimited, schlager, et al. And I loved it. VERY young crowd, I felt old, but such a variety of people, from pretty underage girls in fancy dress to shirtless beer boys, to lads in dresses, from the cool crowd, to randoms like us. It was nearly light by the time we got back, and a Singstar karaoke session ensued, where some hidden talents were revealed! Then Music Maestro Hancot saw off the plucky Austrian girls and old man Endi in Buzz. Endi was raging that I was some kind of modern pop guru, while showing how poor my taste in music is by not knowing the name of The Clash's album... Endi and Tobi wanted to then go to 2 more football games, but I was tired and wanted some proper sleep, so to bed. Late up, an all-you-can-eat meat feast at an Austro-Croat restaurant, then off to the station and the long journey home.

Great weekend, and a nice first trip to Austria for me. Thanks to the lads who educated me and entertained me, to Petra for putting us up, and for Wolfi for being a star. No thanks to the controllers who scooped me RIGHT as I got off at my stop in Berlin. Grr.