Fans weekend 15-17 May 2009

HSV Supporters UK

Fans Gathering

May 2009

Friday evening and we started off by meeting up with Andy in the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. All ready and set up we headed off on the U-Bahn to Berne. Its a journey of about 25 minutes but easy enough and we were there shortly before the appointed hour of 8.00

The bar was set up and a table laid for our small band of HSV fans from the island. Our corner is decorated with all HSV materials and its a real Rhapsody in Blue/White/Black. We add to the splash of colour by unveiling the flag – The 16^th April Flag.

Klaus was busy serving and the normal crowd were sat round the bar. Shortly afterwards 2 more arrived: it was Steve and Richard, the Yorkshire contingent and Spurs supporters to boot. In spite of that they are decent guys and are soon settled in. Andy is on holiday mode and telling everyone who will listen (and a few people who won't listen) about his hopes for Newcastle United and their potential to beat Fulham tomorrow.

Soon enough we get word from Steve and Alistair who have got on the wrong train from Bremen. But they are on their way and please get a drink in. For sure.

But time is marching on and we decided to bring the nosh through regardless. Klaus has done us all proud and brings through plates of frikadellen and breads. Grub Up! We are joined by Charles, a Mancunian, a Manchester City fan and resident of Hamburg who gives us all the low-down on what is going on and its cheers all round. Eventually Steve and Alistair arrived and we party on.

A lot of the other customers have made their excuses and left but in comes someone with a guitar and we start singing. Turns out he is from Grimsby. The “East of the Pennines” contingent grows again and us westerners are outnumbered. But no worries.

Its 1.30 am before we leave Brockis and as Andy, Ruth and I bow out, its left to Steve, Alistair, Steve and Richard to fly the flag for HSV Supporters UK. Not literally, our flag is packed away and kept safe for the match tomorrow.

Saturday

I'm feeling a little jaded for some reason, but Ruth and I make our way to meet Kelvine and Bob at the Hauptbahnhof. Andy is also there and the 5 of us make our way to the HSV City Store. Andy tries to buy Werder Bremen memorabilia, which thankfully the staff take in their normal charming way. All the same, they wangle Andy and Kelvine to part with hard earned cash to buy Hamburg scarves.

Then its off to the hotel to check Kelvine and Bob into their double room. After some haggling they get themselves transferred to a twin-bedded room – as Bob says Its NEVER a good idea (obviously not familiar with the works of Morecambe and Wise). Then its on our way to the FanHaus for a couple of beers and a chance to rendezvous with the rest of the boys.

So now we are all 9 of us together.

A couple of beers on and we head over to the stadium on the S-bahn. The crowd is building even though its still 2 hours before kick off. Theres a chance to meet up with some other friends there to say hello and to get into matchday mood.

Also a chance to unveil again the flag and get some pictures taken for the family album.

Once in the stadium and we bump into Rene Koch, the Fanbeauftager (Supporters Liaison Officer) and he has our flag put on display at the front of the Nordtribune. Surely that will inspire our team to victory, we think.....(Little did we know!)

Then the game. Lets just say, our team were frozen at the nerves of appearing in front of our flag. Sometimes, players just cannot cope with such great honour and this was just such an occasion. It seemed that every time the ball went near our flag, the Hamburg players were paralysed by fear. So I accept the blame for Demels pathetic defending to allow the Koln player through to score. The second half was just as bad, but this time it was our forwards who were intimidated by attacking the end where the flag was displayed.

So in the end a 0-1 defeat. At the same time news was coming in of Dortmund running up a cricket score against Bielefeld to move above us in the coveted 5^th place (and European football).

After the game, at least the Spurs fans had something to celebrate as Spurs had beaten Man City which went down not so well with the Man City contingent.

By this time, the effects of the days drinking were coming to the fore and it was a little tricky to keep track of everyone, so I am sorry to say I don't know what became of Steve and Richard or Steve and Alistair. We did make an arrangement to meet up in town at 8.00 but those plans were to bite the dust later.

As we got back to Stellingen station, there wasa bit of an argy-bargy between police and the visiting fans. But typical of the Germans they just ignored it and got on with having a sit-around and a few (more) beers. Kelvine was explaining to someone about how marvellous Bolton is, and how useless Birmingham is. A local fan (Ralf) and his family were telling us how much he loved the HSV. Like he said: 3 things in his life: number 1 HSV, number 2 his wife, number 3 his kids.

From there it was on to our hotel to freshen up while Andy was keeping the bar warm with some Koln fans. Then in to town and a visit to the Groningen Brauhaus. Home-made beer and a plate of cold fish was the order of the evening before Steve and Alistair bombed out, feeling the pace after Fridays late night and Saturdays excitement. Kelvine, Bob, Ruth and I went up to the Reeperbahn and a visit to the Stelle, home of the HSV Supporters. In truth we were all fading fast by now and so we didn't stay out much later before calling it a day.

Sunday

By the time I was alive, Kelvine and Bob had checked out and made their way off to the Harz mountains. Ruth and I headed off into the town to get a breakfast at the hauptbahnhof, where we met Andy, Steve and Alistair for a final farewell before we jumped on the train to Koblenz.