I've stuck something up about October's trip to Karlsruhe elsewhere but not on this thread. Didnt take any photos because the ground is in the middle of being redeveloped but probably good to stick something in here.
We got the train down from Mannheim - a short 20-25 minute journey via ICE. A number of travelling Hannover fans had changed trains at Mannheim and there was a decent away presence on our train. We were met at Karlsruhe HBF by a significant police presence, in line with most German football matches. Whilst I've never seen any trouble at the now 3 games I've gone to, I know that there are German clubs with bad reputations. Whether the police numbers were absolutely necessary is questionable but although there was a significant police presence, there was absolutely no antagonism or feeling that it was ever going to kick off. We ended up exiting the platform area straight onto the street outside the station rather than the main concourse and into an area cordoned off for travelling Hannover fans. There's no tram station or s-bahn service to the Wildpark Stadion so buses are provided to take fans to the ground before the game. We were directed onto one of the visiting fan buses and assured that we'd be perfectly safe, so long as the Hannover fans didnt mistake us for locals. I'm sure the riot cop was joking with 2 clearly non-local tourists as we experienced absolutely no problems at all.
It's about 10 minutes by bus from the HBF to Karlsruhe's Wildpark Stadion. The Wildpark is situated on the outskirts of Karlsruhe's historic palace park and gardens. It would be a brisk 30 minute walk through a lovely and historic city, but the bus was our transport of choice as my friend and I had wanted to visit the club shop and have a wander around the ground. A number of visiting fans decided to walk en mass, as travelling fans in Germany tend to do. I've experienced it myself on an ice hockey trip and unlike authorities in the UK, German fans are accommodated, so long as a reasonable order is maintained.
The Wildpark had 4 stands prior to redevelopment. The ground was build and redeveloped in phases which meant that the stands as they were last season were mismatched. The current redevelopment will see the ground become a very modern, bowl-style ground and I can't help but feel that it'll miss some of the old style stadium charm that the Wildpark previously had (judging from photos only). On my trip in October the club had already demolished one of the 2 main stands and one of the smaller stands behind the city centre end goal. Still standing was the main stand running the length of the touchline and the standing section that was filled with Karlsruhe's ultras. Visiting fans were housed in an uncovered temporary stand behind the opposite goal. Facilities for fans remained good - the usual club shop and merchandise kiosks were available and food options were reasonable, including bratwurst. On my previous trips to Frankfurt and Stuttgart the beer on offer was Krombacher. A perfectly decent beer but I was really happy to see Karlsruhe sell Rothaus. Rothaus is the state brewery of Baden-Wurtenberg and it's heartening to see clubs retain a local character by stocking local drinks. The club operated the now standard 2 Euro deposit for plastic cups and it was easy to return used cups at the end of the game for a deposit refund.
The game itself was a little lacking in quality, but certainly not in entertainment. Hannover have a recent history in the top flight and retained some familiar names to German football followers in their squad - including keeper Ron-Robert Zieler (who would feature significantly later on). The game was reasonably end to end. Hannover enjoyed more and better chances and deservedly took a 2-1 lead into the half time break. Karlsruhe were more urgent in the 2nd half and that urgency, whilst not always pretty, was rewarded with an equaliser around 15 minutes from full time.
Share of the spoils at full time? Certainly a little fortunate for the home side and Hannover will feel aggrieved that their 93rd minute 3rd goal didnt secure all 3 points. What followed can only be described as a bit mad. Veteran centre half Daniel Gordon again equalised for the home side in the 95th minute to tie the game at 3-3. A delighted Gordon rounded the Hannover keeper to celebrate with the home team ultras who were packed in the stand behind the goal and who had given their team a solid 90 minutes of deafening support. A frustrated Zieler turned towards the ball, having rebounded out from the back of the net, and aimed a solid punch. Whether he saw Gordon running behind him or not is a little debatable. Whats beyond dispute is that Zieler's punch was solid and it connected firmly with the celebrating Karlsruhe hero, who duly collapsed from the blow. The official deemed Zieler's punch worthy of a 2nd yellow rather than a straight red but the last action of the game saw a dejected Zieler leave the pitch as the game ended in a 3-3 draw.
Getting back to the main station isnt quite so easy. The buses used to ferry fans to the stadium pre-match are not provided for a return journey. The nearest tram stop is a brisk 5-7 minute walk away. It was a very pleasant walk on a fantastic autumn afternoon and the Wildpark's picturesque setting adds to that enjoyment, but on a wet winter day or during an evening game I can imagine that walk being less enjoyable. The tram from Durlacher Tor to Karlsruhe HBF takes about 20 minutes as the route runs through the busy city centre. Home and away fans shared the tram in relatively good spirits - neither openly engaging with each other but both feeling that they'd seen an action packed game of football.
I've been to 3 games in Germany now. Frankfurt v Schalke remains my favourite and I absolutely loved the Commerzbank Arena. It's a great place to watch football and I found the home fans to be passionate and welcoming. The stadium was buzzing with activity before the game and several Eintracht fans groups were active around the stadium and on the walk from the nearest s-bahn station. I was less impressed with Stuttgart. I found the ground to be less impressive, having been redesigned piecemeal to serve a function but without really excelling in it's offering for fans. The area surrounding Stuttgart's ground is devoid of the colour you'd associate with German fans and a big German stadium. Karlsruhe's Wildpark was somewhere in between - it'll be an impressive modern ground when completed and the Karlsruhe ultras as a noisy and passionate bunch. The lack of transport links is an issue and there isnt an abundance of bars around the stadium, but the facilities once inside the ground are fine and fans will be well catered for. It's certainly somewhere I'd be happy to return to on a future hockey/football weekender.
Although hopefully I'll be able to tick off Kaiserslautern and Waldhof Mannheim, and maybe even Darmstadt and Mainz. Waldhof are of particular interest given that I travel to Germany to watch Mannheim's hockey team. The Waldhof fans have a bit of a reputation locally and my usual Mannheim pub (Irish bar Murphy's Law, but for an Irish bar it's actually pretty decent and they have the local city beer on tap) are refusing to open for the next Waldhof Mannheim v Kaiserslautern derby due to the number of police in attendance and restrictions on fans within the city centre. My only dealings with Waldhof fans has been at the stall they run at the city's Christmas market every year - a stall where the fans on hand have been friendly and welcoming, often spending time wondering why 2 Scotsmen are visiting their city. I'm really keen to visit the Carl Benz stadium and add Waldhof Mannheim to my German football list.