This is the way the Swiss 36 malarkey should be done. Writing the last Swiss 36 Blog post whilst traveling to the next. To give you all an idea of chronology, the trip to Aarau was the day after we visited Schaffhausen. Today is the following Sunday. Since Saturday last week, I've listened to 3 Donny games live, watched FC Winti twice, made the trip to Schaffhausen and now we're off to the next of the Swiss 36, which will be Yverdon. I really hope you appreciate the amount of football we're having to suffer to do all this!
So a Monday night game in front of the TV cameras. Fortunately, Aarau isn't too far from us so there was not problem getting to the game and getting home again. I went from work, meeting up with the missus and the other Winti fans in Zurich for the short trip to Aarau.
Once in Aarau, I have to say I was impressed with the policing. The 100 or so Winti fans were escorted through the streets by a couple of normally dressed policemen. None of the excessive Robo-cop intimidation, they simply made sure traffic stopped to let us through and that there was no hassle with locals, which there never looked like being.
OK it was dark, but I still was really under-whelmed by what I saw of Aarau, a place that I previously haven't had the pleasure of visiting. It seemed dingy, and that's a very un-Swiss adjective. Apparently the town is noted for the eaves on it's buildings. So, if you are an eave-officienado, take a trip to Aarau. If you do, I'd recommend heavily finding your way to Stein am Rhein. Really good eaves there (as well as the rest of the buildings).
With it being in the evening, it was difficult to get decent photos of the outside of the stadium, but I hope you get the picture. One large covered main-stand with the other three sides of the ground open terracing.
Winti fans weren't impressed at the 21 Franc entrance price (£14.78). A bargain at English prices but that's the highest price I've seen outside the top division in Switzerland. A lot to stand on an open terrace behind a goal.
It was also not the best organized ticketing, with an unorganized mass first of all buying a ticket from a mobile ticket booth and then queuing to go through the gates. Pointless too. Why not pay on the gate? Security were fine, a quick search of my bag and a pat down and we were in.
Points Time
Getting There
8 / 10. As ever, Swiss railways are fantastic. If you can get to Zürich, there are loads of trains to Aarau. Once at the station, it's about a 15 minute walk to the stadium. I didn't see any signs but I wasn't looking for any either. We were escorted all the way by helpful and friendly policemen.
Friendliness
6 / 10. The police were fine but after that I couldn't say I felt the love from anyone. The stadium staff were polite but not exactly chatty. We didn't even see an Aarau fan, except from over the terraces let alone speak to one.
I should also point out the toilets, or lack of them in the away end. Outdoor portable urinals and a single portaloo that Mrs Duck refused to use. Not the nicest!
Safety
2 / 10. As a positive, we were standing on proper terracing. The steps were high enough to see over the bloke in front but not so high as to be limb-breaking if you were to take a tumble. But after being positive about the terracing, that's it! There is no way this stadium would get a safety certificate in the UK.
First of all, no crush barriers. Good thing that the terracing is not high as Aarau have done nothing to prevent that tumble I was talking about.
I've mentioned my opinion of fences on practically every post but that one really is a beauty isn't it? Not quite the barbed wire-topped fences at Sion but vicious all the same. I was watching Winti fans climbing on them to tie on their flags just waiting for a slip and the inevitable stitches that would have been required had those teeth done their job.
What I didn't photograph but wish I had is how you get onto the away terrace. You come on to it from the top after climbing a mud bank that's as high as the terracing. Alternatively you can climb up and down the equally high and steep concrete ramp. I've no idea how disabled fans would negotiate these obstacles.
On the night, which had come after the worst of the winter ice had thawed, the mud bank was slippery but I managed it without falling flat on my face. The concrete ramp was not icy and was dry. Wet it could be tricky, icy, it would be lethal.
7 / 10. Couldn't complain much except for the inevitable fact that once the flags were tied on those fences, you had to be pretty high up the terrace to see. But for a behind the goal position, it wasn't bad at all.
Atmosphere
10 / 10. What do you need to create an atmosphere at a football match?
- Two vocal sets of fans with a rivalry between them
- An important match for both teams
- Both teams wanting to attack
- Goals
- A referee who doesn't quite know what he's doing
Refreshments
3 / 10. SCANDAL! I came to the match straight from work. I'm trying to lose weight at the moment and so only eat fruit at lunchtime. By the time I'd got into the ground, anything "animal" had better not be too slow in passing by, let's just say that!
On the refreshment stand menu I saw the normal sausages as well as "Spiess". The word "Spiess" warmed my heart. A Spiess is meat (usually pork fillet) on a skewer barbecued. I ordered one and got a Bratwurst as well (I said I was hungry). The guy handed me two wooden skewers. I wasn't particularly paying attention. I was just happy that what I was paying for a Spiess was getting me two of them. When I finally did get my teeth into them, what were they? Bloody sausages on sticks! Aarau! It's not a bloody Spiess!
Refreshments let themselves down further by not being available in the case of at least one third of the menu. But, on the positive side, the stall was able to serve them in good time and Gluhwein (mulled wine) on a cold evening was most welcome. It was the only hot drink on offer.
Overall
36 / 60. For the money and the fact that Aarau are a recent super league side, frankly disappointing.
The Match
MORE SCANDAL! - but not as bad as the great Spiess-swindle. During the winter break, Winti attacking midfielder, Sven Luscher, turned out for Winti in the Hallenmeisters, a 5-a-side tournament. Little did anyone know that it was the last time Luscher was to be seen in a Winterthur shirt. Days later he informed the club that he had agreed terms to move to Aarau at the end of the season.
Coach Boro Kuzmanovic was not happy and told Luscher, who was one of Winti's better players, that he could look forward to training with the under 21s and that he was out of Winti's first team for the rest of the season. In the end, a compromise was reached and Luscher was allowed to complete an immediate transfer to Aarau. In the contract, Winterthur had inserted a clause that Luscher could not play against Winterthur for the remainder of the current season.
45 minutes before kick-off, FC Winterthur learned Luscher was to play. Aarau have to pay Winterthur 35000 Francs for fielding and inelligible player, but that's peanuts for a team looking for promotion. Fortunately, it turned out to be bad value for peanuts as Luscher, booed by the Winti faithful whenever he got near the ball, was completely ineffective and in the end was substituted.
Now, I did promise you a bogey team story in a previous article (see FC Wohlen). Winterthur have not beaten Aarau for 21 years. True, in some of the intervening seasons, the two teams have been in different leagues, but we've met often enough. Since Winti registered a win at the Brügglifeld, you have to go back to 1967! Aarau have not lost to Winti at home in my life-time!
But despite history being against them, Winti really went for their opponents from the off. They were attacking quickly and with purpose. It only took 8 minutes for them to have something to show for their efforts. Luca Radice's run through the inside left position ended with him pulling the ball back to Patrick Bengondo to slide home.
Winti we're dominating at this early stage and rightly were going for a second goal. New boy Marco Arartore came closest in the 19th minute, but Aarau 'keeper Joel Mall was equal to the effort. Aarau had barely had a kick up until this point, but that was to change.
First up, Igor Nganga headed wide with Chris Leite stranded at the wrong side of his goal. Further efforts for the home-side from Alain Schultz and Artur Ionita allowed Leite to show what a good 'keeper he is while at the other end, Nick Von Niederhausen didn't suffer his normal nose-bleed when presented with a chance and blazed just over.
Aarau's captain, played in by Luscher had the next effort for the home-side firing another good chance wide before the equalizer came. It was a decent move by Aarau ending with a cross from Schultz being left by Davide Callà for Artur Ionita to supply the finish.
This was a very good game. It just needed someone to spoil it and that someone came in the form of the referee. It had not gone un-noticed that he was inconsistent and not content to keep the game flowing. I would not call him a "homer". That would imply reason to his decision-making. Just a minute after Aarau's equalizer, Denis Simojonovic was adjudged to have challenged Partrick Winter a little too hard, off the ball. The yellow card was shown, sadly his second. Down to 10 men, Winterthur were to have their work cut out for the second half.
Again though, Winti started the second half the better team. Kris Kuzmanovic had two decent efforts just short of the hour mark but he wasn't beating Mall in the Aarau goal. Winterthur were starting to tire. Instead of playing their way forward, as they had all the game, they began to rely on the long ball. But the intended target was always Patrick Bengondo. Aarau saw this and the Cameroonian always found himself battling three defenders for these balls.
Aarau came into the game more and took the lead. A Burki free kick was hit against Stefan Iten and unfortunately, the direction change of the shot completely wrong footed Chris Leite. There was one final act remaining in the game, and it sewed up the victory for the home side. Substitute Remo Staubli finished after being played in by Callà.
A fair result in the end, but it would have been interesting to see if that 45 year winless run at the Brügglifeld could have been ended had Winti kept their 11 men on the pitch.
FC Aarau 3 : 1 FC Winterthur
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