Swiss 36 No. 41: Sportplatz Liebefeld - FC Köniz

FC Köniz v FC Breitenrain

14th April 2018

Another gorgeous spring morning on what promises to be a great weekend.  Imagine Dragons last night at the Hallenstadion in Zürich were excellent and today (Saturday) a 3rd class local derby.  What could be better?  Sportplatz Liebefeld is a place where we’ve been before, twice actually and I’m surprised that I haven’t covered it before now on this blog.  Nevermind, so we’ll cover it now.

My previous visits involved a cup tie when FC Winti visited, and lost after a penalty shoot out and a match where we saw Köniz play FC Locarno.  Again Köniz won so it seems I’m a bit of a lucky charm for them.

Well, today, I hope we aren’t.  We’re going to see a Bern-Derby between Köniz and our good friends FC Breitenrain.  We have our Breitsch scarves and are definitely for the visitors in this one.

So what else shall I waffle on about on our way to Bern?  Well, I’ve been looking back over the blog to see if there are any egregious injustices in what I have written before now and there are!  I scored Lausanne Sport a meagre 2/10 for friendliness.  Very unfair on reflection as I have met Lausanne Sport fans on many occasions since.  They have bought me beers so they are good!  My problem at the time was the security, not the fans but in any case, I now feel I’ve set the record straight.  

I’ve also sampled Fucking Hell, a lager from Austria, on which I promised to provide an opinion.  It’s OK but nothing spectacular.  Not great, but better than “Arrogant Bastard” ale, which is fucking awful.

Back to our trip and while walking to find our bus, we were asked who Winti were playing by some guys doing some filming.  They had noticed our Winti shirts.   One of them turned out to be the brother of Winti striker Kwando Duah.  

Points time.

Getting there: 7 / 10. 

Simple enough getting a train to Bern, but then we had to find a bus to Köniz.  Our phone app said we needed Perron  I.  We wandered to the front of the station and then down the side of the station where we found perrons G and H but no sign of I.  It seemed the labelling system of the Perrons followed the same logic as the labelling of gates at Lausanne Sport’s stadium.  

So, time to give up and ask someone and who better than tourist information at Bern station?  There’s no one better of course, when you actually find their office.  You see signs on both the escalator and the lift say the information office is downstairs in the station.  There may be an office downstairs but the one we found was upstairs, right next to Perron G, where we had been 10 minutes earlier.  We were directed to the front of the station where Perron I was found, and our bus was waiting.

Friendliness: 7 / 10

We spent most of our time with the Breitenrain fans who of course we already knew, but I did speak to some Köniz fans.  While taking photos, I met a gorgeous pup who had been tied to the railings around the pitch.  She was happy to see me, and get a little fussing as most dogs are. 

 Seeing my scarf, her owner joked “She normally bites Breitenrain fans!” 

“Well, I’m not a real Breitenrain fan”. I replied.  “She seems to like Winti fans”

“She should bite them too!”

“Well, I’m actually not even Swiss so I think her bite instincts are faulty!” I smiled while petting the dog a little more.

We also enjoyed a drink in the bar with both sets of fans.

Safety: 5 / 10

As good as it needs to be for promotion league but you can imagine difficulties should Köniz get a big-name tie in the cup.  The ground would also clearly hinder any chance of Köniz being promoted.

View: 3 / 10

As it’s name suggests the Liebefeld is a multi-sport facility so has one of those lovely running tracks that I like so much.  FC Köniz have however been sensible in allowing fans behind the goal to be at the edge of the pitch and not at the edge of the athletics track with a 4-lane track, high-jump, shot-putt circles and lord knows what else between them and the action.  Still, there is only terracing/seats at one side of the ground and only three sides are open.  Behind the goal there is a safety net that is unfortunately right in your face and so is annoying.  The view is OK with the normal promotion league size of crowd, but would be limited with many more.

Atmosphere: 5 / 10

Breitsch were making the most of being able to make some noise.  They are not allowed their megaphones, drums or bells at home because some idiot neighbour complained about the noise.  If you read the blog about FC Breitenrain, (its no. 25) you’ll find that the Spitalacker has been a football ground since at least the 1920’s, but people can still move into a flat next to a football ground and then complain about the noise!? 

Köniz also had a singing section so all in all, a small crowd did what they could for the players.

Refreshments:  7 / 10

There’s a full bar in the Köniz clubhouse next to the main stand and there’s a decent selection of food.  We went for the “Steak in Brot” which I was quite surprised to find out was a turkey steak.  Either way it was tasty and came with a chunky salsa.

Overall:  34 / 60.  A fairly typical Swiss third flight ground.

The Match

To be honest, I didn’t pay much attention to the game.  Köniz won 1:0 wth a decent goal curled in directly from a free kick.  The home team were the better side throughout and had the majority of possession.  Breitenrain kept trying but struggled to get a clear chance.  There were a few balls that flew dangerously across the Köniz area without anyone really looking like getting on the end of them.

Swiss 36 No. 39: Sportanlage Buchlern - FC United Zürich

FC United Zürich v SC Cham

7^th October 2017

Whoopee! The international break.  The chance of a break from watching your team struggle on in a woeful season up until now, and instead you get to watch the stellar might of England toiling to beat Slovenia with a last minute goal at Wembley.  England are, of course the underachievers of International football.  In Euro 96, we sung of 30 years of hurt since our only international tournament success.  Who would have thought then that victory in Russia 2018 will break a 52 year drought of success.  Victory in Russia is of course about as likely as the simultaneous promotion of Donny Rovers and Winti this season (Donny are 17^th in league 1 while Winti are propping up the Swiss challenge league as I write).

Thankfully, I spared myself the second half of the England match, but that left me without my weekly infusion of football.  So a Swiss 36 trip was needed.

Conveniently, FC United Zürich have got themselves promoted and vying for the position of being Zürich’s third club with Juventus, meaning just a short trip was needed to tick off another stadium. So after filling up at our favorite restaurant in Winterthur (La Pergola, if you visit), we were off to enjoy football on a beautiful autumn afternoon.

Points Time.

Getting There.

7/10.  Step one was the S12 train to Zürich Altstetten.  Now I’ve been commuting on this train two stations down the line from Altstetten for over nine years but still nearly managed to miss the stop due to marveling at the Zürich Oberland mountains, which were as clearly visible as I’d ever seen them.  But we did get off the train to take a short bus trip on the No. 78 bus followed by a 10 minute walk to the ground.  Not too bad to find.  A train, a bus and a walk.

Friendliness.

5/10.  As usual, nice people on the ground staff but no fans said anything to us, apart from laughing at my “Fuck me!” exclamation on hearing people were being charged £9 for chips and gravy at the Super League grand final in Manchester.  

Safety.

2/10.  Ok for all normal purposes, but a big cup tie would be difficult to hold at Buchlern.  For a start it’s only possible to watch the match from one side of the pitch.  Segregation would be extremely difficult.  Players are separated from fans by temporary fencing as they make their way to the pitch, so United have a problem should they ever attain the next level of Swiss football.

View.

3/10.  Although the two goal ends of the pitch are hard up against the fences leaving nowhere for fans to stand, and only one of the “long” sides of the pitch is available for fans to watch the game, at least viewing at that side is reasonable.  The terraces are comfortable enough to sit on and the stand would probably provide United’s normal attendance with covered viewing were it to rain.  Sure, it’s small but reasonable.

Atomosphere.

2/10. As ever, really difficult for these small clubs.  No kop, no banners just some cheering and encouragement when anything reasonable happened on the pitch.

Refreshments.

5/10.  I had a feeling that United could do a lot more with these facilities.  Not a lot of choice available.  Even the sausage selection was limited to hot-dogs.  But it was very reasonably priced and there were two saving graces.  Firstly, little packets of popping candy with a lollipop inside.  Come on, we’re all big kids.  Popping candy and a lolly.  What else is needed to put a smile on your face?  The answer to that is slush puppies!  Could it get any better?  Of course!  Put a shot of vodka in the slush puppy.  In the end we were quite happy with the refreshments.

Overall

24 / 60.  A great community facility but a long way from being a proper home football ground.

The Match

Worth the 10 Franc entry price.  After just four minutes a good run down the right and a great through-ball from Jesy Nimi found Reto Scherer who made no mistake with just the ‘keeper to beat.  Rather embarrassingly, I thought United had scored, in fact it was Cham.  It was just everyone around me seemed so happy!  Lesson learned - trust your original judgement that a Zürich team will more likely play in blue and white as these are the colours of the canton.

Cham looked the better team but United did equalize with what proved to be the goal of the game.  From all of 40 yards, Lewis Tavares placed a free kick into the top left hand corner.  Cham hadn’t even bothered with a wall!  Fabulous - worth 10 francs on its own!

But Cham were quickly back in the lead.  Just 7 minutes later and Scherer had his second with a clever flick on a shot that sent the ‘keeper the wrong way.  Cham were back in control.

The second half saw the visitors extend their lead further.  An attack through the inside right channel, a square ball that took the advancing ‘keeper out of the game and an easy tap in for Cyril Gasser.  That was “game over” but on 90, Cham finished with ex-Winterthur midfielder Marco Trachsel heading home.  United kept the game entertaining but Cham were much the better team on the day.

Full Time: FC United Zürich 1 : 4 SC Cham.

Swiss 36 No. 40: Stade de la Charrière, FC La Chaux de Fonds

 FC La Chaux de Fonds v BSC Old Boys, 7 April 2018

A beautiful spring morning that followed a lovely spring evening.  An evening that indeed had brought all that is lackluster out of FC Winterthur as they lost 2:1 to local rivals Schaffhausen.  That wasn’t the best start to our weekend.  Then again, Kofi Schulz had given the missus his shirt, which made her happy and we had enjoyed a few beers in the bar after the game.

With the gorgeous weather we had definitely decided on doing something with the day and after a productive morning plumped for a Swiss 36 trip to Chaux de Fonds.  So the customary bottles of wine went in the bags and off we set.

Swiss public transport being what it is, we walked into the stadium 15 minutes before kickoff after an uneventful journey just as our itinerary said we would. 

 

Points time.

Getting there: 6/10.  By public transport, La Chaux de Fonds is just one of those places that is awkward to get to.  So from Kollbrunn it was the normal S26 train to Winti.  Then the intercity to Bern where we changed for an S-Bahn train to Neuchâtel.  Another S-Bahn took us to la Chaux de Fonds before 8 stops on a 302 bus and we were dropped literally on the stadium doorstep.  So a bit of a palaver but they did win a point back for having a bus stop at the ground. 

Friendliness: 6/10.  The nice lady on the gate switched to speaking German when she saw us struggling with French.  Walking into the ground and we were looking for a toilet.  We had gone the wrong way and, following others I had wandered somewhere I shouldn’t.  A grumpy git moaned at Seona and she called me back.  Nice people in the clubhouse (which sadly is a portakabin) though, they came out to us thinking they had made an error in our change.  They hadn’t, we’re from Yorkshire.  We notice that sort of thing!

Safety: 8/10.  The only thing I could criticize was fences all around the pitch and some uneven steps in the main stand that nearly caught me out.  I’ve normally been harder with my scoring when it comes to fences but not here.  The stadium has plenty of space where people could go/flow were there to be an incident so it’s not so bad that the pitch is fenced off.

View: 8/10.  Amazing!  The stadium is huge considering it’s a Swiss third flight stadium.  Fewer than 400 fans watched the match we attended and yet there are two high, seated stands at either side of the ground.  These are of course vestiges of happier times at FC La Chaux de Fonds.  As the program (well, the folded piece of A4 paper) reminds us in the front cover, the club were Swiss champions three times,the last being 1964.

But view-wise, it remains amazing.  The only discomforts being open terraces behind the goals.

Atmosphere: 2/10.  What do you do? 400 fans in a big stadium.  The far terrace behind the goal was closed but La Chaux de Fonds could close 3 of 4 sides of the ground and still have plenty of space.  Should they do this?  I really can’t decide.  On the plus side it would bring fans more together to increase the risk of an atmosphere.  But on the other hand some fans would be annoyed at not being able to sit where they like.  

Refreshments: 3/10.  There was nothing wrong with my sausage, or my wine when I eventually got them.  Choice in the clubhouse seemed limited although you could get a cup of tea (how civilized).  The problem is that the clubhouse is right down there.  You can see it in the distance from our seat in the main stand.  If you want a drink or something to eat everyone has to traipse over there, queue up (for us about 10 minutes waiting) and go back to your seat.  Needless to say, the second half was 10 minutes old by the time I had myself settled down to watch again.  This was probably a blessing as it happened.

The Match.  Yaaaawwwwwn! I don’t think I’ve ever seen footballers kick the ball at each other from point-blank range quite so often!  Not understanding these tactics, I turned my attention to the program.  Georges Weah Jnr.  Could he be related to the ex- AC Milan, Ballon d’or  winning striker who is now the president of Liberia?  He certainly could!  The son of a European footballing great was actually on the bench.  He came on in the second half.  Hopefully politics genes are more dominant than football genes!  Back to the program and could Adjei Luther-King be related to Nobel prize winning, black rites activist, Martin?  No he isn’t.  I was pushing the reality envelope a little on that one.

Loud smacks of footballs hitting various body-parts continued to punctuate the relative silence until some entertainment on 32 minutes.  A bit of over-vigorous waving broke the linesman’s flag.  The guy still had something he could wave and I’m sure he could have got himself heard by the ref above the hullabaloo but we still had a 3 minute delay while he legged it to the changing rooms in search of a new flag (or some duck tape).  Flag waving continued with gusto.

After a long trip to get refreshments, we settled down for part 2 and it was a little better.  Old Boys came close when Mushkolaj dribbled into the middle of the area before bringing a great save out of the home ‘keeper Massari.  But an Old Boys goal was coming and it did straight from a corner.  Pascal Rietmann heading in from inside the 6-yard area. La Chaux de Fonds should have equalised.  Puemi broke free and was bearing down on the Old Boys ‘keeper, but inexplicably he decided to square it to his left.  The pass was harmlessly intercepted and the chance had gone.  Before the end, the home side did come close.  A free kick played into the area was volleyed goal wards with great technique by Kasai but Fioux in the Old Boys’ goal saved well.

Full time: FC La Chaux de Fonds 0 : 1 BSC Old Boys.

Swiss 36 No. 38: LIPO Park - FC Schaffhausen

FC Schaffhausen v FC Winterthur

21 September 2017

A midweek derby with Schaffhausen gave us the opportunity to tick off the one stadium that we have yet to visit in the Swiss Challenge League, FC Schaffhausen's new home, the LIPO park.  It's actually Schaffhausen's second season at the new stadium but sadly, illness prevented our trip out there last season.

I remember first visiting FCS' old Stadion Breite for the first time when our rivals were in the promotion league (I had to get that in).  They had architects sketches and impressions of the new stadium back then (it was March 2013).  It looked great!  Those sketches nearly always do.  I remember being skeptical about whether they would actually get the stadium but credit where credit is due, they have the new stadium.  But does it live up to those artist's impressions?

Points Time.

Getting There.

10 / 10.  I rather genourously gave Breite 9/10.  From Schaffhausen station, Breite was either a bus ride or quite an uphill hike.  Well, LIPO park couldn't really be closer to the station, but not Schaffhausen station, the stadium is in Herblingen.  But in any case it's a direct train from Winterthur or Zürich for that matter (the S24 to Thayngen).  Alternatively you can change in Schaffhausen.  So plenty of trains and the station is on the doorstep of the stadium.  10 points all the way!

Friendliness.

2 / 10.  OK, this was Schaffhausen v Winti and there is a rivalry between the clubs (putting it mildly) so there's going to be police and searching etc.  But frankly, the whole infrastructure makes visiting supporters unwelcome.  Once you are out of the station, you enter a caged walkway which leads to the turnstiles (two at the away end).  Scan your ticket barcode to get into the first area and your in security's territory.  I've had more thorough searches, in fact I wasn't patted down at all but they were interested in my bag.  Once through security you are allowed through a second turnstile.  For an inexplicable reason you go up some steps only to come down again on the other side until you're in the stadium concourse, and out of the cage.  WELCOME TO SCHAFFHAUSEN!  Awful, much like St. Gallen's AFG Arena.

So a generous 2.  The ladies in the refreshments were ok and I think the security guy wished me "viel Spass" (have fun).  

Safety

7 / 10.  Wait a minute, am I seriously trying to say a brand new stadium doesn't get full marks on safety? Allow me to explain.  The stadium is brand new and it's an all-seater. The capacity is 8200 and the seats are comfortably spaced.  That's the good news.  

We English fans believe emergency access to the pitch is an essential safety point.  The Taylor report recommended removal fences after the Hillsborough disaster.  But Swiss clubs and the SFA seem to like them and they are fully installed in at least the away end of the LIPO.  Not only that, but get over the fence and there's at least a 7 foot drop to pitch level.  Then there's that access to the away end, narrow and caged.  Of course, there is a large gate allowing mass exodus from the stadium, but you have to get there first.  

I suspect the way Swiss stadia (even the modern ones) are the way they are due to archaic beliefs within the SFA.  I hope they never end up commissioning their own judge to write a report.  The first question any judge will raise is "why didn't you read this?"

View

9 / 10.  Very good.  Remove / lower fences and get rid of the netting above the fences and it would get full marks.  

Atmosphere

8 / 10.  The Schaffhauser kop were wonderfully welcoming in moving from the stand behind the opposite goal just to be nearer to us Winti fans and we felt the love!  There must have been dissension in their ranks however, as half of them remained behind the goal.  

So why did we have half of the Schaffhauser kop next to us?  Well, I can think of three possible reasons:

• To drown out our singing - Failed!
• To improve the atmosphere on a derby night - Success! - it was bouncing.
• To provoke us - Sadly successful

Sadly, during the game we saw a Winti fan attempting to break a seat and after the game it all got ridiculous with both sets of fans provoking each other from their sides of the fence.  Some Winti fans had ski masks to hide their faces while they tried to get at the Schaffhauser.  Jeez guys!  You're such saddos unable to watch a football match without wanting a fight.  Consign that crap back to the 70s where it belongs.

Fortunately no harm was done.  Just unpleasantness, which we could have done without.

Refreshments.

3 / 10.  I'm absolutely certain home supporters will be better catered for than away fans.  Drinkswise it was beer or soft drinks for us.  The beer was the local brew, Falken Bier.  We call it f***in' beer so you can imagine how good it is.  Coffee? possibly.  Wine? certainly not.  The beer was served by caged-in servers who had two beer pumps for around 300 or so Winti fans.  Needless to say there were queues.  

As for food, there was Bratwurst or sandwiches.  

Overall

39 / 60.  Could be a great little stadium if it didn't make you feel as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit!

The Match

Wasn't a classic.  The defences of both sides dominated the strikers and there were few goal chances. In terms of chances Winti probably had more / better.  No chance was better than in the 25th minute when Schaffhausen's 'keeper Nikolic brought down Manu Sutter for a clear penalty.  Unfortunately, Silvio's spot kick was as weak as the beer and Nikolic saved easily.  Half time 0:0 and looking like staying that way.

Not so.  Ex Winti winger Tunahan Cicek put the home side 1-up with a deflected shot that found its way past Minder.  Unconverted half chances came in reply and matters got worse when Luca Radice became the third Winti player in as many games to see a red card.  In the 87th minute Dangubic was fouled in the area and Schaffhausen confounded Winti's misery as Sessola showed how a penalty should be taken.

2:0 and Schaffhausen win for the first time under their new coach while Winti find themselves in a very worrying lack of form.

Swiss 36 No. 37: Stade des Peupliers - FC Bavois

FC Bavois v FC Basel II

16 September 2017

Killing two birds with one stone (or, if you're German, two flies with one swat) that's what this weekend was all about.  It's also Swiss cup weekend and FC Winti have a tie with plenty of banana-skin potential in Delémont.  But we covered "La Blanchèrie" many moons ago so a different stadium was needed.  Why not promotion league newcomers, Bavois?  We'd actually planned this one as it also gave us the chance to meet up with our friends from Basel II.

Mrs Duck had the excellent idea of combining the Swiss 36 trip with Winti's match in Delémont, meaning we only came about a third of the way back to Winterthur and meaning that I'm writing this one propped up comfortably in a quiet hotel room.  

Strangely, with the rest of the organization, things weren't quite as well thought out.  I was hustled out of the house because we were only just going to make the 5:00 pm kick off before having to dash back for match tickets.  We then found that we did have more time than we thought because of a sudden inability to tell the time that had struck Mrs Duck (good news actually as we had time to get some food for the train).  

Even on the train, we soon saw we were still going to arrive 90 minutes before kick-off, a little unnecessary as we weren't anticipating a 50k plus crowd (nearer 50 plus actually).  So what do you do in Bavois for 90 minutes?

Absolutely nothing, it's only a village of a few thousand people.  Fortunately this piece of information was supplied to us by Schieri-Leroy, a referee who we met on the train.  He was on his way to Yverdon where he was running the line in Yverdon's match with Sion II.  He was good company on the long journey, which as a result went quickly.  To burn a bit more time, we went on to Lausanne before traveling back up to Bavois.

Leroy was actually wrong about Bavois.  The population is actually 946 according to the community website.  However he was quite correct in that there's nothing there!  

So here's a community of less than 1000 who have a football team playing in the third flight of Swiss football at a ground in the village!  Credit where credit is due, that's impressive!  But is their stadium?  Points time.

Getting There. 

9/10.  Absolutely no problem.  The S1 train runs every hour between Grandson and Lausanne.  If you're coming by train, you'll most probably arrive either via Lausanne or Yverdon.  You get can this train from either city.  You can see the ground from Bavois station - it's about a 3 minute walk.

Friendliness.

8/10.  Nice people work at the club.  Exactly what we have come to expect from the small clubs.

Safety

3/10.  Yes - unfortunately the tiny clubs get caught out in this category and it is tough on them.  Once again the ground does everything the club need.   But there's no segregation and behind one of the goals there's a rather deep hole.  Were Bavois to get a big cup-tie, they'd struggle here or perhaps they'd need to borrow a stadium for the evening.  It would certainly be tough for them to get a license at the next level, but then again, Bavois are already punching over their weight.

View

3/10.  You've got to love that stand which proudly bears the name "Tribune principalé".  I guess if it's the only stand, it must be the main stand.  Anyway, that seats 74 people (I just counted) not including the press area at the back.  Other than that, we have a pitch with a barrier around it.  No raised areas so any sort of crowd could have spectators struggling to see.  Behind one of the goals is also not good due to high fences.  But again with Bavois' normal attendance good enough.

Atmosphere 

2/10.  Friendly enough but no atmosphere to speak of.  Really difficult though as I think the attendance would struggle to reach the 200 mark.

Refreshments

8/10.  The obligatory sausages grilled on a barbecue as usual and mine was very tasty.  As for drinks, well the ground has a very nice restaurant which has a full selection at the bar.  The food in the restaurant looked great although we didn't try any.  We tried their wine though.  We liked their wine!

Overall

33/60.  A proud club with every right to be proud.

The Match

After having the young Baslers hammering at their door for the opening 10 minutes, Bavois seemed to find their feet, and what followed was an entertaining 0:0.

In all honesty, we didn't do so much watching the match, a shame really, because what I did see was good.  Instead we were chatting with our Basel II friends, Schippi, Stanley and Sützi. While keeping our eye on the days cup ties.  The notable upsets were Schaffhausen - leaders of the challenge league being shown the cup exit door by Münsingen, a team two flights below them while Super League Sion were embarrassed by FC Lausanne Ouchy of the promotion league 2:1 after extra time.  We'd watched Ouchy get soundly beaten by Basel II just a month ago!  That's why fans love the cup.

So back to that restaurant for a few wines before moving on.  I'll not get too smug about Sion or Schaffhausen until after Winti's match.

Swiss 36 No. 36: Stadion Schützenmatte - BSC Old Boys

BSC Old Boys v SC YF Juventus Zurich 

3rd September 2017

International break so what do you do?  Well there was the Faroe Islands v Andorra to be considered but we decided on something much better than that. A visit to Basel to watch BSC Old Boys take on Juvé Zürich and chalk off No. 36 of the Swiss 36.

So this is it then?  The last of the Swiss 36?  Well....nahhh!  Like the "Doing the 92",  covering the Swiss football grounds in the top 3 leagues is a bit like painting the Forth railway bridge.  New teams come into the league, Old teams move to new grounds so you never really finish.  I bet everyone is pleased to hear that!

We've actually already visited the Schützenmatte but laziness stopped the blog from being updated.  So we've had to travel halfway across Switzerland ...again and watch a crap football match...again...just to complete this blog.  And I have a stiff back too.  I make my sacrifices.  But I did manage to grab a bottle of wine and head for the station.

Points time.

Getting There

8/10.  Swiss public transport is fabulous.  We had three connections with no longer than 6 minutes between any of them.  But train, train, train, tram - no problem at all.  A bit of confusion on which way to go when we got off the tram (I think we could have had a 5 minute walk in either direction).  So - easy.

Friendliness

5/10.  Not a soul from Old Boys said a word to us, apart from when tickets or refreshments were being bought.  Embarrassingly, we had to ask a Juvé fan who was playing in what colours as the match started and he was nice enough.  Oh, and one of the Basel II fans we'd met on our last outing said "hello" when we were on our way out.

Safety 

9/10.  As good as I've seen in the third flight of Swiss football.  That's a decent all- seater stand and other than that, there's terracing all the way around (and terracing with a sensible step height).  No stupid fences or nets but also no segregation.  That's the only thing that's missing to prevent this ground being up to standard for the next level up.  Should they improve enough to gain promotion, I can't see the SFA having any issue with allowing Old Boys to play at the Schützenmatte in the 2nd flight.

View

6/10.  OK - I'll admit it.  My dislike of multi-purpose stadia led me to looking for the worst view in the stadium.  That being behind the hammer/discus circle.  But really, decent terracing and that stand means the views are pretty good.  Just the matter of an 8-lane athletics track and all the field event paraphernalia.

Atmosphere 

1/10.   Very quiet, unfortunately.  Only 213 were at the match but apart from when goals were scored - nothing.

Refreshments

5/10.  Sausages.   The lady who served me my hot-dog managed to poke a hole right through my hot dog bun so the ketchup ran out and onto my shirt, so that didn't help!  Soft drinks, beer and ice cream also available.  We also saw chips but the source of the chips was a well kept secret.

Overall

 34/60 - a very decent stadium that could score very high if they ever got a crowd in it!

The Match

Bottom of the table Old Boys put 4 past Juvé without reply.  It was clear from the outset that Old Boys were up for this as they employed a shoot on sight policy.  After just 8 minutes a lob from the edge of centre circle beat the Juvé 'keeper before landing on top of the goal net.  The lead was taken after 22 minutes with an easy tap-in for Serkan Sahin after a long corner was headed back into the middle.  There followed a bit of controversy.  An Old Boys striker was bearing down on the Juvé 'keeper. He went down and the referee pointed to the spot.  The goalie wasn't happy and had run to the linesman who was waving his flag furiously.  After a brief conflab, Juvé were awarded a free kick and the OB striker had a yellow card for simulation.  Right or wrong?  - I couldn't say.

It didn't matter much though.  On 26 minutes it was 2:0 with Adrian Fleury smashing a ball into the bottom corner from about 30 yards.  Fabulous strike!  Shortly afterwards, it was three.  Merghim Ahmeti ran through the inside-left channel and decided to go it alone when there were perhaps better options to his right.  But he scored so what do I know?!

In the second half and there were a few incidents that could have led to bizarre goals.  A Juvé cross was missed by the Old Boys' 'keeper who was no doubt relieved to see it bounce off the top of the bar.  A few minutes later, a looping ball into the OB area was given up as a lost cause by everyone.  They soon took interest when it bounced off the post though.  Bizarre!  It was then Old Boys turn for a strange incident.  After a poor goal-kick from Juvé, there was a tackle and the ball flew out back towards the goal from where it had just come.  The 'keeper was beaten but as the ball bounced in front of the goal line, it had enough backspin to bounce back out and a relieved 'keeper dived on it.  You normally get a maximum of one weird incident per game.  Here we were with three in a half!

Serkan Sakin finished the scoring with his second.  4-0 probably flattered Old Boys but they certainly deserved this much-needed win.

Swiss 36 No. 35: Stade Juan Antonio Samaranch - FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy

FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy v FC Basel II

19 August 2017

After all the fun of sailing to a match for the last Blog post, we returned to more conventional trains and buses for a trip to Lausanne.  So after the normal Swiss 36 decisions (in ascending order of importance, where are we going? How am I going to make a 10 CHF donation to bet365 this week? And what are we going to drink on the train), we found ourselves coming out of Lausanne station looking for a no. 1 or 2 bus.

A guy came over to us and asked who we were playing, referring to the FC Winti shirts we were both wearing.

"We're not!" I replied.  "We're trying to find Ouchy".  I then noticed the Basel scarf he was wearing and decided we should follow him.  There were 7 or 8 Basel II fans and we had our normal conversations while on a Swiss 36 visit, mainly focused on why the hell were an English couple going to a Swiss 3rd flight match.

FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy have been around in their current form since 2001, but are the result of a merger between FC Stade Lausanne and FC Ouchy who are both much older.  

Their stadium was renovated in 1998 and renamed from Centre Sportif de Vidy to being named after the ex-IOC president.  You get a lot of Olympic references in Lausanne as it is the home of the IOC.

After purchasing some refreshments, we settled down to watch the first half.  It wasn't a classic by any means and the only atmosphere being created was from a huge, fat cigar being smoked by the bloke next to me.  The only noise was coming from the Basel II fans we had met earlier.

Football , especially lower league football needs atmosphere so we switched sides and went over to join the Basel II traveling faithful.

You may have noticed that I have always referred to these guys as Basel II fans.  That is exactly what they are.  Their T-Shirts, scarves, flags and even tattoos celebrate Basel II, not Basel.  Sure, they support Basel as well.  But these guys are hardcore football fans and travel Switzerland supporting U21 and younger teams all representing Basel.  Fans like these are priceless.

I'm always amazed by what great people we meet on our Swiss 36 visits.  The Basel II fans made us one of theirs presenting us with two Basel II scarves and  buying us beer and wine.  We traveled back with them, calling into a Supermarket at Lausanne station for some beer for the train.

As I went to take some beers from the fridge, an employee of the supermarket told me "No beer - beer finished".  

"Oh" I replied somewhat disappointed. 

"You can have wine, it's over there!" He added.

Can't buy beer but wine and spirits are fine.  Lausanne don't accept drunks.  Pissheads are ok though.  Who was I to argue?

Points Time.

Getting There 

6/10. Not too bad getting there.  You take a number 1 or 2 bus from Lausanne station to Maldière and end up with a 10 minute walk down to the stadium on the lake shore.  We briefly left our Basel II friends on the way home and promptly struggled to find the bus back.  We found a number 2 bus, but the driver, who spoke no German or English told us she wasn't going to the station.  We went to another bus stop and found a number 25 bus, that was also no use and the driver directed us back to the original bus stop.  A different bus driver of another number 2 bus going in the opposite direction from the first one we found, directed us to a third bus stop, which was actually a more substantial terminus.  There we found a no.1 bus going to Lausanne station and the Basel II fans.  So - a bit complicated.

Friendliness

8/10.  FCSLO seem a very sociable club, illustrated by the picnic tables you see as soon as you enter the ground.  Security was non-existent, nor was it necessary.  The guy who sold us the match ticket also tore the corner off it to indicate it had been checked (why?).  The club house is a little regimented for my taste though and none of the home fans spoke to us.

That said, the ladies working behind the counter in the clubhouse were lovely, patiently dealing with our awful French and even giving a few free sandwiches to us and the Basel II fans after the match.  

Safety

5/10.  Absolutely no problem for a Swiss "Erste Liga Promotion" fixture but FCSLO would have work to do for anything bigger.  There's no segregation and no horrible fences.  The ground boasts two smart stands but virtually no terracing.  The capacity is 3750 (3000 standing and 750 seated).  I'd say that standing capacity might be a challenge were it ever needed.

So perfectly adequate for 99.9% of the games played here but should FCSLO go further up in the world, they could face a few problems.

View

8/10.  Very good!  We had the opportunity to walk all the way around the ground and didn't see a bad view.  Much better than Rapperswil-Jona because of the lack of stupid fences and the fact that the ground has be landscaped with a bank all the way around.  This means you can stand or sit (with only 200 people in the ground) 

on these banks and get a good view of the game.  The banking is a great idea, and of course it is a start should their be a future need for a proper terrace.

Atmosphere

2/10.  I know, harsh.  But there were only 200 at the game and the only noise came from the visitors.

Overall

29/40.  Nice ground in a lovely setting

The Match

To be honest, I didn't see anything of the first 10 minutes, but when I did start to watch it was obvious within 2 minutes that the visitors were very much in charge.  Dominik Schmid gave them the lead, hammering in a long ball that was played back to him just outside the area after 14 minutes.  14 minutes later it was 0:2 with everyone missing a Basel II corner except Daniele Vasco, who had a tap in.  At this point, Lausanne Ouchy had their only minor encouraging spell, pulling a reasonable save from the Basel II keeper before winning a free kick on the edge of the area.

It was about 30 yards out and predictably it was blasted over the bar.  Why do lower league players always try to score such free kicks?  A chipped pass to the left of the penalty area would probably have caught the visitors by surprise and put in a striker - but I digress.  0:2 at half time.

Nothing changed in the second half.  Neftali Manzambi latched on to a through-ball to make it 0:3 after 72 minutes and finished the scoring in the 89th minute.  A deserved 4:0 win for the visitors and certainly an "Ouchy" for Lausanne!