Swiss 36 No. 21: Colovray - FC Stade Nyonnais

FC Stade Nyonnais v FC St. Gallen II

Stade Nyonnais,  or Mayonaise as we christened them last season while they were competing in the Challenge League are another of the losers of the infamous 2011-12 "Todessaison" (season of Death).  Nyonnais were the unfortunate occupants of the last relegation birth, missing out on survival by two points in the end.

Somewhat guiltily, I have to confess to FC Winterthur smacking the last nail into their coffin last season...and they waited until the 94th minute to do it!  Not quite true actually, Nyonnais had to win.  Winti took the lead in the 84th minute but were pegged back in the 88th to set up a grandstand finish for the last relegation place.  Unfortunately for Nyonnais, as so often happens when a side is forced to attack, they leave gaps and Winti found one in the 94th minute to end life for the visitors in the second flight.

Mrs Duck and I were upset to witness Winti performing this dastardly deed as this rare footage of the English fan in foreign climes demonstrates.

In honesty, we were disappointed by Nyonnais that evening.  The team could have given more and there were no Nyonnais fans that we could see, which couldn't have helped the team.  True, it is a long trip from Nyon to Winterthur and the match was on a Thursday evening.  But come on Nyonnais!  It was a survival game and  your club needed you!  Perhaps I'm just too used to English football.

Onto this game and the first thing that the English fans will notice is that Nyonnais were playing St. Gallen II, otherwise known as the under 21s.  This is another way in which the larger clubs in Switzerland have profited from the reorganization.  Their U21s get to play in a national league that is of a reasonable standard.  Obviously this is a great way for the kids to learn allowing the big sides to bring players more effectively and efficiently through the ranks.

Unfortunately the news isn't that good for the clubs who's first teams compete in the erste Liga Promotion.  U21 teams do not bring much of a following and nor do they bring in the locals.

Nyonnais, like all teams relegated from the Challenge League are having a tough time of it in the new league.  They sit in 12th position just 4 points clear of the relegation places bit having played two games more than the 14th placed club, their opponents for this match, St. Gallen II.  I think Nyonnais will keep their place in the national leagues, but need to keep an eye on their rearview mirror.

Points Time 

Getting There

7 / 10.  Nyon isn't quite on the main Zürich - Geneva Trainline, but its not far off with a change in Lausanne being required.  Outside Nyon station, and we didn't see any signposts to the ground so Google Maps got it's second outing in as many weeks.

Google told us to follow the railway line, which seemed OK at first as we followed a main road.  But we were urged on down a track and I was half expecting to see one of those signs that informs you that your Sat Nav is an arse, but floodlights came into view and my confidence in technology increased.

Down to the end of the lane and onto a main road.  There we found UEFA headquarters with the Colovray just across the road.

Friendliness.

9 / 10.  Very good and that's despite our annoying the locals with the latest craze that will sweep the football world.  

You see, Mrs. Duck and I are currently fighting a winning battle against the flab.  Now our efforts to bring you the joys of Swiss football, with its fast food catering plus our liking for a wee drink while watching the game doesn't make the Swiss 36 exactly conducive to our weight-loss aims.

The half-hour walk from the station to the stadium, whilst not helping Stade Nyonnais in the "Getting There" section, was much appreciated.  But these Football Flabbies need more to get in shape.

So FuzzyDuck is proud to present "Football Fan Stepping", which we will call FFS.  

You see that bar at the bottom of the barrier?  Well, I noticed that by stepping onto that bar from where we were standing was about a 6" step, which is perfect for step aerobics.  So Mrs. Duck and I started our stepping with about 15 minutes to go in the first half.  Taking a break for half time, we continued into the second period.

With brilliant insight, one of the locals realized what he was watching, shouting "FFS!"  He then enquired whether we could possibly stay still for long enough to allow him to watch a penalty.  FFS was stopped but resumed after the penalty until the end of the game.  The success of FFS is clear.  We burned 969 calories ensuring that the eating and drinking activities of the day did not bust our calorie goal and hamper our progress to becoming thinner ducks.

OK, it did drive the locals mad but if it's any consolation to them, my claves were killing me for the next two days!

We met the irate fans after the game.  Irish guys Jim and Dave.  Great lads with a lovely pair of daughters / nieces being brought up in the right way.  That is of course supporting Dundalk in the Irish League.  Just keep them away from Man Utd. lads, and they'll grow up fine lasses.

Other than the nice people we met, it was also good to see the lady behind the bar going up to the offices to get our car-pennants.  Nyonnais is a friendly club.  We liked it!

Safety.

10 / 10.  Not too much wrong with the Colovray on the safety front, which is hardly surprising when you find it is managed by UEFA.  And from what I could see, they are doing an excellent job.    Everything clean and in a good state of repair.  Absolutely no fences and I think no real segregation of away supporters.  A very pleasant place to watch a football match.

All I would ask woudl be for Mr Platini to apply the excellent standards obviously applied in Nyon to some of the awful Stadia we have seen on travels around Switzerland.

View

8 / 10. Great from what we saw with standing right next to the pitch.  My only doubt is that the capacity is 7200, with only 800 being seated in that rather smart looking main stand.  So that's 6400 standing, all uncovered without much in the way of terracing.  Will everyone be able to see?

Atmosphere

3 / 10.  Really tough to have atmosphere when the visitors bring no fans at all.  But at least it looked like the Nyonnais fans knew each other.  and there were a fair number more of oohhs and aaahhs than we experienced at either Yverdon or Fribourg.  According to the only site where I could find a statistic, only 182 attended the match.  It looked like more!



Refreshments

3 / 10.  Doh!  The bar looks nice enough with the collection of scarves and shirts from the illustrious clubs who, no doubt due to the UEFA connections have visited the Colovray.  At half time we had a really tasty and welcome hot wine but we could only have one!  When we returned for a refill, sadly the wine was gone.  A lack of hot food also let Nyonnais down as I had to settle for a ham sandwich.


Overall

40 / 60.  A very pleasant place to attend a football match.  At 10 Swiss Francs entrance you can't go wrong.  More should go.

The Match

Wasn't bad either!  Just 9 minutes had gone when the visitors had the lead.  Marco Summer scored the goal, although it was more thanks to Osni Mutombo allowing the shot through his hands than a great finish.  But the lead was only to last 4 minutes.  Nicolas Hélin fed M'Futi Mobulu for him to drive home his sixth of the season.   The home side then started to control the game, but couldn't get the breakthrough with Hélin coming closest forcing Ilija Kovacic into a decent stop.

After the break, Nyonnais continued to press.  Mobulu should have scored hi second from inside the 6 yard box but somehow St. Gallen scrambled the ball away.  Hélin had another effort denied by Kovacic and Denis Bega put a shot from 35 yards over the bar.  Nyonnais were knocking on the door, and eventually they were let in.  Mobulu being upended in the area and substitute Asani Farques doing the necessary from the spot.

But symmetry was to be maintained in the game.  St. Gallen failed  to hold onto a lead for more than 4 minutes at the start of the game, and now at the end, it was Nyonnais who couldn't keep the visitors out.    A St. Gallen corner ended in a scramble which Nyonnais could not keep out.  It ended in a draw that helped neither side.

 Stade Nyonnais 2 : 2 St. Gallen II

Swiss 36 No. 20: Stade Municipal - FC Yverdon Sport

FC Yverdon Sport v FC Fribourg

26 April 2011 and FC Winterthur had an easy-looking game at home to FC Yverdon Sport who were then bottom of the Challenge League. Winti themselves weren't exactly excelling themselves that season, and had slipped to fourth from bottom. There were six games remaining; two long road-trips down to Tessin; away fixtures at Wil and Aarau, where they never win and a tricky looking home-tie against Vaduz were the other five. That season, a bottom-two place meant relegation to one of the regional leagues. The reorganization of Swiss football meant that returning to the Challenge League would take a minimum of two seasons. This game against Yverdon was a "must win".

Winti Fans not happy - Winti players listening why

Despite the Winti faithful literally singing solidly for 90 minutes, the home team were awful and lost the game by the odd goal in three.

As they always do, the players came over to thank the fans but on this occasion, and only this occasion the fans decided to voice their displeasure. The players were roundly booed.

Most teams on hearing the reception would have turned and headed for the dressing room but not Winti. Far from keep their distance, they came right up to the fans and listened to what they had to say. There were frank, but respectful discussions between players and fans and it ended with handshakes.

This was probably the moment when I decided that I loved Swiss football. In the respect shown by both fans and players, they certainly had me believing that English football had a lot to learn.

The next match for Winti was away at second in the table Lugano. They came back from two goals down to win 3:2. Was it down to that chat with the fans? It's nice to think so. They haven't really looked back since and finished fourth in the table the next season while also reaching the semi-final of the Swiss Cup.

But what of Yverdon? Well, they were relegated, finishing bottom of the Challenge League that season and finished the next season 4th placed in their league, enough to gain a play-off for a place in the new 1 Liga Promotion which they won. Unfortunately, that's where the good news seems to end as Yverdon are currently rooted to the bottom of that division.

Points Time.

Getting There

8 / 10. A direct train from Winterthur brought us to Yverdon les Bains but we couldn't see any signposts to the ground. Once I'd got my bearings, Google Maps took us there and it's actually only about 10 minutes walk from the station.

Friendliness

6 / 10. Nobody approached us until we approached them but once we did talk, they were fine. Nice enough.

Safety

8 / 10. No real issue with the terracing that we saw and there are no fences. There's a minor point about smoking in wooden stands which doesn't strike me as that smart.

View

8 / 10. I was pleasantly surprised. Municipal stadium just doesn't fill you with any positivity does it? But there are no running tracks so fans are close to the action. We watched part of the game from behind the goal and part from a stand with nothing impeding the view.

The only issue may be if they ever did get a crowd, whether there would be enough terracing to allow all to see.

Atmosphere

1 / 10. Meet Cyril, Séverine, Oliver and Jérôme, the Yverdon Kop. Three men, one lady, three drums and a megaphone! When I said hello to them they did point out to me that there were another three of them who hadn't been able to make it. Well, that would make all the difference!

Well, thanks guys for giving it a go! It really isn't easy trying to make noise and create an atmosphere when nobody is bothered. Big respect to the four of you for your efforts.

As for the rest of you Yverdon fans, as Delia would say "WHERE'S OUR TWELFTH MAN!" 550 attended the game and stood/sat around the pitch in little groups of three or four. Try standing or sitting together. You've got something in common you know. You support the same football team (at least I think you do). I tried a couple of shouts but just got normal strange looks (mostly from the missus).

But if I'm going to have a go at the Yverdon fans, I should also mention the Fribourg fans to ensure this article is fair and balanced. Was there anyone from Fribourg there? It's 52 Km from Fribourg to Yverdon (33 miles) and this was a Sunday afternoon. Like home games in Fribourg it would cost you 10 SFr (£7.10) to get in, but then again, no Fribourgers go to their home games either so what was I expecting?

Refreshments

6 / 10. All I saw were the normal sausages. Two types were available as far as I could see. But one positive was the club house. At least it looked like a football club house. I've seen a fair few in Switzerland that look sterile, more like works canteens.

Overall

37 / 60. OK but the club did have a sad, hopeless air about it.

The Match

This would be the part where I'd love to say that for the sake of 10 Francs, the people of Yverdon and Fribourg missed a great afternoon's entertainment. Sadly, I can't. Mrs. Duck had already asked if we had to stay for the whole game after about 20 minutes. That's Swiss 36 rules - we stay for the whole game, but I sometimes wish I wasn't so strict. But the game did have it's incidents.

Yverdon looked much the better team in the first half. Lorenzo Bucchi in the Fribourg goal did well to save from Bigambo Rochat's top corner-bound shot as the home team dominated. Just past the half hour and a blatant shirt pull on Milutin Ivanovic in the penalty area was punished correctly with a red card for Baptiste Buntschu and a penalty for Yverdon. Unfortunately for Yverdon, Bucchi did well again with the spot kick, saving well to his left from Anthony Ciavardini. But with a man advantage and dominating proceedings surely the home team would take the points?

Yverdon continued to dominate the second half with Mehdi Benhaddouche being particularly wasteful in his attempts on the Fribourg goal. In the 77th minute, Fribourg were handed a lifeline. David Sugar, the Yverdon 'keeper had a rush of blood as Fribourg threatened for about the first time in the match. He came out of his area to scythe down Abdoulaye Koné. The referee had little choice and Yverdon's numerical advantage was eliminated. Fribourg had been so poor until that point, but now they had received a psychological boost. They ended up winning the match in the 85th minute when Koné headed a corner past replacement 'keeper Julien Manière. It was more naive than unlucky for the home team but completely undeserved for the visitors.

The referee brought their misery to an end, and with the exception of Cyril, Séverine, Oliver and Jérôme, everyone did what they apparently wanted to do and went to the fair that was going on in the town.

Posted with Blogsy

Swiss 36 No. 19: Stadion Brügglifeld - FC Aarau

FC Aarau v FC Winterthur

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.

View

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

All factors present - great atmosphere and a great evening

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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Swiss 36 No. 18: Stadion Breite - FC Schaffhausen

FC Schaffhausen v FC Breitenrain

We're back on the Swiss equivalent of the English 92 after an enforced absence due to Swiss football's Winter-Break - well if you will try to play football in a country where the average elevation is 700m or so above sea-level, you have to expect the odd inconvenience.  This year, the winter-break has gone on a little longer than planned.  Football doesn't control the weather and the worst of the winter came just as Challenge League and Super League football was scheduled to return.  As a result, FC Winterthur, for example, have had to postpone two matches.

But now we are back.  Not much has changed, except that all things Swiss have moved to a separate Blog from all things Donny.  Other than that, its the same intrepid English couple taking on whatever Swiss football can throw at them.

So here's our first trip of the "Rückrunde" (as the second part of the season is known in these parts) and we had a first challenge of not spontaneously combusting as we made the short trip to Schaffhausen.  As regular readers will know, my wife and I are FC Winterthur fans.  Schaffhausen are probably Winti's most bitter rivals.  You know how Donny fans chant insults about Leeds even when they are not playing Leeds?  Well Winti do the same with Schaffhausen.

Schaffhausen - Pretty

This is a shame really, because Schaffhausen is a really lovely town.  I hope not too many Winti fans read this, I could get ejected from the Bierkurve!  Apart from enjoying the town and taking a short trip down the road to see the Rheinfalls (Europe's largest waterfall), the other reason to come to Schaffhausen is a really good Chinese Restaurant called Chinatown.  Its not exactly fine-dining or beautiful surroundings but the food is great and well priced for Switzerland (meaning the price will give the average Yorkshireman a coronary but a small one).

After filling up there and having to somehow deal with a waitress who spoke only Mandarin or English, we were off up to the stadium. Points Time.

Getting there

9 / 10.  No problem at all from Winterthur.  Local train services go to Schaffhausen and if you're elsewhere, there are plenty of national services from Zurich.  

From the train station, you are signposted with the stadium name to a bus-stop where two bus routes (3 and 4) run to the stadium.  It's three stops down the line and the only problem is that the stop you need (Schützenhaus) is not named after the stadium.   I know, its a picky reason to deduct one point, but remember that 10 / 10 was given to Luzern who put on match day buses.

This gets a pointless notice award

Friendliness

6 / 10.  We found the stadium staff to be fine although we have seen more helpful employees.  For instance, when asking about our car pennants, we were told that they didn't have any.  We knew this as the website had informed us that they were sold out.  But we wanted to know when the club would be getting some more.  They didn't know and suggested I asked André pointing to a bloke about 10 yards away.  

Unfortunately the bloke I thought was André wasn't.  I never did find him.  Other clubs (notably Frieburg and Delémont) have ensured that we found the right person and have then gone ratching through stock cupboards to see if they can help.

The other thing that perturbed both in its lack of friendliness and its pointlessness was the sign on the left.  It says "STOP - This means YOU  Please use the outside toilet.  Many Thanks".

Not exactly friendly and aren't outside toilets a bit primitive?  Why pointless?  The sign is actually on the INSIDE of the toilet door.  I didn't spot it until on my way out.  I gave it a wry smile and a "you're a bit late son!"

For Schaffhausen's in-mates?

Safety 

7/10.  Absolutely no problem where I was standing.  But regular readers know my opinion on pens and fences.  Tear them down Swiss football!  But here is something completely crazy.  That pen on the right is actually for HOME fans!  The best and noisiest fans the club has are put in there while as far as I could see, away fans had the run of the rest of the ground.

On the way to the stadium, because I'm a Winterthur fan, I didn't miss the fact that the stadium is near the Psychiatry centre.  I thought it tongue-in-cheek-amusing that fans of our local rivals didn't have far to travel home.  After seeing this pen, sod the fans, obviously the people who run the club like to work from home!

View

7 / 10.  The positives are that apart from the cage above, the views are un-hindered all the way around.  Fans are also nice and close to the action.  The negative is that there is no terracing in the standing areas.  I'm sure that should Schaffhausen get a large crowd, there will be many who struggle to see.

Atmosphere

4 / 10.  I said earlier that the away fans looked to have the run of the ground.  Well, they would have done had any of them bothered to turn up!

As for the home fans, well the in-mates of the pen did their best and sang / chanted throughout.  Nothing from anywhere else though.  Only 547 attended the game.

Refreshments

7 / 10.  Food-wise its the normal variety of sausages that is available although I was pleased to see Currywurst on sale.  The one I had was very nice too.  On the drinks there was a decent selection of hot and cold drinks available and for the drinkers among us red or white wine or beer.  The prices were fair enough and the refreshments could be enjoyed either while watching the game from wherever you chose or in a small restaurant.  The restaurant was a bit sterile for my liking and I'd have liked to see more club-identity in there.

Overall

40 / 60.  Not bad - no real disasters!  A few strange things though!

The Match

Schaffhausen started the match in third place of the 1st Promotion league with Breitenrain in 15th (one above last place).  Earlier in the season, Breitenrain had been mauled 6 : 0 at home to Schaffhausen and with just two wins in the Vorrunde (first half of the season) they shouldn't have had much chance.

Sure enough, Schaffhausen did dominate possession in the first half.  The away 'keeper Alain Portmann   did well to keep out two good efforts, a header from a corner and a decent shot from the edge of the penalty area.  But the visitors certainly weren't going to get rolled over this time.  They looked organized, even under pressure and looked to counter quickly whenever they won possession.

And it was one of these counter-attacks that had the Schaffhäuser blushing.  Claudio Zenger finished off the move with a precise finish into the bottom corner of Vaso Vasic's goal.  Incidentally, I do not know the names of these players from memory (except Vasic and Schnorf who formerly played for Winti togehter) and have to look them up on the net.  I was looking for Zenger's first name and noticed that on the Breitenrain team photo, the third guy from the left (seated) was called "Rui...."  Obviously he's delivered a few memorable performances.

But I digress.  Back to the match and the Bern team held on to their 1-goal advantage to half time.

An interesting contrast to note here.  In England, if a top of the league side is a goal down to a basement side, the fans will voice clear displeasure at half time.  Booing, whistles even personal abuse thrown the way of the most guilty parties would not be unusual.  In Switzerland in this situation, generally you see only encouragement.  For me, this is pure common sense.  Schaffhausen hadn't been terrible, Breitenrain had been better than expected.

Into the second half and the game didn't change too much.  Schaffhausen had the possession but Breitenrain were dangerous on the counter and had Manuel Gloor been more composed with his two great chances, the visitors would have extended their lead.

But that's not what happened.  Instead, Schaffhausen's persistent probing eventually paid off.  They found space on the left in the 65th minute and a good cross resulted in an easy tap in for Faruk Gül.  After further chances for both sides, it was the home team who finally sealed the points.  It was a set-piece goal, Frontino with the free-kick and Patrick Rossini with the close range header.

For Breitenrain, encouraging.  The difference between the sides was better finishing from the Schaffhäuser and a better ability to hold possession.  For Schaffhausen, much to consider.  In third place at the moment, they have a lot to do to make up the 5 points needed to join the promotion battle.  What they showed on Sunday wasn't enough.

FC Schaffhausen 2 : 1 FC Breitenrain

Swiss 36 No. 17: Stade Universitaire Saint-Léonard - FC Fribourg

FC Fribourg v SC Kriens

A first trip out to a team that has profited from the Swiss League's reorganization took us to Fribourg, the capital of the Swiss Canton of, well Fribourg. The re-shuffle has also brought national football to this canton so in this case we can call it a bloody good thing!

Not the prettiest

As ever, it was an easy trip out to Fribourg, and a local kindly put us on the right bus to the stadium. It took us through a picturesque town that looked well worth a visit before dropping us near a flyover on an industrial estate.

Was it an industrial estate? The only certainties about where we were, were that it was bloody ugly and really confusing. It was however, the best place in the world to be caught short. As we wandered the maze of building sites, heading towards the floodlights, we must have passed about 30 portaloos of different shapes colours and sizes. We didn't take advantage and instead followed a winding route to the stadium.

It was one of those infuriating things. We could see the stadium as soon as we got off the bus, but kept having to turn away from it as our way was blocked. Even when we arrived, the entrance proved illusive.

Not so nice inside either

Once we did get in, unfortunately, I can't say the view improved much as it seemed wherever you were, you were looking at the industrial estate that you'd just negotiated. 

Still, time to look for some positives. At 10 SFr. (£6.78) Friburg have the lowest entrance price that we've found so far. Yes, it's not the highest level of football, but it's great value! It was also good to see equality in football being showed off to a greater extent than I've ever seen before with two of the officiating team being women.  And the far-side assistant was a fit woman at that!

Points time

Getting There

7 / 10. Not a problem with the train and then the bus. The bus dropped us within 10 minutes of the stadium but then it go confusing. I'm sure it will be better when it's finished around there.

I think some might want a word about bigger dugouts!

Friendliness

8 / 10. Good to get a hand from a local to find the ground and the guys running the refreshment stall did go and look through the stock in the merchnadizing stall (which wasn't open) to try and find the car-pennants we were after. But during the match, nobody from Friburg said a word to us.

As we were walking round to the refreshment stalls at half-time a call of "Hey, English" came from the small group of Kriens fans. They had recognized us from our earlier visit to the Kleinfeld Stadion. We enjoyed their company for the second half and after the match we were given a lift back to the station. One of them actually travelled with us as far as Zürich showing us that if we ask, with the Swiss-wide rail pass, we can sit in first class if second is too crowded.

Stop Press: SC Kriens friendliness points increase by three!

Safety

9 / 10. No fences. My only minor gripe would be that the terracing was a touch high and some repairs were needed.

View

View from the ends

4 / 10. As the stadium name suggests, it's a multi-purpose job with an athletics track and the trimmings all the way around. At the ends, it makes for a poor view. But apart from that athletics track, it's OK from the main stand.

Atmosphere

2 / 10. Very difficult to do much when there are just 300 spectators in the ground. The 20 or so from Kriens were easily the most vocal in the stadium.

Refreshments

6 / 10. As you can imagine, all reasonably priced. We had a hot wine each, which was very nice in the cold and the rain. But although it was very reasonably priced, it was the standard beer / sausage / chips fare.

Overall

36 / 60. At these prices, more Friburgers should go!

The Match

Certainly decent. It took just two minutes for the visitors to take the lead. Abada's ball down the left allowed Palko to play in Rexep Saqi who finished well into the bottom right corner. On 15 minutes, it was two with Kriens' top-scorer Ridge Munsy finishing well from the edge of the area.

The Girls did a good job

Friburg were really struggling to keep in the game in the first half. Further chances from Munsy and Guto were not converted before on 33 minutes against the run of play, they were back in the game. Abdoulaye Koné finished a fine move down the right-hand side and we had a match. Friburg pressed on until half-time and it looked like we were in for a good second half.

We were, but the show was put on by the visitors who took over. Saqi netted his brace in the 58th minute before a fitting finale in the 70th minute. Intricate one touch passing between Edi N'Tiamoah and Ridge Munsy allowed Munsy to score the best goal of the game. Impressive from Kriens in the end and the result was no more than they deserved.

And as for Esther Staubli, the referee,  she did well.  I've certainly seen referees take more rubbish from players and seldom seen so many players told to "get up"!

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Swiss 36 No. 16: Stade de Geneve . Sevette FC

Servette FC v FC Sion

Servette are the final Swiss Super League outfit needing to be visited on our tour of the Swiss 36 and its a visit that we'd postponed. Heavy Snow in Winterthur resulted in our thinking better of the trip back in October. If we had taken the risk, it would have been fine. The weather was fine in Geneva and Servette beat top of the table, Grasshoppers by a two goals to nil.

Still, SFC v FCS has a nearly palindromic fascination about it. It is actually a rivalry in Switzerland which is surprising. Between the two places is a near two-hour trip either through the mountains or looping around Lake Geneva.

Its a long trip from Winterthur over to Geneva but its a single train so once we'd got ourselves comfy it would be fine. Besides - its only once and for the Swiss 36, we will endure!

We were observant enough to get an empty set of four-seats around a table at Zürich Airport and decided to keep things that way. Our comfort was threatened at Zürich main station but a couple of "Olé...Olé Olé Olés" and choruses of "FC Winti FCW" had most new passengers convinced we were that hooligan element. Disgraceful I know but why are people so quick to judge football fans who sing?

So into Geneva and where to next? Not immediately apparent but one stop on a local train in the direction of Lancy seemed a good bet according to Google Maps. Off that train and where to? Follow the crowd and out we came in Carouge. A sign indicated the directions to Etoille. Etoille de Carouge? That was a team that was relegated from the Challenge League last season. OK - it looks like we will be around these parts one more time for the Swiss 36!

Most folks looked to be getting on a bus so we followed and a couple of stops later we were there.

Great looking stadium

And contrary to many Swiss stadia, what a great looking stadium! Getting off the bus and we could already hear the crowd inside. It was looking good!

We were politely directed to a ticket stand and paid 25 SFr for a seat behind the goal. That's fine for Super League. The security were anal....and stupid. They weren't at all interested in my beaker of enhanced Vodka but had great fascination in a bit of my broken camera tripod! But they saved the best until last.

In my rucksack was an England flag that I use at Winterthur matches. They didn't like it because of the four small carbiners that I use to attach it to fences. I simply assured them that I wouldn't be using the flag today and they allowed it to be stuffed back in the rucksack!

I take it then that had they found my pepper spray or my taser gun, I'd have been allowed to keep those too?

...and not bad inside either

Into the stadium and it looks as goo inside as it does outside.

Points time.

Getting There

6 / 10. I didn't see a signpost and it wasn't exactly obvious. We found our way by following the crowds. Getting back we ended up on a bus going in the wrong direction so it could be clearer.

Friendliness

7 / 10. We only spoke to club employees and security staff who were all nice enough. Security were thorough but friendly.

ahhhh but the fences

Safety

5 / 10. Yes its the fences again. I have the Hillsborough TV - Drama on video and I think I should send it to the Swiss FA. In this case the fencing is again to cage in the best fans the club has as well as the away support.

Then we have the bizarre security. "Oh OK - I won't use the flag" was enough to allow me to take in something they didn't like. A few flares came out during the game showing again how effective the security was.
View

8 / 10. Stade de Geneve is a proper football stadium and I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. However, the fencing attracts banners and flags. If you were to end up sat directly behind the fences, you wouldn't see a thing!

Atmosphere

10 / 10. Oh Yes! This is why I love football! The first thing I will say is full marks to Servette FC. They've given those fan-cheerleaders that I've spoken about a small platform in front of the kop equipped with loudspeakers and a microphone. And they make good use of it!

They carried on like that from start to finish even though they lost 2:0!

Great entrance ceremonies to build atmosphere

The club also had a great entrance. These guys were the first out of the tunnel and they did a lap of the pitch before standing around the centre circle as the teams came out. All with music of course, it was a very effective build up.

Sion fans are also worth a mention. They too had plenty of flags and did get themselves heard, which was no mean achievement against a very vocal Servette kop. Simply excellent!

Refreshments

4 / 10. Not good I'm afraid. Hot Dogs, chips or sandwiches where we were. Shame really.Overall

40/60 - Quite respectable.

Redeeming Feature

Not really too much that I haven't evaluated. Good Stadium, great fans.

The Match

Not a bad match unless you happen to be a Servette fan. In the end, they were well beaten 0 : 2 by their rivals.

It was a cagey opening, typical of when aside in trouble are at home. It took 22 minutes to get an effort on goal, but it was a very good one. The home side attacked down the left with Steven Lang. He cut in slightly before hitting a ferocious shot that Andris Vanins did well to tip over his bar. Vanins was called into action again 5 minutes before half time. Lang caused the problems again, this time on the right. His shot found Geoff Triand who's drive was pushed out. A moments hesitation from Sauthier caused the ball to be scooped up across the goalmouth to Vince Rüfli who just needed a clean contact, but didn't get it.

Straight down the other end and Sion nearly scored when Leo's shot was pushed onto the post by Chris Routis, who reacted quickly to prevent further danger from the rebound. But Sion had now joined the game. Right on the stroke of half time, Xavier Kouassi was harshly judged to have brought down in the area and Kyle Lafferty made no mistake with the spot-kick.

It was less than the home side deserved on the first half display.

Into the second half and the introduction of Gennaro Gattuso had a calming effect on the visitors, that resulted in the home side creating little more for the fans to cheer about (not that this stopped them). The increased solidity of the midfield bolted the door.

The second goal came from a bit of poor defending when a weak defensive header fell to André Marquis. He attacked down the left and crossed for the ever-influential Leo to score at the near post.

Not good enough in the second-half from Servette who have work to do this season to maintain their top-flight status.  Shame that - The fans certainly deserve more!

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Swiss 36 No. 15: Stadio Communale, Bellinzona . AC Bellinzona

AC Bellinzona v FC Winterthur

Stadio Communale.....Community Stadium....it's hard to be inspired isn't it?  But should people judge books by their covers?  Well, the cover says "Grey, characterless multi-sport facility designed by a committee of bureaucrats who believe it is possible to play football and crown-green bowls on the same surface and hell, they are going to prove it!"  In reality, could you have read the first paragraph and saved a lot of time? (and do you really think I will reveal this information now?)

Glorious sunshine in Winterthur as we left and we enjoyed the good weather most of the way down and so had a very picturesque trip.

By the time we arrived in Bellinzona, the weather had changed to a cold drizzle, that was to get steadily worse as the evening went on.

Its not immediately clear how to get to the Stadio Communale but it isn't far either.  We found the way, which took less than 10 minutes by following two of our fellow Winti fans.

At first sight, the stadium looks like a pretty typical, small-club stadium.  By Swiss standards, Bellinzona aren't really that.  Two seasons ago, they were in the Super League.  OK, that's not English Premier League by any standards, but still, this is a leading second-flight club.

Luckily the staff on the gates spoke German and were able to direct us around to the away-supporters section.  No souvenirs  were available.  "He's normally there", said the guy on the gate. "But not today."  Strange.  Perhaps "He" saw the weather forecast and didn't fancy it!

So around we went to the away end and for a very reasonable 15 SFr we were in after a polite search of our rucksacks, and a belated decision to confiscate two Burger King Coffee mugs, we'd received as a freebie.

Points Time

Getting There 

8 / 10.  A couple of signposts from the station would have been nice, but it isn't far to walk so easy enough.

...and this is the Ladies

Friendliness

6 / 10.  No problems at all with the Bellinzonans although we only spoke to stadium staff.  This was no fault of ours or the Tessiners.  

That toilet is a mess though.  The gents wasn't much better and there were no lights.  Certainly way less than you would expect in Switzerland.  Also the amount of facilities has to come in question.  One ladies toilet plus two urinals and a toilet for the lads for all away fans (Winterthur brought about 150 with them).

For the final impression of friendliness, consider that the refreshment stand for the away fans is outside of their pen.  Refreshments are served through a hole in the cage.

However, Bellinzona won a point back.  After we had forgotten our coffee mugs, someone called to us as we were going around the front of the stadium on our way out and handed them back to us.  Nice of them!

Safety

Oh Boy!

3 / 10.  That mention of pens and cages kinda gave things away didn't it?  Going into the away end at Bellinzona was like going back in time to the away terraces of English football in the early 80s.  The away fans are penned in like animals with high fences and locked gates all around.  

Add the toilets and the refreshments, poked through the bars of the cage and you have the bloody awful treatment of the away fan that contributed to the massive problems English football did have in the bad old days.

Terrace height is OK and they didn't put barbed-wire on the top of the fences but come on Bellinzona!  You obviously have no clue on how paying customers should be treated!

The Football is over there - somewhere

View

2 / 10.  So, we have the fences the athletics track and then there's a TV tower.  Sure, the view  would be better at the sides of the ground, but our view was sadly poor.  The only way to see anything was to stand at the top of the terrace.

I have no idea why the Burger King mugs were taken away from us.  An Olympic Javelin thrower would have struggled to throw the mug onto the pitch from where we were.

Atmosphere

7 / 10.  Excellent from the Winterthur fans who were as fun and as vocal as ever despite miserable conditions.  I didn't hear too much from the Bellinzona fans.  Although the reason for this was apparent, there were around 1700 Tessiners in the stadium, so I'd have hoped for more.

Refreshments

3 / 10.  Only sandwiches were poked through the bars of our cage.  Again - not much effort for the visitors.

Overall

29 / 60.  About as bad as I've seen on the tour!

Redeeming Feature

Frankly, I'll give it about as much thought as Bellinzona give their visitors.

On the first impressions?

Grey - Not really in fact (good for Bellinzona) they do use the stadium to advertise the club with a large "Forza Bellinzona mural on the main entrance.

Characterless - Not at all, although I tend to avoid people with this type of character!

The rest - sadly, I think I was spot on!

Celebrate in Style

The Match

Aha!  I knew there was something enjoyable about the evening.  Bellinzona were on the end of a 5 : 1 stuffing at the hands of Winterthur.  I suggest all visitors to the Stadio Communale do that to them, at least until they learn to improve their facilities for away fans.

It didn't look like it was going to be so one-sided in the first half.  The visitors took the lead on 15 minutes.  Emir Lenjani played in Luca Radice.   Out came Alain Bieri and fouled the midfielder.  No mistake from the spot from Kristian Kuzmanovic.

But the Tessiners are not second in the league for nothing.  They rallied and eventually equalized.  On 33 minutes, the ball came off Christian Leite's post for George Ivanischwili to poke home a rebound.  A good game with the home side in the ascendency at the break.

So at half time, was it an inspirational team-talk from Boro Kuzmanovic or was it motivation gained from attacking a soaked but happy band of away fans who never shut up all match.

Well, it took Winti until the 67th minute to get back on the scoresheet, so sorry Boro, I'm going with the fans.  Emir Lenjani put in the perfect cross to Patrick Bengondo, who, realizing that all defenders had tracked his run, headed back across for the unmarked Kris Kuzmanovic to double his tally.

10 minutes later and Bengondo and Lenjani combined again to put the game beyond doubt.  Bengondo's clever ball over the top allowing the Kosovan to finish impressively.

In the final 10 minutes, Winti really put that gloss on the scoreline.  Sven Lüscher made it four before Kris Kuzmanovic was credited with his hat-trick after firing in a free-kick.

Great stuff from Winti and a very reasonable pay-back to the fans who suffered the elements and that stadium.