HobroGround: DS Arena (Hobro Stadion) Visits: 1 Date: 28th July 2019 Match: Hobro - Randers 2-2 (Superligaen) Attendance: 2 812 There are 14 teams in Superligaen, the top division in Denmark. Although it is not that far for me to drive I have to cross two toll bridges, across Öresund and Store Bælt, to reach Jutland. Jutland is the part of Denmark furthest from Sweden and where I still have a few grounds left to visit in order to complete the top two divisions. Sunday 28 July gave me the opportunity to do a double, Hobro v Randers at noon and AGF v Midtjylland at 16.00. Knowing it takes just under an hour between the grounds I decided to drive to Jutland for these games. My journey started on Saturday afternoon and it took me 4.5 hours to reach my hotel in Aarhus. At the Store Bælt I had to wait for 20-25 minutes but with holidaymakers from western Europe heading back home I kind of expected this delay. As I woke up on Sunday morning I had breakfast before making the 70 km drive to Hobro Stadion. Knowing parking could be a bit tricky I was outside the ground at 10.20. Being that early I could find a parking place which would give me a quick exit after the final whistle. Since the ground is more or less situated at the end of a road and everyone is going back in the same direction this was quite important. Hobro IK were founded in 1913 and 2013/14 the club were for the first time ever promoted to Superligaen. After two seasons on the top flight they were relegated but the club is now back in the top division. Hobro is quite a small town with a population of “only” 12,000 and having a team in Superligaen is a great achievement. The club is playing at Hobro Stadion (DS-Arena) which has a capacity of around 6,000. The small main stand is, as is often the case in Denmark, for VIP and sponsors only. The south end is given to visitors while the opposite end only has a very small stand. I bought a ticket for the all-seated East Stand and this stand was pretty full today. For Randers this is their nearest away game and they brought several hundred fans to Hobro this Sunday lunchtime. The travelling fans could celebrate early on as the away team took the lead from the penalty spot in the 9th minute. In an entertaining first half Hobro equalized and then had a few chances to take the lead as well. In the 75th minute Hobro made it 2-1 and with Randers by then being down to 10 men most of the 2,812 present were convinced Hobro would hold on and, after two draws, win their first match of the season. A few minutes later Randers equalized though sending the away fans in the stand to my left into wild celebrations. 2-2 was to be the final score and after the final whistle I quickly made it back to my car and I could set off for Aarhus. DS Arena, entrance South Stand West Stand West Stand North End North Stand East Stand East Stand Players and officials entering Kick-off Randers fans View of play View of Hobro Stadion West Stand North End North Stand View of Hobro Stadion East Stand Pano Pano |