Zbrojovka Brno

Ground: Mestský futbalový stadion Srbská

Visits: 1

Date: 14th April 2014

Match: Zbrojovka Brno - Sigma Olomouc 2-0 (Czech Liga)

Attendance: 2 413

At first there weren't any matches in the Czech Republic (or Slovakia for that matter) for me to attend on Monday evening and I was planning a day of touristing in Prague instead. As kick-off times were confirmed I noticed the match between Zbrojovka Brno and Sigma Olomouc was to be played at 17.00 on Monday afternoon though. With Brno being on the railway line between Prague and Bratislava this was of course perfect for me. After the long day yesterday I slept late and had a long breakfast. The train taking me from Prague to Brno departed 11.52 and I decided to walk from my hotel to the train station. A heavy rain shower later I realized this was a bad idea. Anyway, I dried up and bought my train tickets for the coming days, Brno is around three hours by train from Prague and as usual it was interesting to look at the landscape through the window. At 15.10 my train was in Brno and after putting my bag in a deposit box I left the train station and looked for tram number 2. As soon as I had left the station a tram was coming in and I jumped on-board. There was then a tram stop a 5-minute walk from the ground and by 15.40 I was outside Mestský fotbalový stadion Srbská, the home of Zbrojovka Brno. The turnstiles didn't open until 16.00 though.

Mestský fotbalový stadion Srbská is an old-style eastern European football ground. The stadium has a capacity of 12 500 and only the small East Stand is covered. The other three sides seem to have been one big (terraced) concrete bowl. Nowadays there are seats bolted at most parts but the stadium felt really old and ran-down. That might be something positive for foreign groundhoppers but for regular fans some redevelopments are necessary. In total 2 413, with around 50 of those being away fans, showed up for this televised game. Despite some good opportunities for Brno it was 0-0 at half-time. The second half turned out to be very interesting. 15 minutes into the half a hailstorm arrived in Brno. Horrendous conditions, especially for those of us in the open stands, and the match was abandoned. 6-7 minutes later the match restarted and Brno immediately took the lead. Pavel Zavadil has played several seasons in Sweden and it was he who scored the goal for Brno. After a while the sun was out (strange weather!) again and as the visitors from Olomouc pressed on for a an equalizer the match was quite entertaining. In the 95th minute (9 minutes of stoppage time) Brno scored again to make it 2-0. 25 minutes after the final whistle I was back at the train station. My train left for Bratislava at 20.35 and by 22.10 I was in Slovakian capital. Tomorrow I will watch the 2nd leg of the Slovakian Cup semifinal between Slovan Bratislava and Senica. That will be football in yet another new country for me!

msff, vy