Bochum

Ground: rewirpowerSTADION (Ruhrstadion)

Visits: 1

Date: 30th September 2012

Match: Bochum - Ingolstadt 1-1 (2. Bundesliga)

Attendance: 12 017

My third and final match on this trip was the 2. Bundesliga match between Bochum and Ingolstadt. Bochum is 45 minutes by train from Düsseldorf and since I was flying home from Düsseldorf Flughafen (at 19.00) I had plenty of time after the match to reach the airport. Kick-off in Bochum was at 13.30 and 11.39 my regional train rolled into Bochum Hbf. Upon arrival I was greeted by Bochum fan Daniel. He has the website http://www.bochumfan.de/ and contacted me when he noticed I was planning a trip to Bochum. As we made it to the ground I was pleased to notice the sun was out this day as well. During the match it was actually so warm I was sitting in short sleeves.

Bochum play at rewirpowerSTADION (Ruhrstadion). This ground has been completely rebuilt and nowdays has a capacity of 29 000. I knew a visit from Ingolstadt wouldn´t excite the locals and Ingolstadt themselves would bring a very low number of fans to Bochum. However, in total 12 000 turned up. From Ingolstadt around 40 fans made the long journey to Bochum this sunny Sunday afternoon. Daniel and I decided to sit in block M which is in the Nordtribüne, right next to the home terrace. After only four minutes Ingolstadt scored but with so few away fans present it was actually difficult to hear a goal had been scored. Bochum then had most of the possession but couldn´t really create any decent chances. 0-1 at half-time. The second half was much better than the first. bochum had a player coming one to one with the goalkeeper but he somehow missed the goal. They then blasted a free-kick of the post before eventually equalising in the 84th minute. As Bochum played quite well in the second half the atmosphere inside Ruhrstadion was actually quite ok during the second half. The match finished 1-1 and even if most Bochum fans wanted three points it was important not to lose against a team like Ingolstadt. My trip was coming to an end but with three matches in as many days, seven goals and nice weather I had no reason to be anything but pleased with my weekend. Not even a 25-minute delay to the train taking me to Düsseldorf Flughafen could change this. Tomorrow it is back to work again but hopefully I will be going abroad in the near future again.

ruhrstadion, outside