Carl Zeiss Jena

Ground: Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld

Visits: 1

Date: 7th August 2018

Match: Carl Zeiss Jena - Hallescher FC 0-3 (3. Liga)

Attendance: 8 024

3. liga offered mid-week fixtures on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Staying in Dresden I was pleased to find out Carl Zeiss Jena v Hallescher FC would be played on Tuesday evening. Every game in 3. Liga between two teams from eastern Germany are interesting and there is normally good crowds at these games. There are no direct trains from Dresden to Jena but Flixbus offered a direct bus service at 11am. The journey, via Chemnitz, took 2h 40min and shortly before 2pm I was at my hotel in central Jena. I was given a room without exposure from the sun and with temperatures reaching 36 degrees in the afternoon I appreciated the somewhat cooler room. Before having a late lunch I made a short sightseeing tour of Jena. The city of Jena has a population of around 110 000 and is most famous for the optical company Zeiss. After the reunification of Germany Zeiss was one of very East German companies that was able to still compete on a global market. The city's economy is based on the high-technology industry and research. The optical and precision industry is the leading branch to date, while software engineering, other digital businesses and biotechnology are of growing importance. I was wearing a yellow and blue sun hat with Sverige (Sweden) printed on it. Suddenly two guys stop, touches my hat and ask me “Was ist das?” (What is that?). I explained and they let me go with a “Ok, viel Spass” (Ok, enjoy). Carl Zeiss Jena play in blue and yellow but somehow they must have thought I was a fan of another rival football club. Welcome to football in Eastern Germany! Anyway, in the hot conditions I had lunch before going back to my room.

Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld is situated in a park next to the Saale river. From my hotel it was around 20 minutes by foot and as I arrived at the ground the Halle team arrived as well. Once their bus had been parked the turnstiles opened and I went in. Frist stop was a kiosk to get something to drink. 4 Euros for 0.5 litres of water was more than I expected though. Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld was opened in 1924 and nowadays has a capacity of 10 000 of which 4 000 can sit in the main stand. The ground is also used for athletics and in 1996 Jan Zelezny set a new world record for javelin throwing at the ground. My seat was in row 16 in block B of the main stand and that meant I was close to the Südkurve. For some reason unknown to me that stand was split between away fans and the Jena ultras. It seemed strange the active fans were next to each other. Before the game I also met up with fellow Footballfan Erik. He had been at a theme park in Leipzig with his younger brother but still decided to come to Jena for the game.

Carl Zeiss Jena have started with two wins and Hallescher FC on the other hand have lost their opening games. Backed by their loyal and vocal fans Halle played really well tonight though and at half-time they were 3-0 up. Several pyros were lit and a few bangers were thrown after the first two goals. The announcer repeatedly said it is not allowed but Halle fans didn´t care. The second half was not as exciting as the first and the game ended 3-0 to Halle. More than 8 000 were at Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld this evening and for Carl Zeiss Jena that is a very good attendance. After the final whistle some Jena fans in the main stand tried to enter the away section but 25 or so Halle ultras quickly jumped over the fence and protected their flags. Feelings were running high and there were some scuffles but things calmed down. This was yet another 3. Liga game with a good atmosphere and when I eventually visit Hansa Rostock it will hopefully be the same. I was back at my hotel shortly before 10pm and in the warm conditions it was difficult to sleep (no AC) but at least I got a few hours of sleep.