Hessen Kassel

Ground: Auestadion

Visits: 1

Date: 9th August 2015

Match: Hessen Kassel - Hannover 96 0-2 (DFB-Pokal)

Attendance: 18 482

My last game on this tour was Hessen Kassel vs Hannover. At 10.50 on Sunday morning my ICE-train left Stuttgart and three hours later I was in Kassel. Long-distance trains stop at Kassel Wilhelmshöhe and I had booked a hotel room next to the Wilhelmshöhe station. After checking in at my hotel I went out to have something to eat and drink. Being a Sunday that turned out to be more difficult than you would imagine. After 20 minutes I found an open restaurant though and could finally enjoy a late lunch. I then went back to my hotel for a short rest before leaving for the ground. Kick-off at Auestadion was at 18.30 but having a terrace ticket (Nordkurve) I wanted to be at the ground when the turnstiles opened. There were special shuttle buses (for Hannover fans) from Wilhelmshöhe station to the ground which I of course used as well. Auestadion was opened in 1953 but has been redeveloped several time since then. The ground has a capacity of 18 500 of which 10 000 are seats. There are running tracks meaning the view from the terrace blocks in the Nord- and Südkurve is not the best.

After taking a few pictures of the empty stands I bought something to drink before finding a good spot in the Nordkurve. It was not as warm today as it had been in previous days but 28 °C is still quite hot, especially if you are standing in an open terrace. Unfortunately the weather caused some problems for the fans. The terrace blocks were packed and that meant people, afraid to lose their spot, had problems getting enough to drink. Several fans collapsed and the announcer told people to drink a lot. My sun hat once again turned out to be a good idea! Hannover fans were in the Südkurve and those fans could celebrate early on, 0-1 in the 16th minute. The game at Auestadion was not as exciting as the one in Reutlingen but still an ok match for me. Last time Hessen Kassel played Hannover in a competitive match was in 1990 (2. Bundesliga). 1-0 to Hannover then and Hannover would win tonight as well. The second goal was scored in stoppage time and even though Hessen Kassel and a few decent chances Hannover were the best team tonight. The match was sold-out and 18 500 packed Auestadion for this cup tie. Most of them stayed behind and applauded the home team for their efforts. After the match I hurried to the away end from where I once again used a shuttle bus. On Wednesday I go back to work and once again I can look back on a summer with plenty of football.

west stand, rear