Preussen Münster

Ground: Preussenstadion

Visits: 1

Date: 29th September 2012

Match: Preussen Münster - Borussia Dortmund II 1-0 (3. Liga)

Attendance: 7 224

For day two on this trip I wanted as short (and easy) trip as possible. Going through my options I narrowed it down to RW Essen vs Kray (Regionalliga) or Preussen Münster vs Borussia Dortmund II (3. Liga). Normally I avoid matches with reserve teams but knowing there would be a decent number of Dortmund fans (because of the late kick-off time for the first team) I decided for a visit to Preussenstadion in Münster. Having had a long day on Friday I slept until 9am this Saturday morning. As the breakfast room at my hotel in Düsseldorf had an interior view of ESPRIT arena it was one of the most interesting breakfasts I have had for a while. There was even a balcony you could use and from there I used the opportunity to take some pictures of the empty stands at ESPRIT arena. At 11.18 my IC train left Düsseldorf and by 12.30 I was in Münster. I quickly found a bus and exactly one hour prior to kick-off I was outside Preussenstadion. Preussenstadion was opened in 1926 and even if the ground had a new main stand built in 2009 it feels a bit old and ran-down. The main stand has 2 900 seats and the rest of the stadium is made up of terracing.

In 1951 Preussen Münster finished 2nd in Germany´s top division but in recent years the club has been in the lower divisions and are currently playing in 3. Liga. They have started the 2012/13 season well though and are currently second in the table. After advice from Maik I bought a ticket for the covered terrace (Überdachte Stehplatz) on the far side. Costing me 10 Euros I had no complaints. Preussen Münster have two Ultras sections (politics...) but from my position I could take pictures of them both. Dortmund brought around 500 fans and in total 7 200 fans were present at Preussenstadion this afternoon. To be honest there wasn´t much to cheer them up in the first half. Some half-chances for both teams and 0-0 was a fair result at half-time. In the second half Münster had much of the possession and created some decent chances. They seemed to have forgot how to score though. With five minutes to go Münster headed off the cross-bar and the rebound was scrambled over the line. 1-0 to Münster and this was to be the final score. Not the best of matches but it is always nice to have a late goal. The atmosphere was OK but with the singers being spread out , not to mention the running tracks, I guess it is difficult to create a good atmosphere at Preussenstadion. Despite staying behind for some pictures I made the 16.31 train back to Düsseldorf. Tomorrow I head home again but before doing that I will attend the 2. Bundesliga match between Bochum and Ingolstadt.

preussenstadion, outside