Stuttgarter Kickers

Ground: GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau

Visits: 1

Date: 8th August 2015

Match: Stuttgarter Kickers - Wolfsburg 1-4 (DFB-Pokal)

Attendance: 9 760

My summer holidays are coming to an end. There was still room for one more trip though. Since I haven´t been on tour in Germany since November 2013 I was eagarly awaiting the draw for the 1st round of the German Cup (DFB-Pokal). Once fixtures were confirmed I looked at different options and decided to fly out to Stuttgart on Friday afternoon. I would then go to two matches in the Stuttgart area on Saturday before going to Kassel on Sunday. There are direct flights from Copenhagen to Stuttgart and 15.40 on Friday afternoon my SAS flight left Kastrup airport in Copenhagen. I knew there was a heat wave in Germany and as we arrived in Stuttgart the temperature was 37 °C. I really don´t like those kind of temperatures and was hoping for AC at my hotel room. That was not the case though. Around 8pm I went out to have something to eat and drink. Even though I was sitting outside in the shadow it was really hot. At least the Wienerschnitzel was delicious.

My first game on this tour was Stuttgarter Kickers vs Wolfsburg. Stuttgarter Kickers play in 3. Liga and a cup game against last years DFB-Pokal winners is of course an interesting cup draw. Stuttgarter Kickers play at GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau. The ground is situated some 500 metres above sea level and is one of the highest situated football grounds in Germany. In 2014 a new main stand was built on the south side of the ground. This stand has a capacity of 2 200. The rest of the ground is terracing and the total capacity is around 11 400. The hard core home fans are in the Nordtribüne and the eastmost block of this stand is given to away supporters. Clubs with big away followings, like Dresden, are also given the Osttribüne. For most games the Osttribüne is not in use though.

For both games this Saturday I was joined by my friend Andreas. We met up around 13.30 and then went to the ticket office where we bought tickets for the Osttribüne, the only stand that wasn´t sold-out. I had already bought a ticket, for the Westtribüne, but that was before I knew Andreas would join me. We sold on my original ticket without any problems though so at least I got my money back. There is no roof covering the Osttribüne and to stand for 2,5 hours in 32 °C is a bit of a challenge. I had a sun hat with me and drank a lot (mostly water!) during the game. Wolfsburg brought around 500 fans to Stuttgart and those fans had a great afternoon in the heat. 0-1 in the 4th minute and the 0-2 in the 45th minute. Wolfsburg were by far the better team and the game ended 1-4, the last goal scored in stoppage time by Niklas Bendtner. Because of the net covering the Osttribüne I had problems taking good pictures. The last 10 minutes or so I sneaked over to the main stand, where the stewards had left their positions, and could take a few decent pictures of the other stands. In total 9 800 were at GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau for this cup game and for Stuttgarter Kickers that is a very good attendance, last year they averaged 4 436. After the final whistle we hurried towards Andreas´ car. We had no problems getting away and around 6pm we then arrived in Reutlingen.

schlossplatz