TT No.46: Ian Hill - Friday 19th October 2012; FC Stahl Brandenburg v Eisenhuttenstadter FC Stahl;          German Brandenburg - Liga; Score: 1-1; Admission: 5 Euro; Programme: 1 euro; Attendance: 300; Rating: 2. 

Getting there:

I travelled from Berlin on the local rail service to Brandenburg which takes just under 1 hour. The train journey itself was quite unpleasant. It was a barmy 20º in Berlin with standing only available in the crowded carriages and no ventilation. On arrival at Brandenburg I found that the station is being re developed so facilities are basically non existent apart from a small refreshment booth and a portable toilet. Across the road from the station is the stop for tram 2 (direction Quenzebrucke) which takes you to the Stadion Am Quenz. A word of warning though - the last return tram leaves at 8.35pm so no good if you are relying on public transport for an evening game. Likewise the last two trams do not go all the way back to the station so you need to try and get a night bus back to the centre of Brandenburg. I was lucky I managed to flag down a taxi. There is a hotel next to the stadium so you may be able to order a taxi from there.

Stahl Brandenburg:

The club was formed in 1950 as BSG Einheit Brandenburg and played its earliest seasons in the II division of East German football. They took on the name BSG Stahl Brandenberg in 1955 to reflect the backing of the local steel company. With that support, the club able to assemble competitive sides by offering attractive salaries to the castoffs of other teams. The strategy drew some capable players to their ranks and helped them develop a solid fan base. The side earned promotion to the DDR-Oberliga for the 1984–85 season and they played there until German reunification in 1990. After a name change to BSV Stahl Brandenburg they spent the 1991–92 season in the 2.Bundesliga Nord. In 1993, with the closing of the local steel mill and the loss of their financial support, 'stahl' was dropped from the team name.

By the end of the 90's they found themselves mired in financial difficulty. The club declared bankruptcy in 1998 and quickly re-formed as FC Stahl Brandenburg, but continued to stumble. In 2002, in a desperate move to save something of the club, a merger with cross town rival Brandenburg Süd 05 to form FC Brandenburg was put into the works, but only went as far as the merger of the clubs' youth sides. Fan protests from both sides – and more money problems – caused the merger to unravel the next year.

Stadion Am Quenz:

The clubs floodlight towers can easily be seen on the approach to the “Stadion” tram stop on the left hand side. The stadium itself is located behind the Stahl Palast and a hotel. Walk past the Stahl Palast and there is a small ticket booth that sells admission tickets, a small range of souvenirs and matchday programmes.

No one was allowed to enter the stadium until 1 hour before the kick off. I can’t say that the stewards were very friendly and it should be noted that the head steward has a fantastic mullet haircut and moustache combo. After you buy the ticket it is checked by a steward next to the ticket booth. This lets you into the stadiums grounds. You then have to have your ticket checked again to get into the actual stadium itself.

The Despite having an athletics track, this is a gem of a stadium. There are four distinct features – the elevated main stand, the enormous floodlight towers, the large manual scoreboard behind one goal and the quirky control tower in one corner. The stadium capacity is 15,500. Three sides of the oval ground have concrete block and earth terracing. The main stand dominates and has a small area of plastic bench seating to the side of it. Just along from here is the distinctive control tower which it not in use. Keep moving to your left and there is a refreshment building serving drinks and sausages. Adjacent to this is the large score board which is manually operated. Opposite the main stand the terracing is covered by a shallow roof.

Programme:

I was quite pleased with this issue. I wasn’t expecting a lot but you get a very nice professionally printed full colour glossy issue for 1 euro. It consists of 12 pages and is A5 in size. A reflection on how stature of this former top level club has waned was contained in a programme article. On the same date in 1984 the club attracted a gate of 10,000 for a game against Motor Suhl. The attendance for this game was 300.

The Game:

Not the best. Kick off was delayed as two flares were set off in the main stand which ended up engulfed in smoke. These two teams were 14^th & 15^th in the 17 team Brandenburg – Liga respectively. So I didn’t expect a feast of entertainment.

Overall:

I set out a few years ago to watch a game at all of the clubs who competed in the last ever season of the old East German Oberliga. This was my final club to complete the set. The two clubs who played in this game played in that last ever Oberliga season. It’s quite sad to see how far they have fallen behind. On a positive note Stahl Brandenburg have quite a lot of young supporters who volunteer their services at games. So the club may pick up but they have struggled on the field for the last few seasons.

contributed on 21/10/12