Posts filed under ‘Europe’
Your nightmare returns
Good times for Austrian West Ham supporters: the season has not started yet, but in Austria we have already been able to watch four games of our beloved Hammers without having to travel the 900 miles or so to England. I am going to contribute to “West Ham Till I Die” with a monthly column from now on, reflecting an Austrian West Ham fan’s point of view, after having written a first blog post a year ago ( click here ).
Three pre-season friendlies were played in the Austrian provinces of Styria and Burgenland where West Ham held their training camp at Bad Tatzmannsdorf. And the Europa League qualifier against NK Domzale took place just 60 miles from the Austrian border in Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana.
Hence the members of the supporters club “Austrian Irons” and quite a few other West Ham supporters from Austria were able to watch our heroes live at these matches last month. Now we are looking forward to travel to our first games in the London Stadium – though the start of the season on Monday is going to be celebrated in a Vienna pub called “The Tube Station”, run by Barry, an Essex born lifelong West Ham supporter.
I seized the opportunity to watch the Hammers in the neat, fairly new Stozice Stadium in Ljubljana against NK Domzale, combining the game with a business trip to the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt in Southern Austria. The upper tier of the Klagenfurt Euro stadium was meant to be disassembled (like the London Olympic Stadium) after the Euro ’08, but (like the London Olympic Stadium) that decision was overturned, resulting in long lasting administrative procedures in which I have been involved over the past years, to make the 30,000 stadium permanent.
I linked up for the trip to Slovenia with guys from the “Austrian Irons” and an Austria based fan from Indonesia. And I really can prove that we were there – the “Austrian Irons” banner could be seen on TV every time a corner was taken from our end!
Unfortunately the Hammers played well only in the first half; from the second half hardly an attacking move from the Hammers can be reported. We saw a lot of action though, and it was Andy Carroll who got on all the headers in the box in front of the away end – albeit it was the West Ham box, and in the end we were on the losing end and had to overcome a 1-2 deficit in the second leg (which we convincingly did, as we all know!).
Now in the Europa League play-off West Ham was drawn again, like last season, against Romanian side Astra Giurgiu. I hope Astra Giurgiu will not be able to do the same feat that my home town club SK Rapid Vienna did against an other club in claret and blue in 2009 and 2010: Aston Villa was eliminated twice in two consecutive years by the green-whites, their fans bringing a banner with them stating: “Your nightmare returns”.
But in fact Rapid Vienna bears more resemblance to West Ham United than to Astra. Though I know that not all Austrian West Ham fans will be happy with that (because a lot of them will support a different club at home), having chosen the username “rapidhammer”, I have to tell you that there are a lot of similarities between the Hammers and the Greens from Vienna: Both of these clubs are very well know and respected for their passionate support. And both clubs have moved with the start of this season to their new grounds, and interestingly Rapid played its first game in their new “Allianz Stadium” against Chelsea FC, West Ham’s opponent on Monday. Let’s hope West Ham will achieve a similar result: Rapid beat Chelsea 2-0.
Also in their history the clubs from Vienna and London have a lot in common: Rapid Vienna was founded in 1898 as “1. Wiener Arbeiter Fussball-Club” (First Vienna Workers FC) while West Ham was founded as “Thames Ironworks FC”. The clubs initially played in colours which are different from today’s kits (Rapid’s original colours were red and blue – unfortunately not claret and blue). Both clubs have played in two European Cup Winners’ Cup Finals; West Ham won the Cup in 1965 and lost the final in 1976, SK Rapid played in the finals 1985 and 1996 and unfortunately lost out on both ocasions. West Ham and Rapid both lost their finals in Brussels in 1976 and 1996 respectively.
But that’s enough of Rapid Vienna for now, because I don’t want to risk what happened in a pub in Graz some years ago when West Ham also held a training camp in Austria. I joined fans from east London and Styria singing “Bubbles” there, but when I mentioned “Rapid” one of the other Austrian guys rose in front of me stating: “Rapid – we’ll kill you!” But I was lucky, a fan from London saved me, saying “But he’s West Ham”, and all ended up with another round of the fantastic Styrian beer.
I promise not to mention the club from Vienna in this column in the next time – bar if West Ham and Rapid are drawn into the same Europa League group, of course! But first West Ham has to overcome Astra and also make a good start into the new PL season against Chelsea on Monday. The Austrian Hammers are optimistic and looking very much forward to the start of the season. Especially the game which has been played in Kapfenberg against Karlsruher SC was a great opportunity to get in touch with the West Ham players, and that’s what many Austrian fans did. Of course not being able to have a season ticket at West Ham’s new ground, we are a little unsure if we will be able to get tickets for games this season as they are expected to sell out quickly. Having to book flights and accommodation not too late and being unsure if we are going to be allocated with tickets will cost a lot of nerves, I think. But anyway, having managed to get to a lot of West Ham games at the Boleyn in the past, we will come over to London E20 too in the future!
I will report back in September with an other column, having got on board some wins and points by then, and hopefully not having to write about the “return of a nightmare” when Astra have been back to London.
Come on you Irons!
“Rapid kennt man überall in Europa”
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink: “West Ham hat ‘Bubbles’, aber Rapid hat Andy Marek!”
“He appears to have a heart made out of the sun”, kommentierte Freund Sam von Football United dieses Foto von Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink und dem RAPIDHAMMER.
Nun es handelt sich zwar nur um das reflektierende Symbol des Sportartikelherstellers, dessen Dressen der SK Rapid trägt. Aber der frühere holländische Teamstürmer (19 Einberufungen), der seit September für den SK Rapid Wien spielt, hat wirklich ein sonniges, freundliches Gemüt und ist für mich ein echter Sympathieträger.
Der “Klub der Freunde des S.C. Rapid” lud Adte Nuhiu, Raimund Hedl, Thomas Hinum und eben Jan VoH zur Mitgliederversammlung und der Holländer stellte sich dabei als im Deutschen durchaus sprachgewandt heraus. Vor allem am Ende des Abends plauderte er frisch drauf los, sodass man glauben hätte können, Jan sei schon seit Jahren – und nicht erst seit elf Wochen in Wien.
Vor Kurzem flatterte aber endlich eine Mitteilung der Staatsanwaltschaft Ried ins Haus: Das Verfahren wurde eingestellt – und das, ohne dass Jan VoH zu einer Einvernahme gebeten worden wäre. Anscheinend hatte sich der Staatsanwalt das Video vom Ried-Spiel angeschaut und befunden, dass da von einem strafbaren Tatbestand überhaupt keine Spur war. (Leider konnte die StA bei dieser Gelegenheit Adte Nuhius reguläres, vom Schiri aber nicht gegebenes Tor nicht nachträglich anerkennen – dann hätte der junge Rapid-Stürmer “Nutschi” [Bild] endlich seinen ersten Bundesliga-Treffer auf dem Konto!)England ist eine andere Welt, aber österreichische Spieler sind “sehr fit”
Wieder ein Johann bei Rapid Come on you boys in green!
On Thursday evening Rapid Vienna will play its second Europa League home game (against CSKA Sofia) – again in front of a full Ernst Happel Stadium packed with 50,000 fans.
Rapid Vienna’s own ground, the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, is too small for big international games and therefore the club has had to move to the “Ernst Happel” for their Europa League games. The ground former called “Praterstadion” (left) was built in 1930 and had a capacity of more than 90,000 spectators after having been developed in the fifties. At this time Rapid beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the first game in the new stadium and later the Austrian national team beat Spain 3-0 and the Soviet Union 3-1 in front of a record crowd of 90,726.
My favourite games
Later the capacity was reduced to 70,000 due to installing seats instead of terraces, but the upper stands remained without seats until 1986 when the stadium got a roof and was made an all-seater. Still one of my favourite games there is a World Cup qualifier against the German Democratic Republic in 1976 when 70,000 seemed to be able to cheer Austria to victory, but the goal that was meant to be the 2-1 for Austria was disallowed by a crazy referee from Wales, Mr. Reynolds. Austria’s goalgetter Hans Krankl who lost his head was red-carded and Austria had to be happy with a 1-1. Nevertheless Austria was able to qualify after another draw away against GDR and an away win against Turkey, and at the finals in Argentina they famously beat Germany 3-2. Hans Krankl scored two goals, Austria went crazy and the famous goalgetter was transferred from Rapid Vienna to Barcelona after the World Cup where he was named “goleador” and helped Barcelona win their first European Cup trophy.
When the “Praterstadion” was reopened after having got a roof in 1986, 55,000 were able to celebrate another victory against Austria’s old foes Germany: this time Austria won 4-1. In 1993 the ground was renamed after the famous Austrian and Rapid player and manager Ernst Happel who had died the year before. In 2008 the EURO final took place in the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna which now holds approximately 50,000 fans. Austria’s 1-1 in the group stage against Poland is one of my other favourite games having been played there, but above all stands a lot of famous Rapid victories, the latest of them a 3-0 against Hamburger SV in the Europa League last year.
Tremendous atmosphere
Though the “Ernst Happel” has a running track and hence isn’t really loved by the Rapid supporters who prefer to watch their team in their own ground, the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium in Vienna’s fourteenth district Hütteldorf, the atmosphere at Rapid’s international games always is tremendous (right: “choreo” before kick-off; Rapid v Besiktas). The “Happel Stadium” was virtually sold out within less than a week from the start of selling Europa League three-games-tickets, and it took me and a friend almost five hours of queuing up to get hold of the much-demanded tickets for Rapid’s home games against Besiktas Istanbul, Sofia and Porto.
I’m sure the atmosphere on Thursday evening will be great again despite of the running track around the pitch and despite of Rapid’s weak league performances in the last weeks. Rapid’s skipper Steffen Hofmann as well as Dutch forward Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, a former Celtic and Hull City player, will miss the game because of injuries. Two weeks ago Rapid beat CSKA 2-0 in Sofia when both Hofmann and VoH scored, but now the Bulgarian side arrives with a new coach and two back-to-back victories.
Come on you boys in green!
I’m looking forward to an interesting evening, being part of one of the greatest support throughout Europe. After having eliminated Aston Villa Rapid has lost its first two Europa League games, but now after the 2-0 away against CSKA they are back to winning ways. If the Green-Whites keep their nerves they will be able to beat CSKA Sofia again and keep their chance of making the next round of the Europa League! “Come on you boys in green!”
Read more: http://rapidhammer.footballunited.com/#ixzz14G9UMjXN
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Rapid v Besiktas: Die Choreographie
Matchbericht auf -> RAPIDHAMMER.footballunited.com !
Und hier noch ein tolles Bild, ein durchaus ästhetischer Eindruck vom Praterstadion (auch ohne “Choreo”). – Quelle: Brucki’s Blog, dessen schöne Bilder von diversen “grounds” ich mir immer gerne ansehe:
Das war Aston Villa
Dreimal Aston Villa im August: West Ham verlor, Rapid triumphierte
Mein SK Rapid steht nach einem sensationellen 3:2-Auswärtserfolg über Aston Villa zum zweiten Mal hinter einander in der Gruppenphase der Europa League. Und nun soll zu den Hütteldorfern noch ein Stürmer kommen, der bis vor kurzem bei Hull City und davor bei Celtic Glasgow gespielt hat. Er soll den zu den Glasgow Rangers transferierten, dort aber für die Champions League aufgrund seiner Einsätze für Rapid nun nicht spielberechtigten Sturmtank Nikica Jelavic ersetzen: Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Da weht dann ein Hauch von Inselfußball und Premier League durch das Wiener Hanappi Stadion! … und natürlich das Ernst-Happel-Oval, denn die drei Euopa League-Heimspiele wird Rapid wieder im großen Wiener Stadion im Prater austragen, wie im Vorjahr, als im ersten Spiel der HSV sensationell mit 3:0 nach Hause geschickt wurde! Herr Jelavic, da könnten Sie ja auch einmal vorbeischauen!
Oben nochmals zum Nachempfinden der Glücksgefühle beim 2:2 und 3:2 im Villa Park – Tore, die nach dem 1:1 in Wien den neuerlichen Aufstieg gegen Aston Villa bedeuteten – ein Video mit den Highlights. Motto: “Your nightmare returns!”
Und ein Video über die Rapid-Fans und die “Rapid Viertelstunde” im Villa Park sieht man -> hier !
SK Rapid – SV Mattersburg 2:0
Gerhard Hanappi, "South Stand Lower Tier"
Adte Nuhiu gegen Aston Villa oder West Ham? Nein, es war nur Mattersburg in neuen UMBRO-Dressen!
Die Mannschaft sagt "Danke" nach dem 2-0 gegen Mattersburg
… und am selben Tag verlor Europa League-Gegner Aston Villa gegen Premier League-Aufsteiger Newcastle 0:6.
Das wird noch spannend am Donnerstag beim “second leg” !
Kein FC Buddha München mehr
Ob der holprige Saisonstart der Bayern mit den Buddhas etwas zu tun hat, wird wohl nie abschließend geklärt werden können.
Premier League Game 39 – No Chance?
According to Paul Kelso, Guardian, the Premier League was forced into a major climbdown over its plans for an international round of fixtures last night, cancelling a scheduled meeting with the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, at 36 hours’ notice and effectively killing off the prospects of Game 39 proceeding in its current form. The league cancelled plans to meet Blatter today after intense negotiations between the chief executive Richard Scudamore and the Fifa general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, aimed at preventing the league being humiliated in Zurich.
A Premier League statement said:
“It is our considered view that we need to conduct further internal studies and consultation before seeking the advice of Fifa and the key confederations.”
The English Football Association FA has already distanced itself from the Premier League’s proposal of “Game 39” in order to preserve England’s chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup. The FA’s chairman, Lord Triesman, said there was a consensus in the game that in its current form Game 39 would not work.
Is there anybody who didn’t know that before?
According to Paul Kelso, Guardian, the Premier League was forced into a major climbdown over its plans for an international round of fixtures last night, cancelling a scheduled meeting with the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, at 36 hours’ notice and effectively killing off the prospects of Game 39 proceeding in its current form. The league cancelled plans to meet Blatter today after intense negotiations between the chief executive Richard Scudamore and the Fifa general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, aimed at preventing the league being humiliated in Zurich.
A Premier League statement said:
“It is our considered view that we need to conduct further internal studies and consultation before seeking the advice of Fifa and the key confederations.”
The English Football Association FA has already distanced itself from the Premier League’s proposal of “Game 39” in order to preserve England’s chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup. The FA’s chairman, Lord Triesman, said there was a consensus in the game that in its current form Game 39 would not work.
Is there anybody who didn’t know that before?
Europas Beste: Premier League stellt 4 Spieler und den Trainer
Die Leser der UEFA-Website wählten die besten Fußballer Europas. Über 3,75 Millionen Stimmen sind von insgesamt 277.985 verschiedenen Usern bei uefa.com abgegeben worden.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
EXTRA TIME 
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