On Saturday 15th October we attended our second match of the weekend, Würzburger Kickers v Greuther Fürth II. Having watched Greuther Fürth first team the previous night, you would be excused for thinking we were Kleeblätter (Cloverleaves!) we are not.
Recent History
The 2016/2017 season was huge for Würzburger Kickers which saw them defeat MSV Duisburg to gain promotion to Bundesliga 2. Their position in the second tier however lasted just that one season as they were relegated once again to 3Liga.
Promotion was achieved again in 2019/20 however a rapid decline in fortunes saw them relegated back to 3Liga once more and in 2022 slid back to Regionalliga Bayern. Würzburger are surely praying for a quick and immediate return to 3Liga and whilst off to a good start with 35pts from their opening 16 matches, they have tough opposition for top-spot against Unterhaching who sit on 38pts.
Travel to Würzburg
The City of Würzburg sits North-West of Nuremberg which remained as our base for this entire football weekend. The journey is simple, just grab an ICE train from Nuremburg Hauptbahnhof direct to Würzburg which takes just 50 minutes.
Getting to the ground
On arrival in Würzburg, you need to allow at-least 30 minutes to get to the stadium. If you are getting the train from the main HBF it’s a 10 minute walk to Hauptbahnhof West and another 10 minute walk at the other end, on top of the train journey time.
On this occasion we opted to walk into the Old Town, stopping at Ratskeller Würzburg for a beer. A really nice setting and whilst a nice busy restaurant is to the right, we turned left and sat in the bar area alone for a swift drink. We then caught a tram just round the corner which took us straight to the stadium.
Ratskeller Würzburg
Flyeraralam Stadium
The stadium was built in 1967 and has been branded the Flyeralarm Stadium for sponsorship reasons since 2013. The capacity is around 13,000 however today would reach nowhere near that level, just 1928 fans arrived for this match which they hoped would keep them in touch at the top of the table for promotion.
Tickets for the matches are available to purchase direct from the club on-line here and these tickets cost just 10 Euro’s for a space in Block 3A on the half-way line. This stand had been erected on top of the original concrete terracing and was perhaps compliance of joining 3Liga at the time.
Stand built on top of original terracing
Once inside the stadium, we were able to purchase beer and food from a couple of different locations. One stall was immediately at the base of our block and great to pop down and refill.
Don’t mention the beercups!
Looking round the stadium, it was noticeable just how steep the terracing was behind the goal, an area which had previously been used by the Ultra’s who had now moved to the opposite corner of the stadium.
Steep terracing behind the goal
Immediately behind the steep terracing was a VIP stand which had been built which included some high standing tables to watch the match and was very popular.
VIP Stand behind the goal
Würzburger Kickers v Greuther Fürth II
The match was a very one-sided affair with Würzburger Kickers demonstrating why they are second in the league looking for an immediate 3Liga return. They had an impressive +35 Goal Difference going into this match and with the second string of Greuther Furth languishing further down the table with a -6 goal difference, the match had an inevitable feel about it.
After a cloudy start to the day with a threat of rain, we were treated to some blue skies making it a very enjoyable afternoon in the stand.
The pitch looked great when the sun came out
The match would finish 3-0 to Würzburger Kickers with Croatian Ivan Franjic the star player, turning defenders and also helping himself to the second and third goals. Wayward finishing prevented this being a far heavier score-line with balls exiting the stadium from some strikes on goal.
Ivan Franjic was the star player
Bamberg
A theme of our personal travels, and something we encourage with a Covert Football Trip, is to experience the area we are visiting and not just go for the football. Therefore after the match we caught a tram back to the main station and efficiently collected a train to Bamberg. Bamberg is a town on one route back to Nuremburg and takes about 50 minutes to get there.
The highlight of this stop-off would be to visit the famous Schlenkerla for their great smoked beer which is traditionally tapped here from oak barrels. There is also a fantastic menu of Bavarian foods including this Pork Knuckle.
Famous smoked beer
Covert Football Trips
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