All About the Blog

Welcome to Volume Two of my blog which covers all clubs and stadiums outside the English League System along with the wonderful people responsible for their maintenance and keeping clubs going.

Since I was a little lad, I've been fascinated in football and more so where games are played. With my love of travel and curiosity of the game I wanted to visit as many grounds as possible and see games where I can. I was fortunate that my dad also loved the game and spent so much of his spare time taking me to matches.

As I got older the boundaries widened owing to my location and increased wages to Europe and indeed the world. The sight of a stand or a floodlight pylon in the distance immediately heightens my senses and eagerness for a closer look. I hope that this site gives you the chance to share in my pleasure and experiences and set you on the road to adventure.

If you get half as much out of the hobby as I've done, I can guarantee some great memories, good friends, and stories to pass on to future generations. Give your local club a try today. They'll be delighted to see you!

Everlasting thanks primarily to my late and very much missed and dearly loved parents; my dad Bob Bernard and my mum; Ann, who put up with endless years of football chat and my brothers Nick and Paul who gave me the chance and to do what I have. Thanks to all my friends who offer encouragement along with my wonderful wife Taew who must be confused as to why I go to what she must consider meaningless matches.

Please feel free to post any comments (please use sensible language - I want everyone to be able to enjoy reading) or ask any questions relating to visiting grounds or events. Make sure you keep having a look as the site is continually updated. If you click on a lot of the pictures, you will get a larger version on your screen. I have also added links to video clips on YouTube where appropriate for those of you who are bored of reading or are filling in time at work. I haven't always gone for the most obvious choices, but items that will be in some cases unusual but always historically interesting.

Volume one of HAOTW for everything in the English League System can be seen by clicking on the link.

For those wanting to discover Thai football, a dedicated blog, Thai Football Fever is the place to go.

Rob Bernard, Sisaket, Thailand

Thailand Football

 

All Thai clubs, matches and stadium visits plus games at neutral venues can be read about at

Thai Football Fever

Berwick Rangers (Scotland)

 

Berwick Rangers FC is a football club from the Northumberland border town of Berwick-on-Tweed in England who have played most of their football in Scottish competitions as the town has changed nationality several times through border wars throughout history before finally remaining English from 1482.

The club goes right back to the 7^th January 1881, when a side led by local businessman and town councillor Peter Cowe would gather to train on the Bull Stob Close pitch prior to their first game against Alnwick.

It was 1884 before the constitution of the club was formed while Pier Field was considered a temporary home. ‘The Wee Gers’ became champions of the Northumberland League at the turn of the century after they began playing at the Meadow Field in Tweedmouth.

In 1905 Rangers were affiliated to the Scottish FA, entering the Scottish Border League and then the Border Amateur League from the commencement of the 1908-09 campaign. A move to the East of Scotland League followed in 1919. 

A ground now known as Old Shielfield Park was sourced, adjacent to the current venue and home for several seasons of Tweedmouth Rangers FC. Several attempts to join the North Northumberland League were turned down over the years.

Berwick became members of Scottish Football League C Division (North & East) in 1951 ending in midtable under manager Bobby Ancell. The following season saw an improvement to third place, but the club had a continual coming and going of team bosses which affected consistency. 

In 1954 the club moved into the new Shielfield Park after going out in the quarter final of the Scottish Cup the previous season against Rangers, with a stand being purchased from Bradford City’s Valley Parade home was installed. The Borderers were placed in an enlarged Division B, which was renamed Division Two a year later.

In 1955-56 and 1956-57 the team reached the fifth round of the Scottish Cup going out in an away tie to Ayr United and then at home to Falkirk. Danny McLennan arrived as manager for a three-year period to be succeeded by Jimmy McIntosh and then Ian Spence who both served for similar lengths of time. 

It was under Spence that the side reached the semi-final of the League Cup going out 3-1 to Rangers. The Glasgow giants were on Berwick’s radar after goalkeeper Jock Wallace took over as player-manager.  

13,365 packed into Shielfield was Rangers were defeated 1-0 in the first round of the Cup, which would cost some their careers at Ibrox. The Wee Gers went out in the next round as approaching 30,000 fans attended the tie at Easter Road against Hibernian. 

Harry Melrose replaced Wallace who went on to have an excellent coaching and management career, but it would be under Dave Smith that the club finally won something of note when they became the third tier Division Two champions in 1978-79 in a period which would see Eric Tait become the record appearance holder.

Their spell in the second level lasted two seasons, with success being rare thereafter. Third places were achieved in 1983-84 and then again in 1995-96 under the stewardship of Tait following a runners-up spot in 1993-94 through the endeavours of Tom Hendrie. However, only the champions went up that season owing to league re-organisation.

 

Promotion with Paul Smith in charge of the team was achieved in 1999-00 before the team went back down in 2004-05. The 2005-06 season saw Rangers in the fourth tier Third Division where they reached the play-offs under John Coughlin, losing to Ayr United.

There was no mistake the following season as Berwick went up as champions but dropped straight back down twelve months later with Michael Renwick being at the helm for most of the campaign, as once again competing financially was difficult.

 

2012-13 saw another stab at promotion through the play-offs but East Fife proved too strong for Ian Little’s outfit. Colin Cameron took over as manager and his side reached the quarter final of the Cup in 2014-15 losing 4-0 away to Hibernian.

The struggles in the league became desperate at times, especially as a play-off had been introduced between the bottom side in the fourth tier and the winners of the clash between the Lowland and Highland Leagues to secure Scottish League football.

 

After two finishes third from bottom, Berwick ended in last place in 2018-19. Cove Rangers won the two-legged tie which led to the team from Shielfield being relegated to the Lowland League. Little returned for the first couple of seasons back in non-league as the team ended twelfth and then tenth.

Stuart Malcolm took over in the hotseat overseeing an improvement of two places, before seventh place was achieved in 2022-23.

Berwick Rangers FC will play in the Lowland League in the 2023-24 season.

My visit

Tuesday 13^th July 2021 

I had a week on annual leave from work and knowing I would be moving fulltime to Thailand soon after, I decided to have a tour around parts of England. The restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic were gradually being lessened but care was still needed when planning.

I’d had a day and night in Scarborough, seen rugby league in Keighley followed by watching England in the final of the Euros against Italy in a Leeds hotel room before a blank day cricket wise at Chester-le-Street. It still led to a boozy day in the company of great mates.

On to Newcastle where the excesses meant an early night. Up bright and early I wanted to make the most of the day. I had hoped to see football in Berwick in the Charity Cup at The Stanks in the town, but a brief visit on the train would have to suffice.

The town seemed pleasant enough and very picturesque in parts, having previously only seen it from a window on passing trains. It allowed me time to explore properly and get some exercise in the bracing seaside air. Having completed sightseeing it was time to cross the river into Tweedmouth.

It was a fair old walk to Shielfield Park, so I wasn’t enormously happy to arrive and find the venue totally locked up. I tried using my selfie stick the wrong way round to get some snaps over the walls of the stands when I saw a car approaching.

 

My luck was in. It was the groundsman who kindly let me go inside before he gave me a proper tour and insight of the club telling me the struggles attracting players, especially since they dropped out of the SPFL and became a Lowland League side.

All done, I gave my thanks and headed back down the hill to the river and back into Berwick grabbing some lunch and then relaxing and taking photos of The Stanks prior to my train back which was followed by a siesta and then beer prior to heading to the Hebburn Town v Whitby Town friendly.

SG Unterrath (Germany)

Sportgemeinschaft Düsseldorf-Unterrath 1912/24 e.V, or SG Unterrath as their commonly known, is a West German football club representing the Unterrath district to the north of Düsseldorf, who were formed following a merger in 1993.

The football department is the foremost part of a sports club. They were formed from the merger of Unterrather Fußball Club, formed in 1912 and Rheinwacht Unterrath who could be traced back to 1924. The club also has sections for tennis, judo, gymnastics, handball, badminton and swimming.

SG Unterrath play at the Franz-Rennefeld-Weg district sports facility in Düsseldorf-Lichtenbroich, whereas Rheinwacht were formerly based at the Sportplatz Herdecker Straße in Rath. The football club works in a partnership with 1. FC Köln.

It’s unclear exactly what level the new club began in. Amin Younes who would go on to play for Borussia Mönchengladbach, Ajax and Napoli as well as the German national team started his career at the flourishing SGU youth section between 1997 and 2000.

The 2003-04 season saw Unterrath lift the Düsseldorf Gruppe 1 Kreisliga A title before finishing sixth in Niederrhein Bezirksliga, Gruppe 1 twelve months later. This was improved upon in 2005-06 with a third place finish.

The team continued to finish in the top five for the following four seasons. The consistency was backed up with SGU ending the 2012-13 campaign in third spot prior to a couple of disappointing seasons.

Midtable became the norm at Franz-Rennefeld-Weg until the 2019-20 saw the lifting of the Bezirksliga Gruppe 1 as Khalid Al-Bazaz and Carlos Penan led the scoring charts for the side coached by Suat Tokat.

SGU were promoted to the sixth tier Landesliga Gruppe 1, despite the season ending early owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus, prior to SGU sitting in eleventh place when the 2020-21 season also ended early owing continuation of the pandemic.

Deniz Top was in charge of the team for the 2021-22 season.

SG Unterrath will play in Niederrhein Landesliga Gruppe 1 in the 2021-22 season.

My visit

SG Unterrath 1 Duisburger SV 3 (Sunday 8^th August 2021) Friendly (att: 50)

My latest weekend to North Rhine Westphalia for football and socialising was going tremendously well. Public transport had behaved impeccably allowing me to attend three matches on both Saturday and again on the Sunday.

I’d already attended a youth match at Viktoria Buchholz and then the 3. Liga game between MSV Duisburg and TSV Havelse. I’d thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being among vocal fans, with three points at stake, as most of my other fixtures were friendlies.

Dodging out when the linesman put up the board for stoppage time allowed me to get a move on back to Duisburg Schlenk station to allow me to catch the train a few stops south to Düsseldorf-Unterrath where my arrival was greeted with a heavy downpour.

Fortunately, perhaps with thought to the 1pm kick off at MSV, Unterrath put their start back to 3.30pm. This allowed me to take shelter while the rain abated and then walk along Theodorstraße and then into Franz-Rennefeld-Weg, which took around ten minutes.

The football ground was on the right hand side of the complex past the clubhouse, tennis courts and indoor sports hall. Once again admission was free. The teams were having their final huddle before kick-off as I entered.

I was immediately impressed with the ground. It only had a path of flat standing behind either goal with high fencing preventing stray shots leaving the ground, but both sides had terracing with benches at regular intervals. The near side had a cover over the halfway line.

The dominant feature was actually just outside the ground. A huge sign atop a tower advertising the OBI Garden Centre. Past the far side was more terracing leading down to the second pitch, which would allow me some bonus action.

In the meantime, I concentrated on my main match which had official linesmen. Some of my other games had just the referee controlling affairs, or as at Werden-Heidhausen the previous evening, club volunteers just giving throw ins.

The 3G pitch was of the darker green variety, which often indicated it was getting on in years. It was crowned towards the centre spot. The players all looked fit and physical. They weren’t my favourite type of games as it made it appear that the pitch wasn’t big enough.

Duisburger came close to opening the scoring when Bünyamin Burak Sari got through but put his shot against the top of the crossbar as he collided with home keeper Kaido Ikeda, injuring himself in the process.

The visitors looked the better side to me in the initial stages of a good technical match without too many chances materialising. Unterrath’s Japanese forward Yukichi Sasaki went on a decent run but saw his shot saved by Duisburger custodian Rene Bloch.

I’d moved across to the far side to position myself in such a way on the terracing so that I could keep an eye on both pitches. The under 19 A Junioren match grappling for attention was into its second half with SV Eilendorf the away team.

Back on the main pitch DSV’s substitute George Wiedemann pounced on a bad back pass but couldn’t finish before referee Thorsten Lechtenberg blew for half time. This allowed me to concentrate fully on the age group encounter for fifteen minutes.

The weather was windy with showers, which wasn’t great for the 45 or so watching the game without any cover. I maintained my position of balance as play got under way on the main arena.

Unterrath had obviously had a good talking to by coach Deniz Top at the break as they came flying out of the traps to take the lead two minutes after the restart. A low cross from skipper Mustafa Kalkan was tucked away by Sasaki. The match needed the goal and then opened up.

My secondary entertainment had a grandstand finish when Said Tchacoura of Eilendorf scored a late equaliser to make it 2-2, celebrating by putting his finger to his lips as though he had been receiving some feedback throughout.

With that game done I moved round near the benches under the cover where the visiting coach Dennis Jerusalem was most vocal. His team drew level on fifty three minutes through a fine individual goal from Deniz Hotoglu.

Ten minutes later Hotoglu put his side ahead when he nipped in to finish. Duisburger looked on top again despite the best efforts of the impressive Sasaki for SGU. I’d say the game about a non-league step 3 or 4 standard back home in England.

With a couple of minutes remaining, I decided to call it a day rather than waiting an extra half an hour for a train back to the city. I missed Hotoglu complete his hattrick. I couldn’t complain at the amount of action I’d crammed in. 

 

Back at Düsseldorf I bought some ropey chicken and chips for tea before a siesta put me in good stead for an evening of reflection down the Altstadt. It was far quieter than the previous evening, but that suited me fine.

A couple of brewery stops and ending the evening in Fatty’s Irish Bar a perfect way to finish off what had been an excellent day. And I had no rush the next morning. That was really perfect!

SC Werden-Heidhausen (Germany)

SC Werden-Heidhausen is a football club based in the southern Essen suburb of Werden. The club was formed in 1995 following a merger between former clubs ASV Werden and SV Heidhausen who were previously local rivals.

ASV Werden

The first prominent football club in the suburb was SV Werden 08 e.V. that was formed in 1908. The 1930’s saw the team rise from 1. Bezirksklasse Ruhr to Ruhrbezirksliga before dropping back down, with a victory against Rot-Weiss Essen among the highlights.

Following the Second World War, the Werdeners qualified for a place in the Ruhrbezirksliga in 1946, before winning promotion to Landesliga Niederrhein the following season. This was the highest level amateur league in the region at the time.

However, Werden were relegated in 1948-49 after defeat to SC Kleve 63 in the play-offs, prior to just missing out on promotion at the first attempt. Further relegation to the Kreisklasse followed in 1951-52.

Promotion back to the Bezirksklasse came in 1961-62 before the club merged with another local club, VfB Werden, who had been formed in 1912 to create ASV Werden who were playing in the Kreisliga in 1995.

 SV Heidhausen

SV Heidhausen was formed in 1887, and played their football at Volkswald in the nearby village of Heidhausen. The first team were also in the Kreisliga at the time of the merger.

SC Werden-Heidhausen

The merger in 1995 saw the new club move into Werden’s former home, Sportpark Löwental, which was given a new look with an artificial pitch and new facilities off it, with the clubhouse modernised.

The club also saw a large increase of members, as many of the committee stayed on from the previous two clubs. It also led to a stable financial situation. Previously, both Werden and Heidhausen did not have a lot of money.

The side progressed from the Kreisliga to the Bezirksliga, before dropping back down again. A runners-up spot in 1.Kreisliga was achieved in 2003-04 before the title was lifted in 2004-05, along with promotion to Gruppe 4 of the Bezirksliga where the team consolidated in fifth place.

Werden-Heidhausen finished runners-up of Gruppe 3 in 2008-09 prior to ending third twelve months later. The good finishes continued with fourth place in 2011-12 and fifth the following two campaigns.

However, the club suffered relegation from Gruppe 2 in 2015-16 before fighting back with a runner-up finish in Kreisliga A in 2016-17 which saw hopes of promotion scuppered in the play-offs. The league title was secured in 2018-19 as the side went back up a level.

In Gruppe 6 of the seventh tier Bezirksliga, the side ended the 2019-20 campaign in eighth place when the season was ended early owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus. The pandemic hadn’t cleared, with the side from Löwental in second place when the 2020-21 season was aborted early.

SC Werden-Heidhausen will play in Niederrhein Bezirksliga Gruppe 3 in the 2021-22 season.

My visit

SC Werden-Heidhausen 3 SC Velbert II 1 (Saturday 7^th August 2021) Friendly (att: c60)

The Saturday of my latest trip to Germany’s North Rhine Westphalia was going better than I could have hoped for. I’d seen a fine youth game at FC Kray and then really enjoyed myself at Rot-Weiss Essen. The bus had deposited me at the city’s main station after the second match.

Realising I could do with some food and drink I discovered an Aldi inside the main building. A guard shouted after me and indicated I had to have a trolley. Blow that. He did me a favour as I found an excellent value bratwurst stall. Fully nourished I went to find the right platform.

It was around a fifteen minute ride on the train to Werden, which looked a pretty little settlement across the Ruhr. Sadly, there wasn’t time to explore. Instead, I followed Im Löwental by the railway to the entrance to the sports park.

Once again admission was free. The entrance took me behind the curve of the four lane running track that surrounded the pitch. The clubhouse was behind the entrance end. To the right was a few steps of open terracing, to the left some grass banking with occasional benches.

Both goals had high fences behind them to stop errant balls heading off into the distance. Not great for spectating purposes, but ideal as a time saver. I headed along the road side and sat on the top step on what was turning into a pleasant early evening.

I’d timed it bang on as the game began as soon as I took up my position. The visitors for the match, the second string of SC Velbert plied their trade in Kreisliga A, a level lower than their hosts and had a more youthful line up.

 

The extra strength and physicality were decisive factors in a dominant home team first half performance. They went 1-0 up when a forward nipped in from of keeper Timm Schreiber who was furious as he kicked his post in disappointment.

Werden-Heidhausen had an absolute stone wall penalty turned down by referee Henrik Adolphs. I got a dirty look from the visiting player when I tried to kick the ball back after it came over the fence, managing to hit the floodlight pylon instead. It seemed to amuse the locals anyway.

The lead was doubled mainly in thanks to the run of Tmo Orlic who beat Velbert’s offside trap, in the view of the ref who officiated without the club linesmen flagging for such offences, before he squared low and hard for a teammate to tuck the ball away.

Niklas Cirkovic squandered a good opportunity to make it three when clean through. Bang on half time, Johann Alex of Velbert brought down Max Richter in the box. Marius Neef made no mistake with the penalty.

At the interval I had a walk round the impressive and pretty venue, which had a smaller artificial pitch on the far side as well as beach volleyball courts. A gent continually went round collecting any litter. It had a good vibe about the place.

A hatch in the clubhouse was selling sausages and beers were available, but I was going to wait for the night before any more imbibing, tempting though it was. I went back round to the steps to retake my position for the second half.

 

Velbert’s coach Andreas Nitas had obviously had words with his charges as they put in a far better showing. There was plenty of passion for a friendly game. Nitas and his counterpart Danny Konietzko would later have a good barney along the touchline.

Velbert got a lifeline soon after the restart when a lobbed pass allowed a forward in to score. The game became stretched and end to end as it went on. Werden were the more fluent side as their strength again told.

Despite that, Velbert had a couple more opportunities. Substitute Tim Bruns twice brought out the best of home custodian Lars Weber, first with a fierce shot and later with a header that was well tipped over the bar.

In between of which the game saw some theatrics and wailing, which probably led to the crankiness from the corresponding benches. I didn’t enjoy that part, and thought it spoiled an otherwise enjoyable game.

The fulltime whistle worked perfectly to head back to Essen-Werden station and catch the 6.59 S6 service back to Düsseldorf, which took us past some lovely scenery, taking half an hour. I collected my bag from the left luggage locker and headed to my digs.

Monopol Hotel was on the tired side but had nice friendly welcoming staff and covered all my requirements for a couple of nights at the decent price for somewhere so centrally located. I listened to the end of the South Africa v British Lions game before having a rest and freshening up.

It was time to head to the Altstadt, an area I love going out in. My word, it was as busy as I could remember, even during festival. I grabbed a seat in the side room of Hausbrauerei Zum Schlüssel and start the evening with a few small alt biers.

Ideally, I’d have gone in the characterful Hühnerstall but it was packed out, as were most bars, included many spilling out onto the streets. I managed to get in a place a couple of doors up, once I’d shown proof of being double vaccinated against Covid.

It was just the job, looking out of an open window into the throbbing lane and watching the action of other bars and passers by. A few pints later my eyes were beginning to tire. There was time for one of my favourite suppers anywhere, of currywurst and fries.

The most popular place in the area sold out as I neared the end of the queue. Yes, it was that busy. Fortunately, the Altstadt has lots of options. I headed back on the U Bahn a contented man and looking forward to more football and fun the following day.

FC Kray (Germany)

Fußballclub Kray 1909/31, or more commonly FC Kray, is a football club from the district of Kray in the North Rhine Westphalian German city of Essen. The club was formed through a merger of DJK SV Kray 09 and VfL Kray 1931 in 1987.

DJK SV Kray 09

The club was formed by Willi Schröer, a youth who received a football from his father for Christmas, along with fellow enthusiasts in 1909, as SV Kray 09, starting out life playing at a ground near to the Joachim coal mine.

In 1911 they moved to a new venue on Döppelhahn in the south of Kray. A merger in 1920 with the catholic based DJK-Sportverband saw the club retitled as DJK SV Kray 09. The club also formed an athletics department.

Because of popularity the club looked for another home and settled at Kortstraße where the Hövelschen brickworks previously stood. In 1933 the side were placed in 2. Klasse Westdeutschen Spielverbandes before they as a club with religious background were forced to cease playing in 1934, also losing their home ground.

The club was re-established in April 1950 after the DJK sports association restarted. The team was placed in 2. Kreisklasse Gruppe Essen-Süd-Ost, with promotion to 1. Kreisklasse arriving in 1955-56.

A 2-1 defeat to Rot Weiss Essen in the DFB Pokal in 1960-61 was a major highlight at DJK SV but that was succeeded when the club won the DJK National Championship title defeating DJK Augsburg in front of 20,000 spectators in Nürnberg.

The team had been promoted to regional football but the 1963-64 campaign saw them relegated back to 1. Kreisklasse. The following season saw SV reach the DJK National Championship final which was lost in Düsseldorf.

Several other sport departments were added to the club over the ensuing years before the football clubs final 1986-87 season ended in eleventh place of the Kreisklasse A Südost.

VfL Kray 1931

As their title suggests, VfL were formed in 1931, with Wilhelm Kefenhörster providing the club with its first bar at his home, while he leased a plot of land on Wilhelmstraße, now Riddershofstraße, for the club to play home matches in Kray-Süd.

Initially the team played in Kreisliga Gaus Gelsenkirchen before switching to Gau Essen in 1935 at a time when Germany was under control of the Third Reich. In 1945 following War, VfL were given a place in the local Bezirksliga.

Promotion to 2. Kreisklasse was achieved in 1952-53, before dropping back down a year later. In 1962 VfL moved to a new pitch with a clay surface on Buderusstraße not far from Krayer Straße, which would eventually become Kray Arena, then winning promotion to 1. Kreisklasse in 1962-63.

After reconstruction of German football following the introduction of national football through the Bundesliga, VfL won promotion to the Bezirksliga Niederrhein in 1963-64. VfL were relegated in both 1972-73 and 1973-74.

From 1973 extra sports departments were added to the club prior to player-trainer Hans Legenbauer helping the side to promotion in 1979-80 after victory in the play-off against Sportfreunde 07 as VfL went up to Ruhrbezirksklasse football.

FC Kray 1909/31

The youth sections ran the food and drink sales at both VfL and DJK SV, working together and coming up with the idea of merging to form a new club with four senior and thirteen youth sides.

FC Kray were awarded VfL’s place in the Bezirksliga, with DJK a level lower at the time in the Kreisliga, also taking up residency at VfL’s Kray Arena. In their inaugural 1987-88 season, FCK won promotion to Landesliga Niederrhein, going on to win that competition in 1988-89.

This promoted Kray to the fourth tier Verbandsliga Niederrhein, where they remained until the end of the 1992-93 campaign when they were relegated to the Landesliga, where FCK remained until winning the 1999-00 Landesliga title to return to the Verbandsliga.

The team landed a seventh place finish on their return, backing it up with another mid-table finish until the club was relegated in usual circumstances at the end of the 2002-03 season after what should have been a safe finishing position.

However, Rheydter SV from the higher Oberliga declared themselves bankrupt, and were given a place in the Verbandsliga to restart. Kray were forced to drop down to Gruppe 1 of the Landesliga under new trainer Wolfgang Priester.

A third place in 2006-07 showed promise followed by the appointment of new head coach Andreas Egler in 2008, before the side came close to relegation to Bezirksliga in 2009-10 after Jürgen Lucas and co-trainer Markus Schnarre took over team affairs.

Therefore, it was somewhat of a surprise as FCK won the Landesliga title the following 2010-11 season to go up to the Niederrheinliga as the Verbandsliga had been renamed under head coaches Rudi Risse and Wolfgang Keiter.

Kray Arena was fitted with a new artificial pitch as FCK lifted the Niederrheinliga title to win promotion to the fourth national tier Regionalliga West after defeating KFC Uerdingen 3-0 on aggregate in the play-offs after a reorganisation of the German league system.

However, their spell lasted just one season after having to start the season at the Uhlenkrugstadion home of neighbours Schwarz-Weiß Essen as a bottom place finish sent Kray back to the Niederrheinliga.

A second place finish in 2013-14 with Timur Karagülmez leading the scoring led to victory in the play-offs and a return to Regionalliga West. Again, this meant playing games at Uhlenkrug while Kray Arena was improved with the building of the Rudi-Risse-Tribüne.

Both derbies with Rot Weiss Essen were played at Stadion Essen while only games with lesser fans could be played at Kray Arena. The team survived in 2014-15 but went down the following season with the same stadium restrictions in operation under coach Michael Lorenz.

Another problem that Kray Arena faced was complaints from local residents about the progress and bigger crowds. Peace was resolved in 2016 as measures were put in place to reduce noise and traffic.

However, the amiable resolution failed to assist on the pitch as FCK were relegated in bottom place of the fifth level Oberliga Niederrhein in 2016-17. Fifth place ensued in the Landesliga Niederrhein Gruppe 2 season of 2017-18.

Michele Lepore led the side to the Landesliga title in 2018-19 before he was replaced by Philip Kruppe whose team sat in twelfth place in the fifth tier Oberliga Niederrhein when the season was ended early owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus.

Dennis Brinkmann was at the helm in 2020-21, another season abandoned early because of the pandemic with Kray in the same placing. Christian Mikolajczak was appointed as head trainer for the 2021-22 season.

FC Kray will play in Oberliga Niederrhein in the 2021-22 season.

My visit

FC Kray u15s 2 FSV Duisburg u15s 2 (Saturday 7^th August 2021) C Junioren Friendly (att: c45)

Awaking in Wuppertal I had a busy Saturday’s itinerary lined up on my latest jaunt around the cities and football venues of North Rhine Westphalia. I was happy with my planning as I took the train to Düsseldorf where I dropped off my bag in a left luggage locker.

My initial plans saw me earmark the match in the Fußball-Freizeit-Liga between Arminia Essen v 1. SC BW Wulfen III at the home of TuS Essen-West with an 11am kick off. It was handy enough for my 2pm game, but the possible standard of football deterred me.

I’d even considered heading to the Bayer Uerdingen Cricket Club in Krefeld which was staging an international T20 tournament between Germany, France and Norway. I definitely had no idea of what standard that would be, and the ground wasn’t conducive to public transport, so it was quickly erased from my mind.

I had done some real investigation work, trying to find a game at prominent venues. I was confident I had come up trumps with the game at Kray Arena with the same start time, even if it was an underage game.

The S Bahn service took me to Steele station, stopping nearly everywhere on route. Not to worry. It was always good to discover new places. From alighting it took me around twenty minutes to head north along Krayer Straße towards the ground.

Heading up Buderusstraße, I was delighted to see the gates to Kray Arena open, and then see players warming up. I wasn’t sure of the age group. My friend Thorsten put me right when I messaged him with a guide to the junior “Junioren” grades.

‘A’ was under 19, ‘B’ under 17 and ‘C’ under 15, though it was noticeable there were one or two big lads among them. Nowhere near as big as the ref Niklas Grziwa mind. That said, he was probably the biggest person in the ground.

The stadium was neat and functional. A large clubhouse stood well back from the entrance side of the pitch, with a small shelter also with distance from the pitch. Various other buildings housed multiple changing rooms.

Both ends had high fencing behind them to stop errant shots going out of the ground. A second pitch, also with artificial turf was staging plenty of younger age stuff, with plenty of parents looking on.

The far side was where I headed to take a seat in the elevated Rudi-Risse-Tribüne which had a four lane straight track dividing it from the pitch. Everything was in good order and tidy without anything out of place. Kray, pronounced “Kry”, were obviously a well run club.

They also looked to train their young charges well as I was treated to an entertaining game of a good technical level. The large pitch ensured play wasn’t congested. While it’s nice to see players play from the back, I thought one or two took it a step too far. Their confidence was high.

It was an equally matched encounter with the sides finishing the first half of their thirty-five minutes each way game with rolling substitutions at 0-0. Not that it was short on incident. The Kray keeper made a couple of good stops while FSV hit the upright.

It was also a joy to see parents of all backgrounds mixing. Kray was obviously an area of high diversity. It was also becoming an area of high volume as one of the home team coaches was losing his rag.

His side were becoming increasingly frustrated and were starting to shoot when a pass was the better option. Meanwhile his keeper made a fine stop from a glancing header. The Kray number 15 was most guilty of shooting on sight. He got a proper salvo from his coach.

I thought it a little over the top. The young lad had a chunter to himself. He was faster and stronger than a lot of his opponents. Perhaps the coach was justified as the player broke down the wing on fifty-six minutes before rolling the ball square for Ali Bakri to slot home.

The lead was extended seven minutes later when Bakri was on the spot to bag his second after the FSV defence failed to clear a low cross after the visiting keeper had earlier pulled off a great stop.

The coach wasn’t done with his tirade just yet. It now the turn of referee Herr Grziwa to feel his wrath after he gave a free kick against Kray. The man in black simply help the game up and stared in silence for several seconds. A brilliant response.

It was shortly after this that I decided to head off. I had a bus I needed to catch to make the 2pm game at Stadion Essen between Rot Weiss and SC Verl. I felt cheated later in the day when I checked the fulltime score on the excellent Fussball.de website.

FSV had scored twice in the last two minutes. I had visions of the ref, sat in his favourite bar or restaurant, of which I’m sure he had several, spending his match fee in dedication to the shouty Kray coach. That’s certainly what I’d have been doing.

I’d checked my route at the break. The gate was open behind the youngster’s pitch and clubhouse. This led me back to where Krayer Straße crossed over the Autobahn and where an old colliery wheel stood as a memory to the areas former main industry.

I was impressed with Kray as a whole. It seemed a nice place, with plenty of bars and shops. The people appeared to be OK. I was glad I’d selected my particular game as I waited for the number 170 bus to take me across the city to its major club.