Rather SV 1919 (Germany)

Rather Spielverein 1919 e. V. is a football club who were formed on February 16^th 1919 who are based in the Düsseldorf district of Rath.

Initially the club started playing football in the local leagues before progressing to the Bezirksklasse in 1947. In 1948-49 Rather came close to progressing to the Amateurliga am Niederrhein but lost out to TSG Karnap 07.

Finally, promotion to the regional Landesliga came in 1952-53 before the club came close to qualifying for the newly created Verbandsliga Niederrhein in 1955-56. Relegation back to the Bezirksklasse followed in 1957-58.

The Landesliga was reintroduced in 1970 with ‘Die Rather’ becoming members thanks to a good league finish the previous season. A further rise was earned in 1974-75 to the Kreisklasse.

For several seasons Rather earned promotions and suffered relegations as they competed in the Kreisliga and Bezirksliga before going up to the Bezirksliga once again at the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

Rather won promotion to the Landesliga Niederrhein in 2013-14 where they were placed in Gruppe 1. However, the team finished bottom of the table and were relegated twelve months later.

The club regathered and won promotion at the first attempt back to the Landesliga; the seventh level of German football, where the team backed up their performance with a solid finish in 2016-17.

A fifth place was achieved in 2017-18 which was backed up by eighth twelve months later. When the 2019-20 campaign was halted, Rather were in fourth position.

Rather SV 1919 will play in the Landesliga Niederrhein Gruppe 1 in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Tuesday 22^nd August 2017

If you read my description here on my trip to Wattenscheid and the lost passport fiasco, you’ll understand that I was ready for a hassle free day. It was a lovely morning as I left the Hotel Terminus to catch the U72 tram from Wehrhahn Straße to head north east.

I alighted at the Rather Waldstadion stop, crossed the tracks and walked up a few steps to find the neat and tidy venue with the athletic stadium and sports centre to the right.

The Waldstadion was fenced in and had hard standing right round the artificial playing surface. The railway side had a few steps of open terracing, while opposite was a raised area with a few benches along the side. The clubhouse and buildings were at the far end.

During my visit a summer soccer school was taking place. It was good to see a facility being used to its maximum extent. I left and returned in good form to collect my bag and take an S Bahn train to the station to grab a bite to eat before heading to the airport.

It was on my arrival at the airport and locating the police office that the wheels fell off my day and put a real damper and plenty of expense on the trip.

I could immediately detect all was not well when I explained that I had been sent from the police station at Aldstadt with a document that I expected those in the terminal to validate to allow me to travel.

It transpired that I’d been given the wrong information. The police officers were certain that I’d have to go to the British Consulate in the city, but suggested that I spoke to the airline desk to see if there was anything that they could do?

The kind lady merely confirmed the bad news. I had a minor panic when she said that it appeared that the Consulate was closed. Fortunately I got an answer when I dialled the number. The lady on the other end took my details and told me to head to them, but I had to have a definite flight booked.

The timing meant that I had no chance of catching my flight. I was offered a replacement service for £130 but that would have left it extremely tight to make my night shift that night back in London; even if everything went to plan.

I also had another issue. My bank cards were not being accepted for online transactions; despite the issuers not knowing of any problems. It was time to make some decisions and ask a favour or two.

Fortunately Andy Crossland was online back in Hull and he managed to sort me out my return flight the next morning for £60. I phoned work and explained I wouldn’t be back because of my problems. Fortunately they were understanding. I then headed into town to find the Consulate on Oststraße.

Stephanie was a sweet lady nearing retirement. Her English was very good and I was soon filling out plenty of forms once I’d got through the strict security including a full bag search. I was then dispatched to get some passport sized photos produced.

It was suggested that a man along the street did them for €15. I bet he did! Instead I headed to the main station and got some sorted for €6. I needed to save money as Stephanie explained that the emergency passport would cost me £100.

Eventually I was sorted and on my way. I managed to get a room at my previous hotel for €30, but it had been a chastening experience. It would have helped if there’d been some football of a decent level in the area. Rather SV would have been perfect, but it wasn’t to be.

Instead I treated myself to a huge meal, lots of walks, an ice cream and following Scarborough Athletic’s FA Cup replay via Twitter. There was no way I wanted to be late for my flight the next day!