Sportfreund and Zwickel

A trip east of Cologne in search of some fourth division footballl and a brewery tap.

Back in the 2010’s, I started making trips to Germany taking in a couple of football matches and brewpubs - my autumnal "Bundesliga and Beer" breaks.   Reviving them this year, tickets for a top flight clash eluded me.  No way was I lining tout pockets to get into 1.FC Köln at wickedly inflated prices - not to mention that I’d spend the whole build-up worrying if the ticket would actually get me in.
I looked instead to the fourth division…"Regionaliga and Riesling", maybe?

It’s 87 minutes on the RE train from Köln to Siegen, exactly the amount of time it takes to watch Stand By Me, or to make some progress through the new Mick Herron book. Except, after a while, the scenery of rolling wooded hills and meandering rivers became a distraction.

The city of Siegen is home to just over 100,000 residents. Being at a significant rail junction proved unfortunate in WW2, making the town a target for bombing raids which led to 80% of the buildings being destroyed.  So, what could have been a charming hilly University town drawing in the crowds with olde worlde gabled buildings now has little in the way to attract the tourist masses.

To be honest, the murals looked better than the real thing...

You get the Unteres Scloss next to an old church on the hill, my photograph scuppered by the construction of a Christmas market on the square in front of it.  And you get a bear donated with thanks from Spandau (the borough of Berlin, I think, rather than the new romantic hit-makers).

 

But...
And this is the game-changer...

They've got a Gasometer...

It's a 'protected monument' and one of only four such spherical gas holders remaining in the world.  I'm such an oddball tourist that this really clinched my decision to make the trip to Siegen.  That and a brewery tap...

Brauhaus Irle (Haupstrabe 18, 57074, Siegen)
Good news for reaching my 10,000 steps (and way beyond) - bad news for aching feet - was that the brewery was over a mile-and-a-half out of the centre in the wrong direction for the football ground.
I shaved 1/3 off Google's estimated walking time which meant I arrived scruffy and sweaty, at odds with most of the clintele of this smart place.

Irle are the big regional brewer, dating back to 1693, with a considerable complex of brewery buildings surrounding their brewery tap.
The stylish restaurant hadn't been quite what I was expecting, a fair number of Sunday lunch parties arriving after me.
I grabbed a cocktail lounge-style cushioned high stool at the bar in front of the beer taps.  First up: the Festbier seasonal special, a darker shade of pale with sweet toasty malt flavours.
Followed by my favourite: the dark, malty Zwickel Dunkel.
And finally the Zwickel Helles...

All in super-quick succession.  I felt the need to apologise for the speed I was knocking 'em back, unecessarily explaining to the lovely bar staff that I was against the clock with a long walk to the football ground. 

The only Irle beer currently available that I missed was the Pils, which I'd happen to find later at the stadium.  I set out with Google maps to hand, directing me over residential hilly streets which cut off a corner and meant I didn't need to bactrack right to the middle of the town.

Seriously, who put the brewery and the football ground so far out the centre in opposite directions.  C'mon Tristan Vitt - stop practicing your Jimmy Carr grin and sort out the town layout...or at least some more buses on a Sunday.

Just under an hour later (🥾...strewth) I was happy to be traipsing across a gravel car park towards a portacabin where a few scarfed football fans were queuing to buy tickets.
€12 gained me entrance to the Leimbachstadion for this Division 4 tie against Fortuna Düsseldorf U23's.
By the time I'd brought some chips (€4), beer (Irle Pils, €4, plus the necessity to buy another sturdy plastic beaker, €2), and souvenir mug (€9.90), I'd still spent five times less than they were asking for 1.FC tickets. 

I loved it in the Leimbachstadion, although I might not have said that had it poured with rain on the open terraces.  I was able to wander around the ground to my hearts content and watch the match from various vantage points.
Three-quarters of the Leimbachstadion is an old oval bowl with concrete terraces. Along one side is the covered stand with seats behind the team benches and a couple of standing sections in either corner.

Trouble with letting these Under 23's or B'teams into the leagues is that it zaps any atmosphere that away fans would have brought with them.  There is a lone Fortuna flag hung from the fence at the far end of the empty curve, but no-one visible cheering on the visitors. 
Not that they would have had a lot to cheer on - Sportfreund Siegen were two-up within 17-minutes thanks to a free kick and a penalty.

The hardcore Siegen support gathered in a corner of the covered stand and made a steady racket throughout, orchestrating the occasional call and reponse chant with supporters across the pitch on the open terrace.

 

Who on earth put that sticker there?

Düsseldorf kept themselves in the contest, slotting a goal in on the 35th minute, suggesting they may just sneak back into this.  That was until Dustin Willms scored a super 2nd half goal to make it 3-1 and guarrentee the 2,706 supporters left the stadium happy with 3-points.

Trekking back to the centre I realised I'd have 45-minutes to wait until the next train.  Would there be anywhere for a beer in this distinctly under-pubbed town?
Fricke's will do (it'd have to)...

Fricke's (Alte Poststraße 9, 57072 Siegen)
I can't say I was particuarly impressed by Fricke's, with its dubious font on the signage, dour staff, and lack of comfortable seating.  Somewhat dull, regardless of how many coloured lights have been strung from the ceiling.

There were about a dozen blokes in, several more arriving back from the football whilst I was there.  1.FC Köln's big Sunday afternoon fixture was showig on the TVs, Paulaner was the pick of the big name German brews on offer.
The bar was just a bit sparten and souless - crying out for a carpet, bench seating, breweriana, and Timothy Taylor Landlord on cask.

Oh well, it passed 25-minutes until it was time to head to the station.
Not a day for craft beer and cosy pubs, then, but a day I'd enjoyed none-the-less for a great lower-league football excursion.
And the gasometer.  Not to mention the urban cows...

Viktoria Köln and Craft Beer

Finally I've managed to make another Bundelisga & Beer trip to Germany - the first since Mannheim and Hoffenheim in 2019 - I'm somehow still blaming the pandemic for the gap.
This time around it's Bundesliga 3 side Viktoria Köln and Kölsch beer.

So without further ado...let's get on with trying to enter the ground through the wrong turnstiles and stickering the toilets.

With a 13:15 departure from Heathrow I'd figured I would have loads of time for a leisurely saunter to the stadium, which was a miscalculation on my part.  Not helped by the S19 crawling on a stop-start trip from the airport to the hauptbahnhof in three-times the time it usually takes.  Then being befuddled by the transport maps after dropping my bag at the hotel and trying to leave Neumarkt underground station by every exit except the right one to catch tram no.1.  The sight of a couple of football scarves reassured me I was heading the right way.

Sportpark Höhenberg, in the east of the city, is a short - very dark - walk from the tram stop of the same name.  I purchased my €15 stehplatz ticket from a portacabin and proceeded to try and enter through the wrong gate - which has become something of a tradition on these trips.

Once in the right gate, the rather alarming Gillingham-style stand greeted me...

I would have been slightly nervous had everyone decided to bounce in unison.
And slightly unhappy had it decided to pour with rain.

Behind the scaffolding holding the stand up was a merchandise hut, a bratwurst counter, and a beer stall.  I procurred myself a Früh kölsch and found myself a good spot.

The handful of Ingolstadt fans were situated on the (more stable looking) terrace at the half-way line.  The team from Bavaria spent a couple of seasons from 2015-17 in the top flight but have bounced between 2nd and 3rd tiers since.  I figured they may have brought more fans until I realised it was a longer journey from Ingolstadt to Cologne that the one I'd made from Oxford.

The game was mostly dominated by Viktoria, despite the two sides sitting next to one another - 10th and 11th - in the league and Ingolstadt having had better results in the past few matches.
And yet...against the run of play...Ingolstadt opened the scoring on 16 minutes, driving a long ball down the pitch which was cooly slotted in.

It took until ten minutes into the second half for Köln to make their possession count, David Otto tapping in a long throw that landed handily at his feet in front of goal.  I celebrated with another Früh.

Viktoria seems like a very friendly little club to visit.  I was comfortable on the terrace behind the goal with the drum-banging, flag-waving support - a wide range of different folk around me.  There were a few English voices to be heard, including those of a gang of Merseysiders who were spilling more and more of their beers from the cardboard carriers as they kept on topping up supplies.

Lex Tyger Lobinger (Lex Tyger? Have I really got that right?) gave Viktoria the lead on 68 minutes, then sealed the 3-points on the 78 minute mark with a superb volley, ensuring the majority of the 3,612 crowd went home happy.

I made a quick trip to the surprisingly well-maintained toilet block where the ceramic tiling provides an impressive gallery of Viktoria Köln stickers...

 

How did that get there?....

I returned to the city centre on the same tram line - this time an uncomfortable squash in the carriages with lots of people seemingly heading for a ghoulish night out, some inventive make-up and costumes donned for Halloween.
Time for post match craft beer for me...

Craft Beer Corner (Martinstraße 32, 50667 Köln, Germany)
Confusingly not really on a corner - it's only currently the last building on the street due to a building site next door.
This was a pleasant bar with several rooms, hops hanging from the ceiling, a decent Friday night crowd in, and a cracking beer list.

A mostly German-Belgian line-up from which I had no idea what to pick at first glance.
Hence I ended up conceding to halloween and ordering the Strabenbrau 'Pumpkin Ale', a 6% brown concoction from Berlin.

Then I was slightly foolish and grabbed myself the Hop Hooligans 'Apple Pie Lullaby'.  A 14% beast of a sweet chewy imperial porter from Romania's big craft brewery.  And - wow! - it was good.

I was in danger of getting no further than Craft Corner on my first night in Cologne.
So I made a concerted effort to catch the metro to the suburb of Ehrenfeld and tick off the second of the 'must-do' beard-stroking craft beer spots. 

Braustelle (Christianstraße 2, 50825 Köln, Germany)

Now this one is on a corner - in a bustling neighbourhood - looking not dissimilar to a pub you might find in north or west London.  It's open-plan within: an L-shaped layout with a section to the back containing brewing kit.
I took the easy option and grabbed a stool at the bar, ordering myself a 5% brown ale: 'Auturn Leaves', costing €4 for 0.3l.
Okay, not the best place to grab a picture of the place...

The Braustelle beers were chalked onto the beam nearby - the Triple Bock shouting out "go on, you know you want me!"
After a day travelling, racing across town to the football and forgetting to eat tea, a 9.4% beer at midnight probably wasn't ideal.  
What harm could it do?

With the beneft of hindsight, it'll make getting started the next day twice as hard as it should be - lying in bed eating cold Ditsch pizza slices whilst glued to Christmas movies dubbed in German.
I'll leave with a late night shot of the Braustelle brewing kit, before finding more German craft brews in Aachen in the next post.

Chorzów

One final post from Poland, July 2025. 
This one featuring Chorzów in the rain, football friendlies and brew pubs.

Head northwest from Katowice and at some point you'll cross into neighbouring Chorzów, one of the contiguous cities that make up the sprawl of the GZM metropolitan area.
The average tourist is probably less likely to venture far into Chorzów beyond a visit to the expansive Silesia Park.  

I was here for the football.

Not the Ekstraklasa big-match clash I would have liked.  Far from it.
But with the league starting very early in Poland this summer, clubs were squeezing their friendly fixtures in at the beginning of July and Ruch were taking on Puszcza Niepołomice.

Ruch Chorzów have a super old-school stadium with one grandstand and a trad oval of seats open to the elements.  But a glimpse through the railings showed this was looking a bit battered and bruised and it hasn't been used for over a year.
The friendly game, meanwhile, was taking place on a training pitch behind the old stadium.

12 noon kick-off.  Waved in for free by the stewards, souvenir mug bulging in my raincoat pocket.
I counted roughly 130 folks stood on the bank or perched on the little bank of seats.
So, more successful than the Club World Cup then. 
With no cover and the rain settling in for the afternoon, I didn't think I'd last the whole 90-minutes.

Yet I really quite enjoyed it.  A 1-1 scoreline in a closely contested game.

Right, time for a post-match Tyskie, I think.

The closest establishment listed as 'pub' on Google maps was Sayonara located on the main road just a couple of minutes from the turnstiles.

Sayonara (BoWiD 45, 41-506 Chorzów)
I was kinda hoping for a cosy bar in which to warm up - hells bells, it was July and after a couple of hours on a grassy bank watching football I was wishing I had my gloves.
Sadly, Sayonara was not a cosy bar.
Much of the interior was hidden away with the lights out, the only indoor option being a deep corner-hugging brown leather sofa under a fish tank and a shelf of magazines.  More like a barber shop waiting area than pub.

But I reckon no-ones blogged about Sayona ever before (or Ruch Chorzów friendlies for that matter (I should really check Pubmeister before making that claim).
So I was happy.

Five lagers on offer: Pilsner Urquel, Lech, Tyskie, Kozel, or Książęce.  I stuck with Tyskie, then felt guilty as the young chap at the bar tried to conjure up his English for 'change the barrel'.

Sat under the umbrellas on the terrace, I hatched a plan to sample more interesting beers from two Chorzow breweries.

I swigged the last of the Tyskie, returned the glass to the bar (is that a thing in Poland?) and scooted around the corner to catch a bus for a 10-minute ride through the backstreets to the dual carriageway.
A short-cut on foot through the Paczka Galeria shopping centre, then into the huge Silesian Park, where I passed the stadium where Ruch currently play their competitive fixtures.
Still raining...

Five-minutes walk further on took me to the brewpub by the lake.
Great location.  All it needs in a bit of July sunshine.

Browar Przystań (aleja Klonowa 4, 41-516 Chorzów)
First signs weren't good when stepping inside: a waiting area with velvet curtains and cocktail bar style furniture; A-boards suggesting you have your wedding reception here; and a 'please wait to be seated' sign.  I skipped past that and asked if I was okay to just have a beer, giving me the chance to scrutinize the pump clips and get served at the bar.

Standard brewpub beer choices here: pils, wheat, marzen, honey.
I went with the 'Marcowe', 4.8%, way too thin and watery for my liking.  Almost twice the price of my earlier Tyskie.
This was one of the few places I encountered that was cash-only - yet looked the least likely place ever to not take card payments.

I was the only soul foolish enough to walk through the park in the rain to a brewpub on a midweek afternoon and had the whole place to myself.  Which didn't make for a thrilling visit.

To be fair, I did come back with Mrs PropUptheBar a couple of days later when the weather improved and the terrace overlooking the lake is a great place to sit and sip a beer.  The Pils which I opted for on that second visit proved to be a slightly better choice than the marzen.

There's another brewpub in Chorzów that I'd visited years back and was keen to return to.
It's located in a nice neighbourhood with some grand four-storey mansions lining the streets, but the pub itself doesn't make for much of a picture.

Minibrowar Reden (Jana III Sobieskiego 17, 41-530 Chorzów)
A few steps below pavement level, Reden is an L-shaped traditional bar, brewing equipment on view, although I have a feeling beers are now concocted on an industrial estate a couple of miles away.
Their own pils, midowy (honey), cold IPA and sour ale were available on tap, a couple more options in bottles.

But I only had (foolhardy) eyes for the  draft 11% 'Imperial Porter'.  The bar staff went straight for the large glass - no qualms about selling double-digit brews in micro-measures-only here.  I intervened and went small, with the plan to be able to walk in a straight line when I got back to Katowice.

A great run of music: Dio 'Rainbow in the Dark', 'Black Velvet', 'Lets Get Together', Gary Moore's 'Parisian Walkways'...
All quite pleasant with a boozy, chewy coffee and chocolate porter to accompany that soundtrack.

But I had to move on and get back to Katowice where Mrs PropUptheBar had done everything she needed to do for the day and was diving into craft beers at Upojeni.

Upojeni Multitap (Świętego Jana 10, 40-000 Katowice)
The one beer hotspot that was missing from the last post.
Just off the main road in a smart refurbished arcade, this is a stylish bar set over two floors, quickly filling up with post-work custom shortly after we arrived.

I opted for the very smooth and easy-going (well it would be compared to 11% stout, wouldn't it) 'Milołak' from ReCraft.  A milk stout brewed in Świętochłowice a few miles to the west.

We stuck around and ordered pizza and another dark brew, this time Browar Hajer's 5.5% 'Farorz'.

With a good number of craft beer bars in Katowice, I began to take those beer boards for granted.  Yet I miss them now I'm back in Oxford.
Nothing like it here, and we're about to lose our Brewdog which, whatever you think of them, always had something interesting on the drinks menu.

That's Poland wrapped-up on the blog.
Back to Birmingham, London and Hampshire for the next few posts.