Do you know any grounds in lower leagues that is worth visiting? I have in mind a mix of older grounds with good amount of fans.
I already want to go to:
- Altona 93
- Lok Leipzig
- Chemie Leipzig
- Borussia Neunkirchen (Unfortunately they don‘t play in the Ellenfeld Stadium anymore)
I will be starting to study at Maastricht in September 26' and would like to know what football grounds should I visit. I know that MVV, Fortuna Sittard, Alemannia Aachen, and Standard Liége are very close to the city, but I would like to understand if there are other football clubs or hidden gems around the area or even other tips you might have for me. Thank you in advance.
Оne week ago I posted here about my England trip — 3 matches in 4 days, €726. Some of you liked it. Here's the bigger one I did before that.
August 2024. I got tax money back from a work and travel program in the US. No plan for it. Then I thought — I want to see Man Utd at Old Trafford. But one match felt like a waste of a trip. So I got an Interrail pass and built the whole route around football.
The route: Sofia → Budapest → Vienna → Brno (just an afternoon) → Krakow → Hamburg → Munich → Paris → Manchester → Liverpool (day trip) → London → Sofia
The 5 matches:
| Match | League | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Ferencváros vs Kecskeméti TE | Hungarian NB I | €20 |
| Rapid Wien vs Sturm Graz | Austrian Bundesliga | €36 |
| HSV vs Hertha Berlin | 2. Bundesliga | €68 |
| Man Utd vs Fulham | Premier League | €55 |
| Watford vs Stoke City | Championship | €21 |
| Total | €200 |
5 matches. 4 countries. 4 leagues. €229.
What I spent on everything:
| What | Cost |
|---|---|
| Interrail pass (2nd class) | €335 |
| Seat reservations | €50 |
| Flights (Sofia to Budapest, London to Sofia) | €70 |
| Hostels (16 nights, all dorms) | €392 |
| Match tickets | €229 |
| Stadium tours (Allianz, Old Trafford, Anfield, Emirates) | €100 |
| Auschwitz + Salt Mine | €55 |
| Food and the rest (~€75/day) | €1,275 |
| Total | €2499 |
Munich was free. Stayed at a friend's place.
Best moments:
Old Trafford. I'm from Bulgaria. Been a Man Utd fan my whole life. Walking into that ground for the first time is something I still think about.
HSV vs Hertha Berlin caught me off guard. Full stadium. 55,000 people. Second division. The noise was bigger than most top flight grounds I've been to.
The pub crawl in Krakow. Little Havana hostel. €40 for 2 nights. Met people from 8 countries in one night.
Auschwitz:
Went in curious. Came out angry and sad. Hard to put into words. Just go.
Worst part:
Paris hostel. No AC. August. Barely slept for 2 nights.
What surprised me:
I did the whole thing alone. First time traveling solo this long. It worked. More than worked.
One thing I learned:
Most people plan the route first, then look for football. I did it the other way. I looked at the fixtures first, then built the route around them. Budapest to Vienna is 2.5 hours by train. London has 8+ clubs playing on any given weekend. The matches are the map. Everything else follows.
What I'd change:
Plan earlier. If I started 2-3 weeks sooner I could have fit 2-3 more matches into the same trip. The fixtures were there. I just found them too late.
Book Hamburg sooner. Left it late, paid more, ended up far from the ground.
And more Eastern European matches. The €20 Ferencváros ticket — real ultras, real noise — was the best pure football of the whole trip.
For anyone who's done something like this — what's the best atmosphere you've found outside the top 5 leagues? I want to find more grounds like Ferencváros and Rapid Wien.
Je connaissais Futbology mais je viens de télécharger Skord et franchement le fait d’avoir tous les sports c’est quand même bien mieux et ça permet de tout centraliser au même endroit
Not that kind of worms. Looking forward to next weekend, for a Cup final in Cologne, with two rivals against eachother, I heard both their support is not great, for German standards though. Couple other small stadiums, I always wanted to visit Worms, i'll be honest, just because of the name.
What is Cologne like as a city, has anyone done the FC Koln stadium tour?
Does anyone know, if there are any games this season besides the Jupiler Pro League Championsround / CL Quali Round?
And where can I find these games?
Hey guys, in Basel on Saturday 23rd May. What game should I do for best atmosphere/ ground. Not arsed about it being a "nice ground" or "top level", atmosphere is probably my preference with ultras and flares etc.
Hey everyone, planning a ground hopping weekend for the final Serie A weekend of the season with Bologna as my base camp, and the plan is to hit as many matches as possible over the long weekend. I know the official schedule won’t be released until the 18th but based on the table and the Serie A scheduling rules does anyone have an idea on what matches will be played at the same time and how they will spread out the matches? Any info is appreciated!
Just got back from England. Wrote up the full breakdown because most "how to do a Premier League trip" content I've seen is either packaged tours at €1,500+ or vague "go to Wetherspoons" advice.
The damage:
Two things that surprised me:
1. The Championship ticket cost €38. The Premier League ticket cost €41. Three euros apart. The real price gap isn't between leagues — it's between Big Six clubs and everyone else.
2. Both London matches were on the same day. Left The Valley with 20 minutes still on the clock (Charlton 1-0 up after a worldie of a goal), sprinted from Stratford through the Olympic Park, made it to the London Stadium just as the players lined up. West Ham scored a late winner. 60,000 losing it. Worth every second of running.
If you can stomach leaving one match 15-20 minutes early, London doubleheaders are absurdly good value. Two matches for less than one Big Six ticket.
The Manchester United trick — for anyone who's been quoted €300+ on Viagogo:
I bought Official Members on manutd.com for under £30. Once you're a member, tickets for non-marquee matches (Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Wolves, etc.) are on the official site at face value. Picked my seat, paid €80, ticket on my phone. Works for non-Big Six fixtures only — Liverpool/City/Arsenal/Chelsea matches still go to higher-tier members first.
Honest caveat: I've done this once. It worked. Mileage may vary, clubs change rules, etc.
What 3 trips to England has taught me:
The €500 version of this trip (for anyone curious): stay in London only, skip the Big Six match, do a Saturday doubleheader + one more affordable PL fixture. ~€500 all in, three matches, three days.
Happy to answer questions on routes, hostels, the United membership thing, doubleheader planning, whatever.
I will be in Malta during all of August and September. When does the season start? Which clubs should I visit? What are the biggest rivals on the Island? When do the European qualifiers take place? Do maltese clubs participate in European qualifiers?
I am very excited to be there and want to experience a different football culture.
Does anyone add grounds that you have played at? I played at few while I was in school not too sure if I should add them in or not.