On The Ground: Three games in three days in Germany’s footballing heartland

(Image credit: Future)

‘April, April, er macht doch was Er will’ – Germans consider April an unpredictable and insubordinate month and, on account of being Germans, they don’t like it one bit.  

FFT can sympathise as we stand, umbrella capsized and teeth chattering, on the terraces of Gelsenkirchen’s Parkstadion for a clash between Schalke II and RW Oberhausen. This sodden terrace hosted fans for five matches at the 1974 World Cup. Now, largely dismantled, it plays hosts to matches in the Regionalliga West, Germany’s regionalised fourth-tier. 

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Ed is a staff writer at FourFourTwo, working across the magazine and website. A German speaker, he’s been working as a football reporter in Berlin since 2015, predominantly covering the Bundesliga and Germany’s national team. Favourite FFT features include an exclusive interview with Jude Bellingham following the youngster’s move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a history of the Berlin Derby since the fall of the Wall and a celebration of Kevin Keegan’s playing career.

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