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Pre-season friendlies: Darmstadt, Kaiserslautern, Stuttgarter Kickers

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This friendly has just been announced for 9 July. Who else is coming?

The match will be played at Darmstadt's Böllenfalltor ground which, unlike Duisburg last season, is where the first team play. It holds just under 18,000 so there should be plenty of room for everyone. Darmstadt itself isn't really a tourist destination but it's a very short bus or train ride from Frankfurt.

No excuses for me, even if it is a workday 😁

I won't be, unless you can get a temporary passport. There are a few things I really need to tick off, one being able to travel abroad.

I hope the fans who do attend enjoy themselves. Games like this, they're always something different and interesting compared to your run-of-the-mill friendlies.

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For anyone who does go and has some time to kill in Darmstadt beforehand: go to the Ratskeller on the market square. It's a really good microbrewery and a pre-match haunt for Darmstadt fans during the season. Just don't get too drunk and forget to go to the match.

The city isn't really all that charismatic but the ground has a lot of character considering all four sides have been rebuilt.

It'll be interesting to see who else we'll be playing during the trip - I wouldn't be surprised to see us play a local fourth division side as well.

Drop me a line if I can help with travel planning!

I would usually be one of the first to say yes to games like this, but I’m cutting down on long trips.

I probably won’t go unless I decide to spend the weekend in Germany, though I can’t rule it out. That would mean flying, whereas I’d normally travel through the Netherlands.

I won’t be able to go to the game, but it’s great to see it happening again.

SV Darmstadt 98 could end up being a good connection for us. Maybe one day, I’ll get to see us play at their ground. It’s a great trip for the fans. It will be expensive, but for those who can make it, it’ll be worth it.

  • DangerousSausage changed the title to Pre-season friendlies: Darmstadt and Kaiserslautern
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I was just going to ask you for them @Piethagoram!

Kaiserslautern is a ground I've been to a couple of times. The town itself isn't very large (probably smaller than Mansfield) and doesn't offer much apart from its football club. However, it's in the middle of a great region for wine. Speyer isn't too far away and is well worth a visit.

The ground is an uphill march from the rail station, but the match will be held on a training pitch alongside it. If you're looking to attend both, you could do worse than stay in Heidelberg or Mannheim - both matches would then be an hour's direct train ride away. But then there's also a third friendly that hasn't been announced yet.

I'll write a travel guide once I get home next week!

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13 minutes ago, Piethagoram said:

I've been to Heidelberg @DangerousSausage Hotel prices tend to be more expensive as it's a tourist "must see".

Heidelberg is touristy, but most tourists arrive on bus trips and don't actually stay there. I remember the prices being cheaper than I'd expected when my parents used to visit, but that's a few years ago now.

My guess would be Viktoria Aschaffenburg (who are also playing Darmstadt) or Kickers Offenbach. Which would make it more sensible to stay in our near Frankfurt. But we're talking hypotheticals still.

I am unlikely to make it, as I am working a lot more than before. The workload is high enough that I might even have to cut back on games during the season. Germany does sound like a great away day, though. It would be nice to meet some of their clubs' fans and experience German football culture.

These are good friendlies, and they should give the fans a lift while testing the squad against teams Notts don’t usually face. I’m hoping for a few strong home games to be announced. If Notts could bring in Leicester City or another top club, it would be fantastic.

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Darmstadt have released ticket information, apparently we'll be sharing A Block with the home fans. Not sure which stand that is to be honest, but I'm sure Notts will enlighten us in the next couple of hours. Tickets are priced at 9 euros standing, 15 euros seated or 22 euros if you want a fancy business seat.

  • DangerousSausage changed the title to Pre-season friendlies: Darmstadt, Kaiserslautern, Stuttgarter Kickers
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Notts have announced that the final friendly of our three-game tour will be against Stuttgarter Kickers of the Regionalliga Südwest (fourth division). Apparently this is a special friendly to celebrate the 120th anniversary of their ground.

Like Darmstadt, Stuttgarter Kickers (not to be confused with cup holders VfB Stuttgart) have spent a lot of their existance bobbing about Bundesliga 2 and the third level (with a couple of Bundesliga seasons in the 80s and 90s). They dropped into the fourth division in 2016 and even had a few seasons at the fifth level before returning a coiple of seasons back. I've been to their ground but never inside it - it's on top of a hill right next to the TV tower in Stuttgart and is an easy underground ride from the city centre. Kickers draw average gates of around 5,000 and also have a really cool badge.

So that's the three friendlies. I'm not usually crazy about friendlies but I'm really looking forward to this! I'll put together some information and tips and post it in an article in the next day or two.

I’m planning to make it to the games. I have two friends who enjoy German football and often go to lower-tier matches just for the experience.

They watch a lot of European football in Luxembourg, Belgium, and Switzerland. I’m really keen to join in and see what it’s like following a team across three different regions of Germany.

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Notts have released ticket information for the Darmstadt and Stuttgart games here. We've been assigned block A, but there's a standing block directly beneath it along the touchline. Both sections are normally for home fans, but the idea is that we mix (and Darmstadt fans are usually OK to be fair). For those of you who are also attending - are you going in block A?

The Stuttgarter Kickers tickets are available tomorrow, we seem to have been put in the normal away block.

Tickets for the Stuttgart game do not double as public transport tickets (Kombitickets), you'll have to sort that out separately. I suspect the same will be true of Darmstadt (although I'll check) and Kaiserslautern. Kombitickets are usually reserved for league and cup games unfortunately.

Tickets purchased for Darmstadt and Stuttgart ....out to Frankfurt back from Stuttgart

Need to get my head around the EUR51 train ticket for trains and buses. @DangerousSausage can you advise can one take out a subscription and cancel it the next day and the ticket still remains for a month?

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If you mean the Deutschlandticket, I believe you can. Mine was terminated a while back (I didn't agree to the price increase) and I could still use it until the end of the month. Just make sure you terminate it before 10 July, otherwise it'll apply for another month. Information here: https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/deutschland-ticket

The easiest way is to get the ticket in the DB Navigator app, then cancelling it is a matter of pressing a button. Also, bear in mind that it's only valid for regional and local services (and not IC, ICE or EC trains). This makes Frankfurt to Stuttgart a long journey, but you're fully flexible.

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