It's a sign of madness replying to myself but I'll do it anyway!
I suffered play-off disappointment part four at the weekend. Waldhof managed to secure a play-off spot for the third season running, this time playing KFC Uerdingen (who once played in the Bundesliga under the name Bayer Uerdingen). Waldhof managed to lose the away leg 1-0 after missing two gilt-edged chances but still had a chance going into the home leg. More than 24,000 were there but to be honest there was a bit less of a buzz in the air compared to the last two seasons. The match proved to be an unforgettable one.
In short, Uerdingen won 2-1 and secured promotion (more on that later). But it's the scenes off the pitch that will stay longer in the memory. About the time that Waldhof equalised, a group of Uerdingen followers marched unhindered into a home block accommodating many families and started picking fights (there were loads of riot police about, but they were standing outside the stadium). With about ten minutes to go, with Waldhof on the attack but chasing what looked like a lost cause and with some of their more intellectually challenged supporters feeling they had a point to prove, certain elements among the ultras started throwing bangers and fireworks onto the pitch and didn't stop. It looked like a coordinated action. Eventually the match was abandoned and the visitors awarded a 2-0 win (meaning Waldhof's first play-off goal in six attempts was effectively scratched off). Oh, and all this was on national TV as well. What a sad end to a great season.
I'm still much angrier about those scenes and the morons who tried to injure players and stewards than I am about any football match. If you'd asked me on Sunday, I'd have said that I'll never return. However, I've been going for ten years now, I care more than is good for me and I don't want to leave the club to the morons, so I probably will.
The club has been very accommodating to the ultras in the past - they can make block bookings for tickets, have a container within the ground and stand in a seated area behind the goal. All that is now over - from next season they're going back to the proper terrace in the corner. The ultras have been a great asset to the club over the years but many people's patience with them has run out. The idiots among them have got to go.
Here's the choreography prepared before the match before everything fell to pieces, on the topic of rising from the dead. The zombie appears at about 1.10. It'll be a while before we see anything like this again, sadly.
There might be a postscript though - Uerdingen failed to submit the deposit for the license for the third division in time, which according to the rules is grounds for rejection. In that case, the losing team in the play-offs goes up. This story could yet get more bizarre still...