DangerousSausage

As we're talking about full match replays, here's one from Germany! Plenty of thrills and spills in this one - I was there!

I've seen the first series - presumably they agreed to the documentary because they were hoping for a triumphant return to the Premier League, only to end up being dumped in League One. It's a car crash that will feel very familiar to Notts fans. Fans who dislike Sunderland enjoyed it very much by all accounts I think what sets it apart is the candid glimpse behind the scenes. We all know what it's like from a fan's point of view, but it's interesting to see the hope, disappointment and fears of players and staff. Haven't seen the new one yet, but it'll be interesting in its own right. It's on my list!

It's an inventive idea - I've seen a few clubs try it, but none have sold so many tickets. I'd love to know that they've got in store. Maybe they're trying to think of something themselves If you want to kill some time on the internet, look up Lokomotive Leipzig, they're an interesting club. They were never really one of the big guns in the GDR, although they won the cup a few times. After reunification they renamed themselves VfB Leipzig (in honour of the original VfB Leipzig, an unrelated club that became the first German champions in 1903 but were wound up before the war). They played one season in the Bundesliga in the 90s but went bust. The present club are the fourth incarnation now and are second in the fourth division on goal difference with a game in hand. If the season is decided on a points-per-game basis and promotion is awarded, they might yet get to make the step up. 3000 isn't a bad average crowd at all in the regionalised fourth division, about half the clubs there get crowds in the hundreds. Crowds really jump when you go up to the third division.

I didn't watch on Saturday. Sometimes it's great to see football again, at other times it's a painful reminder of what we're missing. I'm up for the next one though! The full match replays are here to watch at a time of your choosing: https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialNCFC

Sorry, @ARLukomski, I'm not on Twitter. I'm not angry enough. It'd have been nice for a Notts player to win, but to the fair the other goal was better. We've scored some other corkers that would have given it a run for its money though.

Oh, the Currywurst chopping machine is a must! I had a look at the pictures (the links didn't quite work for me, but they were easy to find). I've been to Cologne a couple of times, really like the feel of the place. Got to see Podolski play there the first time too. They serve a special lager in Cologne - Kölsch - that they serve in small, thin glasses. Maybe they do that at the football too, but I can't remember seeing it. I've never been to Bochum - looks like a bit of a strange ground - but maybe I'll get the chance to go there in the league next season. Oh, and I'm impressed that you've got a dedicated folder on the Cologne cheerleaders!

You should go for it - there must be loads of things that are different to the UK that just wouldn't occur to us. You could be our Bill Bryson!

Years of selfless dedication @hissingdwarf, purely in the services of PON! Difficult one. A few years back we did have pretty decent pies at Notts, but now it's just the Pukka pies you get everywhere. And I'd have to be seriously hungry to get anything off those burger vans, they stink. You can't beat a decent pie and mushy peas though. Football fare in Germany is fairly simple - it's hard to mess up a sausage in a cob (I did once have a sausage that was still frozen at the Christmas market, but never at a match). So my answer would probably be "dunno" If you mean the last picture, that's just a blob of mustard. It tastes a lot better than cowpat The stuff next to it could be horseradish, but don't expect anything as exotic as that at a football match.

The posts are public, so you should be able to watch without actually being registered on Facebook. And I think they're on the YouTube page too.

I haven't seen it myself @JIMBO, but it's on my list. The Italian Magpies Facebook group made me aware of it. I'm quite into the early history of football though so I might give it a try.

Good idea @Chris, done!

I've added a new blog post, focussing on the culinary delights to be found at German football stadia. Also featuring an exclusive picture of Uli Hoeness' sausage. Take a look here!

I was recently asked what we eat at the football in Germany. The answer is: mainly sausages! If you go to a German football ground expecting a pre-match pie and peas, you'll be disappointed. Pies and sausage rolls are completely alien to Germany. Instead, the staple meal is the humble sausage. This can be a standard Bratwurst or a Feuerwurst ("fire sausage" - a spicy beef sausage) served in a bread roll - as demonstrated by Bayern Munich's Uli Hoeness below! This will set you back around €3, but I'm sure Uli can afford it. Something else found at virtually every football ground is the Currywurst - a chopped-up sausage served in a "curry" sauce, which is in reality a kind of warm, spicy ketchup, with curry powder on top. This is served on a little tray with either a bread roll next to it (for mopping up the sauce) or, if you're really flash, a portion of fries. The type of sausage used depends on the whim of the seller, and you probably won't notice the difference anyway. This is quality junk food - you'll get a hit from the sugar in the sauce, followed by stomach ache and a vague sense of regret. Then you'll be hungry again, so you'll go and buy another one. Other trash / quality meals found everywhere include giant pretzels and Frikadelle meatballs, which are like burgers but with pork served in the obligatory bread roll. If you strike it lucky these can be really nice, with herbs, spices and plenty of meat from the local butcher's. More commonly, these mainly consist of bread crumbs and fat. At most German grounds, that's yer lot. There are regional variations though. If you go to a ground in Hesse (Frankfurt, Offenbach, Darmstadt among others) they'll also serve Frankfurter sausages (below), which are boiled sausages served on a little tray next to (but not in!) some bread and a blob of mustard. You then dip the sausage in the mustard and take a bite out of the bread. This is a bit of a pain if you're drinking a beer as you'll need both hands for it. In the north (Hamburg, Bremen), the football staple is a fried fish filet served in a bread roll. Of course, we like to drink too. You'll find the usual array of soft drinks, plus apple juice with sparkling water, which is ubiquitous in Germany. Apple wine is highly popular in Hesse and is on offer at football grounds - it even tends to be a bit cheaper than beer. It's an acquired taste though and isn't really like cider. As for beer, experiences vary - you will find pilsner and shandy everywhere, although some clubs only offer pils with reduced alcohol (about 2.5%). Us football fans can't be trusted, after all. If you're lucky, you might find a Weizenbier (wheat beer), which is more full-bodied but gives you a headache if you drink too much. Trust me, I've researched this. Your beer will cost you in the region of €3.50, plus an extra deposit charge for your plastic beaker - 50 cents for a disposable one or around €2 for a resuseable one. You'll get your money back when you return it, but watch out: football grounds are plagued by little urchins who run about collecting as many beakers as they can carry so they can pocket the deposit cash! If that sounds like too much hassle, every matchday an army of helpful gentlemen can be found in the vicinity of every professional football ground, selling tins of beer from their cool boxes for about €2 a pop. Until the police turn up, anyway. But the big advantage with buying in the ground is that you can actually take your beer in with you and sup while you're watching the match - no downing your pint outside one minute before kick-off here. Prost!

Indeed @hissingdwarf. I'm fully behind the measures in place now, but the government procrastinated before adopting in the full knowledge of what was happening in Italy. You can't complain you were taken by surprise when it's already happening elsewhere. And the situation with testing and PPE is a disgrace. It's telling that even the Tory press, which usually attacks public servants for their "gold-plated pensions", have now turned on the government over that. This is going to dominate our lives for years to come, even after the virus itself has gone. The US is heading for a very dark place, and if their economy crashes it'll affect the rest of us too.

@KB1862 Can't really answer that. Some things are good, others are annoying, but after you've lived somewhere for a while it just becomes normal. If I'd gone to Kiel instead, that would have been different again. What I do regret is moving the 30 miles from Mannheim to Darmstadt - I can't warm to the place at all. So maybe another change is coming up.