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Published: April 14th 2017
After being first in the breakfast room for the second day running, I selected the premium table with views towards the Castle to enjoy my feast. I headed out early, keen to make the most of the morning light and I arrived in the city centre of Brno before 8 am. There were few out and about. The late night clubbers were weaving on their merry way home to bed. The church going fraternity of Brno scowled at them to show their disapproval, as they noisily meandered along. The views last summer of the Main Square were always obscured by the stage for the music festival, so I took the opportunity of photographing the Bank of Moravia whilst few folk were around. It might not look much, but it is an icon in modernist building from the 1930s.
I bought an all day tram ticket and headed off on Tram 8 west from the city centre. I had an appointment at 10 am, but figured I had enough time to investigate the AZ Tower the train had passed coming in from Olomouc. I crossed the industrial estate, which was the centre of DIY in Brno. The area was
dominated by a huge Bauhaus – the German variant of B & Q. The AZ Tower is a very strange high rise block, which could have been designed by Gaudi. I returned to the tram line and easily located the FK Moravsky Slavia Brno Stadium. An open gate is always pleasing. No admission charge. A large bowl of a stadium complex with clubhouse and indoor tennis behind one goal, clay courts on the far side and the athletics headquarters behind the other goal. The solitary stand with a combination of blue seats and wooden benches housed changing rooms underneath and the all important feature of a Czech ground – an open bar. The locals were busy on the booze, even though the clock had just passed 0950 hours. I didn’t join in. The game was only an U19 match, so there was plenty of space for the 67 fans and 3 Non League Dogs. The opposition took to the field looking a million dollars – sponsored shirts that read AGRO on the front. There was none. They only had 2 substitutes mind, so perhaps there was a shortage of youth players in town. The mixed quality of the game was
summed up in two glorious chips over the keeper at any level, but with the biggest goalkeeping blunder you are likely to see anywhere this season. I know about these, as I have made many myself. The game finished 2-2. The drinking continued unabated.
I walked back across the river to the DFDG Arena - home of the HC Kometa Brno – and patiently waited for the ticket office to open. I was number 5 in the queue. Queues and the continent generally don’t mix. I waited 45 minutes or so and we only had one successful attempt to push in. Kometa Brno are the pride of the city. They generate passion unseen at FK Zbrojovka Brno. This was a big game for Kometa – everybody kept telling me this! I would be lucky to get a ticket. The game was Game 3 in the semi-final series of the play offs for the Czech Extraliga and the tickets were 750 Czech Crowns for the seats. The standing tickets – yes, Kometa have 3000 standing places and terraces behind each goal – were all sold. The price of the seats had obviously caused much resentment among the ranks and with
Brno
AZ TowerGame 4 on the Monday, the financial clout necessary to follow your team was beyond many regulars. I ended up with a plum single seat on the half way line. Face off 1720 hours. Bonus.
The face-off time gave me sufficient time to get to Lisen, where SK Lisen Brno B were playing at home. Lisen is an eastern suburb of Brno. It was clearly a more historical village, that has been shallowed by urban tower blocks. Tram 8 had been extended out there to make it more accessible to the masses and fortunately it was direct route from the DFDG Arena, passing the central railway station and onwards to Lisen at the terminus. I recognised part of the route from the airport bus and then the land rises into the foothills. Communist planning had sneaked in a series of high rise tower blocks. A huge open air market with outdoor bierkellers was packed. The afternoon was now seriously warm. It seemed a thriving establishment unlike the market in the city centre. I followed a short route from the tram and located the ground about 5 minutes away. The rest of Lisen was asleep. The SK Lisen
first team play in the Moravian section of the Czech 3
rd Division and have a fairly substantial stand of blue and white seats marked with
“SK Lisen” lettering. A row of raised single seats was behind the goal near the entrance and a small standing area between the two. As always, the clubhouse behind the single seats was doing a brisk business. There was no entrance charge, but buying copious beers was almost obligatory. A series of photographs in the clubhouse showed great occasions of the past – a game against Slavia Praha and Viktoria Zizhov – where additional temporary seats had been added in the expanse of grass behind the other goal. A dog happily slept through the proceedings. In fairness, not a lot happened on the pitch. A late goal in the 85
th minute sealed a home win and the bar erected TVs in the outdoor terrace in preparation for further business later in the afternoon. SK Lisen C were playing next with Slavia Praha v Sparta Praha football on the TV and also the big hockey game at HC Kometa.
I caught the tram straight back to the ice arena and nipped up the road to
the hotel. Long queues were already forming, waiting for the turnstiles to open. The locals were keen to get their usual standing places. No Waiting cones were in place all the way up to the hotel and Brno’s finest were hiding in the shade to be on hand to enforce, if necessary. The game was a 7,700 sell out, so I thought it best to get in early myself. The perimeter of the arena was full of beer tents and food outlets and there was the feel of a tailgate party often found at “football” games in North America. The temperature was 24 degrees, so the usual hockey attire was not really required. The locals were still kitted out with their usual garments. Face painting was the order of the day. Radio Crocodile were on hand to face paint anybody who had not added their own. I skilfully avoided any attempts to turn into a Christmas tree and sought sanctuary at the bar. Instead of ripping off the fans, the beer was competitively priced at 30 Czech Crowns. It encouraged consumption. You could see the enthusiasm building towards face off.
As the Canadian reading audience
would point out, It wasn’t exactly the Stanley Cup. However, Czech hockey is at the top of the European tree and this is a long way from the Billingham Bombers. North American audiences are not really used to ultras behind the goal. The visitors in this play-off series were HC Mountfield Hradec Kralove. The skating lawnmowers versus the Comets. The stood even after the first 2 matches, so all to play for. The Mountfield franchise were originally playing in Ceske Budejovice, south of Prague – home of Budvar / Budweiser . After “beer” rights for the Extraliga ended up in the sole domain of another brewer, this effectively meant Budvar couldn’t sell their own product in the arena they built in Ceske Budejovice. A stand-off ensued. The 2 sides refused to back down and off the club went to the hotbed of ice hickey – Hradec Kralove. I took my prime seat. The numbers were all hidden by the coloured plastic sheets taped to each blue seat – all part of the choreography for the entry of the teams. My neighbours in the seats clearly wondered where season ticket holder Pavel had disappeared to for the night – he would
be at home saving his Crowns for the next game. Mountfield had a small section behind one of the goals with about 300 tickets. The Kometa Ultras were behind the other net. Common sense prevailed and there was no indoor pyro. The game was very close for the first 2 periods, but superior finishing resulted in a 4 – 0 score in favour of Kometa. There was another game in the series the following night, so Mountfield withdrew their starting players. The result went from bad to worse and ended 8 – 0. The Mountfield fans sang until the hooter! It was the Billingham Bombers after all. Party time. The Kometa smiles would be wiped away within 24 hours! I finished off my Moravia trip with a meal at the Starobrno Brewery. A couple of beers were added for a good measure. It would have been rude not to!
Appendix 1 Moravia Krajesky Prebor U19 Liga
FK Moravsky Slavia Brno 2 SK Vojkovice 2 Date: 2 April 2017 @ 1000 Hours Venue: Stadion Moravska Slavia, Brno Attendance: 67 (+ 3 Non League Dogs)
Appendix 2 Moravia 1A Trida Skupina Liga
SK Lisen Brno B 1 SK Zebetin 0 Date: 2 April 2017 @ 1300 Hours Venue: Stadion SK Lisen, Lisen, Brno Attendance: 70 (+ 3 Non League Dogs) Goals: 1-0 Pavkeje (85 Min)
Appendix 3
Czech Extraliga Play Off Semi Final Game 3
HC Kometa Brno 8 HC Mountfield Hradec Kralove 0 Date: 2 April 2017 @ 1720 Hours Venue: DRFG Arena, Brno
Attendance: 7,700 (Sell Out)
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Rainyb
Lorraine Brecht
Nice arena! NIcer than ours here on the Cdn praries ;o)