Daily Dekstop: 1999

Thursday, November 4, 1999

1. FC Kaiserslautern

1. FC Kaiserslautern 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0 - UEFA Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg

Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. Prehistoric settlement in the area of what is now Kaiserslautern has been traced to at least 800 B.C. Some 2,500-year-old Celtic tombs were uncovered at Miesau, a town about 29 kilometres west of Kaiserslautern. The recovered relics are now in the Museum for Palatinate History at Speyer. Kaiserslautern received its name from the hunting retreat of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1155 until 1190. The small river Lauter made the old section of Kaiserslautern an island in medieval times. Ruins of Frederick's original castle, built 1152–1160, can still be seen in front of the Rathaus (city hall). A second castle, Nanstein Castle, was built at Landstuhl to guard the western approach to the city.

Cheapish Ryanair flights enabled us to reach Frankfurt (Hahn) and like many before and after us, we were conned into believing that this place is somewhere relatively near Frankfurt (nice marketing Mr O’Leary – Ed). In reality it requires a coach journey of almost 2 hours to reach the city centre. This back of beyond outpost is closer to Luxembourg and I guess, as we all ought to realise, with this carrier you get what you pay for. With a heavy police escort our coach, containing many businessmen attending a trade fare, made its way to the destination from where we were able to catch a train to Mannheim where we were to stay for 2 nights either side of the match.

The Fritz Walter Stadion is named after Fritz Walter the captain of the Germany national football team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup or the "Legend of Bern", who also played for the club throughout his career. The Stadium was built on the Betzenberg Hill, hence its nickname "Betze", and was opened in 1920. Spurs had good reason to feel confident going in to this match with a 1-0 advantage from the 1st leg.

However, this Pieman was furious with the then Spurs manager George Graham, who allowed the German side off the hook by playing a shamefully negative game. An away goal would have knocked the stuffing out of the hosts but just like the Peter Shreeves team at Feyenoord in 1991/92, far too much respect was given to the opposition. Two goals in the closing minutes saw Kaiserslautern progress to the next round. The beer was superb though!

1.FC Kaiserslautern: Reinke; Ramzy, ( sub, Reich, 85 )Koch, Schonberg ( sub, Tare, 82 ); Ratinho, Buck, Sforza, Strasser, Djorkaeff; Hristov, Marschall ( sub Petterson, 73).
Subs not used: Gosporadek (GK); Roos; Wagner, Sobotzik
Booked: Strasser.

Tottenham Hotspur: Walker; Carr, Perry, Campbell, Edinburgh ( sub Young, 75 ); Leonhardsen, Freund, Sherwood, Clemence, Iversen; Armstrong ( sub Ginola , 80).
Subs not used: Baardsen; Vega; Gower, Fox; Dominguez.
Booked: Carr, Campbell.

Referee: J.Roca (Spain)

Attendance: 29,044

Sunday, October 31, 1999

Sunderland FC

Sunderland 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1 - FA Premier League

Premier League

Sunderland is a city in North East England which was formerly a county borough, and is now part of the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear. The name "Sunderland" is reputed to come from Soender-land, likely to be reference to the valley carved by the River Wear that runs through the heart of the city. Over the centuries, Sunderland grew as a port, trading coal and salt. Ships began to be built on the river in the 14th century. By the 19th century, the port of Sunderland had grown to absorb Bishopwearmouth and Monkwearmouth. Sunderland became a city in 1992.

My first visit to the Stadium of Light. We travelled by train to Newcastle from where a connecting service took us from Tyneside to Wearside. A journey I had undertaken many times previously when visiting Sunderland' former home, the historic Roker Park.

On approaching Sunderland you actually see the Stadium of Light, shortly before crossing the Wear Estuary. Since this visit, the Tyne & Wear Metro has been extended to Sunderland and a couple of stations, St Peters and Stadium of Light are very close to the ground in Monkwearmouth. Having said that Sunderland Station is only a 10 minute walk across the bridge from the stadium.

As for the match, some extremely negative tactics from George Graham enabled Sunderland to take the initiative and despite a goal from Stefan Iverson, the assembled 41,904 saw a tame Spurs side surrender the points.

Sunderland: Sorenson; Makin, Bould, Butler, Gray; Summerbee ( sub Williams 87 ), Schwarz, Roy ( sub Ball, 72 ), McCann; Phillips ( sub Dichio, 61), Quinn.
Subs not used: Marriott; Rae.
Goals: Quinn, 10,21.
Tottenham Hotspur: Walker; Carr, Vega, Campbell, Taricco; Leonhardsen ( sub Sherwood, 77), Freund, Clemence, Ginola ( sub Dominguez, 46 ); Piercy ( sub Perry, 46 ), Iversen
Subs not used: Baardsen; Fox.
Bookings: Taricco, Campbell, Iversen.
Goal: Iversen, 63.

Referee: M. Riley
Attendance: 41,904

Match Ticket bears the wrong date. Match was put back 24 hours due to Spurs involvement in the UEFA Cup

The Pieman's earlier vist to Roker Park

Thursday, September 30, 1999

FC Zimbru

FC Zimbru 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0 - UEFA Cup, 1st Round 2nd Leg

Chişinău, in the past also known as Kishinev, is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc. Chişinău is the most economically prosperous locality in Moldova, and its largest transportation hub. As the most economically and socially important municipality in Moldova, the city has a broad range of educational facilities. In the chaos of the Second World War Chişinău was almost completely destroyed. This began with the Soviet occupation by the Red Army on 28 June 1940. As the city began to recover from the take-over, a devastating earthquake occurred on 10 November 1940. The epicentre of the quake, which measured 7.3 on the Richter scale, was in eastern Romania and subsequently led to substantial destruction in the city.

FC Zimbru Chişinău was formed after World War II in the Moldovan Soviet Republic (the present day Republic of Moldova). 'Zimbru' is a Romanian word for a form of European bison but the club previously functioned under various names such as Dynamo, Burevestnik, Moldova, Avântul, and Nistru. The Soviet Era was spent mostly in Class B of the regional league until eventual promotion to Class A. The club then flitted between Class A and Class B as well as spending time in the Soviet Top League and First League. The fortunes of FC Zimbru changed after the fall of the USSR and the establishment of the Republic of Moldova.

This was an amazing trip for the Pieman. We flew to Moldova on an organised trip from Stansted. The remarkable aspect of this being the plane. A Russian Ilyussion was used by Moldovan Airlines to transport us to/from Chisinau. A couple of supporters did not like the look of it and refused to travel! You could actually see the gun turrets from a previous era. The other flight from Gatwick had a normal jet I understand.

This Pieman was rather disappointed with the tame 0-0 draw. Spurs led 3-0 from the first leg and just went through the motions.

FC Zimbru: Romanenco; Oprea (cap), Catinsu, Telesnenco, Epureanu ( sub Robu, 87 ); Tropanets, Berco ( sub Gusula, 84 ), Dodul ( sub Kulic, 75 ), Boret; Gilasev, Miteru
Booked: Tropanets, Oprea.

Tottenham Hotspur: Walker; Carr, Perry (cap ), Young, Taricco ( sub Edinburgh, 86 ); Nielsen, Clemence, Freund, Leonhardsen; Armstrong ( sub Dominguez, 76 ), Iversen
Subs not used :- Baardsen; King; Gower, Fox; McVeigh

Venue: Zimbru Stadium
Attendance: 7,000

Friday, September 3, 1999

Bishop's Stortford FC

Bishop's Stortford 0 Tottenham Hotspur 6 - Friendly

Bishop's Stortford is situated just west of the M11 motorway, on the Hertfordshire county boundary with Essex, and is the closest town to London Stansted Airport. Bishop's Stortford is 29 miles north east of Charing Cross in Central London. Unusually, the River Stort is named after the town, and not the town after the river. When early cartographers came to the town in the early 1600s, they reasoned that the town must have been named for the ford over the Stort and assumed the river was called the Stort. It has been ever since. Until then, there was no official name for the river. During World War II, Bishop's Stortford was the evacuation centre for many Britons, including the entire Clapton Girls Technology College. Harry Roberts was arrested in a wooded area at nearby Thorley whilst on the run from the Police following the shooting of three policemen in London in 1966. He was taken to Bishop's Stortford police station where he was charged and later moved to London.

Bishop's Stortford FC was established in 1874 and was the last winners of the FA Amateur Cup in 1974. In 1981 they were the first team outside the top level of non-league football to win the FA Trophy. Woodside Park is situated on the eastern edge of town, close to M11 and Stansted Airport.

The Pieman's earlier visit to the George Wilson Stadium

Saturday, May 8, 1999

Holmer Green FC

Holmer Green 0 Waltham Abbey 3 - Spartan South Midlands League, Challenge Trophy Final, 2nd Leg

Historically, Holmer Green was a small hamlet in the parish of Little Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England. Today it is considered a village in its own right even though it looks to the casual observer like a far corner of High Wycombe. Holmer Green is named after the manor of Holmer that covered a significant part of the parish of Little Missenden in the medieval period. The village was subjected to a wave of housing development during the 1960s and early 1970s and now has about 4,000 inhabitants. Holmer Green F.C. is based at Watchet Lane. Established in 1908, the club was a founder member of the Chiltonian League in 1984.