The Swiss 36 No.4 Stadio di Comaredo - FC Lugano

FC Lugano v FC Winterthur - 19th May 2012

FC Winti's Pirate Bus

This was one of our longest trips so far in the quest to do the Swiss 36 and it will remain one of the longest.  Its a 3 and 3/4 hour trip from my home, and we turned down the chance to go on the fans Pirate Bus, which promised to be very boozy.  At 50 SFr (£33.60) it wasn't a bad deal though!

Instead we took the train.  As you may have guessed by now, Swiss Rail delivers and excellent service.  Comfortable trains that run to a precise timetable so long trips are absolutely no problem, one of the reasons I am happy taking on the Swiss 36.

So, after heading out at 9:00am we were in Lugano just before 1, giving some time to do a couple of touristy things before the game at 6:00pm.  

Lugano is really beautiful.  Highly recommended to anyone looking for a holiday and I don't think it gets too much press outside of Italy and Switzerland.  But if you want to be wowed by fantastic mountain and lake scenery then go to Lugano.  It is spectacular.

So we had a trip to Camponie d'Italia, a small enclave of Italy within Switzerland and then boarded a boat for a trip around the lake which brought us back to Lugano at 5:30.  A bit fine for kick off but surely possible?  

Apparently not.  Our faithful app that guides us around Switzerland told us we were going to be 10 minutes late for kick-off so we grabbed a taxi.  We were at the Stadio di Comaredo inside 10 minutes.  I'm  sure that had we known where we were going we could have walked and still been in time for kick-off so I'm not sure what is happening with the public transport there.

We were a bit pushed for time so I didn't get any shot of the outside of the stadium.  It was built in 1951 and is showing its age a little, looking a little tatty at the edges.  We walked through the gates and were given what passed as a security check.  Normally, we carry as little as possible into football games but on this occasion, we hadn't managed to leave our rucksacks at left luggage.  There was a glass bottle in my rucksack, which obviously should have been removed, but I basically showed the security team my plastic cup and they were happy.  

We actually walked straight into the main stand without any difficulty.  No Winti fans there, but we did see Savvas Exouzidis, our centre-back warming up.  We yelled him and typical of all Winti players, he smiled and waved back.  The missus blew him a kiss and got one back in return.

The Winti fans were in the away section behind the goal to our right, where we should have been.  So out we went, actually we had to go completely out of the stadium.  But there was no problem getting back in, this time we simply said that our bags had been checked already and were allowed through to take up our places with the away support.

Sad turn out for decent football

One of the sad things that I find about Swiss Football is how disparaging the Swiss tend to be about any clubs outside of the Super League.  At my work, they treat it as a bit of a joke that I am a Winterthur fan.  I, of course defend Winti as real football.  Much better to go and watch a teams like Winterthur and Lugano every week than to sit at home and cheer the FC Basel or worse, FC Bayern result, when it comes in.

The sad sight of the empty stadium before us sums up all that is wrong with the average Swiss football fan.  Just 450 people had turned out to watch a 2nd flight football fixture involving the 4th and 5th placed teams.

Granted, neither team has anything left to play for, and it  was the day of the on the day, the Champions League final.  But come on Switzerland!  In English football you have to got right down to the bottom of the 5th tier before you start seeing average attendances in 3-digits!

So, I'm not getting on anything like a high horse about security.  If anything more was done security-wise, it would have simply been silly.   The way back to the stadium was fun, singing on a bus with fellow Winti fans while having a Lugano fan yell her disapproval at us.  All fun and good natured.  And to that Lugano fan - well done you.  You support your football team, which is more than I can say for the rest of your town.

Now those scores.

Getting There

5/10.  No problem on the railways but with 30 minutes before kick-off, I would have expected a bus to get us to the stadium on time, especially as the stadium is not far from the town-centre. 

Friendliness

7/10.  Nice people and easy security.  The Fans we met were fun.

Safety

2/10 - Using the Fuzzy's foot test the steps on the terracing were even higher than I had found the week before at FC Thun but at least here, the terraces were a decent width.  It was proper terracing, designed for people to stand on and not an area where the seats were simply not fitted.  That said, it is probably a good thing that the terraces are not packed.

Those hateful fences are there though, and unfortunately even worse than at Thun.  Here's a radical idea Lugano.  You do not get many fans so why do you need the fences?  Take them away.  They impair the view and, should you ever have a crowd, are dangerous.

View

5/10 - Better than I though it would be though.  I knew before going to the game that Stadio di Comaredo is multi-purpose and has a running track around the pitch.  But the track has only 6 lanes and there is no gap between the track and the terraces.  So we weren't so far away from the action.

Still though, those horrible fences are there!

Prices

A very reasonable 15 SFr (£10).  So why not go down to the football match, Lugano?

Winterthur uns Fussball Verein!

Atmosphere

2/10 - You  need fans to have an atmosphere, so nobody is at fault but the good people of Lugano, I'm afraid.  That said, I still did not understand why all 4 sides of the 10500 capacity stadium were open.  So the meagre crowd were also spread thinly around the ground.

The 100 or so Winterthur fans who made the trip did what they could though!

Refreshments

1/10  I went in search of refreshments at half time and returned with a 33 cl Eichenhof beer and a bag of crisps.  If more was available, I could not see it.  Really poor!

Redeeming Feature

In the last article, I commented on the setting of FC Thun but suggested that you watch this space.  As far as setting is concerned, Thun has been bested.

Overall - 22/60

The Match

Unremarkable but worthy of far more support.  

Danny Sereinig put the visitors ahead with a header around the half-hour mark but although the better side, I could not say Winti were controlling the game.  

Shortly before half time, slack defending resulted in Carlos Da Silva being able to cause Winti trainer Kuzmanovic the inconvenience of re-writing his team talk.   Winterthur were always the better side though and Patrick Bengondo finished well at the far post to give Winterthur a deserved 2:1 victory. 

The Swiss 36 No.2 AFG Arena, FC St. Gallen

FC St. Gallen v FC Winterthur - 28 April 2012

Just a short trip from my Swiss home in Winterthur, St. Gallen was an obvious choice for my first taste of Swiss away football.

Our trip started at Winterthur station sitting on a platform, getting drunk while waiting for the arrival of the train. The train's arrival was preceded by familiar singing of "FC Winti - FCW" to the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme. (English readers should realize 'W' in German is pronounced 'Vay'" so it does fit). There was also a hell of a lot of smoke as a flare was thrown to herald the arrival of the "Winti Fanatics".

After a brief panic (lost my wallet and had it returned by a fellow Winti fan), we boarded what was to be a noisy trip Gossau. It was crowded and I seated myself next to a young lady who was apparently studying Russian and cracked open a beer.

Her face was a picture of disgust. A football hooligan was sitting next to her. I was obviously a hooligan. I was wearing a scarf, a shirt and was drinking beer. I felt the animosity and so sang along with the noisy fans on the upper deck.

Now, I did say we were going to Gossau, not St. Gallen and that, for me,is my major issue with the AFG Arena. It simply isn't in St. Gallen. It's in the suburb of Winkeln, between Gossau and St. Gallen. So how at home are the St. Gallen fans?

The Winti fans didn't care. Escorted by a reasonably subtle police-force from Winkeln station. They were loud and boisterouse. Never really confrontational though with "Scheiss St. Galler" being the most aggressive chant during the 20 minute march from the station. It would normally take 10 -if that. But with stopping for a good old chant and a sing it took longer.

The stadium actually has a shopping centre underneath it.  Quite a big one too, but on this occasion we were escorted up the stairs and into our cage for the evening.  The away fans are literally caged off from the rest of St. Gallen as soon as they climb the stairs of the footbridge crossing the road outside.  Even the refreshment stand has a very sturdy grill and your beer and burgers are passed through a hole in front of the Staff.  Strange really, I didn't think the staff there looked so scary.

Out into the Gast Sektor in one of the corners and, its modern clean, great view, although from behind heavy duty netting (no fences though).  

In fact security was the overwhelming theme of the away-end.  There was actually no need for fences.  A kind of moat, and then those nets removed any threat that there could have been to the pitch,  

Anyway, here's my scores out of 10 for the AFG Arena.

Getting there:

8/10 - Mainline train link to Gossau followed by a single stop on an urban train line to Winkeln.  About 10 minutes walk to the stadium

Friendliness: 

3/10 - OK we were the away fans and it was a Derby but still, the police made absolutely sure we went in our cage.  Absolutely no chances are taken with away fans, particularly if there is any kind of rivalry.  "Caged" would be my buzzword of the day.  Staff in the Gast-Sektor were friendly enough though.

Kept back 30 minutes at the end of the match by a line of RoboCops (Body armour, tear-gas canons, mace, night-stick).  Very pointless as by the time we arrived at Winkeln station ST. Gallen Fans were drinking at open-air bars - and many Winti Fans joined them.

Safety:

5/10  - Loads of security but how much safety?  It is an all-seater stadium so the chances of a crush are small.  Were there a crush, it was quite a drop to pitch level although the safety netting would have cushioned the first few.  There was also an incident at the end where a Winterthur fan required medical attention.  It took a good 10 minutes before a first-aider was there. Not acceptable!

View: 

7/10 - Excellent for a corner

Price: 

26 SFr for me and, bargain of the day, the wife got a "lady's day" treat at just 5 Sfr.  No program though.  These were for standing places, but exactly where we were supposed to stand was not clear.  That said, we managed it (can a Winti fan really allow his butt to touch the Green of Gallen?)

Atmosphere:  

7/10.  Probably lifted from a 5 due to the fact that we were with Winterthur fans.

Refreshments:  

5/10 - Schützengarten is the local brew.  It's not the worst in Switzerland, but being the best isn't that good!  Typical stadium food.

Redeeming Feature:

Seats in the dug-outs that look like urinals.  The stadium stylists should take a look at that.

Overall - 35/60

The Match

A good one as you could expect with a local Derby.  Winterthur were the better side in the first half and fully deserved their 1: 0 lead at the break with an own goal.  After the break, St.Gallen came right back and grabbed an equalizer through Manuel Sutter.  Winti's Patrick Bengondo's honesty in not going down when clearly pulled back made it difficult for the referee to give a penalty but on the day, 1 :1 was fair enough.