Hertha’s international adventures in Europe in the season were to in effect, come to an end in the Basque Country city of Bilbao. I took the opportunity to follow my team on the last away game of the 2017 Europa League campaign and I didn’t regret a single second of it or a single Euro being spent. Rumour has it about three thousand Hertha fans made the trip to the green coast of Spain although it felt like there were more to be honest.
I flew back to England from Berlin after the ill-fated Mönchengladbach game and stayed in Sussex overnight before taking the train up to Heathrow. I then got on another plane, this time destined for Bilbao and I hoped at the time, Hertha’s European glory. There were quite a few Hertha fans at the airport who I assume were waiting for connecting flights on to Bilbao after arriving from Berlin. I gather from friends there were a lot at Stanstead as well.
I flew back to England from Berlin after the ill-fated Mönchengladbach game and stayed in Sussex overnight before taking the train up to Heathrow. I then got on another plane, this time destined for Bilbao and I hoped at the time, Hertha’s European glory. There were quite a few Hertha fans at the airport who I assume were waiting for connecting flights on to Bilbao after arriving from Berlin. I gather from friends there were a lot at Stanstead as well.
| It was quite windy in London and the turbulence my take off was a bumpy one but the flight went well and was filled with anticipation for the day ahead. My planning for the trip paid dividends as I bought the ticket for the bus into town and was able to go straight to the right bus stop. | |
The bus stop incidentally, had already fallen victim to some Hertha stickers so I was certainly not the first to arrive in town.
The late November climate in Bilbao was a little kinder to the soul than Berlin or London. At 22 degrees in the evening it felt balmy and the city was in full café culture mode with people sitting at tables outside sipping glasses of wine, cider or beer. The locals said it was unseasonably warm but did I care? Not one jot! Through the wonders of social media I met up with a couple of friends from Berlin in a bar not too far from my hotel. I enjoyed the company and the remarkably cheap as well as eminently potable red wine. At the time I felt the evening boded well for the match day ahead.
The late November climate in Bilbao was a little kinder to the soul than Berlin or London. At 22 degrees in the evening it felt balmy and the city was in full café culture mode with people sitting at tables outside sipping glasses of wine, cider or beer. The locals said it was unseasonably warm but did I care? Not one jot! Through the wonders of social media I met up with a couple of friends from Berlin in a bar not too far from my hotel. I enjoyed the company and the remarkably cheap as well as eminently potable red wine. At the time I felt the evening boded well for the match day ahead.
| Buying in some essential supplies I had a bit of a wander around the old town of Bilbao. There was some nice architecture and some enticing bars opening out onto squares where you could sit and enjoy a glass of fino in the sunshine. Later I met up with another friend who had just flown in from Germany and we wandered around a bit more before heading to the meeting point in the centre of town. | |
On the way another Hertha fan noticed the “Simonir” on the back of my shirt and called out to say hello. He recognised the name from Twitter – Hi @Kassi6565! Hertha fans congregated at a meeting point in a central park area before setting off the stadium. The support for our team started as the “Fanmarsch” got underway with singing and chanting being pretty well non-stop until after the game. A taster of the Fanmarsch can been seen here
The atmosphere in the ground was superb from the start. At least in the guest block it was because the home fans didn’t go to their seats until the last minute. The Hertha fans stayed on their feet for the game for the most part singing chanting and hopping all coordinated by the Capo. A wonderful experience and a little snippet can be seen in the video below.
The game started off well enough from our end and we had the better of the first half. The away fans erupted when Leckie knocked in the first goal in the 26th minute. I’m not sure my throat will ever recover! There was not quite so much activity when a penalty was awarded to Bilbao and the resulting equaliser. The roller coaster continued with another goal from Davie Selke and jubilation in the away block – high fives all around and going into half time happy fans.
After the break it was a different game. Athletic Club were stronger and better organised in the second half pressing Hertha. The second equaliser came from yet another penalty (how many have Hertha conceded) and it was uphill from there on as a draw was not enough for us. With just eight minutes to go the European bubble was burst as Williams scored for Athletic Club. There wasn’t enough time to come back but still enough to rue the mistakes that resulted in the two penalties that cost us the game.
After the break it was a different game. Athletic Club were stronger and better organised in the second half pressing Hertha. The second equaliser came from yet another penalty (how many have Hertha conceded) and it was uphill from there on as a draw was not enough for us. With just eight minutes to go the European bubble was burst as Williams scored for Athletic Club. There wasn’t enough time to come back but still enough to rue the mistakes that resulted in the two penalties that cost us the game.
On the way away from the stadium after the match the bars in the streets were teaming with people enjoying the unseasonably warm evening and locals celebrating their success. The locals I encountered were friendly and wanted to have a chat about the game. They were perhaps slightly bemused by this strange Englishman travelling to all of these Hertha games. Having said this one of the guys we spoke to also supported Aston Villa as he studied in England in his youth.
 | Well my Hertha International experience was nearly over with only Östersund at home in Berlin to play. I returned to London on the morning after the game to find England twenty degrees colder than Bilbao. I had to kill a few hours in London before I could get my train home and it was so cold! |
I put my Hertha shirt on over another shirt and my scarf around my neck but hey it was the memories of my European adventure that kept me warm. Until the next time.
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