Non Matchday Visit of Stade de la Sûre (Union Mertert-Wasserbillig)

When planning which game to watch during my stay in Luxembourg, a game at the Stade de la Sûre was very tempting, only because I had previously watched almost all of my games in the south-west of the country, and so it would be been nice to have visited a venue away from that hotbed of Luxembourg club football.

In the end, I decided to visit the home ground of F91 Dudelange on matchday, in the knowledge it is one of the best grounds in the country, and the club has been hitting the headlines recently for their exploits in the Europa League. 

However, the following day, when I visited the town of Wasserbillig, situated right on the border with Germany and nestled in a corner between the Sûre and Moselle rivers, before embarking on a very enjoyable walk up and above the town through vineyards, I decided to have a look at Union Mertert-Wasserbillig's home ground. It was not open, however it was easy to obtain good views of the ground through gates and also above a mound behind one of the goals.

The home club, Union Mertert-Wasserbillig, compete in the second tier of Luxembourg football, in the Promotion d'Honneur. It was a pleasant enough ground, set in some attractive countryside, but its basic facilities - with no seating and only one fairly small and rudimentary stand to cover some of the terracing, left me pleased I did choose to watch the game at Dudelange instead.

F91 Dudelange 1 v 1 US Mondorf-les-Bains

Sunday 26th August 2018
Luxembourg National Division
Stade Jos Nosbaum, Dudelange
Admission: €10.00
Programme or Teamsheet: None
Attendance: 525
Match Rating: 3

With a full fixture list in Luxembourg this afternoon, I could have taken in a double, with most games kicking off at 4pm and the remaining three at 6. But that would have meant missing at least the first quarter of an hour in the second game, and having selected this as the ground I particularly wanted to visit, with it being one of the better grounds in Luxembourg and to watch a team who, quite astonishingly for a Luxembourg club, are just one game way from reaching the group stage of the Europa League, having won 2-0 in the first leg. With this one of the games kicking off at the later time of 6, I decided to make do with just this game today.

The Stade Jos Nosbaum is about a ten minute walk from Dudelange-Usines station, although I decided to get off a couple of steps before, at Dudelange-Ville, to walk through the pleasant town centre, even though it was over twice as far. On reaching the ground's entrance, spectators pay for a ticket from a window in a wall, before passing through the adjacent gate and into one corner of the ground. A fairly large all-seater stand straddles the half way line, with a small drinks outlet (Buvette) underneath the seating to the rear. Behind the goal, after a window where one can purchase refreshments cards for €5 or €10, then a large pink clubhouse that looks more like a residential house immediately behind the goal, with a couple of wooden huts, one serving drinks and the other serving sausages, and which must be paid for with one of the prepurchased cards. Along the remaining length there is a tall bank of uncovered seating, with steep inclines between rows and this area provides an excellent view of the action. Behind the remaining goal there is a walkway behind advertising hoardings, and so it is not possible to watch the game from there. No team sheets were seemingly available.

Dudelange have performed spectacularly in the Europa League, winning through two rounds, beating Kosovo's Drita before a much more impressive win against Legia Warsaw in the last round and they secured a 2-0 first leg lead following the "home" leg played at the National Stadium against Romanian champions RFC Cluj. In the domestic league, they have won one and lost the other of their opening games, having been crowned champions last season. Mondorf had lost two and won one of their opening three league games, having finished in sixth place last season.

Whilst I very much wanted to watch Dudelange following their heroic efforts in the Europa League, I did fear this might have an impact on their league performance, having only played their last match on Thursday evening, and so it proved as they put in a very lethargic performance, and once Mondorf's tails were up, they simply blew their hosts away. It was Dudelange that created the first real chance on 13 minutes, when a cross into the box was headed goalwards to force a flying save from the keeper. That proved to be a crucial moment, as Mondorf took a surprise lead on 18 minutes, when their forward showed good footwork to get to the byline to cross for Olivier Marques to head home despite the keeper and a defender almost managing to get in the way. A surprising lead became even more surprising on 33 minutes, when Ezequiel Cabral doubled Mondorf's lead, when he drove the ball into the roof of the net after an initial shot was parried. Dudelange did manage to create some chances to get on the scoresheet, and two Mondorf players were booked for time wasting before half time. The game seemed far from over at the break.

It pretty much did barely a minute after the restart though. After a defender was dispossessed close to the half way line, Cabral strode forward diagonally towards goal, before coolly slotting the ball under the keeper and into then net. Mondorf were looking threatening with every attack now as Dudelange looked increasingly dispirited, and the scoreline reached unbelievable proportions on 66 minutes, when the visitors scored their fourth. After an initial shot was saved, the ball fell to Marwane Benamra just outside the area, after taking a few touches to steady himself, he drilled the ball low just inside the post. The game then, unsurprisingly, had a quiet spell, before Dudelange pulled a goal back on 85 minutes, Danel Sinani striking the ball goalwards, taking a couple of big deflections en route before finding the back of the net. But then the home side had Kevin Malget sent off for a professional foul, hauling down a Mondorf forward as he sprinted clear towards goal, albeit a long way out. It was unfortunate for Mondorf to lose their clean sheet, but it was still a memorable performance against the reigning champions, who may have had the Europa League more on their minds, with the first leg only played on Thursday night, with the crucial second leg to come next Thursday. It also must be said that Dudelange had rotated their team for this game, as their Europa League adventure seems to be taking priority for the moment.

It was also nice for the terrific small band of Mondorf fans rewarded for their virtually constant loud support consisting of singing, drum banging and trumpet playing, and the celebrations by the players as well as the fans together after the final whistle were more akin to winning a cup than a game of football. By contrast it was surprising how quiet the home fans were, even long before things started to go wrong for their team.

Four days later, and F91 Dudelange did indeed finish the job in the second leg of their Europa League tie, winning 2-3 on the night and 5-2 overall, and can now look forward to glamour matches against AC Milan, Real Betis and Olympiakos.

FC Jeunesse Lorraine Arlonaise 2 v 2 RFC Saint-Hubert

Saturday 25th August 2018
Belgian Provincale P1 Luxembourg Region
Stade de l'Avenue de Longwy, Arlon
Admission: €6.00
Team Sheet: Free
Attendance: 110
Match Rating: 4

Booking a long weekend trip over the bank holiday weekend to Luxembourg, I was hoping to be able to take in a game on Saturday as well as Sunday in the Grand Duchy, although that is always a risk in a country like Luxembourg, where the FA only confirms kick off times just over a week beforehand. And it turned out that this would be one of the rare weekends that not one single game in the Grand Duchy was scheduled for the Saturday. And so I would have to venture into a neighbouring country for my Saturday game. A trip south into France for some seventh tier football at FC Thionville appealed initially, until the French FA website indicated this the game would be played on the club's second, plastic pitch. And so instead I headed just over the western border into Belgium, for this sixth tier game. Although it would be further down the pyramid than I would have ideally liked, a little research showed the ground would be an interesting, if decaying one.

The Stade de l'Avenue de Longwy is about a twenty minute walk from Arlon train station (although I had to catch a replacement bus from Luxembourg City as the train line was closed for engineering works), and after having some chips with mayonnaise washed down with the Luxumbourg national beer Bofferding in the excellent nearby Friterie "Chez Harry", I proceeded to the ground, which is located down a short track, past some extensive building work, before paying admission at a basic small ticket office hut, before passing to the side, handing my ticket to be ripped as validation, then entering the ground behind a goal. There are quite large stands straddling the half way line on either side - to the right of the entrance, there is a decent all-seater stand with good, unobstructed views and the bar, hot food and hospitality area is located above the seating. Team sheets were available from a table here. Either side of the stand there are a couple of steps of uncovered terrace. On the opposite side, there is quite a long stand covering concrete steps, with serving hatches to the rear that seem to have long since been unused. The path along the front is very overgrown, becoming worse towards the far corner. There is just hard standing behind both goals. It is certainly a ground that has seen better days, but better than one would imagine so far down the football pyramid in Belgium, and I subsequently learned that the ground will soon be consigned to history, as plans are in place to redevelop the site.

Last season Arlon finished in 11th place in the 14 team division, and opened this season with a defeat. Saint Hubert, promoted to this level of football this season, started their season with a 1-1 draw.

On a sunny evening before night fell around half time, this was an entertaining game that was unsurprisingly low on quality at times, and which Arlon looked the stronger team during the first half, whilst Saint Hubert probably shaded the second half. Arlon took the lead on 40 minutes when, after an initial shot was blocked, the ball fell to the feet of Adrien Reuter, and his shot wasn't particularly strong and should have been comfortably gathered by the keeper, who instead let the ball squirm through his hands. Soon after the restart he partially redeemed himself with a good block to thwart a one on one. And into added on time at the end of the first half, a good move ended with a curling shot past the keeper but was acrobatically blocked by a defender. And so Arlon held a slender 1-0 lead at half time.

Five minutes into the second half and Saint Hubert were gifted an equaliser, a free kick was played in from the right wing and Arlon defender Renaud Ciao headed the ball into his own net. On the hour mark, Arlon were awarded a penalty after their forward burst into the box and was then pulled back. Abdou N'Diaye struck the ball low down the middle to restore the home side's lead. But that lead would only last two minutes with a very good goal, Lefort curling the ball into the top left corner from the edge of the area. A winner never looked very likely for the rest of the match, and indeed the points were shared.

Whilst this was something of a last resort game for me, I was glad I went, watching an enjoyable encounter at a ground with plenty of character, although having to wait around 45 minutes for a bus back to Luxembourg after the match was not particularly welcome, getting back to my accommodation at gone midnight, having set out from home at 4am.