By Michael Lachmann
At this point I have often reported on my existence as a groundhopper.
Whenever we talk about my hobby in the family circle – also in view of the kilometers driven given the current fuel prices – my father says: “Boy, you’ve got one on your helmet.”
He’s not entirely wrong about that. I myself am of the opinion, tongue in cheek, that I have an arrow in my head. Who else spends 1,300 kilometers in the car for three football games on vacation in Turkey?
I didn’t spend quite as much time on the street on Saturday. I have to say one thing first: There are different species of groundhoppers. Some only visit stadiums with stands and no artificial turf pitches, others want to score as many national points as possible. I, for my part, am on the hunt for league completions, which means having seen at least one game on every football pitch in a league. Ideally within one season, but that’s not feasible for me in terms of time. In addition, the composition of the league changes constantly due to promotion and relegation.
For this reason I wanted to go to Brandenburg an der Havel on Saturday to get one step closer to completing the Brandenburg League. I’m also missing the grounds of BSC Süd 05 and Grün-Weiß Lübben.
So off to Havelstadt – and shocked there. I simply overlooked the fact that the BSC game against MSV Neuruppin is taking place on a neighboring pitch. “Due to the storm damage a few weeks ago, the stadium is still closed, maybe it will be open again in November,” I was told. Well, that doesn’t help me with my statistics now.
So what to do with the afternoon that has arrived? My app told me the game will be played in Saarmund in 45 minutes. So, I got back in the car and drove 60 kilometers and 40 minutes to the game SG Saarmund against Union Neuruppin (3:1).
It’s only in the West state class, but it was at least ground 8 out of 16 – after all, everything has to be done. And at some point I’ll definitely have the Brandenburg League full…