Football (Soccer), Hamburg

Of the 64 V.I.P. post game parties taking place in Germany for the World Cup, five will be held in Hamburg, shared between the very exclusive, ultra chic restaurants "EAST" in St.Pauli, and "INDOCHINE" near the Elbe in Altona.

Tickets for "WM NIGHTS" are 232 Euro, and include shuttle service, drinks, and gourmet fingerfood.

EAST Restaurant
Simon-Von-Utrecht-Strasse 31
U3 to St. Pauli
June 10th & June 30th

INDOCHINE RESTAURANT
Neumühlen 11
From Altona Bahnhof, bus #112 to Lawaetzhaus
June 11, 15, 19, 22

Here's a short list of venues where you can watch the games onscreen throughout Hamburg. I've tried to include the S or U Bahn trains you need to reach your destination.

KNUST
Neuerkamp 30
U3 to Feldstrasse
daily from 11am
www.knusthamburg.de
June 9-July 9
(casual, general crowd)

FABRIK
Barnerstrasse 36
S Bahn Altona, then bus #2 to Friedsensallee
www.fabrik.de
June 13, 14, 18, 20, 22, 27, 30
(casual, general crowd)

AUDIMAX
University of Hamburg
Von-Miele-Park 4
S21/S31 to Damntor
(student crowd)

ALSTERINSEL
Gegenüber Ballindamm 14-15
S/U Bahn to Jungfernstieg
www.ciudiebar.de
Mon-Fri from Noon, Sat/Sun from 10am
(upscale crowd)

LAGO BAY BEACH BAR
Grosse Elbstrasse 150
S1/S3 Königstrasse
www.lago.cc
tel. 40.401.281
(chic, tendy, urbanite crowd)

Equipment: Be sure to head out equipped with a good city map! Or find your precise destination (and print out) online at: www.stadtplandienst.de

The purpose of the following Tips Lists is to aid those who will not have gotten tickets to the actual games taking place in Germany, but still want to feel part of the fun and comraderie because they might happen to be in the city of Hamburg. I will list venues and events for sportswatching and celebrations as I receive more information from Hamburg residents and businesses.

Went along to the home of the pretty infamous FC St Pauli for a look round.

A real quirky stadium with a capacity of around 20,000, amzingly FC St Pauli are still averaging crowds of approx. 17,000 in Regionalliga Nord.

The supporters are well known for their left wing sympathies, and often refered to as anarchists by opposing fans.

Tickets for matches are, I beleive, rather hard to come by, but the weekend we were there they were playing away from home.

A great club shop can be found at the stadium selling a vast array of merchandise, most of which emblazoned with the FC St Pauli badge, comprising of a Skull & Crossbones.

An extremely unique stadium, well worth a visit for the dedicated football follower and only a mere stagger from the Reeperbahn

4 more images

Managed to get tickets for Hamburg SV versus Hansa Rostock at the Hamburg SV club shop in the centre of the city.

A capacity crowd of 55,500 packed the incredibly impressive AOL Arena for the game, the fans seemed right up for it, continuously singing their hearts out throughout.

The game ended 3-0 to Hamburg but that did'nt seem to dampen the spirits of the 4,000 odd Hansa fans who remained bouyont for the hole game.

The idea of allowing fans to stand instead of sit down at German games is something i wish would be introduced into the British game, makes for a cracking atmosphere.

Equipment: Hamburg SV home top and a Scarf.

If you are fond of football you cannot miss a visit to St.Pauli's Millerntor Stadion and the nearby official shop of this old and nice "white and brown" football team! Unfortunately it's a bad period for FC St.Pauli, down in German 3rd Division (Regional-Liga Nord), but let's hope for a better future!
The shop is really great, you can find anything about St.Pauli: t-shirts, scarfs, sweaters, tee-cups... and, of course, condoms! ;-)

There are two big soccer teams in Hamburg, one of them is the HSV, the only team that until now never left the 1. Bundeliga....and the other team is FC St. Pauli, a team that has the best fans ever although they do not play very good currently (3. Liga) but their support is extraordinary. This team is close connected with St. Pauli, also called the "Kiez". The new president of the team is the owner of the "Schmidt´s Tivoli" theatre, another important institution of the Kiez.

When in Hamburg don't miss watching a football match by one of the local teams FC St. Pauli. They are the Punk team of Germany! It's a very funny atmosphere in their stadium ("Millerntor") which is only a short walk away from Reeperbahn and the red light district. The stadium is full of punks and other interesting people.

Equipment: A black flag with a white skull and a rat on your shoulder ;-)