Last Wednesday the Haddock Family travelled up from
Marburg to
Bremen for the Champions League game between Werder
Bremen and
Chelsea. The Juniorette was one of the Line Up Kids who walk out onto the pitch with the players before the game, so she and Mrs H had tickets. I went on the off chance of getting a ticket at the stadium. Luckily we were really early at the Weser Stadium and there were a couple tickets left, albeit the more expensive ones, but I wasn’t going to miss this match, so naturally I acquired one.
As we were early we had a walk into town, had a bite to eat and a browse around the shops. I really like Bremen and the locals are really friendly. We bumped into a few Chelsea fans who were well humoured, but the English abroad really do stick out like sore thumbs at times. We made our way back to the Stadium where the Juniorette met up with the other line up kids. They then went into the Stadium to practice the Line Up routine. Mrs H and I after picking up a few goodies in the fan shop then took our seats. She was in the West Curve, and I was sat in the block above the VIP section in the South Stand with an excellent view over the field. The other fans, in particular an older Bremer gent were rather amused that an Englishman was sat with them who didn’t support Chelsea and was a Werder fan.
I must admit that when the teams walked out and I saw the Juniorette, a speck of dust must’ve flown into my eye. It was a magic moment. She was on the hand of Claude Makelele of Chelsea, a French international player. She was wearing a Werder football kit (which she got to keep), and after the Champions League hymn where the kids stand in front of the players, she and the other kids ran off to the tunnel and the changing rooms, to get changed and take their seats in the stand.
It was an exciting game, the atmosphere was terrific, and Bremen won 1-0 with a headed goal by Per Mertesacker. The Juniorette had a fantastic day as did we all, and we were all very tired when we arrived back in Marburg at 3am. My sister-in-law (Deepblue) recorded the game and reports that the Juniorette is seen quite clearly a few times. Next week we should receive a photo CD from Bremen, so hopefully I can post some photos then.
Technorati Tags:
Juniorette,
Werder Bremen,
Football,
Champions League
9 Comments:
Makélélé is actually an African from Zaire that was brought to France to play - as far as I know. That doesn't impress me, it tells me that...oh nevermind :)
I do have to admit that if I had a daughter and she was chosen to be a Line Up Kid, I'd be a pretty proud papa!
What's the story behing Line Up Kid, Mr Footie expert? What's the origin? Being an American, I don't understand why they have such a thing.
The Juniorette is one lucky gal! My first football match was as a teenager and it was Raith Rovers v Aberdeen. It was the year that Aberdeen won the European Cup Winners Cup and was very exciting but only just down the road from us, nothing nearly as exciting as the Juniorette is experiencing!
(I notice you're quiet about the Ashes. "Follow on", are there any uglier words in the world of cricket? ;-) )
J - Apparently Makélélé moved to France when he was 4 years old. We saw him during the World Cup when we watched France v Togo.
I don't know how or why the Line Up Kids evolved, but most top teams in Europe have them. A friend of the Juniorette's was one during the World Cup. I guess its a way of letting kid supportes get a feel of the big time! :)
Ms Mac - The least said about the Ashes the better I think. We are getting tonked. By not following on the Aussies are trying to humilate us - they are suceeding! (we are 355 runs behind with 5 wickets remaining)
It only gets better and better, re:Juniorette. And you will have to watch out for more specks of dust! LOL
Not only top teams like Werder Bremen have Line Up Kids, but bottom teams like HSV have them too.
For the World Cup they were called Player Escorts and were arranged by one of the sponsors (the one for which my wife works :-). I'm surprised that a sponsor doesn't arrange it for the Champions League as well, as commercial as it is.
Sounds like you picked a great match to be chosen for.
Maribeth - Yep, I'll have to watch out for those specks of dust! ;)
Papascott - We applied for the Juniorette to be Player Escort in the World Cup but she wasn't fortunate to be chosen. Mastercard are the sponsor for the Champions league and organised it really well. As all the Haddocks are Werder Fans we had a really good time :)
Really does sound like fun. I'm going to have to look into this football thing ;)
Off topic for this post... you must click the Tricycle Link on my Green Inventions Central blog and read their post "What Will Green Come to Mean?"... you won't believe it, but there's a dance club that's doing something similar to our fitness center idea. Very, very cool!
MikeB - Football really is good fun! :)
I.I.Barkat - I looked at the link and that is pretty amazing!
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