42

RheinEnergieStadion

Saturday 12^th September 2026

The first international visit since I started ‘The 42’ and a really appropriate location for it. Köln is maybe my most visited city and is home to a great stadium and the type of club that I always seem to feel an affinity for. FC Köln are a classic yo-yo club, always promising that success is just around the corner but never quite managing to get round that corner.

I first visited Köln 21 years ago when it played the role of the starting city for my European inter-rail trip before starting university. We were only there for the day before taking a night train across to Berlin but I remember the city having a really eclectic feel. On one hand was the culture of visiting the cathedral and the Olympic museum, whilst on the other hand was the absurdity of seeing Elvis the Pelvis butchering Presley songs in a thick Kölsch accent and nearly being knocked down by a yodelling cyclist dressed at the (then German) pope.

I was back 10 years ago when Naomi and I visited for the wedding of Anne (her housemate from university) and Daniel on a day that was every bit as brilliantly eclectic as my previous visit to the city. We did manage to see some sport on that trip. I watched Daniel playing tennis on a beautiful clay court and we all went along to see the Köln Haie ice hockey team defeat the Krefeld Pinguine 2 – 1 at Lanxess Arena.

Naomi and I decided earlier this year to go back to Köln again, in part to see Anne and Daniel for the first time in a few years and also to see Ásgeir on tour after having to miss him in Glasgow when Naomi was hospitalised in April. Having never watched football in Germany it felt like a great opportunity to take in a game in a new country.

Initially I had written off any hope of seeing FC Köln as they are renowned for being one of the most difficult clubs to get tickets for. Instead I had looked at various different options around North Rhine-Westphalia. When the fixtures were released however many of those options disappeared either due to the timings of the games compared to our flights or the fact that teams were playing away from home instead. The only two games that might work were FC Köln against Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga or Fortuna Dusseldorf against Duisberg in 3. Liga. the latter of these turned out to be a derby game that despite the size of Dusseldorf’s stadium had almost sold out before it went to general sale.

As a result I turned my attentions back to Köln. Seeing them had always been my preference and some online research suggested that getting a club membership to access the official ticket resale might offer an opportunity to pick up a ticket if you were lucky. I took the risk, paid for the membership, and decided to try and stack the odds in my favour by basically refreshing the resale site constantly for a day. My luck was in and I managed to get hold of a ticket.

The journey to Köln was the full John Candy experience literally featuring planes, trains, and automobiles. We were up at 3am to drive to Edinburgh airport from where we flew to Frankfurt. A high speed train then took us north to Köln itself. Once we had got ourselves settled in our hotel we headed round to see Anne and Aoife before I had to set off for the ground.

One of the great things about German football is that most clubs have arrangements with local transport networks meaning that public transport is free with your match ticket. Anne helpfully took me to the right tram station and made sure I got on the right one telling me I wouldn’t have to worry about where to get off as thousands of other people would be doing the same. She wasn’t wrong, the tram was already busy when I got on and as we passed through the city centre there was very little room left. There were also huge numbers of fans drinking at various breweries as we started to get closer to the ground.

The journey took a little longer than I expected but I still arrived around 90 minutes before kick-off. That left me plenty of time to have a wander around, soak up the atmosphere, and get plenty of photos. I had also made contact with a local fan, Joshua, through r/effzeh and arranged to meet to collect my members-only scarf which had to be sent to a German address. I bought him a kölsch to thank him for helping me out and we had a quick chat about the game, where we were both watching from, and why I was there.

I had to get back to the other end of the stadium from there so I left Joshua and headed off to find my gate. What I actually found was an enormous queue that I was worried I wouldn’t make it through with only 25 minutes to kick-off. Fortunately it moved quickly and I was in my seat with plenty of time to spare. For having had to rely on luck to get my ticket I don’t think I could really have been in a better spot, directly behind and above the goal in the north stand with a clear view of the ultras opposite in the south stand.

The pre-match rituals were completed with the presentation of Hennes IX, the latest in a long line of goat mascots that represent the club. The current post holder is a resident of Köln zoo who has had all the necessary checks and vaccinations to allow him to attend the games. That was quickly followed by the FC Köln anthem which is set to the tune of Loch Lomond. It’s quite surreal hearing 50,000 German’s singing such a well known tune but with very different lyrics. It was a passionate affair though and I imagine it gets the adrenaline pumping for the players.

As the final chorus echoed around the stands the referee blew his whistle and we were underway. Bremen seemed to settle into the game quicker and has the lion’s share of possession in the first five minutes. Köln were chasing their shadows a little until Mikey Moore managed to pick up the ball in midfield and dance past half the Bremen team. He was eventually stopped just inside the box but the moment jolted his teammmates into life. Köln kept hold of possession and worked the ball wide on the right, as the cross was played in it appeared to strike a Bremen defender on the arm. The referee had no hesitation in giving the penalty and VAR didn’t take long to agree. Thijs Dallinga stepped up for Köln but his effort was a good height for Karl Hein in the Bremen goal and he managed to tip it round the post for a corner.

Köln could have been deflated by the penalty save but they kept coming at Bremen and it didn’t take long for them to grab the lead. A loose pass out of defence was seized on by Tom Krauß who played a simple pass to Ellyes Skhiri who in turn played in Linton Maina on the overlap. Maina drilled the ball across the face of goal and beat Hein into the bottom corner to give Köln the lead right in front of me.

Having taken the lead Köln took their foot of the gas a little bit. Bremen didn’t do much with the extra possession and time they had on the ball but Köln had definitely allowed them back into the game. There were no clear chances for either side and as we headed to halftime to was clear that both sets of players wanted to get to the break without conceding.

I decided against another beer at halftime and instead opted for the significantly smaller queue to get a pretzel. The pretzel itself was anything but small though and I was still eating it 15 minutes into the second half.

Back on the pitch Bremen had come out all guns blazing and were all over Köln at the start of the second half. The pace was frantic and Köln couldn’t get anywhere near the ball. The fans around me were starting to get frustrated and the anxiety increased when Arthur, recently signed on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, saw a shot cannon off the Köln crossbar. The man sitting next to me started chain-smoking some apocalyptically strong cigarettes which seemed to do nothing to help calm him down.

The equaliser felt inevitable and it eventually came on 69 minutes when Köln failed to deal with a corner from the left hand side. After a couple of bounces the ball fell to Niclas Füllkrug who poked it home from inside the six yard box. The Bremen fans to my left, who hadn’t stopped drumming and cheering at any point during the game, went absolutely wild.

The goal finally seemed to force a reaction from Köln. They made a few substitutions and were suddenly playing on the front foot. Once again it was Moore that looked likely to make the difference. Another ball picked up in midfield, another mazy run, but this time the space opened up in front of him for the shot. It might have been nearly 100 yards away but I was sat right behind it and it looked destined for the top corner until Hein seemed to appear from nowhere to turn it round the post.

Current Köln superstar Saïd El Mala had been ill before the game and was only named among the substitutes. He was brought on late in the game to replace Moore and you could immediately see why the locals love him. He was pastering the defence constantly and his talent was a step above most others on the pitch. With about five minutes left he headed the ball into the path of Marius Bülter around 30 yards out from goal. He hit his shot first time and Kein again had to be alert to tip it over the bar and keep the scores level.

The frenetic play continued through injury time with both sides having opportunities to break as the two defences clearly started to tire. There were no further clear cut chances though and the game ended in a draw which was probably a fair result.

Despite the number of fans at the game it was actually quite quick and easy to get out of the ground. The same can’t be said for the prospect of getting a tram back into the centre of Köln. I took one look at the queues and decided I didn’t fancy that and set off to walk back instead. I had thought that I might jump on a tram a little further down the line but seeing the number of people crammed in as they passed me I was quite happy to walk the whole way. It only took about 45 minutes and it was a perfect evening to head back through the suburbs of the city. I met up with Naomi, Anne, and Aoife at Rudolfplatz and I think they could immediately see how much I had enjoyed myself. You hear lots about the atmosphere at Bundesliga games but all the expectations I had had were far exceeded. I’ve got another game before we head back but I’m already wondering how I’ll adjust back to Scottish football…

The Facts

• Ground
  • RheinEnergieStadion
• Home
  • 1. FC Köln
• Away
  • SV Werder Bremen
• Competition
  • German Bundesliga
• Result
  • 1 – 1
• Scorers
  • Linton Maina | Niclas Füllkrug
• Attendance
  • 45,965
• Cost
  • £34.54
• Total distance travelled
  • 6 miles
• Transport
  • Tram
• My MotM
  • Mikey Moore, the official decision gave the MotM to Bremen goalkeeper Karl Hein and I can understand why as he had a lot more work than his counterpart and, in addition to the penalty, needed a couple of top draw saves to keep the scores level. Moore though was the creative spark in the Köln side and looked like he might cause the opposition defence problems every time he got the ball. He looked slightly short of match fitness but when this comes I expect he is going to have a big season.