Grounds for concern...: Sparta Praha; Generali Stadium, Prague, Czech Republic

Yet more photos from Sparta Praha, this time from October 2009. no longer the AXA Stadium, a new sponsor equals a new name. So here are my latest pics from the Generali Stadium. After looking at them please feel free to continue scrolling down to my previous ones.

A shot of the ground from outside, after the final whistle.

The boards that advertise matches.

The Europa League banner on the pitch,seen from my seat behind the goal.

The main stand to my left.

And the other side, to my right.

From my seat, in the front row of the upper section, I look across the seats.

Scarves held aloft, as the club anthem is sung before kick off.

Another shot across the pitch.

The players line up before the start, note the Romanian away fans, in the top left hand corner.

Time to kick off!

At half time I go down to the lower section to take some pictures of the home fnas flags hanging over the side.

This fenced in section is the preserve of the home 'Ultras'.

From the lower tier we look at the main stand again.

And to our right the other side once more.

Game over, victory secured, the players celebrate in front of the hardcore 'Ultras' section.

I spotted one keen fan in a wig in club colours, and asked if I could take a photo of him. He seemed happy enough about it!

Imitation is the finest form of flattery! Presumably their main firm?

Below are two sets of pictures from previous trips:

Here are some photos from my October 2008 trip, which will complement the ones I took last year.

A Saturday early evening match, in which they ran out comfortable winners. A 3-0 victory, with a crowd of 5284. I was running a few minutes late. Unfortunately the trams weren't running past the ground, due to extensive building/roadworks on it. So that cost me a few more. Then I bought the cheapest ticket on sale, as I'd been to the ground a few times before. Only 100 Kc. Sods law this was right round the other side, I could have paid a pound or so more, and got inside quicker. But every cloud and all that...I was behind the far goal. And I'd watched games here in the past from the other three sides, so now i'd 'hopped' all four stands! ;-)
The A4 glossy A4 programme was 35 Kc.

To my left was the doulbe tier of seating, which is on three sides of the stadium.

Now we look across the pitch. The group in the upper tier on the left,as we look, is their main hardcore band of supporters. Sadly they made some monkey noises at a black Pribram player, with no-one else booing or shouting them down. It's been quite a while since I've heard such racist chanting in a ground. Shame on them!

On my right was the main stand, which you'll find, if you scroll down further, I sat in against FC Zurich last year.

Here I catch a bit of action on camera.

to be fair there were a few more away fans than this! I rook this picture at half time, and I'd guess they brought about sixty fans.

Half time entertainment on the concourses. My end appears to also be a 'teenage' area, sponsored by Coca Cola.

Half time also saw youngsters have a small match on the pitch. I'm not sure of the age group, but they looked very young. Maybe under sevens. Imagine how magical it must have been for them...

That's the final score.

And note that small section directly above the scoreboard. In todays modern health conscious times lots of grounds at home are non-smoking. But not here! You can smoke anywhere in the ground, apart from this section! It is the official non-smoking area, sponsored by Nicorette!

See....I'm NOT joking!

This is the end I was in, taken from the non-smoking stand after the match.

From the same spot down the side.

And across the pitch.

Outside, on one of the corners of the ground, is this new club shop, which wasn't here last season.

A look back as I head towards the park across the road.

Sparta Prague are my chosen Czech side. Not because they are one of the biggest & best. But the fact they were formed in 1893-the same year as my own team Dulwich Hamlet! It really is a simple as that! I'm not sure how many times I've seen them since I first saw them twice on my first 'hopping' trip in Octboer 2003; but at least half a dozen! I've also seen the B team, the reserves, three times, in the lower divisions. (second or third level)This set of snaps are from my trip last October, when I saw them at home on the Thursday night, to FC Zurich in the UEFA Cup, and on the Sunday evening, a league match at home to Kladno. So they are a bit of a mix, taken on different days.Here is the entrance to the ground.

This overhang is a walkway between the teo tiers, behind the main home end, behind on of the goals. There are food and beer stalls up here. Go for this stand, as there is an excellent club shop caravan up there.

Map of the stadium.

My ticket for the UEFA Cup match, European matches are much more expensive than domestic ones, but this was still less than a tenner! You can get into a league match for less than half that.

The large glossy programme from the UEFA game.

And the Kladno one.

My ticket was for the main stand, along the side, but not in the posh centre bit. You could walk along in front though, above the enclosure below. In fact, thinking back, I think I may have had a ticket for the lower enclosure, but the stewards told me to move upstairs because of the rain.Here is a view of the visiting fans from Switzerland, in the corner.