Thursday 7 April 2011

SC Union 03 Altona; Hamburg, Germany

SC Union 03 Altona are a muti-sports club from Hamburg, & the football side compete at the fifth level of the German pyramid, in Oberliga Hamburg. I had the pleasure of seeing a game here in late 2005. When I was back in the city in late November 2010 I took the opportunity to take some photos of the ground. This is the entrance, from the main road. There is a club sign outside. As we walk down the driveway you can see the ground ahead, the open terracing in front of the clubhouse clearly in view. To the right of the above picture is the Club war memorial. Above the ground we look over the pitch, not able to see the terracing below the grass, on the side we are standing. We now see the subtantial steps of terrace along the side, covered in snow. Looking the other way there is more terracing behind the goal, in front of the clubhouse, & this is the direction we are going. From the top corner of the terrace we see down along the area behind this goal. Before we do we have our first 'corner flag' angle shot. The view from the bottom of the terrace. On the side of the changing rooms is a club sign. No idea what this is used for on matchdays. Beer or food? These smart lantenr lights are around this end of the ground. The club crest is also worked into the decorative ironwork. Now in front of the changing rooms, we look over to the side of terrace we have already seen, as we came in. Turning the other direction we get to have our first peek at the terrace along the other side. Here are the changing rooms behind the goal. Behind the goal, looking over the pitch. And to the left. up the other end you can see the club name on a big brick wall. The terracing goes all the way to the corner. Past the changing rooms is the club bar. There is a row of seats in front of it, atop the terrace. At the bottom now, we see back along this end. The next 'corner flag' view, this time at pitchside. More substantial terracing along the side. This really is a wonderful old ground. On the side now, we glance back to the clubhouse end. The dugouts are on this side. Here we see directly into one of them. Some of the terrace is falling away a little on this side. At the back is the tannoy box. The terrace stretches along the whole length,well not quite... It stops at the next dugout, when there is grass banking. From here we see the Club name & badge proudly painted onto this wall. Out in the street we find out what buiding that is. But we're really still in the ground, and we once more look over the slowly thawing pitch. From this corner there is just a flat grassed off area in front of the wall. Behind the goal, down the pitch. Past the tennis building there is the terracing again. I would guess this extended all the way along, until the sportshall was built on it. Directly behind the post we see the last side of terrace, where we have yet to walk. Back behind the goal, the vantage points are somewhat restricted by on the old terracing! Almost ready to turn the corner now. Behind us is an old entrance, on the street, not sure if it is still used. Probably not, judging by the state of it outside. I was impressed by the Club name on top of the fencing. From the side now we get a perfect view of the 'half terrace' behind the goal. Time to start moving along the last side. Simply railed off at the front of the terracing. The view over the halfway line. The remainder of this side completes our look at Union 03.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A beautiful little ground of a once very successful historic hamburg club (before WWII).
I saw many games here including those of St Pauli II who used it as their home ground when they played in the Hamburg Oberliga (the drinks van is from those years).
The football section SC Union 03 is unfortuately on the wane. 3 relegations in the last 4 years and another one on the way this season (2011-2012).

Anonymous said...

Finally an upswing in fortune. The first team got promoted last season. Hopefully a couple more promotions will get them back to the lowest level they should be operating at, namely the Hammonia league a level below the Hamburg Oberliga.