Posts Tagged ‘Duran Duran’

B 1908 Amager v Greve Fodbold, Saturday 7th June 2025, 12 noon

June 16, 2025

The second gig of the Duran Duran tour was in Copenhagen and Jen and I flew in from Finland a couple of days in advance. I’d not been to Copenhagen for forty years but recalled that the only places we could afford to drink on that occasion were the free brewery tours that included three bottles of their product. Whilst I was grateful for the past generosity, or marketing tactics, of the breweries, forty years of saving up had allowed me to look forward to trying something other than Carlsberg or Tuborg on this occasion.

I may have been a little harsh with Duran Duran as they’ve actually got three songs that are listenable, which is three more than a lot of bands.

Jen wanted to buy some wool from a shop in nearby Roskilde that is well-known in world knitting circles. Roskilde is a short train ride outside of Copenhagen and also boasts a record shop and a church full of dead kings. We picked up an early seventies album from The Trammps which was selected primarily for its double denim with afros band photo on the sleeve.

Sadly, the dead kings weren’t on display, but the tombs that they were in were ok for a short visit, particularly the ones with stone skull carvings.

We were staying in the south of Copenhagen and so could walk to the first game that I’d identified. It was a fifth-tier game described as a relegation group, which is presumably that thing that they have in Scotland, where the league splits into two at a certain point in the season and you play only those teams in your half of the table.

It took us an hour to get there and on arrival we handed over fifty Krones each, which is around six quid. For that we also got a programme included.

The Sundby Idraetspark ground is a century old, but from what I read, the main stand only dates back half that time. There was a small open stand on a grassy bank behind the goal to our right and an athletics track lapped the pitch, although with only three lanes on all but the home straight.

We got hot dogs before kick-off, with the buns an optional extra. They were also serving beer from the same counter, but it felt a little early in the day to start a session.

1908 went into the game bottom of their group, with Greve a little higher and possibly safe from relegation. 1908 dressed up as Fulham with Greve rocking an Everton vibe. The match started five minutes before scheduled and an early goal for the visitors meant that 1908 were trailing even before they were due to have kicked off.

The home team’s day got worse as we approached the half-hour when a defensive mix up left a visiting striker unchallenged and all he had to do was take the ball around the prone keeper and roll it into the net.

For a long time, it just looked to be a matter of how many Greve would score, but with a quarter of an hour remaining, 1908 intercepted a back pass and tucked it away to halve the deficit.

Both sides stepped up their efforts in the final minutes. There were some late tackles and yellow cards. 1908 pushed hard for an equalizer but it didn’t come. The way that the home players slumped to the ground suggested that the result must have mattered to them. Perhaps it confirmed relegation.

Of more importance though was that I’d ticked off a game in Denmark, taking the total number of countries where I’d seen a game to sixty-five. Well done me.

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FC Ilves 2 v Atlantis FC Akatemia, Monday 2nd June 2025, 7pm

June 7, 2025

The Duran Duran gig that had brought us to Finland was in Tampere which is two hours drive north of Helsinki. It was a scenic route with frequent deer sightings in the nearby fields. We’d booked an apartment close to the Nokia Arena venue and didn’t move too far away from it, so I’ve no real idea whether I saw the best bits of Tampere or not.

Jen enjoyed the gig whereas I struggle a bit to appreciate their music. I don’t mind listening to Planet Earth or Girls on Film, but the other eighteen songs could be vastly improved by condensing them all down to a five-minute medley.

I had a more enjoyable evening the previous night when I went along to the Tammelan Stadium which was a short walk further on from the Nokia Arena. The game was a fourth-tier fixture between Ilves reserves and Atlantis.

I hadn’t expected much difficulty in getting in, but tickets were required and they could only be bought online. A very helpful steward identified the website and two minutes and ten euros later I had my seat.

The Tammelan stadium is just a year old and has an eight thousand capacity. I like the design which includes downward curved roofs on the stands behind the goals. There was a possible flaw in the stand opposite to me though with the uprights for the floodlights going straight through the upper tier. If the seats behind them were sold then it would have been a very obscured view for those people.

There was a concourse area behind me with bars and food. Some people watched the game from stools through the glass. I could see the appeal in poor weather, but this was a sunny evening and perfect for sitting outside.

There were around two hundred people in my stand, including half a dozen or so from Atlantis. The only other spectators were twenty home ultras who had a dedicated section behind the goal my right. They all looked to be fourteen years old and were dressed in black with five or six flags between them. A constant drumbeat accompanied the game

The first half was goalless, but Atlantis might well have had a penalty early in the second. The outraged Atlantis number nine soon made amends though, getting a marginal touch to a lofted cross. The visitors quickly doubled their lead with well-finished half-volley.

Ilves pulled one back with twelve minutes to go and then pressurized the Atlantis goal. It paid off in added time when a great through ball split the defence. It was squared and tucked away. I shared in the joy of a last gasp draw that feels like a win.

I was less joyful when I popped into the supermarket on the way out to find that alcohol sales finish bang on the stroke of nine o’clock. I’d missed the deadline for buying a couple of cans of beer by four minutes. Maybe I should have made an early dart from the game to ‘beat the traffic’.

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IF Gnistan v FC Ilves, Sunday 1st June 2025, 4pm

June 4, 2025

Fortunately, Jen and I have similar tastes in music. Actually, we seem to have similar tastes in lots of things. One slight difference though is Duran Duran. They were one of Jen’s childhood bands whereas I’ve always seen them as talentless tossers. However, Jen accompanies me to plenty of events where her focus is on knitting rather than whatever I’m interested in and so when I saw that Duran Duran were touring Europe, I booked us tickets for Tampere and Copenhagen.

First stop on the way to Tampere was two nights in Helsinki. It’s somewhere that I visited back in 2009 with Paul for a Hanoi Rocks gig on their farewell tour. In the battle of the bands, I’d say the Finns beat the Brummies hands-down.

Our apartment was only a few minute’s walk from where I’d stayed the previous time, but I remembered nothing of the area. On that first trip Paul and I did some salmon fishing, popped into a castle and drank in what I recall as being old bloke pubs.

This time Jen and I wandered along to the harbour. There were plenty of food stalls, most of which sold reindeer meatballs or salmon soup. It’s probably like every restaurant in Teesside sticking a parmo on the menu. We had neither, as we ended up eating in a Georgian establishment, so it was mince dumplings and some fried potatoes. That’s a win.

As you might have expected, I scheduled in some football. Finland is somewhere that I’d yet to see a game, so the visit would take the total countries where I’d watched a match to sixty-four.

We caught a train from Helsinki station that took us four stops and twenty minutes north to the suburbs. Everyone was very helpful, something that I now associate with Finns, and we arrived at the Mustapekka Arena with around twenty minutes in hand. It’s a ground with just a 2,600 capacity, which struck me as being on the small side for a top-tier fixture.

I’d bought tickets in advance that morning at twenty-two euros a pop. It was as well I did as there were very few empty seats. We were in what appeared to be a temporary stand made of scaffolding, whilst there was a more permanent structure on the other side of the pitch. A few people stood behind each goal and watched through netting.

There were beer and burgers for sale and an old bloke manning a barbecue. I got a hot dog at half time which came without a bun. That’s ok on the basis that the hot dog is the best bit. I’d have been less impressed if it had just been a dogless bun.

And the match? Well, not very much happened at all, at least for the first eighty-seven minutes. Visitors Ilves had most of the territorial advantage with the Gnistan goalie keeping his side in the game by making some decent stops. The home side couldn’t hold out though and to a collective FFS from the crowd, Ilves nicked a goal three minutes from the end. They sealed the win with a second goal in added time.

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