All posts by Ben

BSV Hürtürkel fights against its negative image

29/08/2018 Ben

A translation from a Berliner Zeitung article. Honestly," Enes Akkoyunlu replies to the question of what was going on when the final whistle sounded in the game against the second team from Empor. "I was overjoyed. It was crazy. I took everyone I saw in my arms. I think I … Continue Reading ››

Landesliga

Everybody Hürts

23/12/2017 Ben

BSV Hürtürkel (0:9) Wittenauer SC Concordia

Bottom of the Landesliga with zero points and a goal difference of -101 after fifteen games is a long way from the Oberliga. Yet for BSV Hürtürkel, that represents only two seasons of football. If last season in the Berlin Liga wasn't … Continue Reading ››

Berlin Liga

Pap of Tas

25/05/2017 Ben

SV Tasmania Berlin (0:1) SC Staaken

When the cheer rang out from the Staaken bench at the final whistle I was suddenly reminded I was at a competitive football match. I had arrived at the Werner-Seelenbinder-Sportpark expecting so much more; too much. With SC Staaken … Continue Reading ››

regionalliga

Back to BAK

25/03/2017 Ben

There is something distinctly 'almost’ about BAK. The ground is almost beautiful, the team were almost promoted, the stadium almost empty. These ‘almost’ qualities are indicative of a club with ambition. It's impossible to deny this season has been an anticlimax for BAK. Last season's almost champions … Continue Reading ››

bezirksliga

Köpenick of Time

13/03/2017 Ben

SSV Köpenick-Oberspree (2:0) SG Stern Kaulsdorf

The Käthe Tucholla Stadion is nestled away in a curious corner of Niederschöneweide. Sitting directly on the Spree, overlooked by various new build luxury apartments, it is obvious the area is being described as ‘up and coming’ by estate agents all across … Continue Reading ››

regionalliga

Lok, Stock, and Djamal

15/12/2016 Ben

Hertha BSC II (1:2) FC Lokomotiv Leipzig - 11.12.2016.

Football in Leipzig is most famous at the moment for people hating RB Leipzig for having money and therefore being evil, or some other form of twisted logic. On Sunday the 'big' Berlin vs Leipzig match was BAK v RB Leipzig … Continue Reading ››

Berlin Liga

Hohenschönhaus of Fun

06/12/2016 Ben

BFC Dynamo II (0:1) TSV Rudow

The most beautiful floodlights in Berlin can be found in the heart of Prenzlauer Berg. Four art deco monuments tower above Berlin's diminutive skyline and shine down upon the vivid colours within Jahnsportpark. The colours with which Jahnsportpark is fitted … Continue Reading ››

kreisliga

March of the Penguins

27/11/2016 Ben

BFC Meteor 06 II (0:7) Polar Penguin

BFC Meteor 06 II vs Polar Penguin sounds like a dramatised documentary about a mass extinction, but luckily for lovers of our flightless friends in the Antarctica it is just another fixture in Berlin's Kreisliga. Why is there a team called … Continue Reading ››

kreisliga

Green Grass of Home

21/11/2016 Ben 1 Comment

A few years ago the crows of Pankow came and pecked their way through a beautifully laid pitch in the the Kissingen Stadion, and in doing so subjected two teams to the horrors of AstroTurf. And so since then BSV Heinersdorf and FSV Fortuna Pankow have had a … Continue Reading ››

Freizeit

Pink Power

13/11/2016 Ben

SFC Friedrichshain Internazionale (3:4) Adlershofer BC

What if superman showed up to save you wearing a t shirt and jeans? You'd still appreciate it, of course, but the without the cape and lycra it just wouldn't … Continue Reading ››