Girondins De Bordeaux 2v0 Newcastle United
Europa League Group Stage MD6
Thursday 6th December 2012
After the
events in Brugge last month I decided on a more straightforward and hassle free
trip for Newcastle’s final group game in this season’s Europa League. The
destination for matchday six was the port city of Bordeaux, found on the
Garonne River in the Gironde area of south-western France.
Due to work
commitments I was a day tripper for this one, doing the round trip on my day
off, meaning an early start for the 0630 flight from Newcastle International Airport.
On this
occasion I didn’t have the company of my usual NUFC travel companions; Mr
Patrick senior and junior, however I was chaperoned by Honest Paul, who regular
readers will remember as the chap who was falsely arrested and left behind in
Belgium on our last Euro jaunt.
The flights
were booked through Newcastle United’s official travel partner Thomas Cook, so
all our travel needs were taking care of, such as transfers from the airport
into Bordeaux and later onto the match, as well as inflight meals plus our
match ticket was guaranteed.
As I’ve
mentioned, this was thought to be a stress free excursion, but the heavy
snowfall in the north-east on the eve of the game saw the United players and
staff unable to take their scheduled flight to Bordeaux. The team were stranded
on the runway at Newcastle airport, stuck in the snow for several hours until
it was safe to depart, which delayed their arrival and disrupted preparations
for the match.
I heard this
news on Radio Newcastle, whilst working on Wednesday evening, driving back to
the Team Valley from Newcastle city centre. This drive normally would take
about 15 minutes in teatime traffic but because we live in Britain and have a
major problem when cold white stuff falls from the sky, this short journey took
the length of time it would take to watch a full football match, including
stoppages and “Fergie time”
We booked a
taxi for 4.45am, so I crawled out of bed thirty minutes earlier and was relieved
to find there hadn’t been any overnight snowfall. We arrived at the airport to
find my pre-travel concerns laid to rest as there were no problems and our
flight was on time.
The flight took just under two hours and it was great to
arrive in sunny Bordeaux with just a quick passport check and no luggage to
wait for. The coach was already waiting or arrival, the transfer into the city
centre took half an hour and we were accompanied by a French lady who gave us a
potted history of this fine city on route to our drop-off point.
The Bordeaux
metropolitan area lies in the north of the Aquitaine region, being the sixth
largest populated urban area in the country with over 1.1m
"Bordelais" and "Bordelaise" citizens.
The city is
known as "La perle d'Aquitaine", "La Belle Endormie"
(Sleeping Beauty) in reference to the old centre which because of pollution had
blackened walls, although some parts of the city have been restored to their
original state. The historical part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage
List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble" of the 18th
century.
Bordeaux is most famed as the world's capital of the wine
industry, producing vino within the region since the 8th century and plays host
to Vinexpo; the International Wine & Spirits Exhibition.
FC Girondins
des Bordeaux was founded on 1 October 1881 initially as a gymnastics and
shooting club, before later adding other sports such as rowing, equestrian, and
swimming. It wasn’t until 1910 that football was officially introduced, the trial
lasting only a year before returning almost a decade later in 1919, so it
wasn’t until 1920 that the club contested its first official match defeating
Section Burdigalienne 12–0.
The club is one of the most successful clubs in French
football, winning six Ligue 1 titles, three Coupe de France titles, three Coupe
de la Ligue titles, and Trophée des champions three times. In 1995-96 they
reached the final of the UEFA Cup, but lost the two-legged final to Bayern
Munich.
The coach dropped us off next to the Monument Aux Giorondins
with an arranged 5pm return to take us to the match, so we had seven hours free
to explore the city and of course this also meant we had time for a pint!
We decided to start the day with a walk to the stadium, so I
could take some daylight pictures with refreshment stops on the way to break up
the walk. When we arrived at the ground I was disappointed to find the entrance
gate locked, but we found the main entrance around the other side by walking
along a terraced street. I noticed a
couple of hardhat workman at the stadium, coming in and out of a small gateway,
so we brazenly followed them and walked into the impressive empty arena, where
I was able to snap away at my heart’s content.
The Stade du
Parc Lescure was first built in 1930 as a cycle-racing track, and then in 1935
it was restyled to accommodate football in preparation for France hosting the
1938 World Cup. It was the first stadium in the world to be completed with concrete
and covered stands without any pillars obstructing the view of the pitch. The
record attendance was 40,211 on the 24th April 1985 as Girondins de Bordeaux
hosted Juventus in the semi-final of the European Cup.
The stadium was expanded to 34,462, as Bordeaux was selected
as a host city for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, staging 6 matches as well as
playing host to four games in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
All four
sides are mainly open, decked out with beige bucket seats with cover for a
smaller section of seats at the rear. The cover is a rolling concrete
semi-circle structure which gives the stadium a classic look. The main stand
seats differ with a blue and white central section above the team dugouts and
tunnel, inside the connection between the changing rooms and the pitch entrance
is the longest in Europe at nearly 120 meters. There is also two video screens
pinned to the inside wall at the side stands.
In 2001 the
stadium was renamed Stade Chaban-Delmas in honour of politician Jacques
Chaban-Delmas, who was the mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995.
In July 2011, the club announced plans to construct a 43,500
capacity new stadium, located in Bordeaux-Lac, as yet again France has won the
right to host another football tournament, staging Euro 2016.
We spent an
enjoyable day strolling around this historic city and frequently stopping for a
drink, calling at a couple of café bars and a few British and Irish pubs,
namely the Blarney Stone, the HMS Victory and the Sherlock Holmes. Apart from
having a few bevvys we also went for a meal, enjoying a delicious pizza with
Honest Paul footing the bill with his Brugge compensation money. We did ask the
waitress if she had frogs legs, when she said “Qui” we told her to hop to the
kitchen and bring us two pizzas!
We looked around a few shops as Paul was determined to buy a
beret. After asking in several stores but he wasn’t having much luck, mainly
because the locals had no idea what we were asking for. We eventually found a
specialist hat store where they had a selection of berets in a variety of
colours. Paul was chuffed to purchase a black one for 10 euros, while I tried
on the red number in honour of Captain Sensible, the bass player with The
Damned. However it was a look I couldn’t pull off, so I decided not to bother
but my travel companion was cock-a-hoop with his purchase.
The final Group D match was a dead rubber with both clubs
guaranteed their place in the knockout phase in February. Considering the
Magpies present injury list and current poor run of form I was expecting “Nul
points” from this game, never mind the required victory which would see United
win the group.
The match went exactly as I had anticipated with a goal in
each half from striker Cheick Diabate settling the tie. The big Mali striker’s
glancing header on 29 minutes put the hosts in a buoyant mood with some fine
saves from Rob Elliott on a rare United start, limited the goal tally to just
one at half time.
Bordeaux sealed victory on 73 minutes when Diabate latched
on to a through ball before easily out-muscling and outpacing Williamson and
firing past Elliott. The win guarantees
the French side a seeded spot in the knockout draw, while United will face one
of the group winners or Champions League drop outs.
I thoroughly enjoyed this European trip, what made it so
great was it was well organised and everything ran like clockwork. The city was
very welcoming and the local resident’s friendly, although I did have a wee
confrontation with a workie-ticket poliss outside the stadium, which meant it
could have been my turn to be left behind in custody on foreign shores. Call me
a snob if you like, but I do prefer this kind of foreign trip when there is a
smaller support (1,200 attended) to when the Toon Army take a place over, as
if you’re back hyem in the Bigg Market. I was home and tucked up in bed at
twenty past midnight and up again for work at 5am, which meant I got home
quicker from France than I did the night before when I was stuck in traffic.
I'm looking forward to the draw for the next round and
hopefully I can do another Euro jaunt in the new year, however on the pitch
United need to drastically improve and strengthen the squad in January or the Round
of 32 could be the Magpies last fixture in Europe for a while.
Matchday stats
GBFC 2(Diabate 29,73 )NUFC 0
att.19,983
Admission £13
