Last night i went to a game in Kiev, the 'Ukraine classico' as it's known here, Dinamo Kiev vs Shakhtar Donetsk.
The game itself was dreadful despite being 1st and 3rd, but the fan experience was something completely different. Going through it bit by bit and what is so good for the punter, starting with price:
My ticket was £2.20, yep £2.20! You might think it reflects the economic conditions and that's why its priced as that, but not so and it should be compared to other activities in Kiev, roughly things cost, decent meal £8,
Opera £20, nightclub £10, theatre £15, strip club £10, lap dance £10, cinema £3. The most expensive seats were about £18 and there were cheaper ones but i didn't see the price, but all seats are good.
The attendance was 60,000 which is pretty good considering the tension in Ukraine at the moment.
Police, never saw one all night, before during or after.
Before, loads of beer and food stalls spring up everywhere and people just stand in the streets around the stadium drinking and singing songs.
Getting in, all automatic turnstyles, just wave your bar code in front of a scanner and ping you're in, 2 stewards for about every 15 turnstyles, i presume they are there in case if a jam.
Going to our seats we stopped at the bar, 5 pints was £4.50 in total! Beer and food is cheaper in the stadium than outside. Take your beer down to your seats or you can stand at the top even and watch the game from around the bars.
5 minutes before kick off the stadium announcer whips the crowd up and really the chanting is unbelievable, everybody is singing and chanting. Teams come out and everybody has coloured sheets on their seats which are raised as the national anthem is played. One end has blue above white for the city of Kiev, the sides have blue above yellow for ukraine and the other end although is kiev fans is black above orange fir the city of Donetsk as a show of unity, was truly awesome.
Atmosphere, the chanting does not stop the whole game and trust me Kiev are terrible, really terrible. Stops for maybe 30 seconds when Shakhtar score and that's it. After about 5 minutes Donetsk fans start a chant which in English sounds shit but in Russian brilliant and very rhythmic, 'Putin Penis' within moments the whole 60,000 are chanting 'Putin Penis' and jump up and down in complete time, goes on for about 15 minutes and was one of the best things i've ever experienced inside a football stadium, was amazing.
Crowd mix, when Shakhtar scored about 20 people in our section jumped up and cheered, i thought here we go, and nobody said or done anything, just stood or sat there looking disappointed for about 30 seconds and then started chanting again.
Half-time, rock band in the centre circle and upto the bar for another round and a pint to bring down for the second half.
Stewarding, 2 stewards for each whole section, do nothing other than point you to your seats if you're not sure. Sit, stand, jump, drink beer, chant, sing, nobody gives a shit, just do what you want! Inside the area there is a steward every 20 yards or so around the pitch, they just sit there and thats it.
Flares and firecrackers going off and at the start of the second half the Kiev ultras section does a choreographed looking flare and lights display which was really impressive.
Girls, never seen so many hot birds at a football match, groups of them together, i was really surprised by that! Kiev is notoriously home to some of the best looking chicks anywhere and they are everywhere in Kiev but i never expected them to be at the football.
Afterwards, despite losing and being shit there are no problems and the crowd even applaud the frankly hopeless Dinamo off. Then off to 'Lucky Pub' the Irish bar up the road to watch the Spanish cup final and drink a few more beers and join in the sporadic but brilliant chants of 'Putin Penis'
Overall as fan experience it's a 10/10, i know its similar in so many European stadiums, 3 years ago i had a fantastic experience at Valencia.
The Premier League and clubs really need to start looking at the atmosphere and fan experience abroad and start changing things.
http://video.fcdynamo.kiev.ua/tv/comments/Modul_Ednist_042014/
The game itself was dreadful despite being 1st and 3rd, but the fan experience was something completely different. Going through it bit by bit and what is so good for the punter, starting with price:
My ticket was £2.20, yep £2.20! You might think it reflects the economic conditions and that's why its priced as that, but not so and it should be compared to other activities in Kiev, roughly things cost, decent meal £8,
Opera £20, nightclub £10, theatre £15, strip club £10, lap dance £10, cinema £3. The most expensive seats were about £18 and there were cheaper ones but i didn't see the price, but all seats are good.
The attendance was 60,000 which is pretty good considering the tension in Ukraine at the moment.
Police, never saw one all night, before during or after.
Before, loads of beer and food stalls spring up everywhere and people just stand in the streets around the stadium drinking and singing songs.
Getting in, all automatic turnstyles, just wave your bar code in front of a scanner and ping you're in, 2 stewards for about every 15 turnstyles, i presume they are there in case if a jam.
Going to our seats we stopped at the bar, 5 pints was £4.50 in total! Beer and food is cheaper in the stadium than outside. Take your beer down to your seats or you can stand at the top even and watch the game from around the bars.
5 minutes before kick off the stadium announcer whips the crowd up and really the chanting is unbelievable, everybody is singing and chanting. Teams come out and everybody has coloured sheets on their seats which are raised as the national anthem is played. One end has blue above white for the city of Kiev, the sides have blue above yellow for ukraine and the other end although is kiev fans is black above orange fir the city of Donetsk as a show of unity, was truly awesome.
Atmosphere, the chanting does not stop the whole game and trust me Kiev are terrible, really terrible. Stops for maybe 30 seconds when Shakhtar score and that's it. After about 5 minutes Donetsk fans start a chant which in English sounds shit but in Russian brilliant and very rhythmic, 'Putin Penis' within moments the whole 60,000 are chanting 'Putin Penis' and jump up and down in complete time, goes on for about 15 minutes and was one of the best things i've ever experienced inside a football stadium, was amazing.
Crowd mix, when Shakhtar scored about 20 people in our section jumped up and cheered, i thought here we go, and nobody said or done anything, just stood or sat there looking disappointed for about 30 seconds and then started chanting again.
Half-time, rock band in the centre circle and upto the bar for another round and a pint to bring down for the second half.
Stewarding, 2 stewards for each whole section, do nothing other than point you to your seats if you're not sure. Sit, stand, jump, drink beer, chant, sing, nobody gives a shit, just do what you want! Inside the area there is a steward every 20 yards or so around the pitch, they just sit there and thats it.
Flares and firecrackers going off and at the start of the second half the Kiev ultras section does a choreographed looking flare and lights display which was really impressive.
Girls, never seen so many hot birds at a football match, groups of them together, i was really surprised by that! Kiev is notoriously home to some of the best looking chicks anywhere and they are everywhere in Kiev but i never expected them to be at the football.
Afterwards, despite losing and being shit there are no problems and the crowd even applaud the frankly hopeless Dinamo off. Then off to 'Lucky Pub' the Irish bar up the road to watch the Spanish cup final and drink a few more beers and join in the sporadic but brilliant chants of 'Putin Penis'
Overall as fan experience it's a 10/10, i know its similar in so many European stadiums, 3 years ago i had a fantastic experience at Valencia.
The Premier League and clubs really need to start looking at the atmosphere and fan experience abroad and start changing things.
http://video.fcdynamo.kiev.ua/tv/comments/Modul_Ednist_042014/
