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France 24
06-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Cancelled Cold war-era football tie finally completed after 65 years
Glenavon FC hosted FC Erzgebirge Aue -- known as Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt during the communist era -- in Lurgan, 25 miles (40 kilometres) west of Belfast. Over 1,000 away fans traveled from Germany to cheer on the visitors, who were East German champions in 1960. The original tie was scrapped after both teams -- on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain that divided Europe after World War II -- were denied entry visas during a period of heightened political tension. "Those were hard times, governments weren't talking, no-one was let in or out," John Duggan, 91, who played for Glenavon in 1960, told AFP in Lurgan before the game. Duggan was part of a powerful Glenavon side which was crowned 1959-60 Irish League champions, granting qualification for the European Cup. But despite Europe's governing body Uefa allowing the home and away legs to take place in neutral countries, Glenavon withdrew from the competition due to lack of funds. Saturday's unique match, organised as a pre-season friendly after fans from both teams got in touch to probe the idea of fulfilling the long-forgotten fixture, ended in a 2-0 win for the German side. The game followed a "first-leg" of the rematch last year in Aue – 185 miles (300 kilometres) south of Berlin - which was won 5-0 by the Germans. 'Politics paused, football endured' The completion of the tie was "a missing chapter for both club's histories, it's great to finally get it played," Adam Carson, lifelong Glenavon fan and the club's supporter liaison officer, told AFP. "Politics paused it, but football endured," said Carson, who originally hatched the idea. When Glenavon qualified for European competition in 2014 Carson noticed that there was a European Cup game in 1960 that was never played and "put a couple of tweets" about it, he said. The idea was that "wouldn't it be great to go across to Germany and actually play this game 60 years later," he said. Carson's messages on social media were spotted by counterparts at the German side - who currently play in the third division of the Bundesliga - and a bond between the two clubs was forged. FC Erzgebirge Aue fan and its volunteer press official Max Richter, who first contacted Carson about a link-up, said that "today we close this little gap in our history and play this game which never happened. "The years when we were champions were in the 1950s and '60s, our club was big then, for all our fans that love the history of our club it was very important to be here," he told AFP. Robert Turkington, a Glenavon fan who was born in 1948 and has followed them since the 1950s "when we were a great side", remembers the original game's cancellation. "I was only a kid but I remember people were disappointed, today is just brilliant to see," he told AFP with a beaming smile. Glenavon fan Gareth Bridges, who went to the first leg in Germany, said that "a real camaraderie has developed between both sets of supporters. "Hopefully it is something that can develop between the two clubs into the future as well," the 39-year-old told AFP.
Belfast Telegraph
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Hundreds of German fans march through Lurgan before football tie is completed after 65 years
The streets turned purple as supporters of third-tier side Erzgebirge Aue walked to Mourneview Park before the match against Glenavon. Some enjoyed sampling Buckfast - one impressed visitor said he couldn't believe how good it tasted. The event had been given the go-ahead by the Parades Commission, who approved a request for up to 1,100 participants to march. It was all to mark the conclusion of a European tie halted by the Cold War in the early Sixties. Glenavon had qualified for the European Cup as Irish League champions. But they were prevented from completing their 1960–61 tie against Erzgebirge Aue as the Iron Curtain fell across Europe. The team was forced to withdraw after being refused visas to travel to East Germany. Their opponents, then known as Wismut, were likewise denied entry by the British embassy in Berlin. Last year the Lurgan side finally fulfilled the first leg of that long-postponed encounter when they travelled to the German side's town in the Saxony region, south of Berlin. That game ended in a 5-0 win for the Germans. And today, Erzgebirge Aue supporters were in Lurgan for the second leg, which kicked off at Mourneview Park at 2pm. They included members of the 'Violet Bikers' — the team's motorcycle supporters' club — who travelled across Europe in a motorcade. Fans gathered at Brownlow House before setting off on the route, via Union Street, to the stadium. On the way they sang club songs and crossed their arms - symbolising a hammer and chisel in a nod to their home town's mining past. Veit Barthel took time out to sample some Buckfast - declaring that it made him 'feel fantastic'. He said: 'I was out last night in Belfast and feeling a bit rough when I woke up. 'But on the train a Glenavon fan suggested trying a bottle of Buckfast to help me recover. 'It said feels fantastic - I can't believe how good it is. 'My friends are all beer drinkers but I prefer sweeter things, and I really liked Buckfast.' Adam Carson, the supporters' liaison officer at Glenavon, said they wanted to reciprocate the hospitality his team's fans received in Germany last summer. 'The welcome we got when we went over there was second to none,' he said this week. 'I always say to people, if we were lucky enough to play in Europe every single year, from now to the end of time, we'll never get another welcome like the way we did last year at Aue." On Friday night, some of the fans were at Windsor Park to see Dungannon Swifts beat Linfield on penalties in the Charity Shield.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Champions League: Irish League and German clubs to fulfil European Cup tie, 65 years later
When Glenavon FC were crowned 1959/60 Irish League champions and qualified for the European Cup no-one could have guessed that it would be another 65 years before the fixture would take place. The team were drawn against Erzgebirge Aue, but were forced to withdraw when the club was refused visas for East Germany due to the Iron Curtain that divided Europe during the Cold a new generation of German football fans will descend on County Armagh on Saturday to watch their team finally fulfil the ill-fated fixture in a special pre-season chairman Glenn Emerson said the stadium will be "rocking" with the atmosphere the away fans are expected to bring, with around 1,100 German fans expected to parade through Lurgan on their way to Mourneview Park. Erzgebirge Aue - known as Wismut in those years - were East German champions and were also denied entry to the UK by the British embassy in Uefa allowing the home and away legs to take place in neutral countries, Glenavon was forced to withdraw from the competition as it was not financially a huge effort by both clubs and their fans to see the fixtures played out, Glenavon travelled to Erzgebirge Aue's 16,500-seater Erzgebirgsstadion in Aue – 184 miles south of Berlin – last summer to fulfil the 'away' the 3. Liga professional outfit are coming to Northern Ireland. It all started with a tweet Glenavon's supporters' liaison officer Adam Carson said the idea of playing the games came about after he posted a tweet to gauge if there was any interest."It was more of a joke than anything and eventually about three years ago, some of Erzgebirge's fans actually got in contact with me and really liked the idea," he explained."We started to build relationships to see how we could move things forward. From there, I got friendly with a couple of their supporters, Max and Thomas."They eventually came over to a Glenavon game a few years back against Larne and they enjoyed the experience."About a year after that Max came back with their sporting director and official contact was made from there." Adam said the Erzgebirge Aue fans have been planning their trip to Northern Ireland for months, while the local community has rallied behind the idea of welcoming the German fans in what will be a unique game for both clubs."When we first started talking about having this game it was basically to celebrate two championship winning teams that didn't get the chance to play against each other," he said."The local community and our supporters seem to be getting behind it so they're really looking forward to it." 'An honour to play the game' Erzgebirge Aue's sports director Matthias Heidrich said the focus of the day will be the relationship between the two clubs and not the final described it as an "honour" to take part in the game and said the Glenavon fans can expect a great atmosphere from the Erzgebirge Aue support."I think the away support, in my point of view, there is more power, there is more passion behind it," he said."We are proud of our fans and what they do for us. We think they are a big and emotional part of our club and they try to push us in every game but, from my point of view, the final result isn't important."The friendship, the history and the closure of the chapter [to see the matches played] are the big headlines around this game." Away tickets sold in 'matter of days' The Glenavon chairman said while the club has hosted European games in the past, this friendly will be "massive" as away fans tend not to travel in large numbers in the early stages of European competition."We sent them 750 tickets and they were all gone in a matter of days," explained Glenn."We sent them another 500 so you're looking at probably in the region of 1,200 German fans descending on this place so it's going to be pretty busy."If their home match is anything to go by when we played over there in Germany last summer it'll be rocking because they like to do the old bouncy, bouncy as you can imagine." 'Everyone is doing their bit' Glenavon's Leigh McClune, who organised last year's trip to Germany, has been working hard behind the scenes to welcome Erzgebirge Aue to Mourneview Park and said preparations for Saturday's game began before Christmas."There's been an awful lot to do in regards to their travel arrangements, organising where they're staying, organising how long they're staying, organising training pitches and then we have to sort out meals for them every day," she added that between the committee put together to stage the game and club volunteers, everyone is doing their bit to make the day a success."Everybody is playing their part and they have their own jobs to do at the same time but they're all taking time out to organise this and make it a really successful day," she said.
