After two and a half years of talking and dreaming about my next overseas adventure, the time finally came. Hooking up with the Meadows bro’s, Lee and Dave, Belgium was our chosen destination, the combination of cheap flights, small distances between stadiums, a fine selection of beer but more importantly being the home of the roving reporter Tintin made it a rather easy choice for our next soiree into Europe.
Quick fixture check
A quick check of the fixture list and the Friday night fixture of reigning champions Club Brugge vs Zulte Waregem jumped out and the decision was made. Return flights to Brussels from Manchester were picked up for a reasonable £60 each given our commitment to not changing clothes too often and we were ready to go.
After another Ryanair flight landed on time in French speaking Brussels we jumped straight on the bus to Flemish speaking Bruges, as you may know Belgium has 2 languages that are generally spoken, 60% of the country speaks Flemish and 40% French, the split is pretty much North and South with Flemish being the language of the Northern territory of Flanders and French being the language of the southern territory of Wallonia, leaving Brussels in the middle as it’s own region.
This was my second visit to Bruges after a TUFC footy tour back in 2015 with a personal highlight being the purchase of some bright yellow pants, however this time I thought I’d do a little more digging into the history of the team and city rather than just rolling up and sampling the beverages.
A bit of history
For anyone not interested in history feel free to skip but personally I find these little nuggets fascinating. Records of Bruges date back to a Gallo-Roman settlement discovered in the 3rd Century BC, the Vikings named it Brygga in the 9th Century. Due to it’s proximity to the North Sea and therefore UK and Scandinavia, it was a perfect location for trading back in the day.
Towards the end of the 13th Century divisions were growing between the peasants and the nobility, the Flemish in Flanders began to rise up against the French rulers leading to the Franco-Flemish war in 1297. The French occupation of Flanders continued for several years but one night in May 1302 the French held a huge feast celebrating their continued rule. Knowing the French would be worse for wear, the next morning, the Flemish people, led by Peter de Koninck and Jan Breydel, more on him later, launched an attack in the early hours the next morning.
Bruges Matin
They entered the garrison and massacred around 2,000 soldiers while they slept, these events became known as the Bruges Matin. As expected the French retaliated but they were outfought and defeated in the Battle of the Golden Spurs on July 11th the same year. In 1970 this date was made the official holiday of the Flemish community highlighting the significance of the events of these times. If any of that was remotely interesting then check out the film The Lion of Flanders on Youtube. I’ve pre warned the channel to explain the incoming surge in views.
Back in Bruges the trading continued and in 1309 the first Stock Market was formed and by the 15th century Bruges was the centre of the trading world. Unfortunately over the years the Zwin Inlet that connects Bruges to the North Sea began to silt eventually limiting the access and therefore trade to Bruges, combined with the rising status of Antwerp as a trading city, the economic decline began. To the extent that by the time Belgium finally became an independent country in 1830, Bruges was one of the poorest cities in the country.
Turning to Tourism
In a pleasant twist of irony, the lack of progress and development meant it retained much of its medieval charm, and by the late 19th century it started to become a tourist attraction. As the tourism grew, more and more older buildings were restored and it is now a beautiful picturesque town full of Unesco sites welcoming 8 million tourists a year.
A little bit more history but this time about our hosts. Club Brugge were formed in 1891 and were participants of the inaugural Belgian League, known as Football Club Brugeois in their early years, later adding the Royal prefix in 1920 to celebrate their first league title. Much of the next 50 years was spent in the lower divisions without great success. The change to the Flemish name in 1972 to the unpronounceable Koninklijke Vereniging club Brugge seemed to bring unprecedented success under the legendary Austrian manager Ernst Happel, he led Brugge to 3 successive league titles between 75 and 78, during those years they UEFA Cup final against Liverpool, 2 years later they became the first Belgian team to reach the European cup final but fell again to their scouse rivals.
The big Belgian rivalry
At the same time, another great rivalry was forming closer to home with Anderlecht, the majority of the titles were shared between these two as well as 3 cup finals, to this day they continue to battle it out to be the best team in Belgium with Brugge’s 18 league titles second only to Anderlechts 34.
During this successful period a new stadium was built, the Olimpiastadion which is shared with rivals Cercle Brugge. 25 years on, the stadium required upgrading to reach the required UEFA standard to be considered for the upcoming Euro 2000. This was only possible with funding from the Flemish council, part of the deal was for the stadium to have a more Flemish name, and this is where again we meet the hero of the 1302 Brugge Matin….Jan Breydel, again highlighting the Flemish significance of those aforementioned events, since then the home of the two Bruges teams has been known as the Jan Breydel Stadium, there has even been an annual pre-season tournament of friendly named the Brugge Matin.
Chasing down their rivals
In more recent times, Bruge have won 4 of the last 6 Belgian titles, including the last 2 doing everything they can to ‘knock Anderlecht off their perch’. Despite losing young superstar Charles De Ketelaere to AC Milan, as the season commenced they were still overwhelming favourites for this years Jupiler league title. Nothing less than victory will be expected against Zulte Waregem so lets see what they have in store for us and enjoy this lovely ground before Brugge move to their planned new 40k seater stadium in the coming years.
Due to late arrival in Bruges it was a case of dropping the bags and straight in a taxi for 10 mins to the stadium. With a bit time to spare we picked up a beer at Colmado, a perfect little shop selling beers and snacks a couple of hundred metres from the ground and on we went.
Finally back
It was such a buzz to be walking down towards a foreign ground after so long without travel, joining the hoards of Blau and Zwart fans as the stadium appeared as we turned the corner. A quick search for some scarves and magnets and we were ready to enjoy the atmosphere, once we worked out the system for buying drinks using the loyalty card we were set to take our seats with beer in hand for the first time in God knows how long.
After a less than inspiring rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ the game kicked off to picturesque views with the sun setting beautifully in the distance and we were expecting a one-sided affair, Bruges had won the last 5 against Zulte scoring 20 goals without reply. Both teams started the season with the same record (W1, L1) and this seemed to be reflected in the cagey atmosphere amongst the fans at the start of the game. Bruges maintained possession well and despite creating a few half chances, they lacked the cutting edge up front to take the lead in the first half, much of this down to the battling defending of Moudou Tambedou.
The second half started with a bang as within 2 minutes of the restart, the young Danish winger, Andreas Skov Olsen put the home team in front which seemed to settle the nerves around the stadium as the atmosphere improved, however due to our proximity to the away fans it was them who were making themselves heard despite their lowly number. And much to their delight their vigorous support was rewarded on 69 minutes when Oleksandr Drambaev restored parity shortly after their star man and my Sorare striker Jelle Vossen was removed due to injury.
Great result for the visitors
As expected Zulte were happy to hold on for the draw and that’s exactly what happened as Bruges struggled to breakdown a resolute defence. The away fans set off elated for their short journey home across Flanders as the home fans filtered out towards the bars in the Car Park, and us back to Colmado for a debrief with the locals, enjoyed with a Grimbergen and a few Wurste Brotchen to appease the appetite.
On being told there were a couple of bars around the corner we didn’t expect too much but we were pleasantly surprised with the lively nightlife despite being so far from the centre. Joined by many Bruges ultras, the place was bouncing despite the result as people began their weekends, after a couple of hours and managing to drag Lee out of a techno bar we set off on the long walk home but there was still time for one major drama.
Back in the city we were passed by a speeding cyclist, shouting something at us on his way, seconds later, the quiet calm of the early hours was broken by an almighty bang. As we turned back, the decorative flowers and lights that adorned the bridge were looking a lot more dishevelled than when we passed by seconds earlier. As we approached, we found a young man lay motionless with a pool of blood around his head, we shouted back for Lee with his first aid skills and tracked down a local to call an ambulance.
Take care amigo
Thankfully, Efrain started to come round despite looking like he’d busted an eye socket, on a positive note it proved to be an unexpected opportunity to practice my Spanish, “tranquilo” being the main instruction when he tried to move. The Paramedics arrived quickly and assured us all would be well, if you’re out there pal, hope the damage wasn’t too bad.
Sadly due to the heavy schedule there was little time for tourism in Bruges. For breakfast the next morning we bit the bullet and paid for the views, directly opposite the Belfry of Bruges in the stunning main square. Traditional mussels were consumed alongside a pint of Brugse zot, one of the finest beers I’ve ever tasted, a beautiful start to the day, if not the most sensible in simply topping up the alcohol levels from the night before.
Sights to see
As well as the 83m tall Belfry of Bruges and River Cruises, the main enjoyment is simply wandering the streets, bar hopping and enjoying the wonderful views this medieval city has to offer. One certainty for my next trip will be De Halve Man brewery which pumps its beer out of the city via a 2 mile pipeline in order to avoid huge trucks coming into the centre, I best get checking the Cercle Bruges fixtures.
Is Club Brugge worth visiting for a Footy Trip?
So for the first time, I will be grading this as an overall football trip giving a score out of 100. So here goes
Team Ability – Over recent years the top team in the 13th best league in the world and regularly qualifying for the Champions League group stage – 7/10
Atmosphere – 2/3s full with good away support even if small, good home support and fairly relaxed – 6/10
Stadium Quality – Fairly old school stadium with character, decent quality, nice and symmetrical – 6.5/10
Beer/Food at stadium – Annoying club specific card required, standard Jupiler which was decent, no queueing but allowed to drink in our seats –7.5/10
Tourism in the city – One of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe – 9/10
Accessibility – Affordable flights to Brussels but over an hour on bus/train ride required from there – 7/10
People – Everyone we interacted with were generally pretty friendly and up for a chat, always very comfortable – 7/10
Stadium Surroundings – Although limited for time there were a couple of small bars around and nice party after– 8/10
Club History – Formed in 1891 with 18 league titles and 2 European competition runners up spots and a stadium named after a hero from the 1300’s – 8/10
Ease/Cost of ticket pricing – Purchase is a bit of a pain with creating accounts and needing passport numbers, plenty of tickets available and good communication from the club – 7/10
Total – 73/100
Accomplishments
Countries in the world watched football – 15/196 (8%)
Countries in Europe watched Football – 10/55 (18%)
Teams in Belgian Jupiler Pro watched – 1/18 (6%)
Nice accomplishment of having watched football in a new country, always a satisfying moment
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