Report by Arnfinn Kjos Eduardsen
I have been to three of the men’s away matches: first in Leipzig a long time ago (February 2023), and then against Dortmund and St. Pauli in 2025. For the women’s team, it has only been home matches, unless I count the final of the Berlin Cup, which was played south of Berlin a couple of years ago.
My goal for 2026 had been to attend at least one away match for the women as well. Since winter in Germany can be both cold and windy, the plan was to choose a match not too far from Berlin (Leipzig, HSV or Wolfsburg).
Then suddenly a flight ticket to Düsseldorf popped up for Friday, January 30, at NOK 395, the same weekend as the match against Essen was scheduled. Even though January is chilly, and even though the distance to Berlin is considerable, I couldn’t resist the temptation. The only problem was that the match day had not yet been fixed. The game could be played on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or even Monday. I also booked my return home, but from Berlin on Tuesday evening. I wanted to stop by Adlershof while I was in Germany. Transportation to Berlin could be arranged either by taking an ICE train or by using my D-Ticket and traveling with regional (RE) trains to Berlin. The latter would take more than nine hours and involve five train changes.
If the match day turned out to be Monday, the trip would be difficult, but then the alternative would be to attend the men’s match against Hoffenheim on Saturday. I assumed Josh was planning to drive from Birmingham, and then he could pick me up along the way.
Just before Christmas everything worked out. The women’s match against Essen was scheduled for Saturday at 14:00. For me, that meant only one night at a hotel in Essen when I found a reasonably priced ICE ticket “home” to Adlershof late on Sunday. A hotel right next to Essen Hauptbahnhof was booked, and I started to get excited—I will probably never outgrow a strong case of travel fever!
The flight to Düsseldorf departed as scheduled, and from the airport I continued by S-Bahn to Essen Hbf. The hotel was 35 minutes from the station (Garner); it hardly could have been easier.
Essen plays its matches at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße, which has a capacity of 20,650. The third-division team Rot-Weiss Essen also plays there, but this is not the same club as the women’s team SGS Essen. Our opponent is therefore one of the few Frauen-Bundesliga teams without a men’s club to provide support. They were promoted to the top division in 2004 and have mostly finished mid-table, though in recent years they have been somewhat closer to the relegation places.
After a long and substantial breakfast, we continued by local bus to the stadium. There were about 1,500 spectators in total, of whom at least 300 were Union supporters. Many of our fans arrived just before kickoff, as a canceled train from Berlin meant alternative routes had to be found. But they made it, and throughout the match we were at least as loud as the Essen supporters.
Our women started the match energetically and pressed hard. However, Essen was dangerous on the counterattack and managed to score two quick goals. We were prepared to be two goals down at halftime, but just before the break Heiseler thundered in our first goal.
After the break, Union was far more focused and significantly increased the tempo. That also led to more goals—first two by Campbell (in the 51st and 62nd minutes). In stoppage time, our new Swiss international Lia Kamber sealed the result to make it 2–4. She is a player we will get a lot of joy from! Turning the match around the way we did was impressive, and the mood among our supporters was great.
From Essen I had booked a train departing at 19:22, which would have put me in Adlershof just after midnight. That meant a bit of waiting time, which I spent in the hotel reception. A little after 18:00, several people came into the hotel asking for vacant rooms. The 19:22 train to Berlin had been canceled, and it was the last option of the day. I quickly packed my things and ran over to the station. There I was informed that I could take a regional train to Dortmund and catch another connection to Berlin from there.
On the platform there was a large, red-clad Union group who had been waiting for over an hour for a train that never came. I told them what I had been advised to do, but they chose to stay and wait in Essen. When they saw that I was from the Bamsegjengen group, I was asked to pass on greetings to Rune—everyone knew that man.
I first made it to Dortmund, where there was an ICE train just about to leave for Berlin, although it was 45 minutes delayed. I jumped on, and the result was that I arrived in Berlin 45 minutes earlier than originally planned.
I hope those who were left waiting in Essen managed to get home eventually - I did, at least!
EISERN!
Arnfinn Kjos Eduardsen – Bamsegjengen