£2.71

England U21 0 v Portugal U21 1

Thursday 18 June 2015

UEFA U21 Championship

Městský stadion, Uherské Hradiště

Twitter @ball_sup

Travelogue

My first time at a UEFA U21 tournament. I've not been in the Czech Republic for a long long time. That was Prague. I've never been round these neck of the woods. I've never done any serious beer hunting in CZ.

I first came to the old Czechoslovakia in the mid 80s. On "business" when I was a Worker Bee. UN Conference in Bratislava. Found Pilsner Urquell. Thank you British Taxpayer. Urquell now owned by SABMiller.

This time around, we travelled from Ljubljana to Vienna by direct train (6 hours). Night in Vienna. Direct train Vienna to Stare Mesto Uherské Hradiště (hour and a half). That's on a main line. The train we were on was heading for Gdynia in Poland. Then a 5 minute rattler across the Morava River to Uherské Hradiště itself.

Nice place. Compact town centre. We did the usual left one day, right the next, river bank walks. We stayed at the Hotel Konicek, which I would recommend.

The Beer

Embarrassed to say, I know very little about Czech beer. But, I wasn't really beer hunting. There are many breweries & many bars. If the one you're in only has multinational industrial piss, move down the street.

It would be presumptuous of me to say "the best beer place in Uherské Hradiště is.....".  I've not had time for comprehensive research. But I will say that Dobré Pivo, owned by my Czech Beer Sister Hana Vetyšková, is a great place.

From what I could tell, beer, coffee & soft drinks only - no wines nor spirits. A few bottles in the fridge. Beer books & accoutrements for sale. Bottles & Growlers filled. Four keg taps, four Czech micros/deliveries from brewpubs. And basically even the top of the range was around a quid a pint.

A small, clean, welcoming place. A handful of tables inside. A few outside in a large public square. Go.

But, another ticker's dilemma based on national borders for me. I took some great recommendations from Hana. Some beers were even brewed by her husband. Maybe lost in translation, but I understood he's a Head Brewer. I'm not turning those beers down am I. Except, his brewery is across the way there in SLOVAKIA. I've drank 'em. I'm ticking 'em.

I had;
Moravský Žižkov, Divočák 10°
Zlinsky Švec 13°
Moravský Žižkov Čert 13°
Wywar, Cyklistická Osmićka 8° (Slovakia)
Wywar, Ejlik 11° (Slovakia)

The Stand Out Beer of this leg was the Wywar 8°. A superb hoppy low abv pale. Loved it.

The Uherské Hradiště UEFA Experience

There was a small Fan Zone in a square in the town. Big screen, bouncy castles, bars, food & a main stage. You know the drill. Queen tribute bands. Beatles tribute bands. Covers bands. No Mighty Wah.

Of course, they'd got all the UEFA Bollocks going on. It looked like there was some Czech Beer on sale, that they weren't allowed to name. And Pouring Partner Carlsberg. FFS.

The Club Bar at the ground had been forced to black out their beer signs in yet more clean stadium nonsense.

In the ground, it looked like 0.5% abv Carlsberg. But the local fans were piling into it. So either I've misunderstood or they have.

Usual Jibber from the stadium announcer. Pushing the UEFA vision. Sponsor's crap on the big screen. "I can't hear you on that side, Are You Ready....?"

7,167 on parade. A fair few local fans with inappropriate Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc shirts, flags, scarves. Czech fella sat next to Mrs Ball Sup with a Millwall, No One Likes Us... t-shirt. At times, the crowd seemed into it. At other times, they were Wembley Bored. Mexican waves. Rhythmic clapping.

Oh. Did I mention. Internet portal for tickets. Print 'em at home. After the bank applied their exchange rate, my ticket worked out at £2.71.

8 Team Tournaments are the thing aren't they. EURO 1992 in Sweden. Every game matters. No cannon fodder in the group. Bish, Bash, you're done. Not for much longer at any age group level if UEFA/FIFA have their way I fear.

The Match

Disappointing to see England lose the opener. Decent game. Both teams played neatly at times. A bit of urgency lacking. Some quick feet. And just occasionally, players getting shots off quickly, with power & accuracy. A bit of pinball for the Portugal goal. So England can count themselves a little unlucky.

Odd game from Harry Kane. Didn't win many headers. Seemed to be looking for the second ball at corners. He went into "I ain't passing" mode.

I enjoyed watching Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal) down my channel. The sort of I'm just going to deal with this full-back I like.

153/331