Group G
England v Belgium
Kaliningrad Stadium
Kaliningrad, Russia
28 June 2018
After leaving Nizhny Novgorod on 26 Jun we travelled North to a sunny St Petersburg for a 2 night stay before heading West to Kaliningrad. This stop over was purely for touristic reasons as we did not know at the time if England would play here and my research had correctly identified that the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad would only required a 2 day stop at the most
A total of 1419 tickets had been allocated to EF for this game (100 x Cat 1, 330 x Cat 2 and 989 x Cat 3). These were easily the most sort after tickets of the Group stage because it was the last game and the Group decider with Belgium. Many fans had opted to travel to Kaliningrad on day trips from neighbouring countries like Poland and Lithuania. This was partly caused by the hotels in Kaliningrad quoting silly money but many travelling across land borders would witness delays at customs, particularly from Poland
Ooh John Stones!
England v Belgium
England 0 Belgium 1
Attendance: 33,973
The atmosphere before this encounter was one of celebration (and relief) that England had made the knockout stages of the World Cup Finals for the first time since South Africa in 2010. The game itself was bit of a 'dead rubber' with both teams having qualified. This odd encounter was further compounded by the fact that the winner of the Group would be rewarded with a harder route to the Final. The Group winner would have to get passed Japan before facing Brazil/Mexico and then one of France/Argentina/Uruguay or Portugal in the SF. Whereas the Runners Up would face Colombia and then Sweden or Switzerland before meeting Russia/Spain/Croatia or Denmark, for the right to play in greatest football match on planet earth. This fact had obviously not gone unnoticed by both management teams as the two teams made17 changes from their last outings (8 for the English and 9 for Belgium).
Day 1- Arrival at Khrabrovo Airport on match day. This is the most westerly part of the Russian Federation and is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania in the Baltic Sea
Many England fans stayed in Gdansk and travelled by bus, some took the train along the Curonian Spit from Klaipeda in Lithuania. We flew from St Petersburg which was easy
Hotel HK was miles away from the centre and proved a serious challenge for getting about as none of the taxis knew of its existence. Even the Yandex App struggled.
On the plus side the hotel owner was an artist. The photo depicts a guest arguing with the receptionist when he receives the bill for 2 nights. My bill was £393. I obviously mentioned this in my review of Hotel HK.
The Amber Museum (музей янтаря) on Marshala Square
Maradona plays a leading role in
this gallery of 'cut out' footballers
The Upper Pond
The Rossgarten Gate is one of 7 surviving medieval gates which fortified the old Prussian capital of Konigsberg
Belgium fans on Victory Square
England's Top Boy
Belgium on Victory Square and England across the road
England at the Europa Shopping Centre
On Street drinking...we love it
...a nice can of Baltica No 3
Street mates
Its a party at the Europa
in the biggest England gathering in Russia so far
The Cafes are packed so we head 'off piste'
On the other side of the roadis the Zotler Bier Haus, which is a typical German drinking establishment, accept there are no Germans and the menu is 100% Russian (русское меню) 😁
Triumphant Column on Victory Square
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
on Victory Square (площадь победы)
Its all kicking off on the Shuttle Bus
Even the Robots are gorgeous
The approach to the impressive Kaliningrad Stadium
The sun is out and it is a great atmosphere
England v Belgium, Kaliningrad
A bit of 'Mime Time'
Entrance to the England Block in the North stand
Stalingrad Sue has now bagged all of the Group Games
Not to be out done!
This stadium will be home to FC Baltika after the World Cup but they are in the Russian Football National League (ФНЛ) which is the 2nd tier of Russian football. FC Baltika averaged 4,500 in season 2017-18. Hopefully the World Cup will cause an attendance boom throughout Russian, from which they can benefit.
Looking for Bud Cups
Anthems 1
Anthems 2
FIFA seats in the West stand
He's done it again................
Craigski is liking the taste of Cat 1 seats.
The English support in Block 134.
 |
Two birds from Maghull in Liverpool, now what are the chances of this meeting  |
England Fans celebrating the unsung
heroes of Russia's World Cup👍
A Big thank you to Block 134's super cleaner 💫
'большое спасибо'
After Januzaj's 51st minute strike beats the flying Jordan Pickford I cant help thinking that this is good goal to lose. Now its up to the reserves to hold out for a respectable defeat. We can beat the Colombians and then the path is clear. It's a cunning plan and it might just work 😎
The result does not go our way but
it looks like we've avoided the big boys
Belgium edge it 1:0 in the game nobody wanted to win
The spaceship has landed
Best we book accommodation in Moscow
Passing the fan fest on our the way to the German pubs.
No photos of this as I was a little bit 'worst for wear'
Day 2 - Kaliningrad site seeing. We woke up to an overcast day and banging headaches. Hotel HK did a great breakfast.
First stop, we revisit Victory Square and
the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
A closer look at Triumph Column
Next up, we visit the German Bunker which is now a museum dedicated to the Konigsberg Offensive where the Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian Front eventually overcame the defending Germans on 9 April 1945
The main corridor of the bunker where the local Commander 'Otto Lasch' negotiated the surrender without the approval of Adolf Hitler. This action led to the arrest of Lasch's family in Germany.
A poster announcing 120 year since the birth date of Marshal AM Vasilevsky (Маршал АМ Василевский), the Soviet Commander during the Konigsberg Offensive
Model showing the Prussian capital in flames. You can make out Konigsberg Castle and the ancient village surrounded it.
Much of the devastation of Konigsberg was down to RAF bombing raids prior to the main offensive. The Soviets finished the job with artillery bombardment prior to its capture
Leaving the bunker we spot a poster of the legendary Russian keeper, Lev Yashin
The Fan Fest in front of the House of Soviets
The House of Soviets is known by the locals as the 'Buried Robot'. It was built on the grounds of the former Konigsberg Castle which was heavily damaged during the war. The Soviets decided against preserving the ruins, and opted to demolish it because it was deemed a symbol of fascism. This was done between 1967-69. Work on the House of Soviets began in 1970 but there were structural problems because the foundations were too weak. Work stopped in 1985 and the structure has been left abandoned ever since.
Cross section showing the foundation
ruins of Konigsberg Castle
The inscription reads "On this place a
monument to the world will be established"
Kaliningrad (Konigsberg) Cathedral was badly damaged during air raids by the RAF but was restored in the 1990s when Kaliningrad became open o foreigners. It also houses the tomb of the philosopher Immanuel Kant. The cathedral is located on Kant Island which was formerly the thriving medieval town of Kneiphof
The Fishing Village is a relatively new development which aims to imitate the former traditions of ancient Konigsberg
The writing on the wall sais 'Рыбная деревня',
translated from Russian it means 'Fish Village'
The lighthouse alongside the Pregolya river
View of the Cathedral and the Fishing Village
Zabivaka doing a knee slide
Skipper Hotel
Bronze Statues are beginning to
be a feature of this world cup
The tomb of Immanuel Kant the philosopher
'Russian and Serbia brothers forever'
Moskovskiy Prospect
'ЧМ 2018' (ЧЕМПИОНАТ МИРА)
WM 2018 (World Championships)
The Museum of the Ocean World is located on the embankment of the Pregolya River
Lots of toys outside the museum
This B-413 Submarine was launched in 1968 and remained in service until 1999, serving in the Arctic and the Baltic Fleets of the Russian Navy before retiring to the museum. Hard to believe that a crew of 80 used to man this vessel.
NATO classified this Soviet B-413 as a Foxtrot class
On the way back to town we pop into the
Corner Pub on Ulitsa Bol'nichnaya for a quick pint
The best flushing system ever
Day 3 - Leaving for St Petersburg
Passing the Curonian Spit; a thin piece of land comprising sand dunes which connect Kaliningrad with Klaipeda in Lithuania. It stretches for 98 km and separates the Curonian lagoon from the Baltic Sea
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