Czechia U21 v England U21
UEFA Euro Under 21 Championships 2025
Group B, Match 1
DAC Arena,
Dunajska Streda, Slovakia
12 Jun 25
It has been 2 years since our amazing trip to Georgia and since then I have been looking forward to Slovakia for nearly that long. For now, England are drawn in Group B and have one fixture in Dunajská Streda and two in Nitra
Location of the Stadiums
Tickets were available online via the UEFA U21 website. The FA did not take up an allocation so we had to do it ourselves ending up with a great view behind the goal in B3
The stadium is known as the DAC Arena for European competitions but the sponsors named it MOL Arena for domestic fixtures. The old stadium was built in 1953 but was reconstructed between 2016-19 and now has a capacity of 12,700. It has hosted one match involving the Slovakian national team, where on 30 March 1993 Slovakia drew 2:2 with Lithuania in a friendly
Attendance: 8087
Day 1 - Arrival: Mine and Charlie's Ryan Air flight left Stansted on time at 1105, arriving Bratislava 1415 local time
After getting the No61 Bus to the train station we hop onto a Leo Express, a regional train that takes us all the way to for Dunajská Streda the incredibly low price of around 2Eu
Arrival at the New York Pension in the blazing heat, just a few minutes walk from the train station
The pension costs myself and Mr Bishop a meagre £120
(£60 each) for 2 nights
After exploring the town we find 'St Patrick's Pub', which was not really an Irish Bar but a Hungarian Sports Bar (in Slovakia) with an Irish Pub name.
The local team shirts of FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda are displayed all over the Bar. It was here that I found out that the local population see themselves, culturally as Hungarian and even speak Hungarian, not Slovakian
Bars on the Main Street being overlooked by an Evangelist Church built between 1863-83
On the square is the Roman Catholic Church of St George, the oldest religious and historical building in Dunajská Streda, The town itself, has an interesting name which translated means 'Danube Wednesday' because in Medieval times it was a town on the River Danube which was permitted to have a market on every Wednesday
Monument of the Revolution and war of
Independence of 1848/49
The Town Hall is one of the most impressive buildings
Day 2 - Spa Day and Matchday.
Thermal park Dunajská Streda is one of the most popular recreation resorts in Southern Slovakia
4 indoor, 6 outdoor pools and numerous bars.
What is not to like?
Team Photo at the fountain
Left to right: Rushy, CM, Bish and me
Humpty Dumpty sat under a fountain
Thermalpark pub crawl with Rushy
On the way to our pre-match meal we pass the original gates to Stadion TJ DAC (1953) before the 2016-19 reconstruction
Just behind the DAC Arena is Park Bistro which came highly recommended. Despite the obligatory bill enquiry it was a really nice afternoon.
No competition is complete without it's merchandise
The full team is out for pre-match (pros and day trippers)
Old meets new at the DAC Arena
In the concourse under B3
I know, lets collect all of the beakers
The view from B3
The Main Stand and all the ViP areas (Bronze, Silver, Gold and the Sky Box to the left
Blocks C1 to C5 to the right
The Czech flags are dominating
England defending a free kick with less
than a minute on the clock
Johnathon Rowe doubles the lead on the 48th minute with a close finish after good work by Livramento
Fila pulls one back on 51 mins with a brilliant headed goal but on the hour mark we still lead
Cresswell rises tall to head in from a delightful corner on 76 minutes and that is the way it stayed
3:1 to the England. Match 1 and job done
8,807 lucky fans saw this cracker
Then the after party with the Czech fans
On the journey from Dunajská Streda we get off at Bratislava main station and venture into the city so that Bish can have a poo. On, on, to Trenčín!
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