Who are yer? The club

It FC Schalke 04 to be precise, as they'll sing all day and all night if they can.

They are one of the giants of German football in terms of stadium, fan base and success.. well, almost success anyway.

The list of honours does include a clutch of league titles but England has won the World Cup since the most recent, in 1958. There have been some close run campaigns since, and several visits to the Champions League including an epic run to the semis in 2011, but the Bundesliga title remains elusive.

Where do you come from? Veltins Arena

They come from the Veltins Arena, one of the biggest in  the country and from first impressions certainly one of the most impressive.

Reflective: Veltins Arena.

It rises like a giant bowl on a hill from the surrounding parkland - with wide  sweeping driveways around the ground level and the huge Veltins Arena sign on the top.  It's high, it's vast, and it's enclosed with giant windows from the ground to the very top.

If you arrive via the Underground, and most people do, the five minute walk takes you to the south west corner, one of the busiest corners on match day with music and a few football games to add to the general party atmosphere. There are main entrances on all four corners.

Inside the view is no less impressive. Giant TV screens are fixed high about the centre of the pitch from bars hanging from the giant roof, which remains open but does give the ground a really enclosed feel.

It's on two tiers. To the left of the main stand - largely corporate on the bottom level - is the huge Nordkurve where Schalke fans roar on their team from start to finish. Seats ring the rest of the lower and upper tiers, save for the visitors' standing corner in the far south east corner.

From the top: The view looking towards the home terrace.

Scores of executive boxes are housed between the two tiers with the smaller but steeper upper tiers giving you a reasonable bird's eye view - both of the pitch, and outside of the city of Gelsenkirchen and surrounds, which is no Rome or Prague but a view is a view I say.

I went to the upper tier and while facilities are reasonable they're not plentiful with the bars and toilets packed at key times. It may be worth your while enjoying the atmosphere on the concourse outside before heading to your seat too early.

We're on our way: Getting to the ground

The Veltins Arena is in the middle of parkland, a good long way from the centre of town and I wouldn't advise on walking it. Put it this way, nobody else appears to.

The good news is that it's a direct underground line from the main station to the arena and it's free with your matchday ticket.

I say underground, it goes underground for about 400 yards then you're on street level and able to sample the modest sights of Gelsenkirchen. It does also mean it does stop and start a bit and the journey to the Veltins Arena does take a good 20 minutes. It passes several home bars along the way so expect it to busy up as your journey progresses.

Best foot forward: Walking up from the tram stop.

It's then a five minute walk up to the edge of the arena complex. Bear in mind it's another five minutes to the north end and a good ten minutes or so round to the east side.

For the record, I arrived in the city at 2pm and was wandering into the far side of the ground just before 3pm for a 3.30pm kick off - I wouldn't leave it much later.

Who ate all the pies? Eating and drinking

Veltins sponsors the Veltins Arena. Veltins is a beer. You will be served Veltins at the arena inside, outside, anywhere you care to go. There are a whole host of bars before you go through the turnstiles - and inside too.

As mentioned, queues can form at the bar although you'll rarely wait longer than five minutes. There's often a separate queue for food and drink so don't be fooled if you're after a beer and see a short queue, it's probably for a bratwurst.

The selection of both is reasonable, as are the prices.

Please note there's no cash payment at the counter. You need to buy, and put money on, a Knappenkarte which is then swiped at the till. The kartes are sold at points around the stadium but again, note.. there may be another short queue for this as I didn't see that many of them.

Ice creams seemed popular - with random men selling them from the aisles during the match.

Outside, there are a few spots near the train station (I found a busy one showing games just out of the station, and to the right (follow the sign to the old town). And there's a few along the route of the underground (when it's overground) should you wish to hop off. Everyone hops back on with a pint in hand so why not?

Bag a seat: Buying a ticket

Getting a ticket is difficult but not impossible. Every league match is a sell-out with a huge membership snapping up tickets quickly.

However, if you're lucky you can pick up one of the few hundred tickets that go on general sale usually around a fortnight or so before matchday.

You'll need to register on the ticket section of the website, by clicking here - it's in German but not too tricky to navigate, with a bit of help from Google translate. Go to where it says 'Neuregistrierung' on the left hand side of the ticket shop page. It takes several days for your registration to be approved by the club. Bearing this in mind, it's worth doing this well in advance.

Take a seat: The other end of the stadium, with visitors near left.

It's then a case of checking the ticket section in the weeks ahead. It will repeatedly tell you that none are available at present - but then a few hundred will go on sale, when I went it was for a block in the upper tier. These are posted out for a modest fee.

Grab a souvenir: Tours and stores

Schalke is big enough to have its own museum. It contains, by all accounts, the usual memorabilia including the UEFA Cup, and videos too. It's open 10am to 7pm Tuesdays to Fridays, and 10am to 5pm at weekends, with charges in 2010 of adults 4 euros and those aged 6-21 2 euros.

For more info see the Schalke section of the website by clicking here.

Tours of the stadium are available but must be arranged in advance. They take 75 minutes and cost 8 euros for adults, 4 euros for under 21s, and include entry to the arena.

You can pick up your merchandise at various counters inside the stadium, or alternatively at the main shop, a 600sq metre outlet open 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm on Saturday, and all matchdays.