Oberhausen city and football guide
Yep, you and me both. I hadn't even heard of Oberhausen either, let alone knew where it was.
It's one of those deceptively quite large towns though, more than 200,000 people that make up Germany's industrial heartlands - well, what were industrial heartlands when Germany, like England, had industry.
A short distance north of Dusseldorf, the town was a hub for mining and steel but these are now long gone. In its place is Centr0, a huge shopping centre similar to Meadowhall in Sheffield and claimed locally to be Europe's biggest shopping and leisure park. This is snortily derided as rubbish by those in the know who say it's not even the biggest in this part of Germany. You decide.
Still, Oberhausen is doing its best to reinvent itself and its Gasometer, built in the twenties and IS the largest of its kind in Europe, is now open as a tourist attraction and exhibition hall - part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage.
A quick check of the hotel websites reveals a surprising 50 odd in Oberhausen. And despite sounding fairly glum the place is pleasant enough on first impressions, dominated by low rise housing, and you could spend a night there. However, the chances are your stay in Oberhausen will, like mine, be short as attractions of Dusseldorf, Cologne and other bigger cities in the region are all but a short train ride away.
Getting there and around
The nearest airport to Oberhausen is Dusseldorf, one of Europe's big hubs and served by the major carriers, with Dortmund and Weeze (Dusseldorf) the next best options.
From Dusseldorf Airport's own train station the journey takes as little as 16 minutes. Oberhausen is on the main line dissecting this part of Germany, connecting it to Dusseldorf city (20 minutes) and Cologne (45 minutes) directly. Check out www.bahn.de for more.
Rot Weiss Oberhausen: a fan's guide
Who are yer? Rot-Weiss Oberhausen
Not one of Germany's big boys, by any stretch of the imagination. However, they have boasted a short spell in the top flight, playing Bundesliga football during the long hair and sideburns era at the turn of the seventies with some low level finishes.
Financial problems saw them tumble into the fourth level by 1990. They rallied to return to the second tier by the end of the decade. Two successive relegations saw them back in the fourth - however, two successive promotions pushed them back into Bundesliga 2 by 2008 and they've competed well so far.
In 1999 they enjoyed their best run in the cup, making it to the semis were mighty Bayern Munich saw them off in front of 45,000 at Gelsenkirchen.
Where do you come from? Niederrheinstadion
When you've done the rounds of Germany's gleaming new stadiums a trip to Oberhausen is a wonderful throw back to times past.
But I have to say Oberhausen's Niederrheinstadion is a true football lovers' venue. To be honest, it hosts Bundesliga 2 football and although it's neat and compact the stadium wouldn't look out of place in England's Conference.
The ground holds a fairly impressive 21,000 but the vast majority of that is standing - and most of those souls are open to the elements on a rainy October night as they were on my trip.
It's bowl shaped - an athletics track means those on the terrace behind the goals are a long way back and the obligatory fences don't exactly make it better.
The main stand is 12 rows of covered seats the length of the pitch. Opposite is another covered stand, on the left it is seated whilst on the right is Oberhausen's noisy hard core members' standing area.
Away to the left is the home terrace, a long and fairly shallow open curve. Meanwhile away fans are housed to the right - getting the last sector of seating and then as much standing as they need, a small portion of which is covered next to the main stand. That curve is dominated by a large and impressively old style electronic scoreboard - complete with pixelated pictures of the players when they score or are substituted.
Considering it's really open, and usually less than half full, the fans under cover do their best to get a good atmosphere going - but there's no denying it's a small club.
We're on our way: Getting to the ground
Despite Oberhausen sounding a pretty bleak place (check out the Wikipedia entry) the ground itself is on a beautiful spot in parkland by the River Emscher.
Most of the locals rock up on foot or by car, meaning it's pretty chaotic in the immediate vicinity of the stadium before and after.
Away fans generally arrive by train and there are buses running from outside the northern exit to the ground on matchdays, taking about ten minutes - your match ticket means the bus is complimentary although there was no real checking. You could walk - but it's a long walk, around half an hour, and the clue is you don't see anybody else doing that. And while the route to the ground is pleasant enough there are precious few shops or bars to break your journey.
If you're out after the game sharpish and want to head back to the station without jumping on the buses, a few taxis park up close to the main grandstand. The journey back can get caught up in traffic but a ride back to the station costs around ten euros.
Who ate all the pies? Eating and drinking
As mentioned earlier your options for a pre-match drink on the way to the stadium are limited. There is a McDonalds within striking distance of the ground itself. There is an aldstadt area on the other side of the railway station which may be worth a punt but you may be better off heading into the stadium grounds and grabbing one of the staple options there - grills, fries or beer.
Oberhausen rail station is on the main line and there's a smattering of places to grab a bite or stock up at the supermarket.
Bag a seat: Buying a ticket
Tickets can be bought on the day as the place is rarely even nearly full, even for a derby against local rivals Duisburg. So you can rock up and buy a ticket on the day nearest the turnstiles you want to enter by - although give yourself a bit of time as there can be queues.
You can also purchase tickets at the fan shop in the town (see below) or go online at the official ticket shop by clicking here
Bag a souvenir: Club store
For club store read club kiosk - you'll find a kiosk with a limited range of gear inside the stadium area.
The full range is found at Helmholtzstraße 46, at the back of City Kaufhof - open midday to 6pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 2pm Saturday.
Alternatively check out the online shop by clicking here http://www.rot-weiss-oberhausen.de/fanshop/shop_start.php