September 3rd, 2009 - Czech Cup 2nd round- SK Líšeň 1 Sigma Olomouc 3

September 3rd, 2009 - Czech Cup 2nd round

SK Líšen 1 Sigma Olomouc 3

Attendance: 820 (away support of 8)

Admission: 80kc

Game rating: 6/10

Beer: Starobrno of course

Apologies, as I don't know how to make the 'n' with the little mark above it in Líšen. A few years back Líšen were in the fourth division, and they hosted Slavia Praha in the Czech Cup. Before a huge crowd, Líšen knocked off Slavia Praha. In the next round they went on to play Viktoria Žižkov, but they ended up losing. Despite this, I suspect they made a little money off of these games, which have in turn been reinvested into the club. They are now building a stand, which you can see in one of the pictures I posted. It would seem to me that this is a club who are hoping for better things in the future, and are looking at moving up to the 2nd division. It'll be interesting to see what happens to them in the future. Now, Líšen are a 3rd division side.

Líšen is on the eastern edge of Brno, and it is easy to reach from the main train station. All you have to do is take tram 8 outside of the station to the last stop. Travel time is around 20 minutes. From there, it is only a five minute walk to the ground.

I was in Rousínov last Tuesday, and they charged the normal entrance fee of 40kc. However, Líšen charged 80kc to see the Sigma game, which is double their normal price. I guess they wanted to take in a little more money from the game to help with the redevelopment of their ground. The away end looked temporary, as we were surrounded by a 3 metre fence. Behind us were buses, and we only had wooden stands. Only 8 Sigma supporters showed up, which isn't too surprising, as the game was mid-week at 17:00. It was strange that there was no presence of any of the Sigma supporter groups.

I have supported Sigma Olomouc for about 10 years now. Whenever I can, I always go to the cup games. I still have nightmares from the 2007/08 Czech Cup game, when Sigma lost on penalties to 4th division Sokol Konice. However, Sigma played a professional game against Líšen, and were clearly the more skilled team.

Olomouc will now travel to 4th division, Protivanov, which is a small village of 1,000 about 20km north of Prostějov.