We’ve written in the past about the colourful history of Vörwarts Berlin and we wanted to share some very striking images taken of a 1970 European Cup tie between the East German club and Feyenoord. The pictures are courtesy of Lunatic News, a fan website dedicated to the Rotterdam club.

Their Vorwärts-specific post tells the story of the Dutch fans who took a VW Beetle on one of the most daunting of football road trips imaginable: travelling from Rotterdam to East Berlin to see the Quarter-Final away leg. The match was switched to the cavernous 70,000 capacity Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion although freezing conditions on the day kept the attendance to under 20,000, not helped by the lack of floodlights which meant an early 4pm kick-off. The full story of the fans trip can be read here. The piece is written in Dutch of course but if you paste it into Google Translate then you’ll easily pick up the gist of it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We loves these pictures taken at the game by the author. They have almost Lowry-like qualities: the two-thirds empty stadium is stark and menacing and contributes to an uneasy air of grey, industrial bleakness. Only the small pockets of red among the Feyenoord fans and the icy pitch and sky offer contrast and colour relief. Compare and contrast with some of Lowry’s football paintings:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.