The DadLadTour (Now Actually In Switzerland)

Day 3 (Part 3) – Bern. Playing Cards…We’re Unstoppable.

The Match – The Italians come up against the Spanish

11^th July 2025

Earlier, when we first got to Bern and before we saw the bikinis, bears and bridges, we mooched around the Old Town of Bern. It is adorable. Absolutely lovely.

Picturesque, peaceful, pretty….perfect.

While mooching around we came across two – yes, zwei – FanZones. The one at Budesplatz has a giant screen for showing the matches. It also has a large ferris wheel – reputedly the largest in Switzerland and which apparently gives excellent views over Bern’s rooftops and of he Alps. We don’t take a ride – the queues are long and snake into the direct sunshine.

Plus, we are on mission to find the bears. Grrrrr!

The other FanZone – located at Corner Waisenhausplatz in Bern – is focused on the “artistic, social and playful elements” of the game. It has a mobile football pitch, complete with its own small stand for spectators. A game is being played by youngsters, both girls and boys participate. They’ve all removed their shoes to play and a trail of assorted footwear runs around the pitch markings. As we pass behind one of the goals, a goal is scored. The resounding “thwack” of the ball smacking into the net just yards away startles me and I jump. Steady, GrumpPa!

This FanZone also has a number of stalls, other games and a cinema set inside a “walk-in” cube. I think the cube is called “Kubus”. It’s 10 metres x 10 metres square – I Googled it. A film titled “UNSTOPPABLE”is advertised. It is about the growth of the women’s game and women’s football history. A sign promises an immersive experience and says the next showing is at 1430. It is now 1429.

It looks so cool (so cool) inside the tented cube. We enter and sit on the floor. I remove my shoes, allowing my tired and sore feet some temporary respite

Three of the cubes four walls are screens and the film beams across each. It’s a clever concept. The back wall has the main story and the sides carry additional footage and information. It’s all very cohesive and it works so well. The film is excellent; very informative, interesting and, at times, funny. It is presented by a woman – I failed to catch her name when the film began. She is excellent. (I’ve subsequently tried to discover who she is via Google but have had no luck. If you know her name, please do leave a comment and let me know.) I think she must be a high-profile sportswoman; presumably a footballer, either past or current. She speaks in German. Subtitles in English and French run on the screens.

(*NOTE: Later on, I send an email to an address I find on a webpage promoting the matches being played in Switzerland’s capital city. A little over thirty-minutes later a reply comes from Aline in the Bern WEURO25 Host City Team. She tells me that the woman in the film is former Switzerland international defender, Rachel Rinast.

Heck! Only 30 minutes to reply…I told you the Swiss were very good with this timing malarkey.)

It really is an excellent film. I enjoy it immensely. It is powerful, thought provoking and a rallying call for women’s sport and football. The film stirs the emotions. I feel that Liam and I are part of a “movement” in support of women in football and that we are helping to grow the game. I’m all for that.

After the short film, only fifteen minutes, but a superb fifteen, we are back in the heat and sunshine. Shall I watch the film again? It really was good. Plus…it was so cool (so cool) inside.

Instead I spot a gazebo right beside the Kubus. A low table has a large, rectangular monitor sitting on it. It’s of the type I imagine a film crew would use to check over the day’s footage. The monitor faces outwards and away from the stall.

A man is watching the screen. It shows incidents from matches – women’s games. The action is then paused and the man speaks to a young woman behind the table. She is wearing a grey tee with words that indicate she is something to do with UEFA (or maybe FIFA) referees. The man speaks German; I make out “Geldt.” A few times. “Ja! Gelt,” he says. Yellow.

I quickly ascertain that, after watching each clip of tackles and/or fouls, the woman is asking what punishment the man believes the actual match referee should give. Then the woman tells him what action, if any, is taken. I watch on fascinated. I join in and offer my expertise in refereeing decisions.

As a football fan of forty-plus years experience, of course I get the majority of them wrong. To be fair to myself, the chap beside me seems just as inept at being a referee as I do. But I am enjoying myself immensely. The young woman switches smoothly between German and English as she explains the reasons behind each match decision. It really is a fascinating insight into why, and how, referees make their rulings on the pitch.

I could have stayed so much longer but Liam is hovering. He wants to make tracks. He’s keen to find the bears.

There are several stacks of cards and various wotnots in front of the monitor. I help myself to a Lia Wälti – the Switzerland captain – postcard and a few stickers that promote talk about women’s football; I’m all for that.

Also….there are two further piles of cards on the table. One pile is red, the other yellow. They’re only FIFA branded referee cards! I take two of each. I don’t know if I’m allowed to but I’m feeling rebellious. Although if the girl “wo-manning” the stall decides to give chase then I am not going get far – not with my feet the way they are – and she’ll quickly be able to take them back.

She doesn’t chase me. Phew!

Giving a set of cards to Liam, we set off to find the Bern bears.

Along the way I “red card” a few people. It’s silly but harmless fun. They smile at me. Probably wondering, “Who is this fool?”

Liam is in his element. He’s off around one corner of Corner Waisenhausplatz with his cards. He’s carding everything he spots; passers by, buildings, street signs. He even thrusts his arm towards the sky and books the sun.

“Ref!” I think. “A yellow? You’re having a laugh That’s a nailed on red for being so hot and fierce.”

I can tell you something….I now know why those two brothers – Statler & Waldorf – at the Lionesses game were waving their lino flags about. It is incredible fun! Oh! Just feel that rush of power!

Our cards will come out again at tonight’s game.

We do find the bears. That’s in the previous blog post (#42. “We Go Down To The River…”)

After the bears, we come back to Corner Waisenhausplatz for a coffee and a rest. Liam has heard great things about a small chain of coffee shops – it seems they’re all the rage and we both think they will do very well. He orders an Americano for himself and a cappuccino for me. As we are weary from the heat and my feet ache – plus Liam is still recovering after racing the funicular lift – we decide to rest up ahead of setting off to the match.

Finishing his drink, Liam becomes peckish and fancies something tasty to munch on. The heat, discomfort from my feet and general weariness has affected me. I’m not hungry at all but decide to have another cappuccino and sit a little longer in air-conditioned comfort while #SonInlawNo1 goes for some food.

I plug my phone into a wall socket and jot notes in my red DadLadTour notebook. The phone charges while I scribble away and enjoy my second Starbucks coffee.

Savouring the caffeine, I think, these coffee guys might become huge.