Ško-Energo Aréna

The steel beams that cut across the ceiling at Ško-Energo Aréna do not hide the space so much as hold it up. The structure is a reminder of the voluntary labour that raised it in the mid-1950s, when the town pooled its resources to build the venue before it was covered in 1973. The green seats and the white ice below sit together in a way that has not changed since the roof was laid, but the light that falls on the rink today is a product of the 2007–2008 renovation that brought the club into the Czech Extraliga.

BK Mladá Boleslav are in control of the tie, which has always been a local matter. The club never travelled to make up the numbers; they played in the same town where the ice is made and the fans sit. When the team were dominant in the air from set plays, the stands did not move much, but the silence that fell when the captain dragged them through it was heavy enough. The capacity of 4,200 has not changed, even though the league demanded more. The club refused to go away, and the fans stayed too, watching the same green seats and the same white boards.

The advertisements along the boards have drifted over the years — Škoda, Budweiser, Tipos — but the geometry of the arena remains. The glass panels keep the cold in and the crowd close. The writer has seen the photos: the empty seats, the dark corners, the way the light catches the ice. Nothing more needs to be said.