47th minute Fritz Abromeit holds the title of being Rot-Weiss’ only for Dortmund before it got better. Financial pressures almost European goal-scorer. For Abromeit, this record is one of football’s destroyed the club – players were forced to take wage cuts and enduring stories. He played his entire career with Rot-Weiss over the sale of the Westfalenstadion were the most extreme examples. 11 years, a rarity in today’s game. A Pokal and League winner However, this hardship had galvanised the locals; the stadium with the club, he scored 33 goals in 67 appearances – a notable became more famous for what occurred on the terraces than feat even when compared to the modern game. Although they on the pitch. The now world famous Südtribüne – South Bank – have not been seen in the Bundesliga since 1978, their influence terrace is home to not only the largest standing terrace in Europe, and standing within the national game is set in stone. If Bayern but perhaps the most well-known fans in Europe. Munich are Germany’s record five-time European Cup winners, Unafraid to speak on political matters, or those pertaining to it will always be Rot-Weiss who can say they were the first to societal issues, visitors to the Südtribüne describe it as an almost compete in the competition. religious experience. When times were hard in the Ruhr region Nowadays, Rot-Weiss are viewed as another it was football that allowed the man on the street to escape, and Fahrstuhlmannschaften, but for their 1950s exploits they will this feeling is still very much alive in Dortmund today. Whether forever have a place in the history books. For a side that were it be acceptance on refugees or the backing for the destruction eventually besieged by financial problems and a slow decline, of homophobia in football, it is Borussia Dortmund, and the their history very much replicates the Ruhrgebiet, whilst the city of Südtribüne specifically, that confronts these issues head on. There Essen even more so – from industrial powerhouse, to decline, to a is a forward-looking mindset that reflects the region on the steps rising star in the tertiary sector of Germany’s industry. of the south bank that forms a voice like no other. Magnificent fan ‘tifos’ display the conveyance of messages as well as simple but BORUSSIA DORTMUND effective banners. For the Südtribüne inhabitants, their heroes on the pitch now Perhaps one of the best-known football clubs in the world, reflect their iconic fan culture status off it. This wouldn’t have been Borussia Dortmund has a relationship with its supporters like possible without the arrival of Jürgen Klopp in May 2008. The no other. From their humble beginnings in December 1909 they now Liverpool manager became Head Coach of Dortmund after rapidly embraced the feeling within the area. Angry at the local the departure of Thomas Doll. What Klopp went on to achieve Catholic trinity, a breakaway was proposed. Speaking at the catapulted Dortmund from perennial also-rans to back-to-back foundation of the club Franz Jacobi said: Bundesliga champions, double winners and mainstays of the “I have been a member of the Trinity Youth since 1902, and Champions League – the reflection of the club in the local area is since 1906 we have been playing on the ‘Weissen Wiese’. We unmistakeable. footballers have been systematically attacked and defamed by our From an area with such hard-working values, and an ethos church since 1906. We can no longer put up with this. This club is of togetherness, it was no surprise that when the Dortmund team absolutely necessary.” bus was targeted by a financial terrorist during the Champions With his statement Jacobi gave birth to the idea that Borussia League quarter-final in the 2016-17 season, the Westfalenstadion Dortmund would question routine and lead a path of its own value supporters – and the local area – rallied round immediately to – a sentiment alive and well in the club today. ensure no visiting fan from Monaco would be stranded. Opening A modest early history, it wasn’t until the 1960s that Borussia their homes to their French visitors, the Borussen harnessed the Dortmund began to make waves in German football. In 1965, power of social media. The “bedforawayfans” hashtag on Twitter Dortmund won their first DFB-Pokal, and in 1966 came European encapsulated everything Dortmund stands for, both on and off the success – winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup 2–1 against pitch. Whilst the overarching story of the night was an attack on Liverpool in extra time. the Dortmund team bus, which consisted of three explosions that If the characteristics of the Ruhrgebiet are defined by the left defender Marc Bartra in hospital with a fractured wrist – it was 1960s to 1990s – the rise and fall of heavy industry – then so the togetherness of those inside the stadium, and those in their can the achievements of Borussia Dortmund. Financial problems own homes, that ensured this story will forever be remembered as littered the years of the 1970s and 1980s, it was only the last year one where many people came together, not of one extremist who of the 80s which offered solace – a Pokal victory against Werder tried to force them apart. Bremen was swiftly followed by a Super Cup victory against With each of the clubs in the region there is as much in Bayern Munich. The 1990s, however, would prove pivotal. common as the diversity that makes them uniquely individual. As From the prospect of relegation in the 1980s, very few with the region itself, they have all experienced the highs and the could have predicted the boom of the 90s. Ottmar Hitzfeld set lows – the bond they all have is the area in which they are situated the club on a path out of obscurity; his reign brought about two and the mentality of those who they serve week in, week out. WEST OF SCOTLAND - HOPE Bundesliga Championships, two Super Cups and, most famously, The blast furnaces, gasometers and winding towers still a Champions League victory over Juventus in Munich. Later, stand strong in the region – they will always provide a visible and under the stewardship of the Italian coach Nevio Scala, the reminder of an industrial past; however, akin to the Ruhrgebiet European Champions became World Club Champions with a 2-0 itself and a story of evolution through adversity, these venues now SPRINGS EXULTING ON victory over Brazilian club Cruzeiro in the 1997 Intercontinental serve as areas for theatre, music, and the performing arts. The Cup Final. industrious nature of those who live and work there has ensured Once again though, reminiscent of the area, it had to get worse that no matter the hardship, a winning mentality shines through. TRIUMPHANT WING 22 23 SCOTTISH FOOTBALL IS OFTEN THE TARGET OF SNEERING JIBES THAT CLAIM IT IS DEAD, AND THAT THE FANS NO sponsorship of local sports teams. While community work like this can be life-changing for some, LONGER CARE FOR IT. BUT AS JOE CARROLL EXPLAINS, IN THE WESTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY, NOTHING COULD the little jobs shouldn’t go unnoticed. The fans who steward the BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. SOME OF THE BEST- ground for free; the mums and dads, grandads and grandmothers who serve tea and cater on match-days out of their own pocket; the club doctors who volunteer their weekends and shovel snow n his 2013 autobiography, Kenny Dalglish recalls his steelmen, office clerks, factory workers, miners and dockers; KNOWN NAMES IN on sub-zero January mornings to ensure the pitch is playable. childhood in Glasgow: “It was difficult to avoid a football uniting them behind a common banner. The appetite for football They all make a difference because football has been a force for stadium and even more difficult to avoid taking an interest in Scotland grew more gluttonous by the year, and clubs across WORLD FOOTBALL HAVE good in their lives and others. in football”. The beautiful game is as much a part of the Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Dunbartonshire and Ayrshire established There are countless stories across Scotland of people getting fabric of Scotland’s most populated city as the river Clyde themselves to help satisfy this hunger. involved in their clubs, making a contribution, and in the last that flows through it, or the shipyards that helped build an The 1970s are looked back on fondly as Scottish football’s BATTLED THEIR WAY decade or so this has translated into a more all-encompassing empire in the 19th century. golden age, when the national team reached the World Cup role for supporters. As the country’s national sport for the last 100 years, finals for the first time in 16 years; Celtic made history with their OUT OF GLASGOW’S Sometimes just volunteering isn’t enough. Fans may well it’s fair to say football has been somewhat of a Scottish obsession, ninth consecutive title in 1974 and just two years earlier Glasgow dream of their own “more-money-than-sense” oil baron riding into and the club that kicked it off was formed in the heart of Dear hosted two European semi-finals on the same night. But Scottish town shaking a magic money tree, but the reality of a football club IGreen Place. Queen’s Park FC were the first association football teams had been making a name for themselves on the European TOUGHEST DISTRICTS run by a billionaire owner is usually much more nightmarish. When club in Scotland and to this day they’re the only amateur club stage from the 1950s onwards.