“Thousands of friends standing next to each other, then FC Schalke never sinks.”
The last line of the official anthem of the Schalke Club 04, Blau und Weiß, Wie Lieb ‘Ich DichGiven the recent seasons, it is relatively appropriate. It is heard and singing on Saturday, because royal blouses are not a single European hamburger-possibly sold in front of the population, but under conditions much humble than it might be a decade.
At that time Schalke was arguing with the continent’s elite. Gelsenkirchan with Jeopardy a League League League can bring in, which has appeared eight times in the past 20 seasons. In 2011, they managed to go to the semi-finals, with Ralph Rangnik-like Raul, Manuel Neuer and Bon Fid Klop Klaas-Jan Huntelaar-just on a final trip to Wembley in Manchester United.
Jeopardy is still common in the days of playing in Voltin-Arena-but the views with it are much more vague. When one of the main parts of German football, Schalke is now hung by a topic in the second part of the country and has now begun to fall into the third. The club is without inspiration, both on the pitch and behind the scenes.
However, Schalke is not only anonymous. They are a giant in a sea of fallen giants that are the second row of Germany.
There is no reminder of the fragility of football about what is simply accompanied by looking at the Bundesliga 2 table, such as things you will not see in another side in the world. From the national heroes to the European heroes, many of them are a shadow of their former self. But the inappropriate support they receive has not changed.
For example, take fc kaiserslauten. Kaiserslauten is the German champion four times, the last time Merril In 1998, and a member of the founder of the Bundesliga. They play in compact, yet remarkable and vibrant Fritz-Walter-Stadium, which can keep about 50,000 fans in its four sloping booths-almost half of the city’s population. The club is constantly registering 40,000 plus-a dramatic presence for a top flight team, let’s go one side who played football in third football three years ago. The Red Devils have not seen the Bundesliga light since 2012, but fans still appear in drowning.
Kaiserslautern is not just an abnormal. The likes of Herta Berlin, Nuremberg and Hanover 96 are a set of second division clubs that pack their boats with tens of thousands each week, despite most years of struggle. There are no magnificent hunters in these parts.
How German football has become this shelter for fans and all reaches the famous culture of fans. The most extensive example is the 50+1 membership regulations that prohibit foreign investors from becoming a majority stakeholder. In an age when clubs destroy their identity and seek alienation for profit, Germany has obstacles to protect their clothes from losing its relevance. Add cheap ticket prices to the mixture and football is available here from the continent here.
The clubs are at the center of the communities, which is why it is regularly from the roof, even when the teams are enduring a period of shortcomings. The culture of football is so strong that in 2024, the Bundesliga 2, as the fourth in the Europa League, was in the Premier League, according to the UEFA report, and surpassed the Spanish Liga and the French League 1.
It returns us to Schalke, which is shown to the last among their intense decline, indicating that even when you win, Turnstiles still rotate. With the average of 611919 – filling 99 % of its total capacity – Schalke was one of the two sides of the second division in Europe, which had more than one million people during the 2023/24 programs. Another was a competitor to Bundesliga 2 Hertha. Despite the crisis on the ground, there is a feeling that Schalke will never die, as long as these 62,000 strange friends are still standing together.
The usual stages of the race day are formed outside the voltin because they appear in front of the hamburger, whose fall was more than anything else.
They were continental in the twentieth century. On the top of the six Bundesliga titles, they are one of the only three German clubs-along with the large multi-year blows of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund-to win Juventus in 1983. But for the past seven years, the city is superior without football.
This can change. The hamburger is currently at the top of Bundesliga 2 in 52 points, but it has 1. Fc Koln, SV Elversberg and Fortuna Dusseeldorf with five games to play on their neck. They will be disappointed to claim at least one of the two automatic advertising places, which have been losing the playoffs in the past three seasons.
For Schalke, the current Hamburger position will be one of the jealousy. How long will anyone who has been loyal to this season with a stagnation of this season will take former Champions League claimants to climb and climb. If the opponents of Saturday complete their return to the Bundesliga in the coming weeks, it acts as a timely reminder to actually return the giants to a day.
But regardless of the results, the fans continue to go and take their seats in Gelsenkirchan – as they want for each club in this section.
