As we lose the soul of football more and more each year to human rights abusers, attention seeking celebrities and American portfolio diversifiers, my attention started to drift towards a country where things (for the most part) appear to still be done the right way.
A lot of people including me in the past, have dismissed the German Bundesliga as a league dominated by one team who buys up all the talent from the supporting cast. Which is true but the same can be said for almost every league in Europe at one time or another.
When you see German football on TV, the stadiums are usually packed and extremely loud - not like the Premier League with everyone sitting in a muted atmosphere withJapanese tourists in half and half scarves on the first few rows, taking photos of the away teams goal celebrations - and with old school terraces, and flares and flags common place. Just how I like it.
I've never been to Germany, never had much desire to be honest but when you're searching for football culture eutopia your life sometimes takes you in directions you didn't expect.
I decided to start with an area of the country heavily populated with big football clubs, the Rhine-Ruhr region.
The most alluring of these clubs is Borussia Dortmund with its famous yellow wall and reputation amongst football cultures top tier.
I chose to base myself for four nights in Dusseldorf, just over an hour away from Dortmund and by all reports a little nicer on the eye. The alternative was Cologne but for some reason the hotels were twice the price.
This would allow me to dabble in some second division action as Fortuna Dusseldorf were at home on the Friday night, Dortmund at home on the Saturday and nearby Leverkusen on the Sunday. This would surely satisfy an itch and I could target other cities like in future seasons.
After a lovely week back home in Manchester visiting the family, I arrived in Dusseldorf late on the Thursday night and checked into the nice but slightly peculiar Hotel Ruby Coco in the city centre. I say slightly peculiar because it seemed to be connected to an exclusive shopping mall, included guitar amps in each rooms and guitars hanging on the walls of reception with invitations to take them to your room to "jam out". I never actually heard anyone jam out and perhaps dodged a bullet there as a middle aged man looking for a good nights sleep.
As the weekend progressed I discovered that turning left out of my hotel put me amongst exclusive stores like Gucci and Prada, whilst turning right was a little more like Piccadilly approach in Manchester.
I spent Friday morning wandering around by the Rhine River and went up the most obvious landmark, the Rhine Tower. It was a nice tidy city, very quiet and not overly populated - turns out Düsseldorf comes to life at night in the bustling "Altstadt" (Old Town).
Fortuna Düsseldorf are currently in Bundesliga 2, the highest attended second tier in world football. It's not the most "watched" as that belongs to the English Championship but it always seems to have a number of big German clubs for example this season, Kaiserslautern, Schalke, Herta Berlin and HSV Hamburg with a number of great stadiums.
Fortuna play at the Merkur Spiel Arena, built in 2005 and an upcoming Euro 2024 venue. In fact there were Euro 2024 banners hanging over many streets in the Old Town where I couldn't help picture plastic chairs flying through the air a few months from now.
The Merkur Spiel is a lovely new (ish) stadium that holds 55,000 of which Fortuna regularly draw crowds over 30,000 - which is obviously impressive for the second tier. Knowing this before I went, I assumed getting a ticket would be simple enough and I managed to buy one on the morning of the game at a fan shop in a central square. I splashed out a little bit spending €40 for a seat close to the front on the side, next to the Fortuna Ultras. I did this because I knew I was going to have a terrace experience the next day at Dortmund.
The Merkur Spiel is very easy to get to by Metro on one straight line from the centre of town and ends at a large station right outside the stadium. The first thing I noticed was a few guys with backpacks of beer, a hose and plastic glasses selling beer and topping up when needed. The Germans love their beer and are allowed to drink at their seats unlike many other European countries. Over the course of the weekend I didn't see a single overly drunk person making a dick of themselves or antagonising/attacking opposing fans like you often do in American stadiums. They seem to be able to handle their drink a lot better which I imagine comes with practice. Then again, fans in the UK get plenty of practice but the thought of them drinking in the stands doesn't seem that wise.
The concourse of the Merkur Spiel reminded me of Staples Center in Los Angeles, a wide open concrete space with different food outlets. I got myself a bratwurst, some fries and a beer (in a gravy jug) and soaked up a bit of pre match atmosphere.
Inside they do a good job of bunching the 30,000 plus (there was 33,000 there this night) together, leaving one end of the stadium virtually empty but it creates a nice atmosphere with the away fans in one corner. This night Fortuna, with a chance of going top of the league were up against bottom of the table VFL Osnabrück. The visitors traveled around two hours from north west Germany and brought an impressive few thousand for a Friday night. I saw a number of their fans wandering around in the day and on the metro traveling to the game, even mingling with the home fans outside the stadium. This was a rare sight for me in European football but didn't seem to be any issues.
My seat was great and I had a great view of the Fortuna fans behind the goal. I was surprised how quiet they were in the first half, as well as their counterparts. Fortuna had most of the possession but the half ended 0-0.
As soon as the second half began with both teams kicking towards their own fans, the noise level went up considerably. It was like a different stadium. Flags, flares and smoke bombs came out of nowhere and provided a fantastic atmosphere under the lights. I wondered if this was a German thing, fans quiet until their team kicks towards them? I realised that wasn't true the rest of the weekend but it was strange, maybe a Fortuna thing. Unfortunately I don't speak enough German to ask someone.
Mid way through the second half, Fortuna took a deserved lead, a corner cleared by the Osnabrück defence fell nicely outside the box for Emmanuel Iyoha who curled a beauty right footed into the bottom corner. Iyoha was playing left back so I'm not sure if he was filing in for someone or he always has that in his locker.
Fortuna should have put the game to bed but they wasted a few chances and as the game started to come to a close I said to myself, this has 1-1 written all over it. Sure enough, right on 90 minutes, Osnabrück striker Erik Englehardt controlled a clearance inside the box and very cooly on the half volley smashed the visitors level.
The locals were not happy. One father and his young adult son in the row in front particularly tickled me, on their feet screaming at their team for at least five minutes. Unfortunately there's something aggressive about the German language which reminded me of those hilarious Hitler voiceover videos people do on the internet about trivial things like a player leaving a club.
It ended 1-1, an entertaining game with Fortuna missing the chance to go top. A couple of things I noticed from the evening, the internet service was flawless which is rare in a large crowd and people in Germany don't seem to stand around scrolling through their iPhones as much as places I'm more familiar with. Or walk with their heads down staring at their phones. A pleasant change.
The journey back to my hotel was ridiculously quick and efficient. It seemed most fans took the train but there was a very orderly process of getting on one and multiple of them available. I was back in my hotel room 30 minutes after the game ended and the stadium was 20 minutes away.
The next day was always going to be the biggest of the weekend. Borussia Dortmund, a club that have established themselves with a global cult following in last couple of decades, mostly due to their magnificent stadium, the Westfalenstadion and its largest standing terrace in world football, the Südtribüne.
I had bought a ticket to this on a secondary site a few months ago, paying five times the €20 standard price for a standing ticket but seeing as I paid €100 to watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid twenty years ago it didn't seem too bad.
I took a train from Dusseldorf central station to Dortmund mid morning with the game against Union Berlin kicking off at 3:30pm. Dusseldorf station was a nightmare, seemingly packed with tourists trying to figure out the ticket machines with no help from any staff. I ended up with some 24 hour regional pass for €30 which was probably a rip off but I was tired of waiting around and anxious to get going.
Upon arrival in Dortmund there were already hundreds if not thousands of yellow shirts milling around the station and I had done some research and knew right next door was the German National Football Museum which I was keen to have a nosy at. It was very similar to the one in Manchester but a bit glossier. Every exhibit had an English translation and even a headset for a very well done video at the end. A great way to kill an hour.
I then took a stroll up a church tower for a rather underwhelming view of the surrounding area and maybe underestimated my new comfort in middle age as I panted to the top.
Dortmund city centre looks very much like any UK high street. I bought a bratwurst and followed the crowds towards the stadium.
They don't piss about with onions and jalapeños by the way in Germany. Here's your bread, here's your sausage - ketchup or mustard?
It was about a mile and a half up to "Signal Iduna Park" as it is officially named now. Again the away fans potted around freely and sat outside the many bars and restaurants on the way. Union Berlin have spent most of their existence in the lower leagues until recently and this season are in the Champions League for the first time so I did wonder if Dortmund were playing a more traditional rival would it be more hostile. I suspect it would be I was also seeing a theme in Germany where fans mix more freely than other places.
It also seems completely normal walking down the street drinking large glass bottles of beer with reserves hanging from your pockets, in fact it's even encouraged as I encountered at least half a dozen men selling them on the street at various points.
It was a warm day for October and it's uphill most of the way to the stadium so I was bit worn out by the time I got up there.
I made an educated guess and followed the crowds around to the end I thought was the south end. I was very early, probably a couple of hours but the crowds outside were swelling. I wanted to get inside to make sure my ticket was legitimate which thankfully it was.
I got myself a beer and the yellow wall was starting to fill up already with the rest of the stadium empty, apart from the Union fans already making a racket at the other end.
The yellow wall is very well organized with each ticket being allocated for a specific section. Each section has its own staircase and mine was at the top to the right of the goal.
The bottom half of the stand as illustrated in the picture above is like an old school terrace. The top half is safe standing rail seats so in theory you have a bit more space.
Feeling a bit shy by myself I decided to head right up to the top row out of the way. The sheer size of the terrace from top to bottom is awe inspiring. It holds 24,000 with the whole stadium holding over 80,000 which they sell out every game. It soon filled up and the stair wells were rammed tight with fans so the orderly appearance of the rail seats didn't last long.
It reminded me of the early 90s when I was lucky enough to stand on the Stretford End and the Kop. Every other person was smoking cigarettes for a start which is a throwback a few decades by itself. The noise doesn't stop, the flags don't stop, the beer doesn't stop flowing. And for both halves unlike Dusseldorf.
Despite being a foreigner it felt very comfortable. I think the Germans and the Dutch are cut from similar cloth to us Brits when it comes to football. It feels different and somewhat friendlier than Latin countries like Spain, Italy and Argentina.
The game itself was a belter. It was 1-1 after nine minutes, Niclas Fullkrug, last seasons top scorer in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen and recent Dortmund signing, opened the scoring but was quickly canceled out by a goal from Robin Gosens. The rest of the half seemed to be stop start with multiple disallowed goals and lengthy VAR deliberations. Italy and former Juventus legend Leonardo Bonucci put Union 2-1 up at the break with a very well taken penalty for a centre half.
The second half was all Dortmund. Nico Schlotterbeck up from the back smashed in an absolute screamer with his left foot from outside the box just a few minutes into the half and further goals from Julian Brandt and Julian Ryerson sealed a thrilling 4-2 win.
The yellow wall did not disappoint. It was heartwarming that something like this in the modern game still exists. It's football fandom in its purest form, just how it should be. I couldn't help think of the stadium disasters of the 80s and 90s and the creation of the Premier League that changed football forever. The sterile nature of the current top flight in England seemed a shame considering close by in Germany the locals are still enjoying a match day from another era.
I strolled back towards the station and again
fans of both teams crossed path's without incident. I stopped for some lovely fish and chips in the city centre before taking the train back to Dusseldorf. The station was heaving with fans, mostly drunk but well behaved with a large presence of riot police watching closely.
I had one more experience left tomorrow - at the league leaders Leverkusen.
I had originally thought I'd spend Sunday morning in neighboring Cologne before making the short trip to Leverkusen but seeing as the home side were hosting Cologne, I wasn't sure how wise that was. I also wasn't feeling great (later turned out to be Covid) so I took my time and headed from Dusseldorf by train directly to Leverkusen which took around 30 minutes.
For anyone that's had the pleasure of visiting my home town of Sale, South Manchester before they did it up with a few nice food places, the town centre of Leverkusen looks very similar. It was deathly quiet a few hours before kick off despite the home team having the opportunity to reclaim top spot against their lowly local rivals.
It was clearly a small town but had a certain charm to it. It was about a 15-20 minute walk from the station to the BayArena and I found myself amongst the away fans as they marched through a picturesque park to the away end.
There was a heavy police presence for this one too and to kill time I settled for a McDonalds across the road from the stadium where both sets of fans again mingled with no trouble.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, giving them their full name were founded almost 120 years ago by the employees of the pharmaceutical giant Bayer who's headquarters are still situated in the town. They have never won the Bundesliga title despite finishing second multiple times, having a UEFA Cup title to their name and were Champions League finalists at the start of this century, falling to that famous volley from Zinedine Zidane of Real Madrid at Hampden Park.
Apparently their near misses have other fans labeling them as "Neverkusen" which I have to admit is quiet funny.
Maybe this season will be different. Under the management of ex Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen possess some tremendous young talent, the likes of Victor Boniface upfront and Florian Wirtz just behind him. They are making the rest of Germany take notice so far this season and I was keen to see what the fuss was about.
The BayArena has been around since the 1950s which I was shocked by because it feels almost like a new stadium. It's been redeveloped more than once in recent years and holds just over 30,000.
At the same time as feeling new it also has a homely familiar feel to it, very community driven and a bit like a big club in England languishing in League One like a Derby or an Ipswich.
I again overpaid on a secondary site for a nice seat on the side. Top of the league and 30,000
capacity didn't strike me as being easy to get a ticket for so I was happy to secure a spot.
The noise from the beginning was tremendous and Leverkusen did not disappoint with their attractive style of football, playing out from the back with intricate short passing and crisp easy on the eye football.
They were comfortably 2-0 up at half time through well worked goals from Jonas Hofmann and the lively Jeremie Frimpong.
Köln (Cologne) were dreadful and deserving of their lowly place in the table but their fans were terrific in one corner and made it feel like a derby even if their players didn't.
In the second half the dangerous Boniface added a third and the hosts ran out easy winners. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon at a great club with a friendly feel.
I walked back to the station for one last packed
train journey. Thousands of Köln fans were on the opposite platform and the two sets of fans exchanged a few songs and gestures but again no incidents that I saw.
Is this possible? Non stop drinking, terrace culture and no crowd trouble? The Germans are doing something right and it's made me hungry for more.
I really did just scratch the surface and would love to get to Berlin, Hamburg and Munich if not more. There's a certain warm and fuzzy feeling about a German match day experience and long may it continue.
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