It is more than a game, it’s a religion in Germany. For sure, you must have heard millions of times about prominent world-known players, but what do you really know about the sport in this country? In a flash we will reveal you a secret.
Short series of general fun facts about German football
It’s impossible to believe you never dig into the nuances of football. Here are more facts for you to examine:
Franz Beckenbauer was named the best central defender of the 20th century. The German athlete played 103 matches for the national team, scoring 14 goals against the opposing team.
Ex-chancellor Angela Merkel is an avid football fan who often comes to the stadium. She is also actively engaged in supporting her favorite team. and commentating on the performances of the players.
Joachim Leo, a head coach of the National Football Team has been banned from driving for 1.5 years.
Sami Khedira, a footballer of African origin who lives and performs in Germany, is one of the ten players who won the Champions League and the World Cup in the same year.
As a rule, the club that wins the Champions League receives the cup for 10 months, after which it’s replaced by a scale replica, but FC Bayern Munich earned the eternal Cup by winning the prestigious Bundesliga three times.
Around 80,000 fans attend Borussia games every time. In one year, 1.2 million people managed to visit the stadium of the club.
Nadine Angerer, who is considered to be the best goalkeeper in the country, is a real celebrity. Even non-football fans fall in love with the sport after attending a match with his participation (not verified, but heard of a lot).
Football fans are not savage and rough
One more myth is that football fans are not controlled and they can be even fierce. But actually it’s not the truth. In Germany there is a complete system of fan projects and organizations that work with young sport admirers, thus all the disciplinary nuances are solved with their help, in particular.
Today there are more 56 such projects in the country. Their historical roots are quite young. In the late 1970s, fans’ relations with the police deteriorated, and violence at football matches spread. It became dangerous to go to the stadiums. Sociology students from Bremen took the initiative to launch a movement to “change” ruffians, to understand how to cooperate with rioters in the stadium. During the discussions on the problem, they came to the conclusion that preventive measures and working with young people would be the best option. They decided to see them as people, and not as criminals.
The first experimental fan project started in Bremen in 1981 and was funded by the state. The authorities continued to follow the project 5 years later and noticed that the behavior of the fans had improved a lot. The decision had been made: the projects should be implemented nationwide. Thus they were launched in 1990 and are still in operation today.
Nowadays, the clubs are financed by the state, the federal states and the sport.
The level of danger to be assigned to each football match
Fun fact is that each game in Germany is assigned a danger level beforehand (scale from 1 to 4). The riskier the game, the greater the number of security volunteers must be set around the stadium. If there is likely to be a clash of factions, then only non-alcoholic beer will be sold at the game.
Don’t wait and try to take part
As you can see, football is full of interesting particularities. It can be anything, but the sign to participate.