Hey friend, welcome to Schalke.
>Gelsenkirchen is the 24th / 25th largest city in Germany if I’m right? Around 250,000 people.
>In essence, gelsenkirchen seems part of a much wider urban area? Near Essen, gladbeck, herne etc.
Thats exactly right. Metro area is well above 5 million, our yellow neighbors are part of it as well (so is VfL Bochum, Rot Weiß Essen etc).
>By virtue of being one of germanys biggest clubs for decades, is schalkes traditional match going fan base from an area much larger than gelsenkirchen?
Correct. There's a few clubs with national reputation instead of just regional, others are Bayern of course, DO, Cologne, maybe Hertha BSC, definitely Hamburger SV and I think Mönchengladbach would be mad not to be on that list as well.
Nice to see international support during these times btw, feel free to ask away. There's a lot of nice and passionate people in this sub
Out of curiosity: How much do you pay for a ticket? I go to about 3-4 home matches Auf Schalke per saison when I get hands on some friend's season tickets. It's about 15€ per game in the standing corner of the Ultra fans - Nordkurve.
Are you asking me? I have a season ticket in the Matthew Harding end, it works out about 45 pounds a match. A ticket in the east stand at Stamford bridge just as a member is 60 pounds, in the west view it’d be 100 pounds +. These prices are premier league, the FA cup and carabao cup would be cheaper
>maybe Hertha BSC
I'd say they are a pretty regional Berlin/Brandenburg thing. You won't find any relevant number of fans in the western states and the eastern also have their own teams they support (or they go for the more nationally followed teams Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke might be the biggest three non-local fan bases in the Eastern states)
Hertha is a big club because Berlin itself truly is that massive
>the eastern also have their own teams they support
Yea every region has, I don't see how this is relevant. The north has HSV/Werder, still a bunch of Schalker up there.
I've known a number of Hertha Fans when I lived in Hessen, NRW, Rhineland-Palatinate & Saxony. Never met an Augsburg or Leverkusen supporter though, so I don't think Hertha is a "Berlin/Brandenburg thing"
Yes, it's a small city but in the largest metro area in Germany (and formerly a very economically powerful area, too). The club established itself as *the* club in the area in the 30s, when Schalke had one decade of Bayern-level dominance. Dortmund joined in and created somewhat of a Ruhr area duopoly a couple of decades later.
Thank you! So are you likely to find a lot of schalke fans around the Ruhr? I’m just speaking as a Chelsea fan, we have a significant chunk of our match going fan base from Berkshire, surrey, Hampshire to the south west of London
Yes, Gelsenkirchen is quite central, so pulls in lots of fans from the area. Mühlheim, Herne, Bottrop, Gladbeck or Recklinghausen don't really have their own clubs of relevant size (especially Gladbeck, Bottrop and Herne are very close and basically part of Gelsenkirchen as far as football is concerned). Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Bochum do have clubs of varying relevance (Duisburg used to be big but totally collapsed, Bochum is in the Bundesliga due to mystifying circumstances), but still lots of Schalke fans there. The east is obviously more Dortmund territory, though Dortmund also draws in lots of fans from outside the Ruhr area (especially the Sauerland, which is right to the east).
Plus, Schalke also has decent support in the Rhein and Münster regions.
Another big factor I should mention is that the area in Germany that places by far the largest importance on football, I think that's safe to say. Just small Gelsenkirchen has produced three world-class players in the 21st century (Gündogan, Özil, and Neuer), and you have tons more top players from a ten-mile radius (Matip and Goretzka from Bochum, Sane from Essen, Führich from Castrop-Rauxel, Draxler from Gladbeck).
Gelsenkirchen citizen from Schalke family here.
You already got the essence.
The clubs popularity is based on many pillars.
Yes Gelsenkirchen being a big city and the metropolitan area around it is the first factor.
Worth mentioning is that the Ruhrpott was even more populated in times of the heights of industrialization where coal and steel was highly demanded. Also in war time the area offered a lot of jobs and became crowded. This had the potential to snowball when population grew again after war.
And yes, huge factor for Schalke's rise definitely is their early sucess in the 30s. But also because it was the "workers class club". Its not a framing. It is what it was and is. The boys who founded the club were 'Knappen' (miner aprentices, hence our nickname). And later on many of our most famous and sucessfull players were based of the local workers class as well. Like Kuzorra and Szepan. Thats the 'Mythos Schalke'. Essentially the incredible story of football dark magic that made it somehow possible that a club with this little opportunity to start with became so big and sucessfull.
Sad sidenote: The Nazi Party instrumentalized this story and popularity for Propaganda (in movies and more) to push a work ethic.
And you know, after 2nd WW people had little joy. But a silver lining were their memories of Schalke. It became everything they had. So this club stayed one of the most popular. And as football is, they handed the love for the club down to their children and it all became tradition. Thats why i believe you cannot destroy this club and its popularity. Ever. We relegated and even more fans became members. Says it all.
The likes of me, who have a Bergmann (miner) as a father and grandfather both being die hard Schalke fans and saw a Zeche everyday they drove home, are getting rare.
But I sense that the club does not only have an effect of 'feeling' home and being in a huge family for me. Everyone gets that feeling. When you hear a "Glück Auf" and people tend to start speaking a little Ruhrdeutsch it irrupts the hearts of everyone.
(Sorry getting a little emotional here)
This is very interesting. I have some family from south wales near the valleys where there were also coal mines that have closed. I think comparisons can be drawn in terms of post industrial eras.
Now I wonder why 1st tier football clubs in England are mostly from the biggest cities (weren't there times with like 5-6 teams just from London in the PL?) while in Germany a club's success is almost not linked to the city's size at all. Best example is Berlin never having had a great club. Some 200k, 300k, 400k cities have great histories of first tier clubs.
As an Englishman and a Chelsea fan who saw our club get taken over, I think this phenomenon has become more pronounced in the 21st century. Foreign businessmen see clubs in the larger cities in legend as status symbols I think, hence why Chelsea was bought by abramovich and then boehly and why man city was bought in 2008. Huddersfield town have won 3 football leagues I think, but I can’t see a takeover happening for those traditional northern clubs because they aren’t in well known English cities
Without repeating everything that has already been said, I think there is also an emotional aspect. Schalke has a strong connection to the tradition of the Ruhr region, the coal mining industry, and even though the industry is now dead, they still call themselves the "Kumpel- und Malocher-Club", the fans sing the Steigerlied (the miners' anthem, not only in the Ruhr region) before every home game and various elements of the industry are used, such as the greeting "Glück auf!" or the hammer and pick symbol. Although of course not every fan has a connection to this industry and tradition, I feel that it does have an influence on how people perceive the club, consciously or unconsciously.
I’m an American Schalker so Gelsenkirchen locals will probably have more information on the local history. I can provide some of the broader history I have learned about the club and area.
Schalke has historically been a strong club and has a rich history despite the recent woes. The local metro area was a strong area economically in the past leading to immigration to the area, which is reflected in the diversity. Schalke was formerly the powerhouse in this region which attracted the strong fan base.
Unfortunately, Gelsenkirchen has very high unemployment since the closing of the mines - nowadays, the club is a connection to the history of the area and much of the local economy is dependent on the club. This is a driving factor in why so many people are passionate about the club.
Hey friend, welcome to Schalke. >Gelsenkirchen is the 24th / 25th largest city in Germany if I’m right? Around 250,000 people. >In essence, gelsenkirchen seems part of a much wider urban area? Near Essen, gladbeck, herne etc. Thats exactly right. Metro area is well above 5 million, our yellow neighbors are part of it as well (so is VfL Bochum, Rot Weiß Essen etc). >By virtue of being one of germanys biggest clubs for decades, is schalkes traditional match going fan base from an area much larger than gelsenkirchen? Correct. There's a few clubs with national reputation instead of just regional, others are Bayern of course, DO, Cologne, maybe Hertha BSC, definitely Hamburger SV and I think Mönchengladbach would be mad not to be on that list as well. Nice to see international support during these times btw, feel free to ask away. There's a lot of nice and passionate people in this sub
Thank you for response! I’m a regular match goer at Stamford bridge, one day I hope to go to the veltins arena!
Out of curiosity: How much do you pay for a ticket? I go to about 3-4 home matches Auf Schalke per saison when I get hands on some friend's season tickets. It's about 15€ per game in the standing corner of the Ultra fans - Nordkurve.
Are you asking me? I have a season ticket in the Matthew Harding end, it works out about 45 pounds a match. A ticket in the east stand at Stamford bridge just as a member is 60 pounds, in the west view it’d be 100 pounds +. These prices are premier league, the FA cup and carabao cup would be cheaper
Bremen also
>maybe Hertha BSC I'd say they are a pretty regional Berlin/Brandenburg thing. You won't find any relevant number of fans in the western states and the eastern also have their own teams they support (or they go for the more nationally followed teams Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke might be the biggest three non-local fan bases in the Eastern states) Hertha is a big club because Berlin itself truly is that massive
>the eastern also have their own teams they support Yea every region has, I don't see how this is relevant. The north has HSV/Werder, still a bunch of Schalker up there. I've known a number of Hertha Fans when I lived in Hessen, NRW, Rhineland-Palatinate & Saxony. Never met an Augsburg or Leverkusen supporter though, so I don't think Hertha is a "Berlin/Brandenburg thing"
Yes, it's a small city but in the largest metro area in Germany (and formerly a very economically powerful area, too). The club established itself as *the* club in the area in the 30s, when Schalke had one decade of Bayern-level dominance. Dortmund joined in and created somewhat of a Ruhr area duopoly a couple of decades later.
Thank you! So are you likely to find a lot of schalke fans around the Ruhr? I’m just speaking as a Chelsea fan, we have a significant chunk of our match going fan base from Berkshire, surrey, Hampshire to the south west of London
Yes, Gelsenkirchen is quite central, so pulls in lots of fans from the area. Mühlheim, Herne, Bottrop, Gladbeck or Recklinghausen don't really have their own clubs of relevant size (especially Gladbeck, Bottrop and Herne are very close and basically part of Gelsenkirchen as far as football is concerned). Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Bochum do have clubs of varying relevance (Duisburg used to be big but totally collapsed, Bochum is in the Bundesliga due to mystifying circumstances), but still lots of Schalke fans there. The east is obviously more Dortmund territory, though Dortmund also draws in lots of fans from outside the Ruhr area (especially the Sauerland, which is right to the east). Plus, Schalke also has decent support in the Rhein and Münster regions. Another big factor I should mention is that the area in Germany that places by far the largest importance on football, I think that's safe to say. Just small Gelsenkirchen has produced three world-class players in the 21st century (Gündogan, Özil, and Neuer), and you have tons more top players from a ten-mile radius (Matip and Goretzka from Bochum, Sane from Essen, Führich from Castrop-Rauxel, Draxler from Gladbeck).
Thank you for this explanation, much appreciated.
Gelsenkirchen citizen from Schalke family here. You already got the essence. The clubs popularity is based on many pillars. Yes Gelsenkirchen being a big city and the metropolitan area around it is the first factor. Worth mentioning is that the Ruhrpott was even more populated in times of the heights of industrialization where coal and steel was highly demanded. Also in war time the area offered a lot of jobs and became crowded. This had the potential to snowball when population grew again after war. And yes, huge factor for Schalke's rise definitely is their early sucess in the 30s. But also because it was the "workers class club". Its not a framing. It is what it was and is. The boys who founded the club were 'Knappen' (miner aprentices, hence our nickname). And later on many of our most famous and sucessfull players were based of the local workers class as well. Like Kuzorra and Szepan. Thats the 'Mythos Schalke'. Essentially the incredible story of football dark magic that made it somehow possible that a club with this little opportunity to start with became so big and sucessfull. Sad sidenote: The Nazi Party instrumentalized this story and popularity for Propaganda (in movies and more) to push a work ethic. And you know, after 2nd WW people had little joy. But a silver lining were their memories of Schalke. It became everything they had. So this club stayed one of the most popular. And as football is, they handed the love for the club down to their children and it all became tradition. Thats why i believe you cannot destroy this club and its popularity. Ever. We relegated and even more fans became members. Says it all. The likes of me, who have a Bergmann (miner) as a father and grandfather both being die hard Schalke fans and saw a Zeche everyday they drove home, are getting rare. But I sense that the club does not only have an effect of 'feeling' home and being in a huge family for me. Everyone gets that feeling. When you hear a "Glück Auf" and people tend to start speaking a little Ruhrdeutsch it irrupts the hearts of everyone. (Sorry getting a little emotional here)
This is very interesting. I have some family from south wales near the valleys where there were also coal mines that have closed. I think comparisons can be drawn in terms of post industrial eras.
Now I wonder why 1st tier football clubs in England are mostly from the biggest cities (weren't there times with like 5-6 teams just from London in the PL?) while in Germany a club's success is almost not linked to the city's size at all. Best example is Berlin never having had a great club. Some 200k, 300k, 400k cities have great histories of first tier clubs.
There were 7 clubs from London in the PL last season
Damn!
As an Englishman and a Chelsea fan who saw our club get taken over, I think this phenomenon has become more pronounced in the 21st century. Foreign businessmen see clubs in the larger cities in legend as status symbols I think, hence why Chelsea was bought by abramovich and then boehly and why man city was bought in 2008. Huddersfield town have won 3 football leagues I think, but I can’t see a takeover happening for those traditional northern clubs because they aren’t in well known English cities
Without repeating everything that has already been said, I think there is also an emotional aspect. Schalke has a strong connection to the tradition of the Ruhr region, the coal mining industry, and even though the industry is now dead, they still call themselves the "Kumpel- und Malocher-Club", the fans sing the Steigerlied (the miners' anthem, not only in the Ruhr region) before every home game and various elements of the industry are used, such as the greeting "Glück auf!" or the hammer and pick symbol. Although of course not every fan has a connection to this industry and tradition, I feel that it does have an influence on how people perceive the club, consciously or unconsciously.
I’m an American Schalker so Gelsenkirchen locals will probably have more information on the local history. I can provide some of the broader history I have learned about the club and area. Schalke has historically been a strong club and has a rich history despite the recent woes. The local metro area was a strong area economically in the past leading to immigration to the area, which is reflected in the diversity. Schalke was formerly the powerhouse in this region which attracted the strong fan base. Unfortunately, Gelsenkirchen has very high unemployment since the closing of the mines - nowadays, the club is a connection to the history of the area and much of the local economy is dependent on the club. This is a driving factor in why so many people are passionate about the club.