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Good for Schalke. Just goes to show that clubs don't need to charge their fans half their weekly wages just for the privilege of of supporting the club in order to be successful. Here's hoping Schalke can win the Champion's League and really stick it to the big boys.

Obviously, as a lifelong United supporter, I don't want Schalke to win tonight or next Wednesday, but I gaze upon them lovingly, and marvel at the way the club is run. It is the dream of most football supporters to be so involved in, and valued by the club they support, not milked like "cash cows".
Premier League clubs could never be run like this anymore.

@1 Is that strictly true though? Yes they have made it to the semi's of the CL but as the article states, they are deeply in debt and fixing their staium roof seems to be a bit of an issue. Perhaps if Schalke fans were a bit more realistic with the charging structure, the club wouldn't be in such a financial mess?

Impressive, but can you really imagine the top clubs over here opening their doors like that? You wouldn't be able to move for gutter press lice looking for their next bit of tattle to feed on.

This isn't just Schalke, Dan, but pretty much all Bundesliga clubs, like my beloved Dortmund. The German vs English model has been argued out in many places and I won't go into it here, but even though I'm English, I find the Premier league woefully dull, and the Bundesliga far better. I hope BVB don't choke, and good luck to Schalke!

I was in Gelsenkirchen when my team (Benfica) played Shalke in the CL group stage this season, and I was impressed how we didn't need to buy train tickets as it would be included on the match ticket (only found out after we bought them of course...) - but as stated in the article you could travel from quite far for completely free, from Oberhausen, Dussedorf, Dortmund, etc, on matchdays.

The town is completely covered in blue. And surprisingly I've seen a couple of GE Ultras stickers in random countries, just out of nowehere, so their supporters do get around.

If anyone wants to know, you can find the UK Schalke support group over here:

As Lorcan says, this model isn't unique to Schalke. In Germany, they value the fans and having full stadiums. The fans will just not go to the games if they hike the ticket prices up, and they've warned clubs about this in the past. Tickets are cheap yes, but the merchandise flies off the shelves. Perennial mid-league clubs play to full houses every home game.

As for "arguably the most popular club across Germany", that's not a view you would find in Germany. Munich are far and away the most popular - and at the same time the most hated!

I'm a BVB fan of many years but even still would like to see them make the final. I expect Man Utd to edge them over 2 legs, but it should be closer than many think. In Farfan and Raul they have 2 players who can trouble to any defence.

Perhaps if players were not so cut off, there wouldn't be the hype or furore that surrounds them when they are actually revealed in some format to the public other than the robotic, media moulded beings that they appear to be.

After all, their career and fuss will normally last about 10 years, after that footballers become everyday people more or less. Yes with vast wealth in some cases, but that soon diminishes.

For example at Everton heroes from 1990's in Joe Parkinson, Graham Stuart etc regularly take part in public benefits with the club, intergrating with fans and there are never any problems, just as I imagine there are no problems now over in Germany.

If you make something unattainable, people will seek it more. If the players walk through your highstreets and chat to fans at open training events then where is the need to seek them out?

@6

That is unbelievable. The tickets are much cheaper anyway! We accept getting ripped off quite easily in this country - fans in the main aret reated like dirt by their clubs in this country.

It's almost as if you should be greatful to have paid your £35 ticket, to sit in a obstructed view, to pay £10 on simple refreshments, pay your £3 to get to the nearest train station and then walk 2 miles to the ground...but come May they'll do anything to get your season ticket renewal sorted out.

"I used to support Manchester United but when the Glazers bought United that was the final straw," said Dykes. "I haven't been to Old Trafford since then. The second leg will be my first visit for a long time and I want Schalke to win."




I am not knocking the bloke, to each their own and all that, but I genuinely can not understand how someone can just say "Well I am not supporting that club any more"
and start supporting another club.

Im rooting for barca, but having read this im kind of hoping Schalke win the whole thing. Clubs treat their fans like mugs now and they just put up with it. Delighted to see a club that hasnt forgotten where it comes from and to then sell its soul for a few quid extra. Might be how the world runs now in football here's to them anyway.

Interesting article, though I have heard it all before.

Maybe fans do need to be a bit more realistic, and then they could repair the roof and get their finances in order though? Just a thought.

You can not have those principles and be a wealthy club, but there is lots of middle ground.

As someone pointed out though, the pathetic excuse for reporting which most of the English Press resort to are a huge problem in taking the "open approach".

This isn't really special to Schalke more across the bundesliga which others have said. I support Dortmund when it comes to Germany but have been to a Schalke game and the stadium and fans are amazing. Many clubs have open training sessions, why only the other week i got my photo with Mario Gotze and Felipe Santana after a training session. The players have a close connection with the fans and even twenty minutes after a match has ended the players are often still out on the pitch interacting with supporters after a win. The premier league may have the more glitz and glamour but that is exactly what is ruining it. Football is much better on the continent in my opinion and I'm english.

Thanks for this article Dan. As a Man Utd ST holder I want United to win... but have great respect for Schalke and the involvement of the fans..if only United were the same. I went to Dortmund in 1997 and Barca in 1999 to watch United against German opposition.. and their supporters are generally fantastic. One of my football highlights was at Dortmund with a mass 'dance' at half time by United supporters to James Brown.. 'I feel good'..and wish Schalke well for the future.. but not in the next 8 days!

I agree entirely with this blog from my experiences of visiting germany.
To think it costs £40 plus for a ticket @ Old Trafford. Yes the atmosphere is great but the interaction isnt there. Id love to be able to afford to go and see Utd play every week but it would bankrupt me!
I went for my stag weekend over in Dusseldorf, not only where the people within the town amazing and welcoming but the cost of transport across the city was minimal.

The fact that the match tickets incorporate transport just adds to the ease of getting around and not spending a fortune in the process. As for watching the team train. If your watching the matches and buying the merchandise its not much to ask for.

This is very noble but aren't Schalke about 100M euros on debt? Perhaps that should have been stated also. That huge debt may be related or not to the fact the tickets are cheap, etc. Anyway, good luck to Schalke next season... tonight GO UNITED!!!!!!!!

Dan, i more than a lot of people, want to see shalke beat united...(both legs)
do you think they have not just the quality but the mental toughness through out the team/squad to do this?

Ive seen some of their group games and the ties verses valencia and inter, and although playing fantastic, i do believe their victories in some cases (against the bigger teams) was due more to, complaincency and poor play from their opponents than their superior footballing ability? Sir Alec will know of Raul's threat and i sadly think ferdinand & vidic - unless they have a poor game; will subdue the prolific spaniard, no?

thoughts would be appreciated!

Oh I wish the Ipswich CEO would look at this blog and remember that it is also meant to be a community club..... Dreams of course.

I really really hope Schalke make it to the final now, and then meet Real Madrid.

@7, stevie_bhoy, there is no team called Munich. The two Bundesliga clubs in that city are Bayern and TSV1860. Bayern (the one you probably referred to) is NOT among the top four most supported clubs in Germany, they are Borussia Dortmund, Schalke, Hamburg and Hansa Rostock. Bayern are probably the most hated club in the country, though.

This is an extraordinary example of how just the fans support and involvement can turn around the fortunes of a club. I am a Srilankan and I can truly appreciate this as the Football clubs out here are not in the best financial conditions and we do not have any foreign players. As a Manchester United fan I would like Man U too to introduce a system that allows fans to interact with a greater level of intimacy with the players because a true sportsmen plays for the love of the game and the support of his/her fans.
There must be something special in Schalke and its players (other than Raul) to have beaten Inter 7-3 on aggregrate. Inter have not had the best of seasons yet they've managed to churn out the results albeit a few hiccups on the way. After all they beat Bayern convincingly.
My best wishes to Schalke to continue their good form and excellent football that they played at the champions league but as a Man U fan I hope and pray that we win.

Although I am a proud Englishman, I am wholly ingrossed with the Bundesliga and all the good that eminates from it.
Matches are decent, the crowds better than anywhere else on the continent bar none, and above all the supporters are truly regarded as being part of the clubs and not just "customers" there to be fleeced for cash.

Schalke have done fantastic to get this far in the CL and in the words of the Sainted KK " I would just love it" if they reached the final at the expense of moneybags united.
In any event, this cup run should put some well deserved and needed cash in the coffers for them to build on.

"I am not knocking the bloke, to each their own and all that, but I genuinely can not understand how someone can just say "Well I am not supporting that club any more"
and start supporting another club."
My ex mate Eammy McCann stopped supporting Leeds 30 years ago to become a Liverpool supporter. Just like that.
I still can't believe he could have done that. It's a bit like Stevie the punk becoming a New Romantic overnight. Fickle or what. How can people change overnight?

Cheap tickets, Integrated transport to games and safe standing to........
Are we really looking at Germany as a better place to watch football than the sceptred isle that is Great Britain, and the originator of the game?

Somewhere along the journey we have lost the way, with too much money, over analysis, players on pedestals ready to be knocked off, twitter accounts being used as the word of god and the costs supported by massive ticket price rises and over zealous staffing to remove you should someone dare to say something controversial.

There are examples of clubs in Great Britain following a similar fan owned approach but currently reside in the lower leagues. Maybe they deserve our attention rather than the over glorified super clubs of the Premiership. I hope their day will come.

@10 and 22

There is no natural ties to any club from birth, they are only formed by going to grounds. Yes, it can be hard to drop these socially constructed bonds but it is not ridiculous. Why should a United fan stay after their club is ripped away from them and the only semblance of what they remember as 'United' is the location and the colour of the strip? It does not make it an easy decision but one lead by both the irrational passion for the club and the rational passion for wanting their club to be theirs. I'll never understand why people accept that you cannot change clubs for political reasons.

Dietrich Mateschitz, the businessman who owns Red Bull, bought the historic Austrian football club Austria Salzburg and changed the club's colors from violet to red because "no Red Bull team would have any other colour but red"! Then he changed the club's name to Red Bull Salzburg! Imagine the new owner of your club changing your colours and then changing the name to acconomdate his brand. Would you still be a supporter? What place does loyalty have when the object of loyalty ceases to exist?

James Horrocks -
Its this familiarity you speak of that leads to loyalty. The colours of the strip, the stadium, the fans that fill it. A fan has a special bond with each and every other fan of that team. Its not right to change teams because something has gone on that you dont agree with or cannot get used to. Its called loyalty.

There is also the rivalry side to it. As 'thatmanjoeagain' touched on it, how can you support one club and fear/hate/envy their rivals then turn your back and support a club you hated, go to the matches and watch your new club play against your old and sing abusive or micky-taking songs against that club you were loyal to for so many years???

LOYALTY. ITS VERY SIMPLE
IT MAKES REAL FOOTBALL
IT MAKES REAL FANS
IT MAKES REAL PLAYERS
AND REAL CLUBS

has no room for politically conscious people such as yourself that deem it alright to suddenly exchange teams.

Fan of wife swap by any chance?

I'm the person interviewed and I should make it clear that what I have done is withdraw my financial support from Manchester United. I am still a fan. I simply made a conscious decision not to put any more money in after Glazer took over and that means I don't go the home games any more. I was fed up of being treated solely as a source of cash by my club, as I saw it. Expensive tickets, ridiculous kick-off times, all-seater grounds with no atmosphere, no beer inside the stadium, overzealous stewards, no meaningful dialogue with the fans, etc. etc. Compare and contrast with the Bundesliga. For me, having lived in Germany and been going to Schalke since 1987, there is no competition. I'm a part of the Schalke family now and I get a say in how the club is run. That's how it is at FC United and quite frankly I don't find I miss Old Trafford that much any more. I fully respect those people who took the decision to keep going after Glazer bought the club. All I ask is that they respect mine.

Im afraid that many Schalke fans are living in the past, in fact it is over 50 years since they won their last league title. If they want to continue in this way, then good luck to them, if however they want to join the Uniteds of the world, then they must SPEND and with their finances as they are at present, their only hope is to raise prices.
The last Manager Felix Magath, done his best to pull them into the 20th century, but the Chairman and FANS didnt like having a Trainer/Coach/Manager in one person (which is unheard of in Germany) with this sort of power, the Fans think that because they pay, they have the right to run the club. One thing I am certain of, in 5 years, all Top German clubs will be run like the Premier League, that is with a One man Manager/Coach, much higher ticket prices and owned by American, Arabs and even Russians.
PS I wonder why no Schalke fan has mentioned that in the 70s Schalke were relegated because of match fixing ?