Don't Bang the Drum.

[Why Always Ste]

A drum like Dortmund? Absolutely yes. I'm a bit old and fat these days to get involved, but am fully behind this. Come on Citizens MAKE SOME NOISE

Meh... Everyone is welcomed to this project. it isn't some Youth only movement, the idea of this being a youth only movement was formed from negative comments about the idea.

If you look at many of the Aris/Dortmund fans etc, it seems to me majority of them are in their late 20's 30's

 

[Danny Hoekman]

Drums in Germany, Greece etc. may well be thought of in a good light. Over here we associate them with the brownshoe clubs - Bolton, Wigan and Palace being the obvious examples. Tbh, that continental droning for 90 mins doesn't do it for me. It boring, repetitive and gets on my nerves after a couple of minutes!

 

[Bembeltown]

I lived in Frankfurt 15 years ago when similar changes happened in German support - those that drove the change, not just in the way their teams were supported, but the mentality of the match going fan were laughed at, were told this won't work this isn't Turkey and called kids then.

I was just about to post something similar...

I am German, I am from Frankfurt and I support Eintracht Frankfurt since I was a little boy.

Not many of you will know this football club simply because our "glory days" are over since mid 90. Until then we used to be one of the top teams in the Bundesliga and played in Europe basically every year.

In 1996 something happened that people never ever thought could happen...we went down to the second division as one of the founding members of the Bundesliga and for the first time in our history.

It was a depressive time and our atmosphere was at an all time low. Back then a couple of young people decided that something needs to be done to support our team back to its former glory (which quite frankly didnt happen until today).

Anyway back to the year 1997 when Ultras Frankfurt was founded with the goal to create an atmosphere similar to what we encountered on our travels through Europe (mainly Italy back then which was a different world to what we knew as atmosphere in Germany).

Those guys started to bring banners, flags, colour whatever to the games and slowly established a new style of support.

Lots of the old fans laughed at them because "germans lack the mentality of the Italiens, I don´t want some teenager with a megaphone tell me what to do" etc.

Ultras Frankfurt carried on and all of a sudden people began to realize how much more fun football all of a sudden is when you just don´t stand there with arms folded but actively participate again in supporting your team.

Back then Ultras Frankfurt relocated to a certain area in our old arena and all of a sudden it became "cool" to be part of this singing area and more and more people gathered up there to join the chants, be part of the displays etc.

Today Ultras Frankfurt is still alive and kicking and every Frankfurt fan is proud to be part of the fanscene we have simply because we usually always deliver, no matter if it is home or away.

We get regular visitors from the UK who soley come to enjoy the atmosphere (the football itself usually is not exactly a joy to watch) and a common feedback you get when talking to them is "we wish we had something similar back home".

To keep a long story short...

Give the young ones at least a chance and don´t dismiss their ideas just for the sake of beeing against it.

Don´t come up with this "its not our mentality crap" as I work day in and day out with brits and you lot are not really any different than anyone else in Europe.

Celtic managed to get something going which looks like a nice start on youtube. Back when I was watching Celtic - Aberdeen something like 5 years ago I had to get pissed because it was so horrible boring both in terms of football and atmosphere and that after some fellow colleague from work dragged me along to show me the "amazing atmosphere" at Celtic.

And to be honest its not any different at all over your little island...Guess why the german fans love to get to the UK on Euro trips? It´s because they enjoy taking the piss out of your atmosphere and enjoy their "you only sing when you are winning" piss taking...

Sitting in front of a PC posting stuff on a forum that maybe 10% of city supporters read won´t change the world thats for sure, but those guys try to use the modern media like Facebook, Twitter etc. for their cause and they actually do go to a reserves match to try out their ideas.

Sometimes it takes just a spark to ignite a flame and so far the "Anti faction" hasn´t done anything but sitting on their lardarses, complaining and beeing negative.
At least have the guts to meet up with the people at a match day, get to chat with them and give them a chance to convince you.

Just to give you an impression of what I talk about:

This was one of the first displays of Ultras Frankfurt:

This is how it looks like today with a couple of years experience:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM</a>

Away support second division:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZIUfU&feature=g-u-u&context=G2e9ccf1FUAAAAAAAAAA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZI ... AAAAAAAAAA</a>

At Home when we played Newcastle a couple seasons back
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0</a>

I know my credibility with you lot won´t be high because "lol German on City board", but I have a genuine interest in City since the days of Uwe Rösler if that makes you feel any better....

 

[GazC]

I lived in Frankfurt 15 years ago when similar changes happened in German support - those that drove the change, not just in the way their teams were supported, but the mentality of the match going fan were laughed at, were told this won't work this isn't Turkey and called kids then.

I was just about to post something similar...

I am German, I am from Frankfurt and I support Eintracht Frankfurt since I was a little boy.

Not many of you will know this football club simply because our "glory days" are over since mid 90. Until then we used to be one of the top teams in the Bundesliga and played in Europe basically every year.

In 1996 something happened that people never ever thought could happen...we went down to the second division as one of the founding members of the Bundesliga and for the first time in our history.

It was a depressive time and our atmosphere was at an all time low. Back then a couple of young people decided that something needs to be done to support our team back to its former glory (which quite frankly didnt happen until today).

Anyway back to the year 1997 when Ultras Frankfurt was founded with the goal to create an atmosphere similar to what we encountered on our travels through Europe (mainly Italy back then which was a different world to what we knew as atmosphere in Germany).

Those guys started to bring banners, flags, colour whatever to the games and slowly established a new style of support.

Lots of the old fans laughed at them because "germans lack the mentality of the Italiens, I don´t want some teenager with a megaphone tell me what to do" etc.

Ultras Frankfurt carried on and all of a sudden people began to realize how much more fun football all of a sudden is when you just don´t stand there with arms folded but actively participate again in supporting your team.

Back then Ultras Frankfurt relocated to a certain area in our old arena and all of a sudden it became "cool" to be part of this singing area and more and more people gathered up there to join the chants, be part of the displays etc.

Today Ultras Frankfurt is still alive and kicking and every Frankfurt fan is proud to be part of the fanscene we have simply because we usually always deliver, no matter if it is home or away.

We get regular visitors from the UK who soley come to enjoy the atmosphere (the football itself usually is not exactly a joy to watch) and a common feedback you get when talking to them is "we wish we had something similar back home".

To keep a long story short...

Give the young ones at least a chance and don´t dismiss their ideas just for the sake of beeing against it.

Don´t come up with this "its not our mentality crap" as I work day in and day out with brits and you lot are not really any different than anyone else in Europe.

Celtic managed to get something going which looks like a nice start on youtube. Back when I was watching Celtic - Aberdeen something like 5 years ago I had to get pissed because it was so horrible boring both in terms of football and atmosphere and that after some fellow colleague from work dragged me along to show me the "amazing atmosphere" at Celtic.

And to be honest its not any different at all over your little island...Guess why the german fans love to get to the UK on Euro trips? It´s because they enjoy taking the piss out of your atmosphere and enjoy their "you only sing when you are winning" piss taking...

Sitting in front of a PC posting stuff on a forum that maybe 10% of city supporters read won´t change the world thats for sure, but those guys try to use the modern media like Facebook, Twitter etc. for their cause and they actually do go to a reserves match to try out their ideas.

Sometimes it takes just a spark to ignite a flame and so far the "Anti faction" hasn´t done anything but sitting on their lardarses, complaining and beeing negative.
At least have the guts to meet up with the people at a match day, get to chat with them and give them a chance to convince you.

Just to give you an impression of what I talk about:

This was one of the first displays of Ultras Frankfurt:

This is how it looks like today with a couple of years experience:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM</a>

Away support second division:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZIUfU&feature=g-u-u&context=G2e9ccf1FUAAAAAAAAAA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZI ... AAAAAAAAAA</a>

At Home when we played Newcastle a couple seasons back
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0</a>

I know my credibility with you lot won´t be high because "lol German on City board", but I have a genuine interest in City since the days of Uwe Rösler if that makes you feel any better....

Great post mate, thanks for taking the time to share it. I came back to this thread to share this from The Unity, which is Dortmund's ultras. See a theme developing here?

Um die Jahrtausendwende glich unser wunderschönes Westfalenstadion eher einer Oper als einem Fußballtempel. Die Stimmung wurde immer schlechter, die berüchtigten BVB Schlachtenbummler konnten sich kaum mehr aufraffen zu Auswärtsspielen zu fahren und der vielzitierte Mythos Südtribüne lebte eigentlich nur noch von seinem Ruf aus vergangenen Tagen.
Schon Ende der neunziger Jahre hatten die wenigen noch aktiven BVB-Fanclubs (z.B. Away Sups Werdohl, Ambassadors, Borussen Bulldogs) diese Entwicklung erkannt und versuchten durch die Gründung des „Stammtisches aktiver BVB-Fans“ dem ständigen Verfall entgegenzuwirken. Im Januar des Jahres 2001 gründete sich aus dieser Versammlung dann der unabhängige Überbau THE UNITY – Supporters Dortmund. Damals war noch vorrangig darauf bedacht die Südtribüne zu reanimieren und durch kreative, eigene Gesänge und neue optische Elemente wie zum Beispiel Doppelhalter und kleinere Choreographien der Fanszene neues Leben einzuhauchen. Ein weiteres zentrales Anliegen bestand darin, auch auswärts endlich wieder als BVB-Fans präsent zu sein. Daher wurden zunächst strenge Regeln für alle Mitglieder aufgestellt – so musste man mindestens zehn BVB Auswärtsspiele besuchen – was dazu führte, dass sich nach und nach ein verschworener harter Kern herauskristallisierte.
Schon bald war aber klar, dass unsere Auffassung von bedingungsloser Unterstützung der Mannschaft gerade in Dortmund viele unorganisierte Fans ansprechen sollte, weswegen wir im Jahre 2002 die Aufnahmebedingungen lockerten und uns erstmals für die breite Masse öffneten. Schon bald erhielten wir regen Zuspruch, gerade von jugendlichen BVB Fans, und konnten uns in der Zukunft auf der Südtribüne etablieren. Schon bald stellten wir unseren eigenen Vorsänger und gelten seitdem als der Motor der Tribüne. Unser exponiertes Auftreten und der stetige Zulauf neuer junger Leute sorgte natürlich auch dafür, dass im Laufe unserer Entwicklung auch andere Stilmittel der Ultrábewegung adaptiert wurden und wir schon recht früh, als die führende Ultrágruppierung in Dortmund angesehen wurden.

Auf der Tribüne entwickelten wir uns prächtig, immer mehr Fans konnten von unseren Ideen begeistert werden, immer anspruchsvoller wurden unsere neuen Projekte. Gerade unsere Choreographien lassen auch den neutralen Betrachter erahnen, wie weit es mit der Dortmunder Fanszene bergauf gegangen ist. Haben wir mit sehr kleinen Aktionen in unserem Bereich begonnen, haben wir mittlerweile diverse Papptafelchoreos auf den Sitzplatztribünen durchgeführt und sind mittlerweile in der Lage riesige Aktionen – auch mit beweglichen Elementen – im gesamten Stadion durchzuführen. Ein wesentlicher Schritt hierbei war sicherlich die Schaffung der „Gelben Wand – Südtribüne Dortmund“, die in Anlehnung an unsere 2500 Doppelhalter beim Saisonabschluss 2004/05 der Südtribüne eine eigene Identität gegeben hat. Zahlreiche einflussreiche alte und neugegründete Fanclubs sind diesem Aktionsbündnis beigetreten und unterstützen unsere Ziele in jeder Hinsicht. Auch können wir so auf kurzem Dienstweg Missverständnisse ausräumen und auf Probleme reagieren, so dass der Zusammenhalt auf der Tribüne so gut ist, wie vielleicht noch nie. Unser ureigenes Ziel eine bessere Stimmung im Westfalenstadion zu schaffen, haben wir natürlich nicht aus den Augen verloren und wähnen uns dank dieser Maßnahmen auf einem guten Weg. Zwar ist natürlich nicht alles Gold, was glänzt, aber zwischen der heutigen Atmosphäre und den Totentänzen von zehn Jahren liegen mittlerweile Welten. Wir werden den Dortmunder Weg konsequent weitergehen, bis jeder Gegner ob der Dortmunder Stimmgewalt erzittert!
Auch abseits des Platzes machten wir uns einen Namen als kritische Opposition zum teilweise äußerst undurchsichtigen Handeln im Verein. Auf den damals noch regelmäßig durchgeführten Fandelegiertentagungen stellten wir schnell eine große Anzahl der Anwesenden und es gelang uns nicht selten, die Pläne des Vorstands zu hinterfragen und diesen auch in Verlegenheit zu bringen. Im Zuge der Beinahe-Insolvenz unseres Vereins waren wir es die den Protest der Basis anführten und nach zwei Demonstrationen in Hannover und Dortmund auch erreichten, dass alle Verursacher der Krise endgültig ihre Posten aufgaben, und ein Neuanfang im Verein ermöglichten. Seitdem gelten wir als kompetenter und konstruktiver Partner für Verein und Fans. Unser Wort hat Gewicht und Fehlentwicklungen, die wir ansprechen, werden in der Fanszene und im Verein ernst genommen. Wir stehen für den Erhalt der Fankultur und ihrer traditionellen Werte. Im Kampf gegen den modernen Fußball engagieren wir uns auf allen Ebenen, wir kämpfen für Stehplätze, bezahlbare Eintrittskarten für jeder Mann und die nötigen Freiheiten für alle Fans in ihren Blöcken. Wir verurteilen Rassismus und Intoleranz genauso wie staatliche Repressionen, Stadion- und Stadtverbote. Wir wollen eine lebendige und mündige Fankultur!

Wir wollen unseren Namen THE UNITY und unsere Ziele auch abseits des Fußballfeldes leben und verbreiten. Wir sind eine Einheit und stehen bedingungslos füreinander und unsere große Liebe Borussia Dortmund ein. Dies wollen wir auch durch unsere Gruppenlogos verdeutlichen. Zum einen ziert unser Wappen der Dortmunder Stadtadler mit einem BVB-Wappen, ein klares Bekenntnis zu Stadt und Verein. Daneben nutzen wir noch die Silhouette der ehemaligen BVB-Legende August Lenz, dem ersten Nationalspieler unserer Borussia. Diese steht symbolisch für unser Bekenntnis zur ruhmreichen Tradition unseres Vereins, dessen Wohl all unser Handeln bestimmt. Dieser Tradition sind wir verpflichtet und es gilt auch in schwierigen Zeiten für diese Werte einzustehen.
Wenn auch ihr Interesse an einer Mitgliedschaft bei THE UNITY habt, dann kommt zur ersten Kontaktaufnahme zu unserem Büdchen unter der Südtribüne! Hier findet Ihr einen ersten Anlaufpunkt und bekommt einen Ansprechpartner zugewiesen.
Wir halten fest und treu zusammen.

Around the turn of the millennium our beautiful Westfalenstadion was more of an opera than a football temple. The mood was getting worse, the infamous BVB camp followers could hardly bring himself to go to away games, and the oft-cited myth Südtribüne actually lived only by his reputation from the past.
Since the late nineties, the few still active BVB fan (eg Away Sups Werdohl, Ambassadors, Borussia Bulldogs) recognized this trend and tried by creating the "Stammtisch active BVB fans" counteract the constant decline. In January of 2001, was founded by this Assembly, then the independent superstructure THE UNITY - Supporters Dortmund. Then still primarily anxious to resuscitate the South Stand and. Through creative, own songs and new optical elements such as dual holders and small choreographies of fandom to breathe new life Another key concern was also away at last to present again as BVB fans be. Therefore initially strict rules have been established for all members - so you had to visit at least ten BVB Away - which meant that gradually crystallized by a sworn hard core.
It soon became clear, however, that our notion of unconditional support of the team should address just in Dortmund unorganized many fans, so in 2002 we relaxed the conditions of admission and the first time we opened for the masses. Soon we were very well received, especially by young BVB fans, and have established ourselves in the future on the South Stand. Soon we made our own song leader and have been considered the engine of the grandstand. Our exposed occurrence and the steady influx of new young people also made sure that in the course of our development and other stylistic devices of Ultrábewegung were adapted and we quite early, when the leading Ultrágruppierung were considered in Dortmund.

On the platform we developed splendidly, more and more fans were excited about our ideas, more sophisticated, our new projects. Just give an idea of ​​our choreographies and the neutral observer how far it has gone with the Dortmund fan scene uphill. We started with very little activity in our area, we have now been carried out on the various Papptafelchoreos seat grandstands and are now able to huge actions - even with moving elements - to be in the entire stadium. An essential step in this process was undoubtedly the creation of the "Yellow Wall - South Stand Dortmund", which has been in line with our 2500 double support at the season final 2004/05 the South Stand own identity. Many influential old and newly established fan clubs are joined this alliance for action and support our goals in every respect. Also we can dispel misunderstandings and so on recent official channels react to problems, so that the cohesion in the stands is as good as perhaps never before. Our very own aim to create a better atmosphere in the Westfalen Stadium, of course we have not lost sight of, and imagine ourselves from these measures on the right track. While of course not all that glitters is gold, but between today's atmosphere and the dances of death of ten years now are worlds apart. We will continue along the path consistently Dortmund until every enemy trembles if Dortmund's vocal power!
And off the pitch we made a name for ourselves as a critical opposition to the sometimes extremely opaque action in the club. On the still regularly performed Fandelegiertentagungen we put a big number of those present and we managed quite often to question the plans of the Board and to bring it in embarrassment. In the wake of the near-bankruptcy of our association we were there who led the protest and the basis for two demonstrations in Hannover and Dortmund also reached that all responsible for the crisis finally abandoned their posts, and allowed a fresh start at the club. Since then we are deemed competent and constructive partner for club and fans. Our word has weight and mistakes, we address are to be taken seriously in the fan scene and the club. We stand for the preservation of fan culture and traditional values. In the fight against modern football we are committed at all levels, we are fighting for standing room tickets affordable for every man and the necessary freedoms for all fans in their blocks. We condemn racism and intolerance as well as state repression, stadium and city bans. We want a vibrant and mature fan culture!

We want to live our name THE UNITY and our goals off the pitch and spread. We are a unit and are accountable to each other and our unconditional love Borussia Dortmund. We want to clarify by our group logo. Firstly, our emblem adorns the Dortmund city eagle with a BVB crest, a clear commitment to the city and club. In addition, we still use the silhouette of the former BVB legend August Lenz, the first national player of our Borussia. This is symbolic of our commitment to the glorious tradition of our society, whose welfare determines all our actions. This tradition, we are committed and it applies even in difficult times to stand up for these values.
If you are interested in becoming a member of THE UNITY, then come to the first contacting our kiosks under the South Stand! Here you will find a first point of contact and will be assigned a contact person.
We stick together firmly and faithfully.

 

[MCC]

I lived in Frankfurt 15 years ago when similar changes happened in German support - those that drove the change, not just in the way their teams were supported, but the mentality of the match going fan were laughed at, were told this won't work this isn't Turkey and called kids then.

I was just about to post something similar...

I am German, I am from Frankfurt and I support Eintracht Frankfurt since I was a little boy.

Not many of you will know this football club simply because our "glory days" are over since mid 90. Until then we used to be one of the top teams in the Bundesliga and played in Europe basically every year.

In 1996 something happened that people never ever thought could happen...we went down to the second division as one of the founding members of the Bundesliga and for the first time in our history.

It was a depressive time and our atmosphere was at an all time low. Back then a couple of young people decided that something needs to be done to support our team back to its former glory (which quite frankly didnt happen until today).

Anyway back to the year 1997 when Ultras Frankfurt was founded with the goal to create an atmosphere similar to what we encountered on our travels through Europe (mainly Italy back then which was a different world to what we knew as atmosphere in Germany).

Those guys started to bring banners, flags, colour whatever to the games and slowly established a new style of support.

Lots of the old fans laughed at them because "germans lack the mentality of the Italiens, I don´t want some teenager with a megaphone tell me what to do" etc.

Ultras Frankfurt carried on and all of a sudden people began to realize how much more fun football all of a sudden is when you just don´t stand there with arms folded but actively participate again in supporting your team.

Back then Ultras Frankfurt relocated to a certain area in our old arena and all of a sudden it became "cool" to be part of this singing area and more and more people gathered up there to join the chants, be part of the displays etc.

Today Ultras Frankfurt is still alive and kicking and every Frankfurt fan is proud to be part of the fanscene we have simply because we usually always deliver, no matter if it is home or away.

We get regular visitors from the UK who soley come to enjoy the atmosphere (the football itself usually is not exactly a joy to watch) and a common feedback you get when talking to them is "we wish we had something similar back home".

To keep a long story short...

Give the young ones at least a chance and don´t dismiss their ideas just for the sake of beeing against it.

Don´t come up with this "its not our mentality crap" as I work day in and day out with brits and you lot are not really any different than anyone else in Europe.

Celtic managed to get something going which looks like a nice start on youtube. Back when I was watching Celtic - Aberdeen something like 5 years ago I had to get pissed because it was so horrible boring both in terms of football and atmosphere and that after some fellow colleague from work dragged me along to show me the "amazing atmosphere" at Celtic.

And to be honest its not any different at all over your little island...Guess why the german fans love to get to the UK on Euro trips? It´s because they enjoy taking the piss out of your atmosphere and enjoy their "you only sing when you are winning" piss taking...

Sitting in front of a PC posting stuff on a forum that maybe 10% of city supporters read won´t change the world thats for sure, but those guys try to use the modern media like Facebook, Twitter etc. for their cause and they actually do go to a reserves match to try out their ideas.

Sometimes it takes just a spark to ignite a flame and so far the "Anti faction" hasn´t done anything but sitting on their lardarses, complaining and beeing negative.
At least have the guts to meet up with the people at a match day, get to chat with them and give them a chance to convince you.

Just to give you an impression of what I talk about:

This was one of the first displays of Ultras Frankfurt:

This is how it looks like today with a couple of years experience:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM</a>

Away support second division:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZIUfU&feature=g-u-u&context=G2e9ccf1FUAAAAAAAAAA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZI ... AAAAAAAAAA</a>

At Home when we played Newcastle a couple seasons back
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0</a>

I know my credibility with you lot won´t be high because "lol German on City board", but I have a genuine interest in City since the days of Uwe Rösler if that makes you feel any better....

Super post mate. If you dont try you will never know.

 

[Anonymous]

I lived in Frankfurt 15 years ago when similar changes happened in German support - those that drove the change, not just in the way their teams were supported, but the mentality of the match going fan were laughed at, were told this won't work this isn't Turkey and called kids then.

I was just about to post something similar...

I am German, I am from Frankfurt and I support Eintracht Frankfurt since I was a little boy.

Not many of you will know this football club simply because our "glory days" are over since mid 90. Until then we used to be one of the top teams in the Bundesliga and played in Europe basically every year.

In 1996 something happened that people never ever thought could happen...we went down to the second division as one of the founding members of the Bundesliga and for the first time in our history.

It was a depressive time and our atmosphere was at an all time low. Back then a couple of young people decided that something needs to be done to support our team back to its former glory (which quite frankly didnt happen until today).

Anyway back to the year 1997 when Ultras Frankfurt was founded with the goal to create an atmosphere similar to what we encountered on our travels through Europe (mainly Italy back then which was a different world to what we knew as atmosphere in Germany).

Those guys started to bring banners, flags, colour whatever to the games and slowly established a new style of support.

Lots of the old fans laughed at them because "germans lack the mentality of the Italiens, I don´t want some teenager with a megaphone tell me what to do" etc.

Ultras Frankfurt carried on and all of a sudden people began to realize how much more fun football all of a sudden is when you just don´t stand there with arms folded but actively participate again in supporting your team.

Back then Ultras Frankfurt relocated to a certain area in our old arena and all of a sudden it became "cool" to be part of this singing area and more and more people gathered up there to join the chants, be part of the displays etc.

Today Ultras Frankfurt is still alive and kicking and every Frankfurt fan is proud to be part of the fanscene we have simply because we usually always deliver, no matter if it is home or away.

We get regular visitors from the UK who soley come to enjoy the atmosphere (the football itself usually is not exactly a joy to watch) and a common feedback you get when talking to them is "we wish we had something similar back home".

To keep a long story short...

Give the young ones at least a chance and don´t dismiss their ideas just for the sake of beeing against it.

Don´t come up with this "its not our mentality crap" as I work day in and day out with brits and you lot are not really any different than anyone else in Europe.

Celtic managed to get something going which looks like a nice start on youtube. Back when I was watching Celtic - Aberdeen something like 5 years ago I had to get pissed because it was so horrible boring both in terms of football and atmosphere and that after some fellow colleague from work dragged me along to show me the "amazing atmosphere" at Celtic.

And to be honest its not any different at all over your little island...Guess why the german fans love to get to the UK on Euro trips? It´s because they enjoy taking the piss out of your atmosphere and enjoy their "you only sing when you are winning" piss taking...

Sitting in front of a PC posting stuff on a forum that maybe 10% of city supporters read won´t change the world thats for sure, but those guys try to use the modern media like Facebook, Twitter etc. for their cause and they actually do go to a reserves match to try out their ideas.

Sometimes it takes just a spark to ignite a flame and so far the "Anti faction" hasn´t done anything but sitting on their lardarses, complaining and beeing negative.
At least have the guts to meet up with the people at a match day, get to chat with them and give them a chance to convince you.

Just to give you an impression of what I talk about:

This was one of the first displays of Ultras Frankfurt:

This is how it looks like today with a couple of years experience:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM</a>

Away support second division:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZIUfU&feature=g-u-u&context=G2e9ccf1FUAAAAAAAAAA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZI ... AAAAAAAAAA</a>

At Home when we played Newcastle a couple seasons back
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0</a>

I know my credibility with you lot won´t be high because "lol German on City board", but I have a genuine interest in City since the days of Uwe Rösler if that makes you feel any better....

Super post mate. If you dont try you will never know.

agree fantastic post

 

[Blue Theatre]

I lived in Frankfurt 15 years ago when similar changes happened in German support - those that drove the change, not just in the way their teams were supported, but the mentality of the match going fan were laughed at, were told this won't work this isn't Turkey and called kids then.

I was just about to post something similar...

I am German, I am from Frankfurt and I support Eintracht Frankfurt since I was a little boy.

Not many of you will know this football club simply because our "glory days" are over since mid 90. Until then we used to be one of the top teams in the Bundesliga and played in Europe basically every year.

In 1996 something happened that people never ever thought could happen...we went down to the second division as one of the founding members of the Bundesliga and for the first time in our history.

It was a depressive time and our atmosphere was at an all time low. Back then a couple of young people decided that something needs to be done to support our team back to its former glory (which quite frankly didnt happen until today).

Anyway back to the year 1997 when Ultras Frankfurt was founded with the goal to create an atmosphere similar to what we encountered on our travels through Europe (mainly Italy back then which was a different world to what we knew as atmosphere in Germany).

Those guys started to bring banners, flags, colour whatever to the games and slowly established a new style of support.

Lots of the old fans laughed at them because "germans lack the mentality of the Italiens, I don´t want some teenager with a megaphone tell me what to do" etc.

Ultras Frankfurt carried on and all of a sudden people began to realize how much more fun football all of a sudden is when you just don´t stand there with arms folded but actively participate again in supporting your team.

Back then Ultras Frankfurt relocated to a certain area in our old arena and all of a sudden it became "cool" to be part of this singing area and more and more people gathered up there to join the chants, be part of the displays etc.

Today Ultras Frankfurt is still alive and kicking and every Frankfurt fan is proud to be part of the fanscene we have simply because we usually always deliver, no matter if it is home or away.

We get regular visitors from the UK who soley come to enjoy the atmosphere (the football itself usually is not exactly a joy to watch) and a common feedback you get when talking to them is "we wish we had something similar back home".

To keep a long story short...

Give the young ones at least a chance and don´t dismiss their ideas just for the sake of beeing against it.

Don´t come up with this "its not our mentality crap" as I work day in and day out with brits and you lot are not really any different than anyone else in Europe.

Celtic managed to get something going which looks like a nice start on youtube. Back when I was watching Celtic - Aberdeen something like 5 years ago I had to get pissed because it was so horrible boring both in terms of football and atmosphere and that after some fellow colleague from work dragged me along to show me the "amazing atmosphere" at Celtic.

And to be honest its not any different at all over your little island...Guess why the german fans love to get to the UK on Euro trips? It´s because they enjoy taking the piss out of your atmosphere and enjoy their "you only sing when you are winning" piss taking...

Sitting in front of a PC posting stuff on a forum that maybe 10% of city supporters read won´t change the world thats for sure, but those guys try to use the modern media like Facebook, Twitter etc. for their cause and they actually do go to a reserves match to try out their ideas.

Sometimes it takes just a spark to ignite a flame and so far the "Anti faction" hasn´t done anything but sitting on their lardarses, complaining and beeing negative.
At least have the guts to meet up with the people at a match day, get to chat with them and give them a chance to convince you.

Just to give you an impression of what I talk about:

This was one of the first displays of Ultras Frankfurt:

This is how it looks like today with a couple of years experience:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfo3mkaUNM</a>

Away support second division:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZIUfU&feature=g-u-u&context=G2e9ccf1FUAAAAAAAAAA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQvSCZI ... AAAAAAAAAA</a>

At Home when we played Newcastle a couple seasons back
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHas38WdhP0</a>

I know my credibility with you lot won´t be high because "lol German on City board", but I have a genuine interest in City since the days of Uwe Rösler if that makes you feel any better....

Thanks for taking the time to post on our site, Bembeltown, and for explaining what happened at Eintracht Frankfurt.

I agree with all you say - we ought to try some of these things, because we've nothing to lose and everything to gain ... currently the atmosphere at City is poor 90% of the time, I think.

 

[1.618034]

Great post from Bembletown...

Forget what the conservatives like Dismal think. They'll either be sat in the Colin Bell or stood with their arms folded in the south stand. It's not like they'll stop going because someone's actually trying to generate an atmosphere. If most don't like it then it'll fade... And I'm another who laments the passing of the Poznan. although we were about to get a good one going on Saturday but we had a scoring chance and the moment was lost on most of the stadium...

Good luck.

From a 40 something who's glad someone's trying something!

 

[northstander]

outside in a beer tent maybe, in the ground ABSOLUTELY NO, remember the bolton fans laughing a few seasons ago when some fool decided it would be a good idea to play canned singing over the tannoy, no thanks

 

[Palerider]

Great post Bembeltown, thanks for that. One things for sure if we don't do something different then things will not change. Over the past three years we've probably played 10 European sides at home and seen the best 3 supported sides vocally I have ever seen and I'm in my fifties! Quite frankly I want a bit of that for City. I'm in favour of trying anything, drums, guitars, choirs and even happy clapping. Anything that will get our fans more involved.