ON THE April 15th 1989, something terrible and tragic happened. 96 Liverpool supporters went to watch a football match, and never came home. Hundreds more were injured in the Hillsborough disaster, and many families were left to grieve in agony and sadness. However, there was another thing that was also killed off in the aftermath of the disaster, and that was English football.
As a result of all the deaths and injuries, a huge investigation was enforced and a solution to prevent any copies of this had to be produced. Subsequently, then PM Margaret Thatcher introduced a new safety law that imposed that they shall not be any standing areas and all stadiums have to be converted into all seater stadiums. This also meant that standing up all together is banned, and that you have to seat down and if you break that rule during a game, stewards and police officers have the right to deport you from the ground.
This rule has killed off the once fantastic atmosphere and people now have to just sit down, be quiet , rather than stand up and fully immerse yourself into the game and make your passion heard.
However, this is far form the case in German football. In Germany, it is all about passion and supporting your team. At every club, supporters are united like a family, something that is far from evident in English football. Every club in the top tier of German football, the Bundesliga, has a group of hardcore fans called ultras which there main objective is to serenade their team and support them right until the very end. One example of this is a Bundesliga club called Schalke 04. In the champions league, they were losing 5 nil at home to Spanish giants Real Madrid. English fans would have just simply booed their team and walked out in masses, however the Schalke ultras just kept singing and the place was still rocking. German fans have also pretty much put English fans to shame in the Champions League. In 2013, the much loved Borussia Dortmund fans headed to the Emirates stadium against London club Arsenal. All of the fans were in the away end way before the home fans and kick off, and before, during and after the game the fans would simply not stop singing. “Embarrassing” would be a understatement to describe the English fans here. You can find the Schalke and Dortmund videos on YouTube, and I highly recommend you give them a watch.
There are also some other issues that I would like to give my opinion on. One problem that has got worse and worse over the years is ticket prices. Two years ago, someone told me a worrying statistic that has stuck by me forever. It turns out it was cheaper to buy a Bayern Munich season ticket, watch superstars like Neuer and Robben at a world class stadium and watch them win the Bundesliga, then getting a QPR season ticket and watching your team finish rock bottom of the premier league and watching below par players like Taarabt and Green. It was also a massive difference in price between the two clubs as well. Luckily, campaigns like Twentys Plently are campaigning all the time for a reduction of over inflated ticket prices. In addition, the Premier League has also a recently introduced a positively received cap in away ticket prices.
Also, on a side note, there are some more minor issues in English football that is not the case in German football. Food in stadiums is meant to be much cheaper and a whole lot more tastier in Germany, and there is also cheap alcohol available, which you can drink in the stands, something that is stupidly not permitted in the UK as you have to consume it in the concourse. Other sports like Rugby and Golf allows you to do this, so why can’t football fans in the UK can’t?
However, on a side note, some clubs are actually trying to resolve some of these problems. Scottish champions Celtic have recently installed a safe standing section for their some of their home fans at Celtic park, a move that has been greatly appreciated and they are the first major UK club in order to install a safe standing section. As for the minimal atmosphere, ultra groups (hardcore fans) at clubs like Crystal Palace and its Holmesdale fanatics, and Watford with its 1881 movement, have aimed to increase the atmosphere at their respective home games.
Finally, pressure groups like the previously mentioned Twentys Plenty are trying to implement cheaper tickets for the currently overpriced Premier and Football league. Overall, English clubs are trying to resolve some issues, but ultimately the once cultural and united atmosphere of British football seems to be long gone…
Sport Utopia 