A difficult club for many to like but an impossible club to ignore, 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig is one of 2 highly-charged clubs from Leipzig in Saxony with ultras and fanatics known for their connections to far right politics. This puts them at complete odds to the far left “Diablos” ultras of BSG Chemie Leipzig in one of the most fascinating German cities in the context of Football fan culture.
The glory days of Saxony-Anhalt’s largest Football club may be behind them, but nobody seems to have told the fanatical fans of 1.FC Magdeburg. Despite not having quite as high a profile as other East German professional clubs such as SG Dynamo Dresden, 1.FC Union Berlin and FC Hansa Rostock, Magdeburg remains the only club from the former GDR to have won international honours in the shape of the 1974 European Cup Winners Cup.
More than nominally “left-wing” fans, supporters of BSG Chemie Leipzig proactively fight rising commercialism in Football by voluntarily undertaking a lot of basic jobs around the club. This relieves the club of some overhead costs, and as a consequence, the club is in less need to sell advertising space to diversify its revenue streams. Fan integration is a key part of Chemie Leipzig, and the close relationship between management and supporters should be thought-provoking and inspirational to anyone concerned about fan welfare being compromised by business interests in Football.
In a mere decade, Red Bull GmbH has put Saxony’s second city firmly on the Football map. But if the notion of checking out an RB Leipzig match leaves a bad taste in your mouth, don’t panic. Leipzig’s Football scene is both peculiar and fascinating, and two clubs stand out as being colourful, idiosyncratic and Continue reading
Okay we’ll come clean. This Aufkleber is not from RB Leipzig, but from some other unknown Ultra group (obviously German) demonstrating against the team’s business model and success. This attitude is common across the Bundesliga, and in our post ‘Why Do Germans Hate RB Leipzig So Much?‘ we explore a cultural explanation why.
You know the story. One of East Germany’s biggest “start-ups” now looks a challenger for the Bundesliga title, at time of writing. The story has drawn a different kind of foreign attention to the Bundesliga. Outsiders frequently acknowledge the excellency of the German Football experience, but now they are hearing more about the stark mainstream rejection of this story on behalf of fans. Why do Germans hate RB Leipzig so much? German society and culture play a big part. Continue reading
Chemie Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt fans celebrating their friendship. This is quite a cool piece by the two sets of fans, amazing choreos!
From Boothferry To Germany 