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No hope for Hoffenheim

17.05.2013, 22:22 Uhr von: Redaktion

After a long season with a lot of midweek matches, Borussia is on the home stretch. Many Warm Up and Match Reports have been written and nearly all available football phrases have been used. Right now, there is only one match left before Borussia will contest in one of the most important matches in the club history. But before, we have the possibility to put the icing on the cake of this beautiful season by sending TSG Hoffenheim back to the depths of the eighth division.

After 5 seasons in the first division, the artificial product called TSG 1899 Hoffenheim is about to be removed from the Bundesliga shelfs. If not everything will go wrong and we score against the mercenaries in blue, the most unnecessary club in German football will relegate to the second division and hopefully never come back to top. In view of the occasion, unloved Hoffenheim, here is a little farewell letter for you.

About real love...

Let me tell you a little story first. In the east of Berlin, the city where I live, exists a club that answers to the name of 1. FC Union Berlin. This season, Union will finish its 4th season in a row in the second division and stands both financially and sportive on a solid footing. But things have not always been so prosperous. Looking back 8 years, the club stood - similar to our BVB in 2005 - on the edge of an abyss. Relegated to the fourth division, there was no money to pay a team or the employees, there was no stadium even nearly suitable for professional football and therefore there was simply no hope for a brighter future. But there was one thing left the club did not lose, one thing that have always been on its side: faithful fans and supporters. And because nobody was there to help, these supporters simply decided to bootstrap.

“Bleeding for Union” was one of the initiatives by the supporters to collect money for their club with blood donations. Others packed their tools and building materials, took a vacation and went to their stadium to do necessary maintenance work. One of the biggest fans and a successful businessman of the region became president and brought the club hand in hand with the supporters back to life.

In this story, the supporter’s passion for football and their iron will to maintain the only thing that made them happy for at least 90 minutes a week, was the key to success.

... and fake feelings

On the other side, there are stories like they happened in Hoffenheim. Here, we also had a successful businessman called Dietmar Hopp with a passion for football. In this example however, there was no club and especially no supporters existing. No problem thought the businessman and forged out an evil plan. By putting millions and millions in his old village club, Dietmar Hopp brought the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim from the bottom of the eighth division in 1990 all the way up to the Bundesliga in 2008. With international experienced players, the squad was stomping through the lower leagues until they reached the top. And not only the squad was meanwhile ready for Bundesliga competition: A new stadium for more than 30.000 spectators, a new junior-academy for promising football talents and a modern club office was built along the way, Hopps commitment to his native village. And just how it is if you put a lot of money into the development of something, a product was created, an artificial product with a beautiful façade but a weak basement.

Because something got lost along the way, something as important for football as the ball itself: the supporters. Fans like ours that carried Borussia along the rocky road of international competition to the final, the backbone of each successful club, fans like ours that form the tradition of each club by their limitless commitment. You want an example? Over 9.500 supporters followed our BVB to the Euro League match against Paris in November 2010. I don’t think that Hoffenheim had more away fans on the road accumulated over the last five seasons.

And right now, it becomes even more obvious how important we are. When the team is going through hard times, when the tension inside the player’s body paralyses the legs, it is up to the supporters to carry the team, to give them a leg-up. Just like we did when we screamed the ball for the 3-2 against Malaga over the goal line.

To sum it up, unloved Hoffenheim, nobody really needs you. Nobody really likes you. You are an empty shell without anything that football means to us. It is about passion, it is about fight, it is about commitment and it is about tradition. And because you, your squad, your “fans” and everything that is around you does not have that, you will justifiably be relegated tomorrow. Good bye and please do us a favour: Never come back!

And the Borussia news?

To be honest, nothing really important happened this week. One week before Wembley, Borussia will have one more rehearsal in which most likely the glory eleven will field that will also form the starting formation against Buyern. The regeneration process of Götze is right in schedule and if nothing seriously happens tomorrow, coach Klopp will take off to Wembley with the whole potency. But before, please guys, beat the blues and send them back to the eighth division.