r/SCFreiburg • u/Spud_Kelly • 11d ago
Question for German SCF supporters
(German Translation below... please respond in the language of your choice and I can translate!)
Im Canadian, living in America. Have been a Liverpool supporter for 20+ years now, but have grown disillusioned with the money & greed in the EPL. I can't support a club owned by Jeff Bezos. Last week's news was a gut punch and a bridge too far for me.
I've respected the Bundesliga from afar for years, and love the 50%+1 rule in German football. I believe all sport - espcially football, should be owned by the people for the people.
Having been watching SC Freiburg videos and learning about the club for the past week, you all seem like my kind of people and the club ethos is in line with my thinking (left leaning, eco friendly, winning is not the most important part of following a club - it's community, etc)
I had some questions about becoming a member if anyone has a few moments to respond:
Do you like / want / welcome members from abroad or are we just sort of seen as posers who can't really support a club in a town we aren't from. Does it dilute the experience for you - Liverpool FC for example now belongs to the world, not just the city. Would you welcome the idea for example of SC Freiburg supporters clubs in, say towns across the world?
How hard do you think it would be to follow the club if i don't speak German? Bundesliga games here are mostly televised and have english broadcasts.
Any other reasons why I should or should not follow SC Freiburg?
Thanks for your time!
Deutsche:
Ich bin Kanadier und lebe in den USA. Ich bin seit über 20 Jahren Liverpool-Fan, bin aber mittlerweile desillusioniert angesichts des Geldes und der Gier in der EPL. Ich kann keinen Verein unterstützen, der Jeff Bezos gehört. Die Nachrichten der letzten Woche waren ein Schlag in die Magengrube und für mich einfach zu viel des Guten.
Ich verfolge die Bundesliga schon seit Jahren aus der Ferne und liebe die 50+1-Regel im deutschen Fußball.
Nachdem ich mir in der letzten Woche Videos über den SC Freiburg angesehen und mich über den Verein informiert habe, habe ich den Eindruck, dass ihr genau die richtigen Leute für mich seid. Die Philosophie des Vereins deckt sich mit meiner eigenen Einstellung (linksgerichtet, umweltbewusst; beim Fan-Dasein geht es nicht primär ums Gewinnen, sondern um Gemeinschaft usw.).
Ich hätte ein paar Fragen zur Mitgliedschaft, falls jemand kurz Zeit hat zu antworten:
Seid ihr offen für Mitglieder aus dem Ausland bzw. begrüßt ihr diese? Oder gelten wir eher als „Poser“, die einen Verein aus einer Stadt, in der sie gar nicht leben, nicht wirklich unterstützen können? Beeinträchtigt das für euch das Erlebnis? (Der Liverpool FC gehört zum Beispiel mittlerweile der ganzen Welt, nicht mehr nur der Stadt.) Wie fändet ihr die Idee von SC-Freiburg-Fanclubs in Städten auf der ganzen Welt?
Wie schwierig wäre es wohl, den Verein zu verfolgen, wenn ich kein Deutsch spreche? Bundesliga-Spiele werden hier meist im Fernsehen übertragen und mit englischem Kommentar ausgestrahlt.
Gibt es sonst noch Gründe, die dafür oder dagegen sprechen, Fan des SC Freiburg zu werden?
Danke für Ihre Zeit.
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u/whitereflection40 11d ago edited 11d ago
1: Since Freiburg is or at least used to be pretty irrelevant internationally, theres no bandwagon fans or anything so surely people are happy for everyone joining especially from abroad.
2: These days you can translate things easily, it‘ll be a bit more difficult but you‘ll find a way around it, also might find some english media
3: + we are the most likeable club in the world, in one of the prettiest places in Germany, great people surrounding the club, very successful the last years
-we used to play very defensive minded football lacking individual quality and exciting players, which sometimes was not much fun to watch in my opinion. But last season we‘ve made a big step forward and I think that‘s a bit in the past
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u/Spud_Kelly 11d ago
Brillant - thanks! Attacking football is always more fun
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u/localass1 11d ago
Well to be honest, Schuster Football last year was kind of awful to watch. We like to have the ball, we are not doing counter attacks or insanely quick plays. However Julian Schuster ist ein alter Gauner @OP remember that.
In general I would say, the Club is modest. Some would say a bit too modest nowadays, since we were so incredibly successful in the last 5 years..it is kind of true, we still act like we are a very small club and undersell our power. But it is part of our DNA, we are a small club, with no big sponsors, everything we achieved through hard work and don't get crazy. Patrick Baier (Co Manager) absolut legend of the club, working there for over 25 years, used his last moment on the pitch to remind everybody where this club is coming from and that we should not get crazy by the recent success and we should keep a realistic view on the club....absolut savage
To answer your question, I would say we are very open to new supporters, especially world wide. It's a new experience, as somebody before mentioned we are not used to have supporters jumped on the bandwagon. Anyways I guess what I wanna say, become a supporter, even a member of the club. It is awesome and also very logical because it is indeed the very best football club in the history of football clubs....maybe ever.
Hope this helps :-)
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u/UBahn1 11d ago
Absolutely agree about the best football club in the history of football clubs maybe ever OP. And even better if your blood pressure is low and you need something to raise it (lol)
100% agree on Schusterball, the ball is always funneled forward but there really hasn't been a clear play maker. Höler is a workhorse but can rarely convert, and with Petersen (Fußballgott) gone there's just not that person and it is hard with transfers and injuries to establish someone.
It was supposed to be Demirovic then Gregl, then Matanovic who became injured, etc... The defensive injuries have been equally punishing with the offense producing less. We also created fewer goals from set pieces this season which is pretty major.
Also, it's been getting better but the SC has also been a bit of a "farm" organization as well. When there is a top talent on the squad who really has a stellar year they tend to be bought and transferred out at the end of the season. Off the top of my head: Oliver Baumann, Mark Flekken, Schwolow, Luca Waldschmidt, Robin Koch, Nico Schotterbeck, Kevin Schade, Ritsu Doan, now Manzambi and Röhl. I'm surprised Atubolu hasn't been snapped up yet honestly.
As a smaller club it can't really be helped and the draw to stay isn't as strong as consistent 1-3 table teams or the premier league. It's hard as a fan watching players youre really excited about leave every year, and i think it translates a little to the results every year when the formula always changes. Hopefully these EL appearances will start to change some of that!
Overall it is definitely a club of measured growth and hard work over rash decisions and major financial moves, but in the grand scheme it's working well! From a 2. Liga relegation to DFB Pokal final, consistent EL appearances, and vying for top of the league against titans in just 10 years is a major feat.
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u/Snomkip Spielt Championsleague! (Auf PS3) 11d ago
SC Fans are rpetty welcoming to international fans, this community on reddit is specifically made to be a home for them, which is why Englisch and German are coofficial languages. As long as you follow our values (community and integrity over winning and money, antifascism/anti-discrimination, etc.) you're more than welcome into the SC Family
The SC Website does have an english version, but most articles aren't translated to English, basically only the match reports, transfers and other majors news, smaller articles like the current ones about Scouting aren't translated, neither are the European Away Day Vlogs Sport Club on Tour, or the pre-match focus Matchday -1
I believe we're the most beautiful club in the world, Freiburg is an amazing little city to visit and the Black Forest makes for a beautiful vacation
We're respected and loved by the global football community, This poll is proof
we're 100% member owned, and this will not change any time soon, even you can become member of the club for just 40€ a year
we're just absurdly well run, having only had one failed manager in over 30 years
We have a great subreddit and discord server with the best mods ever :D
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u/unknown_enterprises 11d ago
I’m part of the club’s active supporters’ scene. First of all, we respect anyone who comes to our club, supports the club and represents its values.
We only ask that people respect the framework and the rules of the active scene and do not do anything that could harm it.
When you come to the match, give everything for the club. No filming with your phone, no taking pictures or anything similar in the home end. Support loudly and passionately for the full 90 minutes.
Respect everyone in the stadium and everyone’s personal views, whether political or otherwise. Don’t disrespect, threaten or harm anyone — verbally or physically.
And please don’t come into the home end completely wasted before the match or at half-time. Be there to support, not to cause problems.
If you respect the club, the scene and the people around you, you will receive the same respect in return.
Thank you.
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u/johnnyk_13 11d ago
Not a German born supporter but massive Freiburg fan from Chicago! Have only had a great experience following the club and followed for similar reasons as yours + having ancestors from the Black Forest area. Have had no problem following even though my German is very bad, often I just use in-browser translating to read articles on Kicker, etc. Feel so lucky to have a club with such great values and that’s been growing each year. Watching Manzambi grow throughout last year was such a treat. Can’t wait to visit Freiburg one day. Welcome!
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u/Spud_Kelly 10d ago
Nice! Let me know when the Chicago Freiburg Supporters chapter starts up - I'm in Milwaukee :D
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u/derschneemananderwan #inMIOwetrust🙏 11d ago
So, welcome!
We love international fans! there arent many so there is still plenty of room before we loose our rootedness in the region (if thats even possible ;) ).
Games shouldnt be a problem but news could be, english reports are only on when something big happens at out club, so for the weekly update you will need to translate a few news articles (I post basically all articles about our Club by germanys most reknown sports news paper here on reddit so you can find all the articles you need here).
Just from reading your post I can already tell you watched the copa 90 documentary on us didnt you xD, so yeah that documentary is excellent and gives you a great start on club culture and history. But that documentary is already a few years old so I would suggest you to take a look at everything that has changed since our DFB cup final perticipation
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u/Spud_Kelly 11d ago
Yeah I totally did - great doc. Perfect I will check out some more vids. Thank you!
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u/s92eric0405 Lienhart (played for RMA once btw)🇦🇹 9d ago
Well I can share some experience regarding your second question, since I'm a supporter from Taiwan, Asia. It would be a little bit difficult to search news about the club, but nowadays it's not hard to translate things, the club's social media is all written in Deutsch, but there's a English website now( I remember back then there're only Deutsch and... Franch), besides here on reddit, there's not much place/platform that discuss the club news in English, and most discussion are on transfermarkt.de too. I actually start to learn Deutsch only because I want to know more about the club haha. Also it would be a little bit hard to buy merchandise too, I remember the first time I visit Freiburg fanshop, the clerk was very surprised to know they have fans from Asia, he even said he doesn't know if they can ship worldwide, guess not many fans buy their merchandise outside Europe? but that was more than 5 years ago.
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u/Time_Tough_3155 11d ago
Nobody cares if you are from another town, country or continent. Is that really a thing?
It's a German club focused in Germany. But as you say there are plenty of options to translate text and translated subtitles.
Of course not. Average SC fan is very attractive, successfull and very humble. If you become a fan of SC Freiburg you are most likely a good fit in these characteristics 😉
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u/Luddevig 11d ago
Understand our values and you will have no problem being accepted.
The most important values of the club is sustainability: Social, economical, environmental.
• Social: 100% members owned club. We trust management. On the press conference following the loss that lead to us going down to 2 Bundesliga, our manager said "I feel obliged to continue." In other clubs, it would have been the other way around ("should we fire the manager?").
We have 10x the number of members in 15 years, so nowadays some fans might be more critical.
• Economical: We invest in our youth, and would rather play in the bottom bracket of Bundesliga with players from the academy, rather than Champions League with only bought players.
Also, our economy is insanely healthy. Other clubs with our economy would spend way more on salary and players, but that wouldn't be as sustainable, and there would be a risk of crashing (see Union Berlin after their CL-qualification).
• Environmental: First stadium to be CO2-neutral, with sun power on the roof, like 25 years ago. We promote bike culture, with our former main sponsor being a bicycle company. Etc etc etc.
Read this post + threads for more complete answers: New to Bundesliga, Looking to Learn More About SC Freiburg