Thüle

Thüle is a small village about 12 km from Paderborn.  It is home to one of the many BVB Fan Clubs dotted throughout Nordrhein Westfalen (and beyond!).  I went there to join the Thüler Borussen 09 Fan Club for its bus trip to Dortmund to watch the European Champions League home leg vs AS Monaco.

The flagpoles of Mittelstraße (Bundesligaallee), Thüle

I was met at nearby Salzkotten railway station by club organiser, Jörg Greitemeyer and we briefly stopped by his house in Mittelstraße (also known as Bundesligaallee), where I was left with no misapprehension that football is a high priority in the local area.  Every house in Mittelstraße has flagpole in its front garden proudly flying the flag of the Bundesliga team of its allegiance (not sure what happens in divided households?).  There were flags for BVB, Mönchengladbach, Hamburg, St Pauli, Schalke and others.

Waiting for the bus 

With Jörg, his wife Elke and 9 year old son Levin we walked about 500m to the local community hall near where about 25 Dortmund fans had assembled.  The coach was fully stocked with crates of beer and soft drink and we set off, stopping a few minutes later in Verne to pick up another 25 fans from Heder Borussen 09 Fan Club.  And then we set off on the hour long trip to Dortmund. 

Fan Club buses lined up in the car park

There was a further stop along the way near Soest where the group tucked into some Schnitzel.  At the Westfalen Stadion we were directed to the bus park where we were parked in the designated area for fan club coaches.  They came from far and wide. I saw one from Fulda and another from Lyngby in Denmark! 

Then I was taken on a “backstage” tour of the stadium.  We made our way deep under the Sudtribüne where Jörg pointed out the various club offices and their roles in supporting the fans.  I was introduced to the contact at the Club who liaises with the supporter groups and had allocated Thüler Borussen 09 its tickets for the match; a good opportunity to say thank you.

Then we went to the Flag Room.  Readers who have watched BVB home matches played at the Westfalenstadion on TV will be familiar with the spectacle of the large banners being waved on the field prior to the start of the game.  It adds much to the pre-game spectacle.  It is quite an honour for a club member to carry out the role of the flag swinger.  Tonight this honour was with Frank and I accompanied he and Jörg to the Flag Room where they queued up with other fan clubs to retrieve their club flag from the store and negotiate a spot in the stadium where Frank will fly the fan club’s crest.

Fan Clubs queue up to retrieve their flags from the store and negotiate their position on the turf.

Under the south stand - Frank unfurls the flag ready for his 10 minutes on the field.

The flag was carried downstairs, prepared for swinging, and we waited for the call for Frank to take the field.

And then came the terrible news about the attack on the team bus.  As with all such events, you slowly become aware that something significant has happened, or is happening.  For 15 – 20 minutes we were trying to piece together scraps of information from various online sources, but it soon became clear that continuing with the CL quarter final was going to be impossible. 

As I walked away from the stadium, like everyone else I felt stunned.  Why was this senseless attack made on a group of young boys who just happen to be talented and dedicated football players?  But I also felt strangely disconnected.  It was an event that occurred only 10 km away but I could just as easily have been on the other side of the world.

It is impossible to put yourself in the position of those directly affected by such an attack.  The outcome was relatively benign but it could have been so much more catastrophic and it is no doubt nearly as traumatic.  The players will take this memory with them for the rest of their lives, and will need extra resources of courage to go on now. 

Nuri Sahin expressed his feelings in an interview with Norwegian television:

“It’s hard to talk about, it’s hard to find the right words. We saw it [terror attacks] a lot of times on TV and it was far, far away from us, even when it was in Istanbul in my country on New Year’s Eve.

“It was close but also very far from us, but last night, we felt what it is like to be in a situation like this and I don’t wish anyone to feel like this."