Dortmund hooligans haven’t presented themselves so openly for years. On September 17, some of them, together with members of the two Dortmund ultra groups “The Unity” and “Desperados”, will lead the most important fan march of the season. Thousands of BVB fans screamed when the action started in the city center in the direction of the stadium “Hit it comrades, hit it, hit it”. The derby against FC Schalke 04 is taking place in Signal-Iduna-Park that day.
Running at the front of a fan march like this has a high symbolic value. Robert Claus also confirms this to us. The fan researcher advised BVB on fan matters until 2019 and also knows the Dortmund hooligan scene well. For Claus, their leading participation means: “That the right-wing extremist part of the hooligan scene is tolerated and that these hools represent the fan scene to the outside world.”
Fan researchers: right-wing extremists influence the hooligan scene
Although not all hooligans are right-wing extremists, there are overlaps in personnel. “The influence of right-wing extremists in the Dortmund hooligan scene is very, very large”says Claus. How close the contacts between the right-wing extremist scene and the hooligan scene in Dortmund are could already be seen last year. On a funeral march for the deceased neo-Nazi Siegfried Borchardt. The right-wing extremist is considered a legend among hooligans nationwide, so the funeral wreath and black ribbon with the inscription were correspondingly large “Hooligans Dortmund”.
And precisely because of this obvious connection, hooligans were more or less ostracized in large parts of the Dortmund fan scene and on the south stand for a long time, and had little influence there. That changed after the corona-related spectator break in the Bundesliga.
Hooligans perform openly in the stadium
Dortmund hooligans are no longer just involved outside the stadium. They are now also present in the stadium again, and are clearly visible here too. With its own flag in the block. Right-wing hooligans in the South Stand. How can that be, with all that BVB has been doing for years against racism and for values such as tolerance?
Fan project: Group has a monopoly on the use of force
Thilo Danielsmeyer from the Dortmund fan project, the most important non-club contact point for BVB fans in Dortmund, says it’s definitely not nice for the fan scene. “But this is a group that also has a monopoly on the use of force and if they want to present their flag, they will enforce it. The club is called upon to react, also in discussions with its fan scene.”
Danielsmeyer has been in the BVB fan scene for decades and is worried: “We have to keep a close eye on the fact that people who act out violence could have more say in football again.”
No current statement from BVB
And how does Borussia Dortmund deal with the fact that a hooligan group in Signal Iduna Park is threatening violence and has a “monopoly on the use of force”? That there is obviously no longer any demarcation between the ultra scene and the hooligans? Despite repeated requests, we have not received an answer from BVB. The association announced by telephone that it had already responded to a request from our editorial team last September. At the moment you don’t have time for that.
Almost a year ago, BVB responded to our inquiry about the right-wing hooligan group “Northside”: “We also found out that individual members of the group were last in the stadium. (…) Against this background, BVB is monitoring the activities very closely and with concern. In the event of violations of the stadium regulations, we will intervene consistently and exhaust the legal framework.” (Source: Borussia Dortmund, on November 18, 2021)
The club has not commented on the development of the past eleven months, although the influence of the hooligans in the stands seems to be growing. According to WDR information, Dortmund ultras were also involved in the riots in the stadium during the Champions League home game against Copenhagen on September 6, 2022.