FC Schalke 04 were promoted to the Bundesliga on Saturday evening after beating FC St. Pauli 3-2. After the final whistle there was no holding back. One who was right in the middle is fan connoisseur Susanne Hein-Reipen, who has accompanied the royal blues since 1983.
Two days after the promotion spectacle in the Veltins Arena, Schalke expert and fan insider Susanne Hein-Reipen has come along sport.de talked about the extraordinary atmosphere among the supporters, revealed how close the game was to being canceled and which souvenir she took home with her.
Ms. Hein-Reipen, how did you experience Saturday evening in the stadium?
Susanne Hein-Reipen: That was again a typical Schalke dramaturgy. It would have been nice if we had just taken the lead early on. It absolutely had to be a 0:2 deficit (laughs). But it was all the nicer for that. After the 3:2 and after the final whistle there was no holding back. The whole arena was upside down. It was just awesome.
It almost seemed as if the deficit wasn’t a problem at all, but the mood remained quite relaxed.
That’s correct. That was probably also due to the fact that Schalke played well, had good chances and St. Pauli scored two goals from two opportunities. Even those who are otherwise rather pessimistic said: There is still something to do, the guys are hot. Whether it was in the air or just pure hope: the feeling was very clear that the last word had not yet been spoken at this point.
Isn’t it almost a bit sad that Schalke’s promotion celebrations were many times more intense than Bayern’s championship celebrations?
From Schalke’s point of view, I don’t think so (laughs). Promotion celebrations from Schalke are simply rarer than Bayern championship celebrations. Seriously: It happened on Saturday like rarely. This was also due to the fact that many were skeptical at the beginning of the season. There were quite a few who prophesied that Schalke would be passed through to the 3rd division after relegation. In addition, the bankruptcy worries and the complete upheaval in sporting terms. Many didn’t dare to hope that things would work out so quickly. For comparison, you only have to look at HSV, who have failed several times in recent years with the same ambitions. So on Saturday everyone was just blissful at the end.
And it was nice to see the joy of the team. Of course, the promotion is good for the market value and the salary of the players, but you also had the feeling that it was a real unit. The pictures of Simon Terodde, Marius Bülter and everyone else who took selfies with the fans and cried with joy, that was a great feeling.
So the Platzstorm was definitely unavoidable…
Yes. I was a little surprised that the club wasn’t really prepared for that. In the arena there is a gap between the playing field and the grandstand because there is a retractable turf tray. It was strange that there were no jetties or anything like that. This is also possible at concerts or the general meeting. Did you think that people would give up the storm because of the ditch? At least I expected that to happen.
And for me, storming the pitch when you win a title or celebrate promotion is somehow part of it. If I hadn’t had knee problems, I would have tried to get onto the pitch too. It was all peaceful too. Only the ditch made it a little dangerous. Well, the goals have been dismantled and there are a few holes in the turf, but other than that people were just happy.
There were a few injuries though.
Right. Quite optimistically, some have jumped down and landed on concrete at a depth of three meters.
In the end, however, the lawn was quickly filled with tens of thousands.
Gates were opened at the corners of the North Stand and so many came onto the field via the tunnels. I also saw pictures of police officers helping fans hanging from the parapet.
Schalke fans bathed the stadium in fire and smoke
There was a lot of pyrotechnics to admire around the game, and there were threats of demolition. How was that exactly?
The big pyro action at the beginning was definitely agreed with the club. The roof was closed until 15 minutes before kick-off, then it was half opened. That surprised me, but then it became clear why. The Ultras have a relatively good connection to the club through the supervisory board.
After that, both camps held up Bengalos for individual actions, for example goals. Nobody bothered about that either. At some point, however, the announcement came that the fourth official had said that if it didn’t come to an end slowly, there would be a risk of termination. It got a little more restless in the stands with the next flares, which nevertheless progressed.
Asamoah’s word carries weight at Schalke
After the 3:2 there were Bengalos again in both the away and home blocks, an announcement followed and then Gerald Asamoah ran from the coaching bench to the north stand to speak to the lead singers. There weren’t any more until the final whistle. Asa has reached the real stop, he has been listened to.
Only after the two celebrations on the lawn were there more, and right at the end, when the finale was over, the last Bengalos were burned up in the stands.
When you were partying in the stands, did you get a souvenir from below?
Yes, pieces of grass have been thrown up. A piece is now well watered in my balcony box.
How do you feel that individual pieces of grass have ended up on Ebay for a lot of money?
I do not like that. This should be a matter of the heart and is not there to rip off other fans. Many who could not be there now have to pay real money to get a piece.
In relation to the fans, there has been an enormous turnaround at FC Schalke. A year ago there were hunting scenes after the descent, now you literally hug each other …
It is important to emphasize that the incident last year was not normal for Schalke either. In fact, Schalke had full support even when they performed poorly, and people followed the team.
But it built up over a long period of time, with the ghost games, you had to watch helplessly on the descent, where the team presented itself underground. It’s definitely not meant to be an apology for what happened, but it was really unfortunate. Immediately after the descent, all the frustration came through, that probably wouldn’t happen again today.
Now we’re back to normal Schalke. Schalke have loyal fans who support the team, who are also grateful when you get the feeling that the team wants it. The game against Bremen (1:4) is an example. After that, the team was also built up and we looked forward together.
To person: Susanne Hein-Reipen, born in 1971, Schalke fan since 1983, reports in her blog on her Facebook page “Susanne Blondundblau on Schalke” as well as for the portal “100 percent my Schalke” about her experiences as a season ticket holder and frequent driver for the Royal Blues. She is considered an intimate connoisseur of Schalke supporters. In addition, Hein-Reipen deals with football and fan culture issues across clubs.
The interview was conducted by Chris Rohdenburg