The “Big City Club” was always laughed at, but actually Windhorst’s analysis wasn’t that wrong. Germany is the largest country in Europe by population. Germany is the economically strongest country in Europe. In no other country in the world do so many people play organized football as in Germany. The general conditions for successful professional football are actually perfect in Germany.
The next point is: It’s no coincidence that the top clubs in Europe all come from bigger cities: Madrid, London, Munich, Manchester, Liverpool, Turin… and not from Sandhausen, Torremolinos or Montalcino. Only large cities have enough residents to regularly fill huge stadiums. Only in large cities can you find a sufficient number of powerful local sponsors, which is also needed. Only in big cities you can sell a sufficient number of lodges to companies. In the long run, the income to pay for the infrastructure and the team that a top club needs can therefore only be financed in large cities. In Heidenheim or Sandhausen that is simply impossible per se.
According to every major metric, Hamburg and Berlin are in the top 10 cities in the EU. In principle, it is an anomaly that these cities do not have a top football club that plays the Champions League at least every year. Of course there are reasons why this is so. But of course there are also reasons to see this as an anomaly and to see enormous potential for value growth. At Hertha and even more so at HSV, there is also a long history, which is even more attractive for investors. Other investors have reaped excellent returns from football clubs.
All in all, it’s easy to thrash Windhorst, but you can also see it in a more differentiated way. In my opinion, Windhorst’s basic considerations were correct. In Germany (unlike in the USA) it is frowned upon to trumpet such ambitions. And Windhorst himself has no idea about football. His advisors weren’t lucky, and neither was the management at Hertha. And then he himself played a major role in the fact that the idea didn’t work.
Basically, you are of course right with the statements “big city = big potential to have a top club”, but especially with Hertha I didn’t see it quite like Windhorst.
There’s just too much missing. Anyone interested in football who comes to Berlin has experienced much more atmospheric stadiums in their city than Hertha can offer. When I moved to Berlin at the age of 19, I thought. Wow, how much worse is that than the Ostseestadion. So it’s just difficult to receive enthusiasm.
In addition, Hertha simply has powerful competition. Union may be a sham, but it fulfills its image and is currently playing more successfully. That appeals to people. The polar bears and Alba in the Mercedes Benz Arena is great fun. I simply see Hertha at a disadvantage when it comes to acquiring new fans.
In addition, Berlin is of course also economically far behind comparable cities and Hertha is somewhere just a construct. So no stadium, not the unconditional contact point for top talent in the city, comparatively little sympathy in the general public, etc. There is very little left to build on.
I grew up just before Usedom. So 120 km away from Rostock. There is a Hansa logo on every motorway bridge/toilet. In every discounter parking lot you will find a sticker/scarf on the parcel shelf, license plate holder or something with the Hansa logo. This entire sprawling region loves this club.
When I drive through Brandenburg, I hardly notice anything about the existence of Hertha. Union, BVB, FCB are there.
That may sound a bit like bashing, but it’s not meant that way. It’s not Hertha’s fault that it took place in a country other than the region for years. Hertha can’t do anything for the city to be more open to other sports from Fantum. Hertha cannot do anything about the lack of economic support in the region. Hertha can’t do anything about the crappy atmosphere in the stadium and if you try to change that, your own city will block you from building a new one. It’s not Hertha’s fault that there are other places (besides to behind the club) where you can become a professional.
Of course you can accuse Hertha of having done a lot wrong, but even if you had done everything right in the Windhor era, it would have been a very long way from becoming a top club. I also think self-confident statements like he makes are okay. From my point of view, his expectations were unrealistic.