By my count, an amazing FIVE clubs that have played in the Bundesliga will contest this year's Regionalliga West.
This is a little OT but why are east German clubs or clubs that reside in the former GDR aka eastern Germany doing so poorly compared to their western counterparts? Is it terrible management, no money, drain of talent going west, enviormental factors, corruption etc. I saw that all top flight teams in the first division resided in former FDR ie west Germany.. other than ballack I can't think of a east German who was big time for the German national team. So what's the problem with footy in east Germany?
DDR spartan sport training is good see the best german cyclists also comes from DDR. However DDR is still poor compared to rest of germany.
If you search this board for East Germany you'll find older threads on the topic. The short version - East German football was at a low point in the late 80s, with crumbling infrastructure and shrinling attendances. The clubs were then thrown into a completely different, capitalist system people running football in East Germany had no experience with at all (which also led to East German clubs being scammed out of money). Also half of the East German top flight was directly relegated to the unified German third division, while only two clubs could join the Bundesliga. To this you can add the weak economy, high unemplyoment and the shrinking population (East Germany's population in total was much smaller then West Germany's in the first place), and you can see why Eastern Germany has a hard time competing with Western clubs. Berlin isn't a rich city by German standards either, with a weak economy and high unemplyoment. It has the population advantage, though, and being in the capital at least Hertha benefits from having one of Germany's most notable stadia. Talented players from Eastern Germany like Adler, Schmelzer or Kroos quickly end up in the West. And while they weren't exactly all at Ballack's level, there have been a few notable formerly East German footballers in the German NT, including Sammer, Thom, Doll, Kirsten, Heinrich, Freund, Linke, Wosz, Jancker, Rehmer, B. Schneider, Böhme, Borowski.
We should also mention that Hertha is located in what used to be West Berlin, and has been playing in the FDR's football pyramid, not the GDR's.
However lets not forget also West Berlin had its limitations. Before Hertha, there was a club in the Bundesliga called Blau-Weiss Berlin, in the end it didnt go that well for them despite good attendances.
Yeah but tennis didnt play 1.BL only 2.BL (btw they had awfull following only 2k when they played in 2.BL).
Incorrect. Tennis played in the 1 BL. TWICE. In 1974/75 and in 1976/77. They finished 17th both times, thus escaping being the worst Berlin team in the BL of all time (leaving that dubious distinction to Tasmania Berlin and Blau-Weiss 90 Berlin). They beat Bremen 4-0 and tied Bayern 2-2 at home in their first season and beat Cologne and Bayern at home the second time around. But that was to be their high point.
As he said, TeBe (which is the "correct" short name) did play Bundesliga (where they avergaed 17k during their last season). And both clubs got their attendances mostly at the expense of Hertha BSC. Blau-Weiß Berlin had its "golden age" during a time when Hertha really sucked (and played in the Oberliga), as soon as Hertha became better again BW's attendances started to crumble. At the time people in Berlin just went to see whoever was best/played Bundesliga that season.
So structurally East German clubs will never have success they are too many obstacles in their wake. Is this is why East German club matches and the stadiums and their fans more violent.
No--it's just tougher. I fully expect, for example, that RB Leipzig will get promoted to the BL in the next 5-6 years, if not sooner. They have the money. As for the violence, I'll not hazard a guess. I don't live there.
Do you think it has to do with neo-Nazism and hooliganism and how that is rampant in East German football in society as well as in lower tier levels of football.
a water pipe broke nearby and the field was flooded http://www.rot-weiss-essen.de/neues...oeln-und-oeffentliches-training-abgesagt.html
Thanks for the knowledge. Guess I could have visited the RWE website myself . I will be watching the RL West pretty closely...got to be the most stacked 4th level league ever.