To answer your question on stadiums..Borussia Dortmund's seats 83K dudes and dudettes. The biggest in the league. Not sure if anything bigger is in the works for the WC but I doubt that.
so Dortmund's stadium seats 83 k and Bayren's new one will seat 66 k ? Thats kinda strange I think that the biggest club in the country will have almost 20,000 less seats than the biggest stadia.
On international level, Dortmund only has 69.000 seats. Berlin is bigger with 74.500 Other WC capacities: Munich 66.000 Gelsenkirchen (Schalke) 52.000 Stuttgart 51.000 Hamburg 50.000 Kaiserslautern 48.500 Frankfurt 48.000 Nuremberg 45.500 Hannover 45.000 Cologne 45.000 Leipzig 42.655
On www.fussballtempel.net/uefa/GER.html you have the dates and can see photos of all the big stadiums in germany with a capacity of more than 20k.
Most loyal fans: I would have to start with Hamburg But honestly, for the suffering we had to endure over the last 20 years, you have to consider us very "loyal". Other, very loyal fan-groups in Germany include: Schalke + Dortmund (this is a question of faith in the "Ruhrpott") Kaiserslautern (have to suffer a lot, too, but will always be there) St.Pauli (unfortunately But an average attendance of about 20,000 in division 3 is unbelievable)
http://www.schwatzgelb.com/fanservice/stadiums.htm this little list i've set up some weeks ago. doesn't tell you anything about the attendances but about the capacities at the moment and for wc2006. jonam, http://www.schwatzgelb.com
The most loyal fans have Schalke. The fans are from all locations in Germany. Example: When they played in the 2nd. BuLi they have an average of Att. 35.000+. The biggest stadium is in the moment in Dortmund.
Schalke Fans! They are quite nuts when I have seen their home matches on the Bundesliga Highlight show. Always seems to be a packed stadium.
I have to say that Dortmund offers the best atmosphere. 83,000 passionate fans crammed in like sardines and right on top of the pitch - what electricity.
Re: JeffS... Good question. I've been a long time Bayern fan ever since Rummenigge starred, during my soccer playing and "Soccer Made in Germany" watching days. However, I hate Bayern's arrogant management these days. And I don't like the under-acheiving band of foreign stars they have now. I've jumped on Stuttgart's bandwagon because I believe firmly in the idea of home grown talent brought forth through a clubs youth system, rather than just simply buying foreign stars. I'm a fan of Stuttgart's young studs such as Kuranyi, Hleb, Hinkel and Hildebrand. I'm avery aware of the regional rivalry between Stuttgart and Bayern, but since I don't live in Germany and have only visited once, I really don't care about the regional rivalries. I'm more of general Bundesliga/Germany fan than a fan of any one club.
Good enough for me! I know I'm still struggling to find a Bundesliga club to support. Stuttgart is playing some BEAUTIFUL football right now as is Bayer Leverkusen, but I don't want to appear like I'm a gloryhunter. P.S. Good luck on Sun in the MLS Cup. Never was a LD fan until the last match...gutsy and never gives up.
great to see stuttgart do well with home grown talent, which probably is one of fcb problems, high priced foreigners with no loyalty but to the almighty dollar. as for the mls cup GO FIRE (since dc united is out). landon donovan does not impress me never has never will. just don't like him. maybe because he snubbed leverkusen.
I've been harping about the "too many foreigners" stance on this board for quite a while. The more foreign players on any given team (not just BL teams), the less chemistry that team tends to have. I just watched Bayern luckily beat 1860. While Bayern looked fairly solid defensively, they were once again utterly mediocre. Guys like Santa Cruz, Hardgreaves, Sagnol, Jeremies, Lizurazu, were just not that impressive. And there was no chemistry or flow. Donovan is awesome, fcbayern13. I'm not going to try to get you to like him. But the guy has got skill, speed, quickness, vision, creativity, and he runs his butt off all game, even when the game goes into extra time. Since the WC, Donovan has really risen his game. I don't blame Germans, though, if they have a gruge against LD. He really whined about his stay with Bayer, and whined about living in Germany. It's probably because he was too young and immature when he came, and he got extremely homesick. Plus, he errantly expected to get first team action too soon, and was let down (which was to be expected). Donovan is ready for Europe now. He has the talent and maturity. I hope he goes back to Leverkusen (if Bayer doesn't sell his rights), and completes some unfinished business. He would blend in well with the likes of Nueville and Basturk up front.
Bayern tries to get Tevez. Thats the quality they look for. And Tevez or Roque Santa Cruz are definitly more talented than LD. But can he compete with Franca and Bierofka? And what about Berbatov?
Agreed. Santa Cruz and Tevez are both more talented than Donavan. I think Bayern are going the wrong direction, though, in getting as many international stars as possible. Again, they are going away from much needed chemistry, team spirit, and motivation. Yes, yes, and yes. IMHO, Franca is mediocre at best, Bierofka is very talented and actually similar to Donovan, and Berbatov is pretty good, but not awesome.
Bayern need to learn that buying foreign stars is not going to make the team successful. Of course there is an argument to this, with Real Madrid and Chelsea the frontrunners but the difference here is that they are paying ridiculous amounts for proven stars where as Bayern buy the less than incredible foreign stars... haha not sure if anyone will understand what I am trying to say but... Bayern need to either revert to their old ways of being super cheapskates and buying players that will mold together with team spirit or go all out and buy the best players on the market untill they go into finanical decline It seems with the current crop of players we have, Pizarro in particular is just using Bayern as a stepping stone for the future.
Better don´t tell that those on the Brazil-board. Franca dominated the Brazilian league and has 8 appearances for the Brazilian NT. You don´t reach that by being mediocre. But Franca wouldn´t be the one he has to compete with. The one he has to compete with is Bierofka, and Bierofka is a better allrounder than LD. He doesn´t score so many goals, but he is better in defensive terms and is a better dribbler.
Franca is mediocre in the Bundesliga. I'm well aware of his successes in Brazil and for the Brazil NT. But it seems that with his style, skill set, and physical build, Franca just does not mix well with German style football. Not all talented Brazilians have enjoyed success in Germany (see Alves). I would agree with you that Bierofka is a better all-arounder than Donavan, but not by far. In fact, I consider Bierofka one of Germany's better young stars. With him and Freier as creative midfielders, Germany can make due without Deisler (quite nicely, thank you very much). That being said, I still think that Donovan would get plenty of action if he were playing with Leverkusen, right now. He's good enough, and would be a very valuable asset to them. He would not always start, but I'm sure Aughenthaler would give him plenty of PT. Donovan could play forward, creative attacking mid, or outside mid, all equally well for Bayer. You guys have probably not seen Donovan play all that much. I have. I've been extremely impressed with his overall improvement, increased maturity, highly technical skill, and finally his exceptional phyiscal gifts: He has blazing speed and quickness, and has unbelievable endurance. These assets would make him successful in any league in the world.
Thats definitly a problem. He plays in a league that is not getting much credit and even less tv-presence. I mean Piotr Nowak became the top-star of the MLS after being way to old for 1860 Muenchen! The MLS has the level of the Austrian Bundesliga(or lower) and that is not a compliment at all.... And another problem is the fact that, if there is any type of player Bayer doesn´t need it is an creative forward. Neuville, Schneider, Ponte, Bastürk, Bierofka, ranca and Babic are ALL abled to create plenty of chances for their team! What Bayer needs is a deadly finisher like Ulf Kirsten was, but Berbatov can´t fill that whole right now!