Good to Know — Fortuna Düsseldorf
The punk band Die Toten Hosen, fronted by Campino, are Fortuna Düsseldorf fans.
Good to Know
The punk band Die Toten Hosen, fronted by Campino, are Fortuna Düsseldorf fans.
The punk band Die Toten Hosen, fronted by
The punk band Die Toten Hosen, fronted by Campino, are Fortuna Düsseldorf fans.
The punk band Die Toten Hosen, fronted by Campino, are Fortuna Düsseldorf fans. That is almost common knowledge by now. Less well known is the fact that the band helped finance “A Leg for Tony”. That happened well before guitarist Kuddel began eating strictly vegan in 2011.
A Leg for Tony: Anthony Baffoe’s move from
A Leg for Tony: Anthony Baffoe’s move from Fortuna Köln to Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1989 was partly financed by Die Toten Hosen.
A Leg for Tony: Anthony Baffoe’s move from Fortuna Köln to Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1989 was partly financed by Die Toten Hosen. The band contributed a share of the 100,000 euro fee and, during a tour under the slogan “A Leg for Tony Baffoe”, passed the collection bag around. Baffoe, the Ghanaian son of a diplomat from Bonn, gave an interview during his time at Fortuna in the 1989/90 season that made the pampered football world sit up. “If I really think about it, I didn’t play well today,” he said, and even made it into ZDF’s Bundesliga review. “Self-criticism, almost as rare as…” was how the clip was introduced there. Equally cool was his line to a referee after being booked: “Man, we black guys have got to stick together.”
Also largely unknown: the first match abandoned in
Also largely unknown: the first match abandoned in Bundesliga history involved Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Also largely unknown: the first match abandoned in Bundesliga history involved Fortuna Düsseldorf. Kaiserslautern, 27 November 1976. It was 4:56 p.m. when an incident on the Betzenberg shocked football Germany. Small liqueur bottles were thrown from the Westkurve – where the FCK’s most loyal supporters stood – onto the pitch during the match between 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Fortuna Düsseldorf. Referee Rudolf Frickel from Munich alerted Lautern captain Josef Pirrung. Pirrung signaled to the stadium announcer and to coach Erich Ribbeck. When more bottles landed on the turf, Frickel abandoned the match. It was the first Bundesliga abandonment due to crowd interference. Fortuna were leading 1–0 at the time. “Weeks later, 1. FCK were held accountable for the irresponsible conduct of a handful of fanatics,” Peter Lenk and Gerhard Reuther wrote in 1978 in The Football Kings of the Palatinate. The consequences were a hefty fine and a points deduction. Fortuna were awarded a 2–0 victory, which is why, as of December 2019, only they and Werder Bremen have official own goals in their statistics without a credited scorer.
First dog bite: people say Schalke’s Friedel Rausch
First dog bite: people say Schalke’s Friedel Rausch being bitten by a police dog in Dortmund was unique.
First dog bite: people say Schalke’s Friedel Rausch being bitten by a police dog in Dortmund was unique. Wrong – a football myth that is simply false. Fortuna Düsseldorf’s left winger Dieter Wöske was the first bite victim in a top-flight match on German soil, ten years earlier, on 6 April 1959. In a home match in the Oberliga West against 1. FC Köln, Wöske fled into the goal from euphoric spectators and was bitten through the net by a police dog named Ajax. You can leave your mark that way, too.
Good to Know — Update 2020–2026
In the summer of 2020, Fortuna’s short Bundesliga comeback came to an end.
In the summer of 2020, Fortuna’s short Bundesliga
In the summer of 2020, Fortuna’s short Bundesliga comeback came to an end.
In the summer of 2020, Fortuna’s short Bundesliga comeback came to an end. After only two seasons in the top flight (2018/19 and 2019/20), the club went down under coach Uwe Rosler. Friedhelm Funkel, back once more, had not been able to save them. Since then Fortuna Dusseldorf have been a second-division club — and the trend has pointed downward. What had been planned as only a temporary stay outside the top tier developed into a lasting sporting building site with the latent danger of sliding all the way into the 3. Liga.
Klaus Allofs, once a Bundesliga star for Fortuna
Klaus Allofs, once a Bundesliga star for Fortuna and later a manager in Wolfsburg and Bremen, took over as sporting board member in 2022 and tried to give the club more professional structures.
Klaus Allofs, once a Bundesliga star for Fortuna and later a manager in Wolfsburg and Bremen, took over as sporting board member in 2022 and tried to give the club more professional structures. His spell ended in 2025 — without the longed-for promotion.