OMG
Sometimes punk, sometimes dead quiet: Fortuna Düsseldorf bet...
Sometimes punk, sometimes dead quiet: Fortuna Düsseldorf between emotional extremes.
Sometimes punk, sometimes dead quiet: Fortuna Düsseldorf between emotional extremes. The only constant at Fortuna Düsseldorf, according to celebrity fan Campino – Die Toten Hosen singer Andreas Frege, since that is his real name – is that “the sausages probably taste the same even in the Regionalliga.” Hard to verify. What is a fact, though, is that Die Toten Hosen gave the club financial help in its darkest phase.
Punx not dead.
Main sponsor from 2001 to 2003: hardly any
Main sponsor from 2001 to 2003: hardly any band name could better capture the financial and sporting state around Fortuna Düsseldorf than Die Toten Hosen.
band name could better capture the financial and sporting state around Fortuna Düsseldorf than Die Toten Hosen. After relegation from the Bundesliga in 1992, Fortuna drifted into financial trouble. In 1992/93 they finished 21st in the second division, then tumbled into the Oberliga.
It was a danse macabre in the World Cup and European Championship stadium of 1974 and 1988. In the 1992/93 second-division season, average crowds at the Rheinstadion fell to just 5,726. By 2000/01, the Flingerans seemed close to final financial collapse in the Regionalliga Nord. Their celebrity fans from Die Toten Hosen stepped in. After already helping finance Anthony Baffoe’s move in 1988, they now helped keep their Fortuna alive as main sponsors from 2001 to 2003.
Fortuna Düsseldorf and the Rheinstadion: all out of
Fortuna Düsseldorf and the Rheinstadion: all out of love?
love? When the old Bundesliga home was demolished in two controlled blasts in November 2002, a little melancholy crept in at the last second. Former stadium announcer Dieter Bierbaum watched from a safe distance in a hard hat with a Fortuna logo as the World Cup arena of 1974 collapsed into rubble within seconds. “It is an incredible feeling to see this,” he said in a trembling voice. “This stadium made sporting history – 22 years of Bundesliga football with Fortuna Düsseldorf, all gone in one moment.” Only the Nordkurve, under which pipes still ran that were needed for the new arena, remained standing for the time being.
The last ball in the Rheinstadion was kicked on 3 March 2002. In a 1–1 draw against arch-rivals Rot-Weiß Essen, Nigerian striker Ganiyu Shittu scored the final goal in the stadium’s history. Remarkably, the Rheinstadion hosted two European finals, in 1979 and 1981. Borussia Mönchengladbach won the UEFA Cup there, and Dynamo Tbilisi beat FC Carl Zeiss Jena and cult coach Hans Meyer in the Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1981. The crowd of 4,750 in that enormous concrete bowl for the Jena match remains the record low attendance for a European final.
Toni Turek a football god? Not if Sepp
Toni Turek a football god?
Herberger had the final word. “As much praise and recognition as Toni deserves for his goal-line work, the same cannot be said for his cooperation with the players in front of him,” Herberger wrote. “Toni never truly had his men under control the way one expected him to.” It was not only Turek’s occasional phlegmatic side that irritated Herberger, but also his sporadic showmanship – such as catching balls one-handed. “The urge to show off was in his blood. He took the stern criticism of those around him hardly to heart, or brushed it off.”
Scandal in front of the main stand: “Say
Scandal in front of the main stand: “Say goodbye quietly,” goes the old song.
goodbye quietly,” goes the old song. But that was not enough for Wolfgang Kleff. At the end of his Gladbach spell, after a short stay at Hertha BSC, the 35-year-old veteran goalkeeper joined Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1982 and immediately became a crowd favourite.
Despite strong performances, his contract was not renewed in May 1984. On the penultimate home matchday, he was allowed to start one last time. In the 73rd minute he had had enough: he feigned an injury, asked to be substituted, and cheerfully began a lap of honour. The crowd adored “Otto”, and he gave them what they wanted.
Then came the scandal in front of the main stand: Kleff turned around, bent forward, and bared his backside – seemingly to the main stand, but especially to club president Bruno Recht, who had decided not to renew his contract. “For the fans I’ll give my last shirt, for some others only my ass,” Kleff explained afterwards.
Also in the Akte network
Same chapter · other clubsOMG — Update 2020–2026
The 2024 play-off against VfL Bochum turned into a drama.
The 2024 play-off against VfL Bochum turned into
The 2024 play-off against VfL Bochum turned into a drama.
a drama. Fortuna, buoyed by the euphoria of a strong season, fell just short of a return to the Bundesliga. For many fans, elimination in the play-off was the most bitter moment since relegation in 2020.