German Football

[femi fan]

Can any german posters, or anybody who follows german football, recommend me a first division team to follow for the upcoming season?

I've watched bits and pieces of german football in the last year and am most impressed by the crowds and their singing and obviously the football is good too. I don't necessarily need to follow the best team, but definitely a top division one because i want to see them on the tv. I could follow any team for any kind of reason. I did like the fans of borusia dortmund last year when they went to arsenal's ground, but i notice they came top. Was this a one-off for them?

I did like kaiserslauten, but i see they've managed to get themselves relegated.

I've met a few bavarians in my time, so i wonder which teams play in bavaria?

Perhaps a team who are predicted for mid-table but might punch above their weight and go on a glorious run?!

I'm an arsenal fan in case that has any bearing on who i should follow.

So, any recommendations on who to follow and why i should follow them?! I would really like to have a team to cheer this season to make watching german football even better. They always say the fans in england are the best in terms of the noise they make, but on the tv at least the german fans come across as bloody awesome!

[MrRed]

http://en.wikipedia....i/FC_Schalke_04

A good club.

http://www.schalke04.com/

[SantiSuk]

You picked a good national league if you want a bit of unpredictability. Although Bayern Munchen usually do well and are regarded as the iconic German team, there is always somebody nibbling at their heels or even blowing them away, like Borrussia did last season.

Top 10 last year were:

Borrussia Dortmund

Bayern Munchen

Shalke 04

Borrussia Munchengladbach

Beyer Leverkusen

VfB Stuttgart

Hanover 96

VfL Wolfsburg

Werder Bremen

Nurnberg

Supporting Dortmund, Munchen, Shalke or Munchengladbach would give you Champions League interest (thought the latter have a tricky qualifying series agianst Dynamo Kiev).

If you want Bavarian teams your choice is a bit limited - only Bayern and Nurnberg from the top 10.

I'm not sure if anyone can tell you who might go on a roll. Hamburg and Bremen are usually better teams than their position last year would imply.

Keep supporting Arsenal, obviously. You may recall we eliminated Borrusssia in the Champions League last year. They must have picked up form a bit thereafter!

[StevieH]

not the top flight of german football but there is all sorts of fun to be had by following fc st pauli. socialist/equal rights football club with a brown away kit, a jolly roger for their club badge and the team enters the pitch to ACDC's 'hell's bells'. they're bloody ace.

[femi fan]

not the top flight of german football but there is all sorts of fun to be had by following fc st pauli. socialist/equal rights football club with a brown away kit, a jolly roger for their club badge and the team enters the pitch to ACDC's 'hell's bells'. they're bloody ace.

Now they sound good! I'll investigate them based on your write-up for them, but i need to find a team that will be on the telly from time to time.

[femi fan]

Keep supporting Arsenal, obviously. You may recall we eliminated Borrusssia in the Champions League last year. They must have picked up form a bit thereafter!

Well, the thing is i was impressed by their fans in that tie. When it was the return leg in london, our fans were pretty bloody quiet and i think borrussia must have taken the lead because when we were finally leading the game and the tie, the arsenal fans woke up and found their voice. The massed ranks of dortmund fans broke out in 'you only sing when you're winning' for a while and i thought that was great! At the time i was trying to imagine a load of english fans playing in germany somewhere and breaking out into a german football song...

Maybe i'll choose them. They certainly brought a large contingent to london that night.

I just want to have a personal interest in the german league because i have enjoyed watching the german games in the last couple of years and want to do so with more focus this season.

[femi fan]

http://en.wikipedia....i/FC_Schalke_04

A good club.

http://www.schalke04.com/

Hi mate. But have you got any personal anecdotes or reason for me to follow them?! They are a candidate for sure.

[MrRed]

Yeah i shagged a bird called Olga in a brothel there once and got nicked for D&D after United beat Dortmund 1-0...but that was in 1997