Anyone who talks about existing friendships between Dutch and German fan groups will soon come up with FC Twente – FC Schalke 04, Roda JC – Alemannia Aachen and De Graafschap – MSV Duisburg. But there are more friendships between different fan scenes: one of them is the friendship between supporters of FC Groningen and FC Red White Erfurtthe mutual bond between which has become increasingly intensive in recent years.
An unexpected meeting in the UEFA Cup
Where you usually see that supporter friendships are founded on the basis of geographical location, the friendship we are writing about now has a different reason at its basis. This friendship has its origins more than thirty years ago. In 1991, during the draw for the UEFA Cup, the names FC Groningen and RW Erfurt were chosen. On 18 September of that year, both teams played in the Oosterpark Stadium, where the Germans managed to win 0-1. After Erfurt also won in their own Steigerwald Stadium, the club was paired with Ajax in the next round. Unfortunately for the club from the German state of Thuringia, the European adventure ended here, and in retrospect this appears to have been a rare highlight in the history of the club.
A highlight that heralds a friendship
Because this is considered such a highlight, the club decided to invite FC Groningen for a friendly match in 2014. And it wasn’t just any friendly match. After more than eighty years, they said goodbye to the old Steigerwald stadium. This was done on a grand scale with an opponent that has meant so much to the history of the club. At the invitation of the Erfordia Ultras, a delegation from the Groningen Fanatics travelled. Because you don’t just turn down an invitation for the farewell match in an old GDR stadium. It promised to be an evening full of emotion, fireworks and the beginning of a close friendship.
An emotional farewell and a new bond
The Erfordia Ultras expressed their appreciation for the Groningen turnout and contribution to a worthy farewell to their beloved stadium. This earned respect from the German side, and after the match the Groningen Fanatics were invited, but not without intervention from the police. After a relatively quiet evening they thought they had to intervene between both groups, who wanted to ‘meet’ each other to fight it out. After it became clear to the police that this was indeed a friendly meeting, the evening was concluded with a beer and good conversations. And it clicked.
From derby visit to close friendship
In the time that followed, both groups therefore decided to maintain good contact. That contact led to an invitation to the Erfordia Ultras to visit the derby against Heerenveen, and that turned out to be the starting signal for many trips back and forth, during which each other’s away games were also regularly visited. The friendship became more and more visible over the years.
The desire to play against each other in a practice match has been strong for quite some time among both groups. But nowadays it is rare for practice matches to be made publicly accessible when hard cores decide (or threaten) to be present. Because in times of anxious mayors who have to grant permits and the appointment of Frank Paauw, which threatens to make the middle finger from the police towards football supporters even bigger, a match between the two seems a utopia. But despite these developments, it was finally time on July 13.
A practice match full of passion and pyro
Despite the fact that today’s practice match did not have the same stakes as 30 years ago, there was an exuberant atmosphere. An estimated 1,000 supporters from Erfurt had travelled to the practice match, and the sports park was further supplemented with some 2,000 FC supporters. This meant that Sportpark Oostindië in Leek was sold out well in advance. And although it may be freezing weather, both supporters did not let this stop them from making a huge party of it.
Just before kick-off, a large banner appeared with the text ‘Ultras’ and the logos of both clubs. While the beautiful banner was photographed by the audience, a firecracker sounded the starting signal for a pyro show with lots of smoke. For ninety minutes, various songs from the clubs were sung back and forth by both nationalities, and the party continued after the match in Groningen-Stad. There, a Noordtribune Groningen x Steigerwaldkurve festival was organized especially for the guests from Germany. It promised to be a party until the early hours.
The photos in this article are not taken by ourselves, but come from various external sources. The photos come from Erfordia Ultras and the archive of Groningen Fanatics.
