In the Württemberg Football Association, children’s soccer is played in a Fair Play Liga. The rules keep the spectators at a distance: Die Fans halten sich in angemessenem Abstand zum Spielfeld auf (15m). The fans stay at a suitable distance from the field, 15 meters. The coaches of both teams stand together in one coaching zone, and otherwise hold back with instructions. The rules list loud instructions as a way of interfering with the game. The idea began in the spring of 2007 as a pilot in the Aachen football district, with twelve teams.
sports
“I’ll Play Now”
On 23 June 1973, Borussia Mönchengladbach played 1. FC Köln in the final of the German Cup. Coach Hennes Weisweiler had left Günter Netzer on the bench. The score was 1 to 1 after ninety minutes. Before extra time, by Netzer’s own account, he told Weisweiler: Ich spiele dann jetzt. I’ll play now.
He came on. In the 93rd minute, his first touch was a pass to his teammate Bonhof. Bonhof played the ball back, and Netzer scored the winning goal, 2 to 1.
Afterwards, Netzer told the press that Weisweiler had agreed. Fifty years later, the sports broadcaster Sport1 called this a charming fib. Weisweiler let it look as if the coach were still the boss, but inside he was boiling.
The Olympic Decision Postponed
In April 2025 the German Olympic Sports Confederation postponed its choice of a German candidate for the Olympic Games. The decision had been planned for its regular assembly on 6 December. It moved to an extraordinary assembly by the end of September 2026 at the latest.
The interested regions received time until June 2026 “um die Bewerbung gesellschaftlich abzusichern”, to secure public support for the bid. Board member Volker Bouffier said: “Fit machen muss mehr bedeuten als ein Bekenntnis, dass wir Olympische Spiele wollen.” Getting fit must mean more than declaring that we want the Olympic Games.
The assembly met in Baden-Baden in September 2026. By then Hamburg’s bid had failed in a referendum, and Berlin had withdrawn.
The Team Writes Its Fines
In German amateur football, a team agrees its Strafenkatalog, its catalog of fines, before the season. A guide by the sports retailer Decathlon describes the custom. The catalog is set jointly within the team. Missing training without an excuse is an absolute no-go. The Kassenwart, the team’s treasurer, fixes the amounts together with the coach. The money in the team kitty pays for the losers’ pizza, the team party or the end-of-season trip. Professional teams keep such lists too. In Borussia Dortmund’s catalog for 2023–24, young players named on a list paid 100 euros if they did not help the kit manager with bags and equipment. A red card for violent conduct, complaining or a deliberate foul was left to the Mannschaftsrat, the team council, to judge case by case.
The Club Constitution
A German club cannot be registered without a written constitution, the Satzung. Under Section 57 of the Civil Code, it must state at least the club’s name, seat and purpose. Section 58 adds rules on members and dues, on how the board is formed, on when the members’ assembly is called and on how its decisions are recorded. It should be signed by at least seven members before the club is first entered in the register of associations. The register counts more than 600,000 registered clubs. A common saying goes: Treffen sich drei Deutsche, gründen sie einen Verein. When three Germans meet, they found a club. The saying is anonymous.
Our Cover Is Not Good
Germany opened the 2018 World Cup on 17 June with a 0:1 defeat against Mexico. Right after the match, the defender Mats Hummels named the fault in public: Unsere Absicherung steht nicht gut. Oft sind nur Jerome und ich hinten. Our cover is not good. Often only Jérôme Boateng and I are at the back. When seven or eight players attack, he said, the attacking force is greater than the defensive stability. He had already raised the point inside the team: Das, was ich intern oft anspreche, fruchtet anscheinend noch nicht so ganz. What I often raise internally is apparently not quite working yet. Germany lost its last group match 0:2 to South Korea and went out last in the group.
Eggs, We Need Eggs
In November 2003 Bayern Munich lost a league match at Schalke 04. Afterwards the goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said: Eier, wir brauchen Eier. Eggs, we need eggs. Eier is slang for testicles, and here for courage and fight. The line names no one. Kahn said wir, we. The line is probably his most famous saying. In 2016 the broadcaster Sky Sport News HD used it in a promotional spot built on legendary football sayings. In November 2022 Kahn, by then Bayern’s chief executive, alluded to it again before Germany played Spain at the World Cup.
Gold Without Friendship
At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Boris Becker and Michael Stich won the gold medal in men’s doubles. In the final they beat Wayne Ferreira and Piet Norval. The two Germans did not get along. In Barcelona they did not sit at the same table even once. Becker said it simply: Wir mögen uns eben nicht. We just don’t like each other. After both had gone out in the singles, they had the same goal, and they reached it.
The Handshake Before the Penalties
Germany played Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinal on 30 June 2006 in Berlin. The match went to penalties. Jens Lehmann was in goal. Oliver Kahn, Germany’s number one for years, had been moved to the bench by the national coach Jürgen Klinsmann just before the tournament. The two goalkeepers were rivals. Before the shootout, Kahn went over to Lehmann, crouched beside him and shook his hand. In a ZDF documentary Kahn later described the rivalry: Es wird hart gekämpft, es wird mit allen Bandagen gekämpft. The fight is hard, and every means is used. About the moment he said: Du siehst ihn – und hast eigentlich nur ein Bedürfnis: ihm jetzt dafür nur das Beste zu wünschen. You see him, and you really have only one wish: to wish him only the best for this.
The Captain as the Team’s Envoy
On 2 September 2024 the national coach Julian Nagelsmann explained why Joshua Kimmich would captain the German national team. He described the role this way: Er ist ein Abgesandter der Mannschaft und platziert die Meinung des Teams bei uns. He is an envoy of the team and brings the team’s opinion to us. He also gave a reason for the choice: Wenn Josh etwas anders sieht, dann spricht er das offen, ehrlich und direkt an. When Josh sees something differently, he says so openly, honestly and directly. According to Nagelsmann, Kimmich had set a benchmark at the European Championship on home soil. Kimmich, Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz formed the team council, the Mannschaftsrat, together with four other senior players.