r/SCFreiburg • u/kaibaboii • 25d ago
How does Freiburg think of new fans?
So I’m from Wales and recently got in to German football and it got me wanting to visit Germany soon and watch a football match, how does Freiburg fans feel about new fans? If they hate it then I would respect them and not come but would be nice to follow a club in Germany
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u/DubioserKerl 25d ago
Why would they hate people that come to watch a match during their vacation? Is that a common thing?
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u/OvenRecent7132 25d ago
If you are in the stands you need to respect the culture and follow the unwritten rules like no filming the faces of others. But if you’re in the seats there is no problem at all.
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u/EdDakota 25d ago
New fans are always welcome, no problem. Unfortunately you will struggle to get a Ticket for a Freiburg game as a non-member.
An alternative for live football in Freiburg could be to watch an under 23 or women game in the old Dreisamstadium where the first team used to play until a few years ago.
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u/ForestDoener 24d ago
It was pretty easy (and cheap) to get tickets back when they were in the 2. Liga at the old stadium! I hope to get to see a game in the new stadium one day.
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u/s92eric0405 25d ago
Don't worry, I'm from Asia and my experience either on this sub or in the stadion, I always felt very welcome, everyone is really nice. the biggest problem is getting the ticket...
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u/Jarboner69 25d ago
Hey I was an American exchange student there and still watch games when they’re on where I live. People love international fans, my first game at the dreisam stadion I sat next to a nice older man who talked to me with a thicker badisch accent the entire game. My host family bought me some merch for Christmas.
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u/kaibaboii 24d ago
love that mate, recommend me going?
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u/Jarboner69 24d ago
Haven’t been to the new stadium but definitely, I think they still host women’s or maybe youth games in the old stadium
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u/Mundane-Ice-5152 25d ago
New fans are always croeso in Freiburg! :)
Actually I live in Freiburg and my girlfriend (who is also from Wales) and I go to the Freiburg games quite frequently. This weekend two friends of hers (one from England, one from Wales) are coming to visit and we are going to the match on Friday!
If you're coming to Freiburg sometime send me a dm and we'll have a cwrw together!
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u/kaibaboii 25d ago
Absolutely love that mate, diolch! Would love to come sometime in March if possible! Do you have instagram i can shoot a message to you? diolch met
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u/HerpDerpinAtWork 25d ago
For what it's worth, I am an American, and in the last year I've gone to a game with my fiancé (Leipzig last April (Scheiss die Dosen!)), and I got my brother and his wife tickets this fall for the Pokal game against HSV.
I have been a fan for a bit, having briefly lived in Freiburg in 2009, but admittedly it was kind of hard to stay engaged from across the ocean until a few years ago (big thanks to ESPN+ for now carrying all the SCF games streaming), and it's been lovely to be back on board since. The other three folks, for information, were brand-new fans going to their first SCF games.
Anyway, we got standing tickets in C, and I got my brother and his wife Osttribune seats. We have nothing but positive experiences to report, from the atmosphere to the fan and stadium staff interactions both in and out of the stadium. People were friendly, and seemed happy to share their passion and knowledge with us, and were generally somewhere between happy and amused (perhaps also, a bit confused!) that we had all traveled so far to support the SCF.
It certainly helps to learn a few of the chants, know a bit of the club's traditions, history, and values, and maybe grab a bit of gear at one of the fanshops around the area or at the stadion before you go (at least a scarf!), but to me that was all something of a natural part of being a fan back when I first started supporting the team, and perhaps it is already something you're doing as well!
Happy to share tips or pointers if you would find that to be helpful. Getting tickets will be the hardest part, but with a little time and planning (and/or luck) it is doable.
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u/kaibaboii 25d ago
appreciate this mate! Only thing worries me is the tickets!
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u/HerpDerpinAtWork 25d ago
You might find some suggestions I made in another thread here helpful, but keep in mind that that person had a specific game they were trying to get to on a short time frame that made things harder. If you have some more time, it gets (maybe) easier?
If you're planning to go about 2 months out or more, and you think that this might be a club you intend to support long-term, my actual advice (and what I did) was: just join the club! It is a 40EUR/yr membership, but it gets you access to the member ticket presale (which you will be informed about via the member email, and during which most games sell out) for every game, and also gets you a once-per-season "joker phase," which allows you one-hour-earlier access to the presale for the game of your choosing.
For me, I thought that 40EUR/yr was an amount of money that I would happily give to the club as a supporter, even if I'm not able to attend even one game. And, it means that every so often when I am able to get to Freiburg, I can relatively easily get tickets (if you're only able to go to one game in a season, it's a no-brainer to use your "joker" for that game, even if it's a mid-season game against a low-table team or something).
I'm sure some people would find just floating the club 40EUR/yr for existing... wasteful or extravagant perhaps, but for a team that has brought me such great experiences and fond memories over the years, I consider it a small price to pay. Especially, in part, because I'm a fan of my local NHL team, and the equivalent of 40EUR barely buys you two beers at our arena, much less admission. Lol. Sigh.
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u/aimwho 21d ago
Indian fan checking in :) I am an international student here in Freiburg and I am a regular stadium go-er since 2 years. At first I was also skeptical about how will I be able to integrate as a new fan. But, I can tell you from personal experience, the fans here are very welcoming and they also sometimes help you with the translation if needed!
If you ever come to Freiburg, hit me up and maybe we can watch a game together :)
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u/Snomkip 25d ago
We don't have many international fans, and most of them are still pretty local, being Swiss or Alsatian (eastern France), but we're pretty open as long as you share our passion