On Saturday evening, FC Schalke 04 rose to the Bundesliga via FC St. Pauli after a 3-2 win. After the final whistle there was no stopping. One who was right in the middle is a fan connoisseur Susanne Hein-Reiperiper, who has accompanied the royal blue since 1983.
- The FC Schalke 04 was a real unit
- more: Storm on Schalke “could have ended in catastrophe”
- Asamoah’s word has weight at Schalke
Two days after the promotion spectacle in the Veltins Arena, Schalke expert and fan insider Susanne Hein-Reiperiper with Susanne Hein-Reiperiper talked about the extraordinary mood among the supporters, revealed how close the game was and which was and which Souvenir took her home.
Mrs. Hein-Reipen, how did you experience the Saturday evening in the stadium?
Susanne Hein-Reipen: That was again a typical Schalke dramaturgy. It would have been too good if we had just taken the lead early. It absolutely had to be a 0-2 deficit (laughs). But then it was all the more beautiful. After the 3: 2 and after the final whistle there was no stopping. Then the whole arena head stood. It was just awesome.
It almost looked like the deficit was no problem, the mood remained quite relaxed.
That’s correct. That was probably also because Schalke played well, had good chances and St. Pauli made two goals from two occasions. Even those who are otherwise rather pessimistic said that there is still something, the boys are hot. Whether it was in the air or whether it was just pure hope: the feeling was very clear that the last word was not yet spoken at this point.
Isn’t it almost a bit sad that the Schalke promotion ceremony was many times more intense than the master celebration of Bayern?
From a Schalke perspective, I don’t find that (laughs). Schalke promotion parties are simply less common than Bayern championship celebrations. Seriously: it went on Saturday how rare. This was also due to the fact that many were skeptical at the beginning of the season. There were quite a few, Schalke predicted after relegation to be passed through to the 3rd league. In addition, the bankruptcy worries and the complete upheaval in terms of Susanne Hein-Reiperiper. Many have not dared to hope that it will work again so quickly. For comparison, you only have to look at the HSV that have not packed it several times with the same ambitions in recent years. Therefore, in the end, everyone was just blissful on Saturday.
The FC Schalke 04 was a real unit
And the joy of the team was also nice to look at. Clearly, the climb for the market value and the content of the players is good, but you also had the feeling that it was a real unit. The pictures by Simon Terodde, Marius Bülter and everyone else who made selfies with the fans and cried with joy was a great feeling.
The storm was definitely inevitable…
Yes. It was a little surprised that the club was not really prepared for it. In the arena there is the ditch between the field and grandstand, because there is the driving on the lawn. It was funny that no bridges or the like were present. This is also possible at concerts or the general meeting. Did you think people do without the storm because of the trench? In any case, for me it was to be expected that this would happen.
more: Storm on Schalke “could have ended in catastrophe”
And for me, a place storm belongs when a title is won or the ascent is celebrated, somehow. If I hadn’t had any problems with my knee, I would also have tried to get on the lawn. Everything was totally peaceful too. Only the ditch made it a little dangerous. Well, the gates are broken down and the lawn has a few holes, but otherwise people were just happy.
But there were a few injuries.
Right. Some jumped down quite optimistically and landed on concrete at a depth of three meters.
In the end, the lawn was still filled with tens of thousands quite quickly.
Goals were opened at the corners of the north curve and so many came to the field over the tunnels. I also saw pictures of how police officers helped the fans who hung on the parapet.
Schalke fans immersed the stadium in fire and smoke
There was a lot of pyro technology to marvel at around the game, and demolition was threatened. How exactly was that?
The big pyro campaign at the beginning was certainly agreed with the club. The roof was closed up to 15 minutes before kick -off, then it was half open. That was already surprised, but then it was clear why. The Ultras have a relatively good connection to the club through the Supervisory Board.
After that, both camps have held up Bengalos in individual actions, for example gates. Nobody bothered that. At some point, however, the announcement that the fourth official said, if it didn’t come to the end, would threaten a cancellation. In the stands, the next torches, which still came on, got a little more restless.
Asamoah’s word has weight at Schalke
After the 3-2, Bengalos followed both in the guest and home block, one announced and then Gerald Asamoah also ran from the coaching bench to the north curve to speak to the precursors. There was no more until the final whistle. Asa has reached the real stop, it was heard on it.
Only both celebrations on the lawn followed again and at the very end, when the sweeping was, the last Bengalos were burned down on the stands.
Did you get a souvenir from below when you celebrated in the stands?
Yes, lawns have been thrown up. A piece is now well watered in the balcony box.
How do you find that individual pieces of lawn have landed on ebay for a lot of money?
I do not like that. That should be a matter of the heart and is not there to rip off other fans. Many who could not be there now have to give money to get a piece.
In relation to the fans there was an enormous U -turn at FC Schalke. A year ago there was hunting scenes after relegation, now one is literally in the arms…
It is important to emphasize that the incident last year was not the Schalke normal. Schalke actually had full support even with poor performance, the people traveled after the team.
However, it has built up over a long period of time, with the ghost games, you had to watch helplessly when descending where the team presented itself underground. It should definitely not be an excuse for the incidents, but that went really unhappily. Immediately after relegation, the whole frustration came through, that would probably no longer happen today.
Now we are more normal at the Schalke. Schalke has loyal fans who support the team who are also grateful when you feel that the team wants. The game against Bremen (1: 4) is mentioned as an example. After that, the team was also set up and looked forward together.
To the person: _Susanne Hein-Reipen, born in 1971, Schalke fan since 1983, reports on her Facebook page “Susanne Blondundblau auf Schalke” and for the “100 percent me-seam” portal of her experience as a season ticket holder and Diverse driver with the royal blue. She is considered an intimate connoisseur of the Schalke followers. In addition, Hein-Treipen deals with football and fan culture topics.
The conversation conducted Chris Rohdenburg
