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Tradition, hooliganism and decadence – Two of Leipzig’s oldest and biggest clubs reside in relative obscurity in modern day football.
#PausaHistoria [THREAD]
![Tradition, hooliganism and decadence – Two of Leipzig’s oldest and biggest clubs reside in relative obscurity in modern day football. #PausaHistoria [THREAD]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfocJg-UMAE5ycf.jpg "Tradition, hooliganism and decadence – Two of Leipzig’s oldest and biggest clubs reside in relative obscurity in modern day football. #PausaHistoria [THREAD]")
#PausaHistoria [THREAD]
12/12/20 – RB Leipzig are scheduled to play their 11th Bundesliga game of the 20/21 campaign at home against Werder Bremen. If things go well in the coming days, they will also be playing as defending European champions.
A day later, the German Regionalliga (4th division) would see a derby between fierce rivals BSG Chemie Leipzig and Lokomotive Leipzig. But who are these clubs and why is a 4th tier game being highlighted here?
The journey to understand the importance of this game leads to the journey through the history of the city of Leipzig itself. The prominent city of the region of Saxony, alongside Dresden, Leipzig has been a major centre for a few centuries.
The second World War had major repurcussions for Germany and Leipzig, being east of Berlin fell into the hands of Soviet dominance with the communist party SED calling all the shots under Moscow’s watch.
In 1965, many football clubs across the communist regime were assigned to a particular public enterprise. The city’s oldest club SC Leipzig (formerly VfB Leipzig) were renamed Lokomotive Leipzig. Their ‘sponsor enterprise’ being the East German State Railways, hence the name.
Following the backing of a public enterprise, Lok Leipzig used the available funds to buy a lot of star players from a cross town club called Chemie Leipzig. This initiated a long standing rivalry between the supporters of the two clubs.
Both the clubs were extremely well supported. The crowd figures for each club used to be near 100,000 back in the 1950s and 60s. In comparison, RB Leipzig’s stadium capacity today stands around 41,000.
Both the clubs had decent spells of success during this time. Chemie, playing in white and green – the colours of the state of Saxony, won the East German Oberliga twice. Although mostly they were considered to be a ‘yoyo club’ between the first and second divisons.
Lokomotive were the more successful ones, playing in blue and yellow – the colours of the city of Leipzig. They won the East German Pokal 4 times as well as winning the Intertoto Cup in 1966 and losing to Johann Cruyff’s Ajax in the final of 1987 Cup Winners’ Cup.
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent German reunification had major impact on the East German society as a whole. Formerly state owned industries now relocated to the West in lure of more money, leaving behind thousands of East Germans jobless.
The ruthlessness of a capitalist system crushed the East German society hard, who were used to 5 decades of totalitarian state control. The East German clubs that had built themselves with far less resources saw all of their good talent go out to the West German clubs.
The government tried to offer complete support but the task was too large. Unemployed East Germans found the empty football terraces to be an ideal platform to express their increasingly extreme politics. This is where the fans' political beliefs take centrestage.
Chemie fans believe in anti-corporate and left-wing political ideas. Pro-refugee and anti-fascism stickers are scattered across the city. Chemie stickers are more visible across Leipzig than those of Lok or RB, which shows the popularity of both the club and its political ideas.
Meanwhile Lok draw a lot of their fans from the far right of the political spectrum. Such contrasting set of beliefs among the ultras of the two clubs have led to violent clashes between them. Sure enough, most regular football fans started to avoid attending their games.
Over recent years, the two clubs have tried to root out violence from their games as much as possible. However it’s not been an easy task to accomplish. https://www.dw.com/en/lok-leipzig-youth-coaches-sacked-for-nazi-salute-photo/a-43672762
With the emergence of Red Bull’s venture, the two clubs have a hard time attracting youth within the region to their clubs, as a much better and more organized youth setup exists down the road. Hooliganism has eroded the support of the clubs over the years, especially for Lok.
Recent games between the both have been much more peaceful in the stands. Both clubs look far away from any chance of joining the Bundesliga soon. However the hope is to return to a point where there wouldn’t be an impending sense of doom around the game.
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![Recent games between the both have been much more peaceful in the stands. Both clubs look far away from any chance of joining the Bundesliga soon. However the hope is to return to a point where there wouldn’t be an impending sense of doom around the game.[END OF THREAD]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfocUgWUcAAHD88.jpg "Recent games between the both have been much more peaceful in the stands. Both clubs look far away from any chance of joining the Bundesliga soon. However the hope is to return to a point where there wouldn’t be an impending sense of doom around the game.[END OF THREAD]")
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