So with the start of #Bundesliga season 20/21 just around the corner, now is as good a time as any to introduce the international Bundesliga fans to freshly promoted @Arminia Bielefeld – a side newer fans might not be too familiar with.

Here's a THREAD with the essential facts:

Arminia Bielefeld returns to the top flight after 11 years in the nether regions of german professional football, bouncing up and down between second and third league for the better part of a decade, while narrowly escaping bankruptcy – twice!

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Arminia hat an impressive 2019/2020 campaign, winning the championship 10 points ahead of runners up Stuttgart in a promotion race many had predicted to be between HSV, Stuttgart, Nürnberg and Hanover. Bielefeld surprised everyone, with most goals scored, least goals...

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...conceded and only 2 defeats in 34 games. The fans couldn't believe their luck: Back in Bundesliga at last after 11 years of hurt, and it is very much possible that covid rules were broken while celebrating (sorry).



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But who is Arminia Bielefeld exactly? DSC Arminia Bielefeld was founded on May 3, 1905 – 104 years and 16 days earlier than that energy drink marketing ploy RBloody Leipzig. DSC is short for "german sports club" – we do not only play football, but are active also in...

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...figure skating, billiards, wheelchair sports and a couple of other departments.

But football of course is the most important department. Our women's team plays in the second flight of german professional women's football.

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The name of our club, "Arminia", stems from Arminius, a Germanic Cherusci chieftain who defeated the Roman armies in Teutoburg Forest in 9CE.

Teutoburg Forest is a vast cordillera that spans from Eastern Germany to North Rhine-Westphalia where its hill range...
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...cuts right throw the city of Bielefeld.

Bielefeld is located approx. 100km either way between Hanover and Dortmund, and has around 325k inhabitants. It's a university city and the home to international companies like Dr. Oetker, Schüco or DMG Mori. It is very green.

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At the feet of the Teutoburg Forest hill range in the western neighbourhood of Bielefeld lies our stadium, Schüco Arena. It's original name is "Alm". The story goes that when we first played at these grounds in 1926 there was nothing more than a grass patch. An onlooker...
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...is quoted as saying that there were only cows missing to make this an alpine pasture, which translates to "Alm" in german. Most of the fans still say Alm, but we've made our peace with title sponsor Schüco, not least because they've saved our ass more than once. Thanks!

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Remember the story of Arminius defeating the Romans at Teutoburg Forest? This gave birth to one of our most popular chants (and mottos):
"Nobody conquers Teutoburg Forest!"
Speaking of which: Schüco Arena/Alm is famous for its atmosphere which some have called the "Alm Roar"
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In 2015, still in third league, we had a mad run straight to the DFB cup semi finals, where we lost 0-4 to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg. Despite this defeat, our supporters never stopped singing. TV pundits called it a "Gänsehautentzündung", roughly translating to...
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...Goosebumps ignition (a pun based on a wordplay with skin inflammation sadly gets lost in translation, but you get the gist). Here is a video of that night which really brought team and fans together:

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Apropos third league: Going up and down between leagues makes us a "yo-yo club" and has spawned a joke which goes like this:

What is Germany's highest mountain? -> The "Alm". One year ascent, one year descent. You know, because Alm meaning "Alpine pastures"...

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The grounds our stadium is now situated on belonged to a farmer called Lohmann, which is also the name of our Mascot.

But our real mascot is Dr. Ulrich Zwetz, or Uli Zwetz. Uli works for @RadioBielefeld and is a commentator of Arminia Bielefeld games since...

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...well at least since 1993/94 when I started supporting Arminia Bielefeld. He is a cult icon for many fans and became famous nation wide when he went ballistic on air after a late winner against Karlsruhe. Listen to him here:



Amazing guy!

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This is our crest by the way:

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These are this season's kits courtesy of Macron. Normally we play in blue shirts at home, but it's 2020 and nothing matters anymore (just kidding I actually like the black shirt). So watch out for the boys in black at home and white away when turning on Bundesliga football.

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There's a historic twist to our orange third kit: Our regular kits weren't ready for the first match ever played, so we borrowed shirts from the Netherlands. Hence the orange.

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So what are Arminia's chances in the new season? Well, on paper not that good. Bielefeld rank last by far when it comes to market value.

We are defo Bundesliga's underdog!

So some are saying we are all set to go right back down.

We'd love to prove them wrong!

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Personally, I believe it will be an uphill battle, but we can stay inside. For one, the chemistry in the team is great, and we kept the championship squad together.

Then there are a couple of promising additions to the team this year – to name a few:

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Japanese international @doan_ritsu is on loan from PSV as is attacker @scordova22. In our defense we've increased quality with the signing of center back @mikevdhoorn1. So it won't be easy, but it's not impossible for us to stay inside Bundesliga. Keep your fingers crossed.

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Apropos defense: Last season's biggest surprise was Amos Pieper who joined us from Borussia Dortmund's farm team. The youngster turned out to be one the best domestic center backs of Bundesliga 2 and rightfully earned himself a cap for Germany's Under 21 national squad.

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Let's close this thread out with two anecdotes from Arminia Bielefeld's vast lore: The first story is about how we even suck at cheating. Back in the 70s things weren't looking to good, so as was the fashion back then the club officials decided to bribe Schalke.

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Unfortunately, no one had told Schalke's goalie who saved every shot on target. We nearly paid all that money in vain, but at long last managed to score – and won. So all was good.

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Except it wasn't. Nothing was good. First of all, cheating is bad, kids. Don't try that at home. And then someone had recorded the whole malarkey and played it at his party for shits and giggles. We got punished severely (deservedly so) and it took us years to come back.

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Another story is that one time our player Ewald Lienen was tackled so brutally his thigh got cut down to the bone. He wasn't too happy and threw some fists around. Our club did the only sensible thing – and commemorated this injury with *checks notes* a sock. As you do.

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Let's finish with a fun fact for all english speakers: Our stadium Schüco Arena, like Anfield, is located in midst of housing in a densely populated area in Bielefeld. In Germany, this is called an "english stadium" – and it's the last of its kind in Bundesliga.

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Blimey, nearly forgot something: Skipper Fabian Klos is our most important player and the club's G.O.A.T. He's been with us since 11 years and has fulfilled his dream of Bundesliga football with the club he started his professional career with, going from third league...

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..to first league without switching clubs. A true legend. When he leads Arminia onto the pitch for our first match against Frankfurt, this will be a dream come true for Fabian Klos at 32. What a beautiful story!

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Anyway, that's all for now, folks. Hope you enjoyed this thread and are curious to find out more about @arminia. If you're looking for a club to root for in Bundesliga, consider us.

We're the true underdogs - we need you :)

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