The German Bundesliga

[Goring Gull]

Isn't this really the best league in the world in terms of competitiveness crowds etc? Where else can a team that had to win a final day relegation playoff challenge for the top three the next season. Fantastic league.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Totally agree, mostly everything about the Bundesliga is excellent.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Although defining what attributes make a league good is a subjective thing, I think you have to acknowledge that the Bundesliga gets most things right and is probably the best in Europe by quite some way.

The main stick it seems to get beat with is that it doesn't have as many star quality players as the likes of the Premier League and La Liga, which may well be partially true, but it's more the fact the top players in their league aren't household names in this country cos they aren't bled through Sky's propaganda feed, whereas average players in the Premier League are portrayed to be much more talented than they are.

 

[mccraque]

Clubs in the Bundesliga are bound by more stringent financial rules than the clubs in England (and many other leagues). If, as has been proposed, a clubs financial situation will determine future European entry - then the jerries are in a better position than the majority of English clubs.

Also - the fan bases are huge. From top to bottom of Bundesliga....you're getting crowds of 50k+. Cologne - for example are having a dogshit of a season and still pulling in 50k each week.

There are some great players in the league too....it's just that we don't know a great deal about them. Bayern have the best known....but Dortmund have Goetze, Hummels, etc.

And the reason for Newcastles success this season? A couple of boys picked up from the Bundesliga - Cisse and ba (although Ba's been in England for a year now).

The best thing about German footy? They bring BEER TO YOUR SEAT!

 

[scotjem]

Funny to hear them talking about the 'English week' recently - only one week of midweek league games all season. Again, their focus seems to be quality rather than quantity.

 

[Superphil]

Despite the stringent financial regulations put on them, they still put pretty competitive teams into the CL too.

 

[jackalbion]

they're seems to be less 'plastics' in germany people support their local club a lot more

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

they're seems to be less 'plastics'

and many more scarves and denim.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

they're seems to be less 'plastics' in germany people support their local club a lot more

I was under the impression that the lower tier clubs are a great deal less supported than over here.

 

[jackalbion]

I was under the impression that the lower tier clubs are a great deal less supported than over here.

but below division 3 i think is non league non professional

 

[Goring Gull]

I'm noy sure about that alot of teh Bundesliga 2 clubs get pretty impressive crowds - Fortuna Dussledorf for example

 

[The Terminator]

How does their second devision compare to our championship

 

[The Terminator]

In terms of crowd attendance

 

[Dr JCL]

I think the best thing about the Bundesliga is the ticket pricing. It cost me only €16.00 for a great view in one of the best stadia in the world, das Olympiastadion. Also, you can drink reasonably priced beer while in your seat, and the atmosphere is cracking.

 

[Austrian Gull]

How does their second devision compare to our championship

Not as impressive as the Championship. I'd say Eintracht Frankfurt, 1860 Munich, Düsseldorf, Dresden and St Pauli stand up well but there are more mickey mouse clubs (FSV Frankfurt, Ingolstadt, Aue, Paderborn and others).

And there are certainly no teams in the 3rd division which could be compared to the two Sheffield clubs or Charlton.

New TV deal for Bundesliga announced this week - increase of around 200 million euros bringing it more into line with the other big leagues.

I bloody love almost everything about football in Germany.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

The only obvious drawback of defeating Germany 70 years ago.

 

[shaolinpunk]

It's always watchable

 

[shaun_rc]

Crowds for German lower league games have massively increased since I started being interested in it in the early 90s. Going down to the second division used mean dropping from 40,000 to about 500 sometimes - I remember a very eery game in the Berlin Olympic Stadium between Hertha and 1860 Munich in the mid 90s with only about 5,000 there.

Something clicked about 10 years ago though, and crowds are now similar to ours - the same fixture may well happen again next year, and the crowd will be more like 35 - 40,000. I was at 1.FC Union Berlin in the 2nd Division a couple of weeks ago - standing on three sides, 16,000 and beer all through the game. I could get used to that.

They do still have the second teams of the big teams from the third division downwards, which is really annoying, but by and large German footy is excellent.

 

[DT Withdean]

Bundesliga:
Amazing stadia - many revamped or new for WC2006.
Big crowds.
Cheap pricing.
Clubs are not allowed to get into debt or be subsidised in a silly way above their true fanbase, so no Chelskis or Portsmouths.
As they aren't the highest wage payers, the top players who play there really want to be there, rather than being mercenaries in England, Real Madrid or at Anzhi.
Safe and carefully controlled terracing, giving a better atmosphere.

All in all, a more traditional football vibe with a bit more integrity.

 

[Goring Gull]

Ithink in Germany in general they do everything 100% better than we do.