Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Eintracht Frankfurt progressed to a second consecutive German Cup final thanks to a 1-0 win over Schalke in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday night, in a game which saw as much action off the pitch as on it.
Schalke's "Ultras Gelsenkirchen" spent over €20,000 on a huge choreography ahead of their derby win over Borussia Dortmund on Sunday and produced another spectacular display here against Frankfurt.
“And so we head down to the pits at night” read the banner along the top tier of the Nordkurve, quoting a line from the region’s famous mining song, the “Steigerlied."
Industrial heritage and identity is important in this part of Germany, and no more so than in football. Both Schalke and Dortmund were formed by miners and drew their traditional support from the region’s pits. Even the players' tunnel in the Veltins Arena is designed to resemble a mine shaft carved out of rock.
Schalke really emphasise their mining history. The players all take part in annual visits to a mine shaft to learn about the history of the area and visitors to the club can expect to hear the traditional miner’s greeting of “Glück auf!” – an expression of hope that a colleague will return back to the surface at the end of his shift to see his family.
And so, while fans waved blue, white and black flags, depictions of two such miners were hoisted from the roof of the Veltins Arena. They were positioned either side of a wheelbarrow full of freshly mined coal, upon which was perched a glittering gold DFB Pokal - the German Cup.
Behind them, two ultras ignited red flares to give light to the miners’ lanterns.
In the away end, the travelling Eintracht Frankfurt fans wouldn’t be out-done. Frankfurt boast one of the Germany’s biggest and most fanatical supports and impressed at last season’s cup final against Dortmund with a choreography featuring a huge eagle clasping the German Cup in its talons.
On Wednesday night, over 6,000 had made the 260-kilometre trip north to Gelsenkirchen where, amidst a sea of black and white flags, red flares were lit and strobe flares flashed from the block.
“Eintracht Frankfurt – black and white as snow!” they sang throughout the match, the noise levels reaching a crescendo in the second half when their team won a series of corners right in front of the away end.
The fifth one led to the only goal of the game as Serbian youngster Luka Jovic darted in at the front post to flick home Jonathan de Guzman’s cross, sending the away end into delirium and Frankfurt back to Berlin, where Niko Kovac’s future employers, Bayern Munich, await.
But for the two sets of supporters, the night wasn’t over as dozens of Schalke and Frankfurt ultras clashed in the empty east stand which separates the home terrace from the away end. Punches were thrown and fans tumbled down rows of seats before riot police fired pepper spray and the fans dispersed, concluding an eventful night both on and off the pitch.
