Spare Your Voice For Arminia Bielefeld

Back in March 2008 all was still right with the world for Arminia Bielefeld. The club was in its’ fourth consecutive season in the top flight. The stadium’s new East Stand with extra VIP boxes, and whatever is needed to please the prawn sandwich brigade, had just been completed. New revenue streams were ready to flow and the club was about to play its’ 500th Bundesliga match against Hanover. To celebrate the occasion, advertising agency McCann Erickson was hired to create a little ad for the club. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, but the ad went on to win the odd award. Bielefeld added another 44 matches to their Bundesliga record before being relegated at the end of the 2008/2009 season. From there it was all downhill.

Apart from the obvious financial hit after relegation, the club got into further trouble, as the new East Stand didn’t really attract paying fans as planned while costing a fair bit more to build than originally budgeted. The club failed to win promotion back to the Bundesliga, which was followed by a fire sale to avoid immediate financial meltdown. Bielefeld – almost predictably – crashed down the 2. Bundesliga table this season and has only mathematical chances of staying in the league. Eventual relegation is the least of the club’s problems at the moment though, as debts of €27m and imminent bankruptcy could mean that the club has to close doors altogether. The management has until April 18th to find a way to secure the survival of the club. It hopes to achieve that by selling the stadium, which got them into all the trouble in the first place. Should that fail, Bielefeld fans might need to spare their voices to hurl abuse at those who ruined their club by wasting millions building the new East Stand.

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Category: Bundesliga