Fans of the club, known as the ‘Unioner’, have a saying: “We don’t go to football, we go to Union Berlin.”
Whether it’s the men’s or the women’s team, they come out in numbers to support the club. A small marketing team has helped drive the crowds, but it is ultimately down to the club’s culture that their support for its women’s team is so big.
Over 4,000 season tickets have already sold for their debut campaign in the top flight and there are plans to expand their stadium to a 40,000-capacity arena.
In a 3-1 friendly defeat by Real Madrid last week they had almost 10,000 supporters there, and a handful flew over from Berlin for their defeat by Villa.
That support is nothing new. When the club were close to losing their licence due to financial difficulties in 2004, a fundraising campaign called “Bleed for Union” encouraged supporters to donate blood to Berlin hospitals and give the compensation they received back to the club. They literally bled for Union Berlin.
“At the game with Real Madrid, players were very excited to see our fans. They were taking pictures,” said Zeitz.
“That isn’t normal in Spain or Germany. It’s really cool get we get these big crowds. We made women’s soccer at our club bigger.
“We went out and communicated. We said ‘we have two professional teams, not a men’s team and a women’s team’.
“We showed everyone the captains of both teams. We told everyone there is no difference between them.”
Fans of Union Berlin follow four rules known to locals as “the laws of booing” – don’t boo your own players, don’t make scapegoats of your own players, don’t leave before the final whistle and give everything.
The atmosphere they create has been a key negotiator when trying to sign new players from Germany’s elite clubs.
This summer, they signed former Eintracht Frankfurt captain and Poland international Tanja Pawollek.
Paying the players salaries which compare to that of Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen means they can offer an elite environment to develop.
“At this moment, the money comes in from the men’s side but every club can decide where that money goes to and what department to use it in,” said Zeitz.
“We choose to use it to support women’s football. It’s not like other clubs in Germany. They say they support women’s soccer but they don’t do anything.
“We spoke about it, then we did it. In the future, we want to make it a business on the women’s side. We want money to come into the women’s team and to use it on the women’s team.
“We want to support women’s football in Germany. There are maybe three or four clubs in Germany who support professional women’s football. The other clubs are not this ambitious. This, we have to change in Germany.”
