Chapter 320: Chapter 76: Tying the Legend, Half-season Champions, Football Faith and the Hundred Years’ War

"Isn’t that expensive?" Subotic asked, also curious.

A massive tifo like that looks incredibly expensive.

"Well, if you’re talking about cost, it’s definitely costly, but the real cost isn’t money. It’s the organizational effort."

As the most die-hard Dortmund fan and a local, Reus was clearly an expert on these matters.

"Take that giant ’20,’ for example. It’s actually made of over 25,000 small placards. There are companies that specialize in making them, and it costs about 10,000 euros."

Wang Shuo was a little surprised.

’Only 10,000 euros for a spectacle of this scale?’

"The South Stand has two or three hundred local fan organizations. Usually, they just put out a call, and the fans are eager to donate. The money gets raised in no time. So, collecting over ten thousand euros is really not difficult at all."

"In fact, from what I know, the South Stand’s fan organizations have a huge donation fund on hand—maybe tens of thousands of euros—specifically for making tifos."

Subotic was full of praise after hearing that. "Who would have thought? A culture invented by the Italians, yet it’s our Dortmund fans here in Germany who have truly perfected it."

The others all chuckled.

Nowadays, when you talk about stadium tifos, the first name that comes to mind is Dortmund.

The "Devil’s Home" moniker for Westfalen Stadium is well-earned.

"For a tifo of this scale, the money invested is actually nothing. The key is the time, energy, and organizational ability. Take this last one, for instance. It would take at least three weeks just to produce the placards."

"And the factory would definitely have to work overtime to get it done."

Hearing this, an interesting thought suddenly occurred to Wang Shuo.

’Could these twenty to thirty thousand placards have been custom-made in factories in China and then exported to Germany?’

It was actually a real possibility.

’Placards made in Chinese factories, shipped across the ocean, exported to Germany, all to celebrate a Chinese player...’

’The business cycle would be complete!’

The players gathered together, making their way past each stand to thank the fans.

As they walked, Reus continued to explain the tifo situation to Wang Shuo and the others.

"Aside from the time commitment, the real test is organization—how to mobilize the fans and get all 25,000 placards into their hands, ensuring they all hold them up at the exact same moment."

"In reality, even though it’s a fan-led activity, the club is also very supportive. For one thing, transporting over 20,000 of those placards must require at least a few large trucks, right?"

"Loading, unloading, and distribution all have to be arranged in advance. The fans could never pull it off without the club’s support."

"Earlier, before the match started, people from the fan organizations were at every entrance to the South Stand, getting the word out and reminding all the fans as they came in."

"They start handing out the placards before kickoff, and they have to plan out the distribution by section in advance."

As he listened, Wang Shuo turned to look back at the fans in the South Stand, a wave of admiration washing over him.

’There are some seriously capable people in those fan organizations!’

It was no easy feat to organize more than 25,000 fans from two or three hundred different supporter groups.

"Definitely."

Reus was also swelling with pride.

"A lot of people think the South Stand is just the cheap standing section. But in reality, you have plenty of middle-class professionals, corporate executives, office workers, and even some very wealthy locals who absolutely love watching the match from there."

"Wait until the Christmas events in a few days. You’ll see just how many capable people there are in the fan organizations, from every walk of life."

"It’s not that they don’t have money or can’t afford seats in the other stands. They’re there purely because they love the South Stand!"

Wang Shuo nodded repeatedly as he listened.

He hadn’t felt this as strongly when he was at Mainz.

Mainz was too small. The fans were spread across every corner of the city, so the feeling wasn’t as intense for Wang Shuo.

Most importantly, their fan organizations were fairly ordinary.

But after coming to Dortmund, Wang Shuo truly experienced firsthand that even in a large city like this, the fans were incredibly passionate.

This passion had nothing to do with money, wealth, or poverty.

Just as Reus said, you could probably find a very wealthy person standing shoulder to shoulder with a very poor one in the South Stand, both of them cheering together for a Dortmund goal.

At that moment, was football just football anymore?

Wang Shuo had never played in a professional league in China, so he had no idea if a place with such a rich football culture existed back home.

But from what he knew, there really didn’t seem to be.

...

Matchday 17 of the Bundesliga finally came to a close.

Dortmund routed Freiburg 4-0 at home.

Bayern thrashed Hertha Berlin 5-2 at home.

Bayer Leverkusen narrowly defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-2 at home.

Hamburg defeated Werder Bremen 2-1 at home.

All matches before the winter break were now finished.

In 17 matches, Dortmund had amassed 42 points with a record of 13 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss.

Just how significant was this achievement?

Bild provided the answer in its post-match report.

In the history of the Bundesliga, the team with the most points at the halfway point of the season was the 2005-06 Bayern squad, coached by Magat.

In the first 17 matches, they achieved an impressive record of 14 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, earning 44 points.

This remains the all-time record for the first half of a Bundesliga season.

And with 42 points, Dortmund surpassed the 1980-81 Hamburg team and the 1998-99 Bayern team, tying with Munich 1860 from the 1965-66 season. They were now tied for the second-highest point total ever achieved by a team at the halfway point of a Bundesliga season.