Imagine that the relatively small market club that you support has never won a major trophy throughout its existence, and there are no immediate signs of that changing.
Also, imagine that this club of yours is in the shadows of a commercial and cultural hub that happens to have one of the most successful soccer teams of all time.
Welcome to a club that challenges your devotion like few others: FC Augsburg.
Finding our feet
I’ll admit that I knew next to nothing about this Bavarian club before my visit. In fact, I couldn’t even say with a great deal of confidence what colors they played in. My friend and I were intrigued to find out more.
Getting to Augsburg from anywhere outside of Bavaria means you’d almost certainly go via Munich, which is great if you’re looking for a pre-game beer. Even without Oktoberfest, Munich would stake a strong claim to be the world’s spiritual home of beer.
Yet our destination was Augsburg, so that’s where we wanted to soak up the atmosphere. In truth, there wasn’t much of that going around. Describing the city as sleepy, at least compared to neighboring Munich, would be fair.
Despite the apparent lack of pubs, there are numerous nice cafes to grab a bite to eat and drink a coffee. Augsburg city center is a friendly, if slightly unremarkable, place (in the city of Augsburg’s defense, this description could be used for thousands of localities dwarfed by larger cities. It’s probably not fair of me to compare it to Munich whatsoever).
The ground, like a lot of modern stadiums throughout Europe, is quite a way outside the city center. Thankfully, transport links were extremely frequent.
One of the reasons I love German soccer so much (and there are a lot of reasons to love it) is that, in my experience and from many that I’ve spoken to, clubs universally include local transportation within the price of the matchday ticket. This simple gesture wouldn’t be a drop in the ocean financially for a top-flight club but means so much to the match-attending supporters.
Disembarking near the city’s university and walking through tunneled passages plastered in FCA graffiti means you can absorb the echoed hum of fans marching toward the stadium. They’re not Bayern – nobody in Germany comes close – but they have a passionate cult following.
Getting to know the Fuggerstädter
This plucky and often unfancied outfit likes to tear up the script, as Bayern themselves found out recently. The underdogs stunned their opponents, and not for the first time. Augsburg ran out as 1-0 winners this time to make that consecutive wins over the always-favored Munich side.
Bayern has won the last 10 Bundesliga titles, and the smart money is on them to finish top this season too. While Augsburg won’t be competing with them in terms of league position once we get to the final few games of the season, it must be a sweet feeling getting one over your dominant neighbors.
Creatively designed for a unique stadium experience, Augsburg fans can be proud of their home: the WWK Arena. The façade reminded me of a bird’s nest, steel protruding at seemingly random points around the stadium.
I’m not sure what the appropriate amount of VIP seats is for a stadium, but the WWK Arena’s felt unnecessarily huge, engulfing the majority of the side stand that was behind benches.
Holding over 30,000 spectators, the venue is an impressive blend of modern architecture and traditionally steeped terraces aimed at generating raucous vocal support. The home fans didn’t disappoint either. A sea of red, white, and green waving flags and displaying banners projecting its love for FCA. In fact, a respected newspaper equated the matchday experience at the WWK Arena to Liverpool’s special atmosphere.
Wolves at the door
From the kick-off, Augsburg was clearly the dominant side. Wolfsburg couldn’t string results together in their patchy start to the season, and Augsburg was in red-hot form going into the game, so the pattern of play was unsurprising.
FCA boss Enrico Maaßen is a young coach but is building quite a name for himself. Getting his team to play the way they have been lately, with comparatively small resources, is commendable.
The Augsburg attacking players pressed high, forcing Wolfsburg’s defenders into playing sloppy passes and errors. Several guilt-edge chances came and went for the home side, prompting my friend to say to me, “I bet Wolfsburg score the first goal”.
Lo and behold, Wolfsburg took their first goal-scoring opportunity of the game to the dismay of thousands around us. Midfielder Gerhardt found himself totally unmarked at the back-post after his teammate exposed space that was left down the right flank.
Augsburg didn’t capitalize on the pressure they mounted and were made to pay for their first lapse in concentration.
As the visitors grew into the game as the half went on, Augsburg could do with half-time to assess their options and reset tactically.
I wanted to recharge too, and I couldn’t resist the allure of the currywurst down in the concourse. The prices represented excellent value for the generous portion of delicious sausage and fries covered in curry sauce and powder that I received.
For everything that FCA does to remain considerate to their fans, there was one aspect of the day that I felt was very corporate (I was surprised I hadn’t seen this in the Premier League).
Rather than paying for food and drinks on your own card or in cash, the cashiers only accept FCA cards with money loaded onto them that you can find at a kiosk near the entrance.
Why do they do this? The club knows that, in all likelihood, rather than loading the exact price of two beers onto the card, for example, fans will instead load over that amount at a round figure for ease.
Therefore, let’s say you put €10 on the card but only spend €6 on your beer purchase, the club still receives that extra €4 that you weren’t going to spend otherwise because it’s pre-paid. You’re then left with €4 that you feel obliged to spend rather than waste.
As I say, on balance, German fans are treated better than their English counterparts, at least in my experience, but this isn’t something I’d want my club to introduce.
Turning the tide
The second half began much like the first: with Augsburg on top. Only this time, they converted one of their chances.
After some pinball in the Wolfsburg penalty area, the ball fell to the right-back, Robert Gumny, who rifled home off the frame of the goal. It really felt as if Augsburg was going to win this game at that point.
The hosts continued to pile on the pressure, but Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels was in inspired form, frustrating the Augsburg attackers and home fans alike.
Neither team managed to score a second, and the game finished 1-1. They might feel a little irked by the manner of the tie, but Augsburg shouldn’t be too disheartened. They weren’t going to continue winning every game, and on another day, at least two other chances would’ve found the back of the net, and they’d bag 3 more points.
Being in Germany, I should’ve known better than to expect to wait for an age for public transport back into the city.
Four trams queued up, waiting for us fans to arrive at the nearest station to the stadium. You could view my surprise as a shocking indictment of British public transport or a glowing review of German organization. Either way, I was impressed.
The frank and blunt nature of German soccer fans never ceases to make me smile. Two friendly (yet clearly inebriated) Wolfsburg fans got talking to us on the train back to Munich.
They were truly stunned when we said we’d traveled from England to watch this game. I’ll omit the expletives from what they said, but it was along the lines of “why would you come all the way to Germany to watch Augsburg against Wolfsburg?”.
On the face of it, it’s a fair question. Tourists only ever want to watch Bayern Munich play in this region. Although, I’m glad we went for the more bohemian choice.
It looks like we weren’t the only ones tempted by this obscure fixture, either. We bumped into four Oxford United fans at the turnstiles who must’ve had a similar thirst for an unconventional experience. Maybe Augsburg has more international appeal than those Wolfsburg fans give them credit.
Looking ahead
Fans around us greeted each other with warmth and genuine affection as they found their seats. This wasn’t a tourist trap of a ground filled with strangers; this was more like a family. It felt nice to be in the middle of that community spirit.
There’s an unavoidable charm to a club forever in the shadows of their wealthier and much-adored neighbor. Understanding the struggles in stature that a club such as Augsburg has made its story all the more appealing.
It’s easy to follow the side that wins everything all the time, claiming national rights season after season. Would a win even feel like a win if it happens so predictably? Supporting the minnows from an oft-forgotten part of the state should be applauded.
Augsburg’s prospects aren’t totally bleak, however. As recently as 2015, the side qualified for the Europa League, impressively making it out of the group stage before bowing out to Liverpool by a single goal in the Round of 32; there’s no shame in that.
Can they repeat a similar feat in the future? If they keep up the type of intense performance that I saw in the first half-hour of this fixture, they’re capable of competing with the very best.
More immediately, though, the club would surely be content with being a mid-table Bundesliga club. Perhaps ridiculed by larger clubs, becoming part of the furniture that makes up the division is not be sniffed at by a club like Augsburg, considering the financial windfall that comes with regular German soccer.
Putting solid pieces together and staving off relegation still constitutes success at FCA for now. Going forward, supporters will be praying that they can someday escape the Bayern Munich-shaped shadow that looms over them, as impossible as that seems.
To the people of Augsburg, that would mean everything.