Arminia Bielefeld hopes to end the jokes

For years, the German town of Bielefeld has been the butt of a national joke: that it doesn’t exist. On Saturday, its football club Arminia Bielefeld will have a chance to put the city squarely on the map, by lifting the German Cup in Berlin. Facing top-tier VfB Stuttgart, the third-division side is eyeing the first major trophy in a 120-year history marked by as many stumbles as successes.

Bielefeld played in the Bundesliga as recently as 2022, but was relegated at the end of that season and again the following year, sending it to the verge of financial collapse. Managing director Christoph Wortmann said this year’s turnaround was fuelled by “team spirit, will and hard work”. On the way to the final, Arminia knocked out Bundesliga heavyweights Union Berlin, Freiburg, Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen — the latter boasting a squad worth 80 times its own.

“The euphoria could not be bigger,” Wortmann informed the Financial Times of the feeling in the city ahead of the final. In a city long mocked as being fictitious — a joke so enduring that Angela Merkel once referenced it, and the city’s marketing team promised a €1mn reward to anyone who could prove it’s not real — the football team has become a symbol of defiance.

Wortmann said he was aware of the urban myth before moving to Bielefeld: “I have found it,” he remarked wryly. He added that the region has “unbelievable strength and power”, home to global firms such as food conglomerate Oetker, top of the range household appliances maker Miele and major media group Bertelsmann.

But the club itself has been on the brink of non-existence twice in the last decade. Back in 2018, local companies bought Arminia’s stadium, the Alm, and acquired a minority stake to stave off insolvency. But the 2023 crash was just as bad: a 95 per cent collapse in TV revenues left the club with a €12.6mn hole and €3.6mn in unpaid transfer liabilities — for players no longer even on the payroll.

Only a youth player and Fabian Klos, the all-time top scorer, remained under contract. Wortmann recalls: “When people ask if I sleep badly now, I say, ‘No — back then, I did.’” Only through advance sponsor payments and deep cost cuts, including halving back-office staff to around 40, did Arminia barely secure its third-tier licence.

Coach Mitch Kniat assembled a squad on an €8mn budget, drawing some of the highest attendances in the third division and earning promotion back to the second tier for next season. Membership has surged from 15,000 last year to around 24,000, and merchandise sales have hit records.

The club is using the windfall of more than €9mn from its cup run to pay down liabilities and invest in infrastructure, including a modern IT system and an Under-21 team to develop talent. Wortmann hopes to start an “upward spiral” and bring “calm and confidence” to a club that has spent years at “breaking point”.

But first comes Stuttgart. For Bielefeld, the final in Berlin is more than a football match. It’s a chance, Wortmann told the Pink ‘Un, to emulate the club’s ancient namesake Arminius: a Germanic hero who fought the invading Romans and, against all the odds, defeated a vastly stronger foe.

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to ...

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...

The Political Economy of Football V2

Search This Blog