Why Are Germany's Best Football Clubs All In The West?

[@Kyle-mw3bo]

Maye worth pointing out that one of the more successful eastern German teams since reunification, Hertha Berlin, were actually in the Allied part of Berlin and were playing in the West German Bundesliga system

[@soundscape26]

Yes, Hertha only became Eastern post-1990 due obvious geographical considerations... pre-1990 they always competed in the West Germany Bundesliga as you said.

[@andreir.5145]

@@soundscape26 I live in Germany and tbh nobody ever refers to Hertha as eastern German, maybe that's just a foreign misconception. In Germany it's popular to refer to the Berlin derby (Hertha vs Union) as a duel of West against East Berlin for example

[@soundscape26]

@@andreir.5145 I don't disagree with you... I was just talking purely on geographic terms given Alfie seemed to include Hertha in the Eastern Germany teams regarding the historical context of the video. So yeah, Hertha are _located_ Eastern but are _considered_ Western... if those distinctions make sense anymore outside the obvious Berlin divide.

[@andreir.5145]

@@soundscape26 Yes I was confirming your statement that Hertha is a western team

[@homerj.simpson7562]

It's worth noting that virtually nobody would consider the pest that is RB Leipzig to be a genuine club from East Germany. Also, Hertha aren't "located in the east" as they're based in the western part of Berlin.

[@drsten.]

Very well researched as usual Alfie. Just one thing. Hertha Berlin is in the east of germany yes. But it is a west german club because it was part of the western part of berlin before the reunion and didn't have to go through the the struggles the traditional east german clubs had to go through in the transition of the reunion seeing as they were already part of the west german football pyramid. They actually were one of the clubs which profited from the reunion

[@daarom3472]

He also forgot to mention that the 80'ies successful athletes from East Germany were all insanely doped up.

[@nikhilsrl]

@@daarom3472 Like Americans do now.

[@RaiG4880]

Ich bin in West Berlin geboren, und Herta hat schon damals scheiss Fussball gespielt. Dynamo Dresden und Hansa Rostock war damals besser in der Bundesliga. Und jetzt mach em Kopf zu , Schlaumeier 😅

[@RaiG4880]

Wir haben euch OSSIES mit offenen Armen empfangen. 10.000 Mark credit ohne Zinsen. Aber ihr habt euch trotzdem beschwert. Außer Nazies und asoziale habt ihr nach West Deutschland gebracht.

[@TheAciddropper]

Great video as so often. JUST WANT TO POINT OUT: Hertha Bsc HAS NOTHIN' TO DO WITH EAST GERMANY. They are located in former westberlin and competed in the Bundesliga

[@michaelkobylko2969]

Yeah I was quite surprised to hear them talked about as if they were a former East German club.

[@ronaldschaefer7157]

nice video except for these mistakes: 1. While BFC Dynamo was funded by the STASI, Dynamo Dresden was funded by the East German police. All Dynamo Dresden players therefore held ranks within the police system and would even occasionally wear a police uniform (for example during political training classes) 2. Despite its affiliation with the police, Dynamo Dresden was the most popular team in East Germany and averaged more than 20,000 spectators per home game each season with EC games almost always sold out (36,000 or more). 3. While the FC clubs in East German football were state funded, the BSG clubs (like Bischofswerda or Eisenhuettenstadt) were funded by state-owned enterprises. Players at these teams were paid by these companies and would often work regular jobs at these businesses for half the day while being free to train in the afternoon. 4. Hertha is a West-German team as it was based in West Berlin 5. Even though you mentioned the 1:0 win of East Germany over West Germany at the 1974 World Cup, it's a pity that you neither mentioned the 1976 Gold medal win of the East German Olympic football team (that was pretty much identical to the regular national team of East Germany) nor the 1974 win of the EC Cup Winner's Cup by 1. FC Magdeburg. East Germany was also much more successful than West Germany in youth football tournaments and won the 1986 U19 European championships for example.

[@samuelyee4017]

Bfc was able to win consecutive league title through coercive approaches from Stasi

[@DotepenecPL]

Ad. 1: right, but some Dynamo players were (formally) Stasi members, too, like Matthias Sammer, weren't they?

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Nazri Germany Smart Bundesliga

[@timopint1125]

@@DotepenecPL stasi tried to recruit as many football palyers as possible because they traveld into west sometimes. so they pressured every player that made even the smallest mistake. In the end around 1/3 of players(dresden;Hansa) were at least informally stasi member. Sammer was an formal stasi member from his time in the guard regiment(conscription)

[@andrekoerber7334]

@@DotepenecPL No, Matthais Sammer never was, but some were.

[@stivstilianos980]

Can you make a video on the 7 nations most likely to become 1st time World Cup winners by the end of the 21st century

[@bababababababa6124]

This is actually a good video idea that I’d watch unlike the other guy that spams the “Indonesia XI” comment 😂😂 But fr though, definitely Croatia, Portugal, USA, and some African and Asian countries maybe. If we’re giving this the rest of the ENTIRE century then it’s not crazy to think Senegal, Korea, Japan and a few others could as well

[@bakulshah4367]

My picks: Netherlands Belgium Croatia Chile Columbia Japan South Korea

[@liams4411]

Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, USA

[@SantomPh]

Netherlands and Belgium are most likely. Others just do not have the talent pool or potential. Outside of Europe it's only the big 3 of S.America who can ever win it. As for Africa,Oceania ,North America snd Asia...thanks for playing, FIFA will never improve your chances.

[@naufalpahlevi8976]

How the heck you can predicting so far to 2099? The players that year are not even born yet.. It is ridiculous

[@Riddlerdelex]

As a German, this video was wonderfully researched without painting things too black and white. My parents had to flee the DDR / GDR because my father was a pacifist and was threatened with prison time because he didn't want to serve in the East German military (which at this point was pretty much only famous for shooting its own people when they tried to cross the boarder). They arrived in the west mere month before the Berlin Wall fell, and they lost everything in the process of fleeing while giving birth to me days after they arrived in the west. The reunification was a big blessing for Germany, it was a wonderful thing, but it was handled - as most big projects in Germany - badly, but also not catastrophically. In football, economic interests always come first. Football is a business, even though it is the national sport in Germany. The reunification of football was a good example of that: Nobody really tried to keep the East German Football alive, on the contrary: Seeing the western clubs victorious was often seen as one of the final victories the western, capitalistic system had over the now dead socialistic east. If not by design, it was at least a welcomed side effect. And let us not forget that the huge talent pool of East German players was a nice boost for the big western clubs: Cheap, without any entitlement and easy to integrate since they already spoke the same language and were culturally similar. A blessing, of course. All in all, German football profited immensely from the reunification, it still does. But "German Football" in that sense means "West German Football". The reason why so many people welcome Union Berlin's success over Hertha Berlin in the last two-three years is grounded in that, too: Union and Hertha were the biggest clubs of Berlin, one west and one east, but after the reunification, Hertha Berlin was in bloom and Union was facing doom. Now, with the tables turning, especially many older people from the former east grin with glee since it is the first time a eastern counterpart of a west-club seems victorious over it's rival in the end. Thanks for the Video! It was nice seeing this very interesting piece of German history explained to a broader audience in such a well-researched way and with the tone of respect. It was a hard time for many, and football was often the least of worries - but in the end, these happenings make for some of the most interesting stories for future generations. Love your work!

[@EisernRob]

Very ‘Wessi’ perspective. How old are you if you don’t mind me asking? I grew up in the DDR and I’m not sure I agree with how you characterise our point of view.

[@stthcnths]

Union was by far not the most important club in East Berlin. BFC Dynamo was, with friendly help by the stasi, the most successfull team in the oberliga.

[@djmusicmr]

Love that! Love your story and it is absolutley facinating to hear this from someone who's been there from day 1. I am a huge Union fan after hearing their rise up through the German leagues. Hope to see the revival of many more east German clubs in the bundesliga. Hope you are well and thank you for sharing 🙂🤩

[@gandalf_thegrey]

But Union wasn't the biggest East Club before reunification. That's was BFC Dynamo

[@EisernRob]

@@gandalf_thegrey I don’t think anyone said otherwise? Or are you just commenting facts?

[@DGAMINGDE]

As always another greatly researched video, including problems that are still seen in German society (I'm Lower Saxony, the North Western state). Always refreshing to see that someone that does not live in a country can still be able to accurately portray a complex situation combining football, geopolitics, personal situations and processes. Completely unrelated I of course have to continue my suggestion for another video: Day 9: The biggest wins in every european top flight (Athletic Bilbio 12-1 FC Barcelona; Gladbach 12-0 Dortmund; Ajax 13-0 VVV Venlo).

[@germankid866]

As an East-German (East-Berlin), thank you for this video. I hope people start understanding how tough of a road East German teams have had since re-unification. What Union Berlin has been doing, has been grass-root efforts that should be celebrated (thanks for your video on them!!!) vs the hope of a financial takeover that feels like a cheat code (thought I completed understand the fan's excitement of the future prospects)

[@thtben]

Really well-researched! I'm sure your German viewers (myself included) appreciate it.

[@charliezobel511]

Not that well researched seeing he’s under the impression that Hertha are an Ossi club and how he tries to downplay the clout of both hools and ultras have when it comes to the fan scene in the East. I believe he was saying they’re a ‘tiny tiny percentage’ which is wholly inaccurate, especially if you look at clubs like Lok and BFC where it could be argued those categories make up a sizeable chunk of the entire fan base and are usually the majority within the travelling support when at away games.

[@lausymaus9856]

Im from east Germany, leipzig to be precise. Im really amazed at the accuracy of the political comentary and all the nonfootball related things. Thanks!

[@ninjamiky]

Union Berlin is the only GDR Team in the Bundesliga. I think Hertha Berlin is a West-Berlin Team

[@samuelschonenberger]

Hertha is inteed West German and Alfie is aware of thag too based on his other vidoes It's just Geographically in the East and I guess he included them as East German for simplicity, but I would agree to not calling them East German

[@dmvandrew7039]

leipzig is also east german

[@ninjamiky]

@@dmvandrew7039 yes but rb Leipzig only exists since 2009. And is the most hated club in the east and west

[@samuelyee4017]

@@ninjamiky in May 2009, energie lost their top flight status after they lost against Nurnberg as a result of the Bundesliga back into total west german league. In May 2019, Stuttgart became the stepping stone for Union’s promotion thanked to away goal rule

[@oliverleonard7730]

RB Leipzig as well

[@thomasjohnson2862]

Great video! I’d be interested in looking at the post-Soviet/communist decline of clubs from other countries, like Dinamo Tbilisi and Ararat Yerevan, who went from often attracting crowds of 60,000+, to struggling to attract 4 figure or even 3 figure crowds in their independent domestic leagues. Tbilisi won the Cup Winners Cup in 1981 too. It is also true that these clubs were effectively national teams for countries who didn’t have independence at the time.

[@TheAsinum]

Today (19th september '22) Union Berlin, the only east-german football club in the Bundesliga is on 1st place and 5 points ahead of Bayern München!

[@RaduIosif]

RB Leipzig?

[@Riddlerdelex]

@@RaduIosif Not an eastern club, but rather simply a new one that has it's home in the former eastern part of Germany. Nothing wrong with that, I welcome them as a good addition, especially from people living in the east.

[@achtzehnhundertsiebenundac1186]

@@RaduIosif its an austrian team set in leipzig and the bundesliga and theres plenty wrong with it

[@EisernRob]

@@RaduIosif 🤢🤮 sorry, I can’t help but vomit when I see RB 🤮🤮🤮

[@davinnicode]

@@achtzehnhundertsiebenundac1186 keep crying

[@nielsog8777]

at 20:41 I would like to add that Hertha Berlin is not considered an East German team seeing as they hail from West Berlin and thus West Germany. Great video otherwise!

[@manugame100]

Excellent video as per. However, when mentioning the East German Olympic team and their success I think you should have talked about the state sponsored doping programme that was occurring at the time.

[@zztop6460]

It wasn't doping they just used Hulk Hogan's vitamin regime

[@seandelap8587]

The same generally applies to Italy in that it's traditionally the northern portion of the country that has the more successful football clubs such as Juventus and the 2 Milan teams while from the South only Napoli have occasional challenged that monopoly.

[@deanschultz6259]

Oligopoly*** quite ironic given the content of the video

[@soundscape26]

Yes, I was remainded of Italy's North/South divide as well... the socioeconomic differences between both regions are perhaps even more noticeable than in Germany's case. Aside from Napoli, both Roma and Lazio were also able to challenge the big 3's dominance if only sporadically. But, across the board northern teams are cleary more successful than southern ones.

[@tbd211]

@@soundscape26 Roma and Lazio are both northern clubs.

[@soundscape26]

@@tbd211 Yes and no... go to Milan or Turin and try to tell people Rome is a Northern city. Technically speaking Rome is the dividing line between the North and the South, so its definition will change according to who you ask. I'll gladly call it Centre.

[@petesmart1983]

It basically that the south of Italy is extremely poor, Napoli even when they won the league was the poorist city in Italy and ripe with drugs and mafia

[@samuelyee4017]

21:14 Dresden is backed by Volkspolizei, while BFC Dynamo was the club that was backed by Stasi

[@Bienenwolff]

Nice video. Small mistakes (Hertha is geographically east, but not politically or socioeconomically), but I stil enjoyed this video. You pointed out the succes of Union Berlin, which I especially enjoyed. By far the most succesful club from East Germany right now and I'm super happy for them.

[@warrendouglas4468]

Great video 👍but have you thought about a video about Urs Fischer, the Union Berlin manager. This teams is making miracles in front of our eyes and yet very little gets talk about them & especially Urs Fischer. 5 years of constant progress with one of the lowest budgets in the Bundesliga & selling 1 or 2 of best players every year. Also he is never link with any top job in Germany or elsewhere. He must be the most underrated manager around today

[@parsathagreat8933]

Agreed

[@samuelyee4017]

He needs to let go of these best players as other west german clubs could offer a higher pay and also recruit them with a low transfer fee which is less than €10 million, typical circumstance that west german clubs take advantage on east german clubs

[@seandelap8587]

I would hazard a guess and say its because that's where most of the largest and most industrialised cities are like Munich for example while the eastern part of Germany is less populated and more rural than the urbanised and heavily populated west so being from large cities they are more successful football clubs.

[@guidosc3470]

Berlin ?! Leipzig? Dresden ?!!😂 No no it’s just because the komunist leaders sucked hard and where corrupt and rotten to the core and sold everything in the east for a penny.. the citys I named where intellectual and industrial centers of Germany in the past .. especially Leipzig and Dresden

[@shaqtaku]

Yes

[@manugame100]

You reckon it’s got nothing to do with the economic system it was placed in for 40 years? If Korea reunified I can guarantee that the southern teams would benefit massively, poach top talent and be dominant forces for decades to come in a nationalised league. It is funny how socialists never want to actually admit these systems have been tried consistently over the 20th century and failed miserably in comparison to the ‘western, capitalist’ version.

[@mats7492]

Don’t let a Hertha BSC fan hear that you called them an East German team..🤣

[@soundscape26]

Alfie used geografic definitions... Berlin is located in the east of Germany, so... Historically yes, they are western.

[@andrekoerber7334]

Of course, that loser bunch is not east german.

[@marcel_kleist]

What the heck. Just yesterday I watched some videos about the East German league from you and now you upload this.

[@Alex-xn2pj]

Day 36: A detailed look at the state of Crotone would be nice, going from Serie A in 20/21 with a 20 goal a season striker (Simy) to Serie C by 22/23. Two relegations in a row, something surely has to be wrong at that club.

[@kieronparr3403]

We've told you before. Its happened so many times in Italian football it's pretty standard. Get over it

[@francomartini4328]

I beg to differ. There have been several clubs in recent decades whose natural home has always been Serie C1 who find themselves in Serie A completely out of their depth. My local team Frosinone spent a couple of seasons in Serie A and frankly they had no business being there. Crotone has a population of 64,000 and Frosinone's population is even smaller at 46,000. How can clubs like that compete with Juve, Inter, Milan or even Roma, Lazio or Napoli when Genoa, Parma and Pisa can't and even teams like Fiorentina, Atalanta and Torino have spent decades in Serie B? There's nothing wrong with Crotone. It's a miracle that they ever made it to Serie A in the first place. Palermo has a population of 675,000 yet they've only just been promoted back to Serie B from C1 and haven't been in Serie A since 2017. Why don't you ask what's wrong with them? Instead you're asking why sardines can't eat whales.

[@MrRonald2796]

It's quite common for small Italian teams to suffer successive relegations after reaching Serie A. Teams like Crotone, Carpi, Siena, Pescara and Cesena are some recent examples, with a few of them even going bankrupt and having to restart from Serie D.

[@oliverleonard7730]

@@francomartini4328 Fiorentina, Atalanta and Torino are in Serie A

[@francomartini4328]

@@oliverleonard7730 yes, I know. Read my comment again. It clearly states that during their histories those clubs have spent decades in Serie B. In other words, they are currently in Serie A but have been anything but a constant presence. Torino being the classic example of a yoyo team. This to illustrate that if clubs from major cities in the wealthiest part of the country with their massive fan bases and financial resources struggle to stay in the top flight, how are clubs from some one horse provincial town in the back of beyond like Crotone supposed to manage? (You've obviously never been to Italy and certainly never to Italy's Far South.) In the question to which I was responding, Alex implies that there is something crooked in the way that the club is run which is ridiculous. They overachieved massively to get to Serie A but it was never going to last. I ended my comment by mentioning Palermo because if anyone has questions to answer in that respect, they do.

[@BALHAM69]

A documentary on how Borussia Dortmund almost went bankrupt would be interesting.

[@christopherr3676]

And how bayern helped them out

[@BALHAM69]

@@christopherr3676 true, Leipzig look to be the only team who isn’t Bayern who could win the Bundesliga League i cannot see union Berlin win the League They have started good though

[@Rabauke84]

Here you go, buddy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnKvomqopayqnbc

[@samuelyee4017]

@@christopherr3676 bayern used to recruit competitor ace by using the reason of "saving these clubs from liquidation by recruiting their high wage stars"

[@nicocorbo4153]

another amazing and informative video. thank you alfie ! these documentary style geopolitical football videos bring me joy

[@hectoriouslazarous7038]

Nicely done video Alfie. You were very thorough as always. You covered the story from all angles

[@MF-nl5zd]

I‘m from East Germany and I have a few things to mention about some points in the video (which I think is really good). BFC Dynamo was a Stasi club and was disliked (even hated by most) fans of other clubs in the DDR Oberliga. It was the favourite club of the Stasi boss Erich Mielke and got many favorable refereeing decisions which secured them some wins and trophies. There was a cup final against Dynamo Dresden in which the referee continued gave a questionable penalty and kept the game running until BFC scored the winning goal. There aren‘t any official sources for these instances and I only know of it, because my father was there. The MfS (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit/Stasi) used BFC Dynamo as somewhat of a representation club and it was an open secret to everyone. Dynamo Dresden wasn‘t owned by the Stasi, but there were some players that were IM (Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter which means inofficial members of the Stasi). This was the case about many eastern german teams back then. Also Hertha BSC is NOT an eastern german club. It competed in the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal and isn‘t affiliated with the GDR. I think the topic of the Stasi affiliation of clubs and players in the GDR might be a good topic for some video in the next time (if you haven‘t covered it yet). Keep up the great content, love from East Germany!❤️

[@samuelyee4017]

During cold war period, i’d say Union was an egg while BFC Dynamo was the stone, the egg was able to incubate into a life while stone would turn into ashes in the matter of time Union had incubated from egg into a chicken while BFC Dynamo had turned into ashes

[@RaiG4880]

Great comment, but maybe you should do the research and make a video. No offense here, but being born in West Berlin during DDR times. Most Americans don’t understand what is was like. I had family on both sides of the wall after we left West Berlin. And as a Child in the west , I was never allowed to go visit my cousins in the east.

[@holmbjerg]

This is one of the most important video essays you have ever done.

[@francolive5718]

Most Western European countries’ best clubs tend to come from the Industrial “second cities” whereas in Eastern Europe the best clubs are based in the capital city as they used to be the teams of their militaries.

[@valesverga9]

Pretty true, good example: dynamo moscow and steau Bucuresti, cervena zvezda and other industrial clubs in the Soviets were military

[@Chippychips8-2]

Idk Real is from the capital so are Chelsea "Totnam",Arsenal ,PSG and Sporting.

[@DukeSkylocker]

@@Chippychips8-2 PSG's success is pretty recent and it is entirely down to their Qatari ownership. Before that Saint Etienne was the most successful club in France (PSG only this season managed to match Saint Etienne's 10 title tally) and they're the definition on an industrial city. And in England as big as Chelsea and Arsenal are, historically speaking Manchester United has the most domestic championships and Liverpool are the most successful English side in Europian competition. In fact, out of the big five leagues (La Liga, Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1) Spain is the only one whose biggest team hails from the capital city.

[@Chippychips8-2]

@@DukeSkylocker Fair enough.

[@Eibarwoman]

@@DukeSkylocker Secondly, Spain's early dominance was from Athletic Bilbao prior to Francoism.

[@bigbloke2000]

Amazing video. Fantastic structure and delivery of the narrative. Kudos!

[@mccklinklonk]

I really appreciate the research you do here, brother. Well done. Great video.

[@Maxi_94]

Hansa Rostock fan here. Our founding story is also completely wild and you could look into it. Basically we were founded in a small town in Saxony until the East German government decided that there should be a top flight team in the north and simply relocated the BSG Empor Lauter to Rostock. A couple years later the government restructured many of the clubs and Hansa was born.

[@timopint1125]

no thats wrong. The Club itself was founded in Rostock. Only the Staff was moved. BSG Empor Lauter existed within other sports at same location.

[@RaiG4880]

I remember Hansa Rostock, they actually started pretty well in the Bundesliga

[@davidl.8722]

One of your best videos. Sadly it might not do so well. But this is amazingly good research

[@kennytexxkkk]

Thank you for this. I've always being enthusiastic about Germany because my late mom lived and amassed her wealth in Germany. I love them

[@joshmacdougall7317]

“It wasn’t quite as bleak in east Germany as in Russia during the 1990s” maybe the largest understatement ever made. Great vid tho that one line did make me laugh

[@someperson3883]

Now half of Bundesliga Champions League spots are from East Germany

[@chiphansen125]

One of the best KZbin Videos I've ever watched

[@itsgeo752]

Another common W for Sevens

[@NDY666]

They now have Leipzig and Union Berlin.

[@holmbjerg]

I think that, how sport and especially football can be seen as a reflection of culture, history and socioeconomic circumstances, is a profoundly interesting and fascinating topic. That's why sport is important. It reflects identity.

[@meerani_]

Very Informative Video...

[@Simeonpravoslav]

You did completely overlook Union Berlin. This former East German team IS competing in Bundesliga and has, so far, been THE surprise of everyone by being at the top of thr table.

[@RaiG4880]

Maybe because FC Olympia played zweite Liga till 2019, however they are one of my favorites now , the clubs history is a reminder how football gave the middle class something to look forward to the weekend

[@DomenBremecXCVI]

Considering what they are doing, Union Berlin is one of the most aproptiately named club in Germany

[@sidius8747]

Crazy to see the stadium of my local club in an HITC Sevens Video. Greetings from Potsdam.🔵⚪️

[@jjj8317]

Even if the bundesliga was divided 50/50 between east and west, the east would primarily be a source of relegation teams given the structural issues pointed out here: state run, not enough investment, inability to compete, and the bad state of the economy in the region prior to unification resulting in a lack of positive investment environment from their west German countrymen.

[@malteseowl]

East German schools, even today, place a greater emphasis on Athletics (Olympic Sports if you will) rather than Football. Pitches are still a rarity at East German Schools - money plays a part of this, as everything is comparatively more expensive in East rather than West .

[@RedCruuve]

Asking you to do a video on the rise and fall of Bursaspor, attempt 8

[@niklasholzapfel310]

Alfie as a German it was amazing to hear you pronounce german words! It has shown that you put emphasis on how to pronounce them and not just plain read them and dont care about how butchered they would be then, Thank you for that!

[@craigs8772]

Definitely one of your best videos Alfie 👌

[@Sephcat]

Great video yet again. Only point I think you missed, is forgetting about FC Magdeburg, the only former East German club to have won a European title, as they won the Cup Winners Cup in 1974 - and while not as succesful as their STASI counterparts, they did win 3 championsships and 7 german cups, so somewhat succesful despite their obvious lack of government funding, compared to the "big 2".

[@karthikbaskar556]

Could you make a video about the rise and fall of Chievo Verona?

[@BALHAM69]

Yea ChievoVerona went a few years ago now It is a good video suggestion

[@soundscape26]

Yes... that club is ripe for an Alfie video. Parma as well.

[@stevenm5997]

Great video as always btw alfie! German football is my favorite foreign nation to follow

[@KutloanoMatela]

History always repeats itself to those who don't learn. The future and present always benefits those who learn from the past, do better today, and plan for tomorrow.

[@kevingoldie8825]

Great video

[@stevenmeachin21]

Really good video

[@bencooper6480]

Hows about a video on the only non English team to win the FA cup?

[@robinhazell6019]

Excllent video Alfie. I liked your mention of how the East ( Europe ) went into poverty after the fall of communism. I would recommend that you read 'The Shock Doctrine' by Naomi Klein. This basicall showed how the west ( mostly American ) companies took over the state owned companies of the East.

[@gerardgarcia7127]

Because the eastern part of Germany was very poor due to communism. It will take more time for eastern Germany to eventually recover from the disastrous communist era that destroyed its economy.

[@matthewplunk4928]

Very well made, as always. Still waiting on that sub-Saharan Africa-based club Best XI though!

[@grokopf142]

These are your best kind of videos 👋

[@Kirito_wr]

But 2 out of the 8 spots for international competition this year were occupied by teams from east germany

[@MarkMark-mn4jo]

Fact: Toni Kroos is the last German international to be born in East Germany before re-unification.

[@samuelyee4017]

1990s, Sammer, from Dresden 2000s, Ballack, from Karl Marx Stadt 2010s, Toni Kroos

[@stephenhyland4256]

It's somewhat similar in Italy all the good teams are based in the North and Centre only big club in the South is Napoli. Perhaps another video could be done on the North South divide in Italian football.

[@Eibarwoman]

Spain also has this problem to a degree, but the population is heavily skewed to the north and centre and it used to be worse before Villarreal got a devoted billionaire tycoon

[@mzy12]

Alfie just does videos that the people want 👏

[@charlieghana2945]

Awesome video, please can you do a Thonon Evian documentary 🙏

[@rexmfalme9781]

The problem with Racism and hooliganism in East German clubs is much more pronounced than you mentioned here and has to be adressed. From Magdeburg, Chemnitz, Cottbus, Jena, DRESDEN , ROSTOCK..the list just goes on. A visit to these stadiums, even as a journalist, is chilling. The only exceptions are maybe Union and Leipzig, and I do not begrudge them their success - long may these two propser

[@EisernRob]

Red Bull is not a former DDR club and had none of the challenges that Union had

[@stthcnths]

FC Carl Zeiss Jena has a strictly leftwing fanculture. Do your homework mate. But in general youre right. Apart from Jena, Chemie Leipzig, Babelsberg and TeBe every other club in the east does have a nazi problem.

[@zacksy3861]

Iv moved to Rostock to work for a year and went to a hansa game last weekend (east german derby vs magdeburg) expecting to see stuff like racism and so on and there was nothing like that. Just a great atmosphere with the only unusual thing i could see being loads of old DDR flags everywhere

[@stthcnths]

@@zacksy3861 there was a controvesy less than a month ago in a game against St. Pauli, where rostock fans put up a banner commemorating the torching of a refugee housing 30 yrs ago..

[@EisernRob]

@@stthcnths every other club? Maybe you should do your homework.

[@Arksc-zx6tp]

If union berlin can do something to shake up the tile race this season. Historic!

[@discusstalk4900]

This man should start a podcast please

[@9425]

Well its kinda not true anymore. The east now has Union Berlin and RB Leipzig. Both are very high this season.

[@michamichler8832]

Well Alfie you missed the biggest story after the reunification of Germany. The rise of Energie Cottbus in the mid 1990s without any big sponsors. The first Bundesliga club starting a match with 11 foreign players and even letting no German in while the 3 changes.

[@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan]

After the Anschluss Rapid Vienna from Austria won the German League

[@soundscape26]

Much of East Germany's Olympics successes were only possible due a sophisticated doping program... you should have mentioned that. Italy has a similar divide on football success and overall prosperity but North/South and without the historical political divide.

[@Eibarwoman]

Spain also has a similar problem although mostly due to Basque professionalization early followed by money centered around Barcelona and Madrid sandwiched with occasional Basque golden generations into the 1980s. The more agrarian South has had more limited success mostly centered around Valencia, Sevilla, and Villarreal.

[@bakulshah4367]

Hey, Alfie you got anything special planned for when this channel hits the 500k mark? Like another Q and A video maybe?

[@timopint1125]

my first dynamo dresden games as a child end of the 90s were wild. a game took 90mins+30min break for holligan fights on the pit

[@heichan8657]

20:53 Hertha Berlin is from west germany too??

[@hieuhaang8802]

Alfie please do a video about Chievo Verona

[@robingronwald7993]

I like the fact that Leverkusen is so big on the thumbnail cuz they literally looted east german clubs

[@AFCWimbledonandActivist]

Will you make the video about afc Wimbledon ?

[@gurururuwarararara8164]

Make that video about Wimbledon bro, it needs to happen

[@pjsmith2744]

Shit man where do you find the time for such in depth research!!! Awesome stuff again dude!

[@tunefishcustoms2790]

I think it is worth noting that Union Berlin wich plays in the Bundesliga is from the Eastern Side of berlin so also from East Germany

[@glps6167]

Just add the number of east German players who made it into the national team of unified Germany since unification to this narrative. Also East German coaches who made a career in the unified Bundesliga. East Germany had produced a lot of talent. If, following unification, East German clubs were treated badly (only 2 teams admitted to the Bundesliga), the performance of these teams over the years would have shown. But one team immediately got relegated. The issue was not talent, but management. And your video just proves that point; both RB Leipzig and Union Berlin are not typical for the old GDR, they stand out because their management has overcome GDR tradition or never had it.

[@MatheusFernandes-xf4zm]

15:02 A classic from the 90s, former Soviet bloc countries thought they ascended to heaven and went straight to hell 😂

[@od9694]

Union Berlin is a brilliant club by far my favourite German club

[@shaqtaku]

a club for hipsters /s

[@samuelyee4017]

Union is my favourite team in bundesliga other than Dortmund

[@petesmart1983]

Same in England with the real north, Sunderland and Newcastle haven't won anything since the 30s and it about how deprived our areas are, which gets very little investment from the government and most towns and villages have been left to rot

[@MenWithVen]

Manchester and Liverpool are northern though. I say that as someone from Sunderland. If you only count true North as Sunderland Newcastle and Boro you are capturing a fraction of the population

[@alfredaramouni5884]

respect any one that mentions saarland!!

[@dernik3797]

hertha berlin isnt really considered to be an east german team. sure they are located in the east of the country but in the west side of berlin. therefore in west germany. while there are currently 3 teams from the east side of germany in the bundesliga there is only one East German team in the league.

[@manveerkambo4968]

I recently read that Winston Reid was still playing for his international team when he wasn't even part of a club team. Maybe you can do a 7s video on that topic??

[@vrocco1395]

Day 28-Zico and his truly bizarre transfer from Flamengo to Italian Udinese

[@andrekoerber7334]

Yes, the best player in the world at this time moved to an italian farmer club.....very strange.

[@wolfmauler]

"...A messy and complicated affair..." Floored by that analysis mate 😬

[@timgedrat1783]

Hertha WASN'T/ISN'T a DDR-Club. They are located in West-Berlin.

[@germankid866]

Small but relevant note at 20:40 Hertha Berlin is a West German team

[@francomartini4328]

The most obvious thing from this video is that the 1980s was the age of the mullet and that West Germany was Mullet Central. As I understand it, when Kevin Keegan got to Hamburger SV he was only presented to the press after the club barber had suitably tonsured him.

[@MenWithVen]

Mullets are back in a big way. Especially here in Australian. Or maybe they just never went away here

[@louielouie95]

What On Earth Is Going On At CSKA Moscow?

[@gandalf_thegrey]

First East Germany came out of a system where the state choose the victor of the footballing league and Secondly East Germany cane out of a system that was considerably weaker in terms of economy. East Germans signed in droves for West clubs after the reunion, because their home clubs just couldn't compete financially. When all your good players go away and you have no money to invest.... well then you go down the league's... Not to mention that until 2007 (or somewhere along those lines) Germany had only two professional Leagues (1. and 2. Bundesliga) so you didn't even had a margin of error like in England FE. Once you did go down, it was almost for the rest of time. But Union has made great progress (which weren't even the strongest East Berlin team while the GDR/DDR existed... so they were Underdogs to the guys that where the Underdogs to Hertha (which are BFC Dynamo)) , Leipzig circumvented all those problems by simply not existing for the first 20 years of said problems (1990-2009) and overall a good Eastern presence has established itself in the 3. Liga and 2. Bundesliga.

[@JohnSmith-kd6ip]

Nicely researched video. But one major flaw: Hertha is NOT an East German team. Geographically yes, but clubs from former West Berlin are not seen as "Ostklubs", not even 30 years after reunificaton. And never will...or as long as people that lived in the East are still alive. Clubs in the East lost their best players for free or very cheap. People lost interest in local football and many lost their jobs when factories closed. Therefore attendance in the East dropped significantly. Less money for the clubs that started with no money in the first place. In a new system, the clubs didn't know anything about the professional football business. They had to learn on the job. Many clubs then were led by shady business people from the West who funneled money into their own pockets. Many factors that made swimming upstream very difficult. There have been some talented players in the past 3 decades, like Ballack and Toni Kroos, but not many yough players make it to the top two leagues. The number of national team players is becoming lower and lower. Not many people could even fill a fantasy East German national team with current players. And it's more difficult to fill a team every year. (f.e in FIFA video games you rely on mediocre players from the 2.Bundesliga to get a full roster) The clubs that are now the best from the East (Union, Magdeburg, Rostock) mostly have players born in former West Germany, not local talents.

[@roberw1912]

Population does dictate there was in 1990, 16 million people in East Germany and 64 million in West Germany or 1 East German for every 4 West Germans. East Germany is much more rural than West Germany and less really big cities. In the biggest 15 cities only Berlin and Leipzig are in the East.

[@agn855]

_“joined by Herta Berlin…“_ 20:25 - that is in fact a BRD/FRG club, bc located in West-Berlin AKA "Berlin", while it was geographically located/"embedded" in East-Germany, it politically belonged to West-Germany (sort of). Not to confuse with Union Berlin, a former DDR/GDR club from, guess where, East-Berlin AKA "Der Hauptstadt der DDR". JM2€Cents 😁

[@MatthiaGryffine]

I was always confused by that too considering how dominant East Germany was at the Olympics.

[@petergeyer7584]

It was a resource allocation thing. The driving force behind East German sports was winning international medals - and thereby international recognition. Do you spend the money to develop a team of 25 football players who can collectively win - at best - one medal per event, or 25 individual athletes who can each win one and potentially multiple medals per event?

[@soundscape26]

An elaborated doping program for starters.

[@Shadowgrace760]

Odd timing considering former East German team Union Berlin is on top right now!

[@soundscape26]

I think that fact has definitely influenced him in making this video.