As FC Cincinnati moves towards their home opener this Saturday in Nippert Stadium, we are giving our fans one more look at different types of supporters that make up our club. In our articles we highlighted SG member Adam Sandfoss, FCC Account Executive Josh Staley, and one of our many young fans Alayna Townsend. With our fourth feature, we wanted to present a supporter that has had experience cheering on his teams at the highest level around the world.
Some of his favorite memories are of walking along the streets, flares alight, with fans shouting chants of their club and the rest of the community watching. That group parades toward the stadium in one thunderous horde until they find seats to cheer on their club. He has experienced this atmosphere several times across the globe from Germany, Madrid, England and now he hope to bring it to Cincinnati Ohio. Timo Breitenstein (@Timbo_1909), originally from Cölbe Germany, brings a pedigree to our supporters that will be matched by none, yet envied by all.
A recent transplant to the United States with his wife (in March of 2015), Timo was speaking with FC Cincinnati staff about getting involved with his new hometown club. “I spoke with Josh Staley about tickets one day. We began to talk about football and how I was a big Dortmund supporter. He told me that there was a new group being formed at the time called Die Innenstadt and that I should get in touch with them.” After meeting up with President Ryan Lammi at MadTree Brewing one evening, Timo knew that he wanted to be involved.
Timo has shared his experiences with members of Die Innenstadt and is now helping shape the course of our new supporters culture. A member of the prestigious “Yellow Wall” for Borussia Dortmund, Timo has relished the opportunity to join a supporters group in his new town. “It was the part I was missing over here (USA) in my life. That is why I wanted to be involved in Die Innenstadt.” Timo even let me know that he still owns tickets for Dortmund. “If I gave them up I would go on a long waiting list, especially since mine are in the “Yellow Wall”. All My friends back in Germany use them now.”
During his time with the “Yellow Wall”, Timo had the opportunity to travel for Champions League matches. His favorite took place on November 3, 2011. “I traveled up to Arsenal with 10,000 Dortmund fans in total. We all met up in a park before the game a mile away. All 10,000 supporters did a march to the stadium, we all lit off flares and smoke bombs and we were all singing. It was cool looking down the street seeing thousands of fans marching to the stadium.”
As the new supporter’s group Vice President, Timo has brought over several ideas from his time with Dortmund. “I really like BVB’s slogan of Echte Liebe. It means “true love”. The name Die Innenstadt means inner city or downtown and pairing these together shows the love that we have for our city.” As part of his responsibilities, Timo helps Ryan and the group organize travel, tickets, finances and to help organize in the Bailey on game days. “I came up with two or three cheers that we had in Germany. I took the melody from these and translated them to English.”
If you want to join up with Timo pregame, they plan to “meet at Rhinegeist in Over the Rhine with DI. All are welcome. We will have drinks, go over songs, cheer & get excited before we will march up the Clifton stairs and up to the stadium.”
Timo and the DI leadership have been instrumental along with the Pride in working to grow the supporters culture with the club. Many of you may have seen them at Molly Malone’s for away games, marching during the Bockfest or opening day parades, or at one of several club related events. One thing is for sure is that the support is budding. “The group has been growing so fast. We are already over 150 members!”
Make sure to check our supporters groups in the Bailey this Saturday night. “We are very excited and cannot wait to bring a fun atmosphere!”
For more information on the FCC supporters groups, make sure to visit www.dieinnenstadt.com or www.thepridecincy.com.
@bryanweigel for @cincysoccertalk
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READ MORE from Cincinnati Soccer Talk:
FC Cincinnati vs. Charlotte Independence – Simple Man’s Preview
Supporters Feature #3: Alayna Townsend
FC Cincinnati Gets First USL Win, Saturday’s Home Opener
This Week in FC Cincinnati – April 5th
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