Mein Erstes Mal / My First Time

The third installment of the Mein Erstes Mal / My First Time series. This article will feature on the new website but if you'd like to share your first time at Union via this blog then please get in touch. 

“The tears of Emil Kremenliev”

1. FC Union Berlin vs. Hannover 96 1:1 (0:0), att. 9,072, July 30, 2001

"You have to come to Union", Martin said, and at first I didn't think much of it. The first football games I had seen live were in the Olympiastadion in the late 1990s: Hertha played a very successful season; it was the only time they ever qualified for Champions League. I went along with my high-school friends, but we didn’t really get hooked.

I got into football late to begin with. Oliver Bierhoff’s golden goal in the Euro finals in 1996 sparked my interest and it was all downhill from there. I gorged on the vast array of statistics the sport offered and took a general interest in how the other Berlin teams were doing. Tennis Borussia played in second league, backed by a sleazy investor, convinced they’d end up in Champions League. That bubble burst quickly. Union were also in the headlines: as a third league team, they had a fantastic cup run with thrilling matches that propelled them all the way to the final. I did not see any of that in the stadium, though. I merely observed those teams from a distance.

"You have to come to Union!" When Union clinched promotion to second league during the same year they got to the cup final, and I had moved to a place close to my university that also happened to be two miles away from the Alte Försterei, I finally heeded Martin's call. My first Union match was their first-ever appearance in 2. Bundesliga, on July 30, 2001. It was a hot Monday night, I wore shorts and the mild evening breeze wafted through the unroofed terraces. I rocked back and forth on the crumbling steps as I waited for the game to start. I was able to satisfy my hunger for stadium sausage without even leaving my spot, thanks to the “Grillwalkers”, powerful half-man, half-grill cyborgs who roamed the stands plying their wares. If there is anything I miss about the “old” Union, it is these fellows.

9,072 people showed up that night, which was about the average home attendance for the season. Union played Hannover 96, who were the odds-on favorites to win the league (which they easily did in the end). They would not have an easy start into the season, though: Union fought and played well, motivated by a vivacious crowd.

I recognized some familiar melodies from my time at Hertha, but there were also several unique Union chants, like a call-and-response of “Eisern” and “Union”, bounced off the Waldseite (behind the goal) and the Gegengerade (opposite of the main stand). Songs that you just had to sing along to, some even told you to: “1. FC Union Berlin – und alle!” (“everybody!”). There was also a unique way to celebrate goals, though I had to wait 76 minutes to hear it, after Kostadin Vidolov entered the box from the right wing and gracefully curved the ball around the keeper into the far corner.

After you shout the player’s name, the stadium announcer says: “Und niemals vergessen…” (“never forget”) and the crowd roars back: “Eisern Union!” three times. That night I would have loved to shout it more often, but Vidolov (who was the Torsten Mattuschka of the time) only hit the crossbar with a cracking free-kick. When one of Hannover’s men was sent off with a red card in minute 81, everything pointed towards a big surprise. But only sixty seconds later, the ball crossed the Union goal line. The tabloid headlines next day would scream “The tears of Emil Kremenliev” – the unlucky Union defender who accidentally headed a rather harmless high cross into his own net.

It was a bit disappointing, as I felt Union had deserved to win. But it was not disheartening. People in the stands were still in good spirits. I was filled with a feeling of comfort and community that never, ever left me. It was probably just as well that they didn’t win, I got to experience early on that winning is not necessarily what Union is about. A lot of Union fans are in it out of conviction, no matter how the team plays. Many of them are also strong advocates for the team, telling their friends and families about the good time they had at the Alte Försterei. Today, I am proud to count myself among their ranks. And I will tell you what Martin once told me all those years ago: "You have to come to Union!"