The 2020/21 season starts in five days. FC Bayern enters the race as defending champion and favorite. A statistical gimmick: If it comes to the population of the cities represented in the Bundesliga, two other clubs are at the top. Interesting findings also emerged from the corporate and investor clubs Leverkusen (Bayer), Wolfsburg (VW) and Hoffenheim (patron Dietmar Hopp). An overview of the population of the 18 clubs in the German upper house of fussball.news.
Before starting the ranking, here are some insights at a glance:
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim come from the three smallest cities in the Bundesliga. It is interesting to note that these three clubs are often classified under the “plastic club” or “investor club” category. Bundesliga clubs in large cities have the advantage that they have a larger catchment area with potentially more fans and sponsors, which in turn generally offers better framework conditions for surviving in the Bundesliga. The topic of tradition is excluded. Clubs from smaller cities may only be able to compensate for this location disadvantage with a strong investor or group – at least that is the trend. Also curious: although Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim are among the smallest cities in the Bundesliga, they are usually represented in Europe and are among the top German clubs.
FC Augsburg has great potential to move into
FC Augsburg, on the other hand, is usually traded by experts as the number one relegated team. Often it is also conveyed in reports that the Augsburgers would rather be among the small clubs in the Bundesliga. When it comes to the number of inhabitants, the Augsburgers are not that small at all, with almost 300,000 inhabitants they are 10th in the nationwide league ranking. Incidentally, Augsburg is the third largest city in Bavaria after Munich and Nuremberg. Conversely, this means: The large catchment area and economically very strong companies in the region actually offer the Bavarian Swabians enough potential to launch an attack on the top six in the table.
Does unity have to set higher goals?
A similar understatement prevails at Eintracht Frankfurt. The Frankfurters are satisfied with a place in the top ten in the Bundesliga, Minimalzal is usually relegation. That is in stark contrast to the potential of the city. Frankfurt is the fourth largest city in Germany, and there are multibillion-dollar corporations bustling around the Frankfurt financial and stock exchange. With this potential, the goal of a top six placement should actually be a matter of course.
At Hertha, there is a gap between aspiration and reality
There is an even bigger gap between the size and potential of the city and the ambitions of the club in Germany’s capital Berlin. With over 3.5 million inhabitants, Berlin is more than twice the size of Munich, which is the second largest city in Germany. It sounds understandable that the new investor Lars Windhorst at Hertha BSC is setting the goal of transforming Hertha into a top club in Europe instead of a middle-class club. Of course, the question remains in what form the way to the top should be sought. In almost all other European leagues, clubs from the capital are among the top national clubs.
Larger catchment area for the Bundesliga
Also interesting: SC Paderborn and Fortuna Düsseldorf are relegated from the Bundesliga. Arminia Bielefeld and VfB Stuttgart will join them as promoters. This means that the Bundesliga has grown by around 200,000 inhabitants in terms of the number of inhabitants in its Bundesliga cities, which would have a positive effect on the average number of visitors in a normal season with spectators. Here is the ranking:
Those: Wikipedia
Ranking ordered by placement, city, residents and football club:
17th place: Sinsheim, 35,442 inhabitants, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
16th place: Wolfsburg, 124,371 inhabitants, VfL Wolfsburg
15th place: Leverkusen, 163,729 inhabitants, Bayer 04 Leverkusen
14th place: Mainz, population 218,579, FSV Mainz 05
13th place: Freiburg, 231,195 inhabitants, SC Freiburg
12th place: Gelsenkirchen, 259,645 inhabitants, Schalke 04
11th place: Mönchengladbach, 261,034 inhabitants, Borussia Mönchengladbach
10th place: Augsburg, 296,582 inhabitants, FC Augsburg
9th place: Bielefeld, 334,195 inhabitants, Arminia Bielefeld
8th place: Bremen, 567,559 inhabitants, Werder Bremen
7th place: Dortmund, 588,250 inhabitants, Borussia Dortmund
6th place: Leipzig, 593,145 inhabitants, RB Leipzig
5th place: Stuttgart, 635,911 inhabitants, VfB Stuttgart
4th Place: Frankfurt am Main, 763,380 inhabitants, Eintracht Frankfurt
3rd place: Cologne, 1,087,863 inhabitants, 1. FC Cologne
2nd place: Munich, 1,484,226 inhabitants, FC Bayern
1st place: Berlin, 3,669,491 inhabitants, Hertha BSC and Union Berlin
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