Fortuna Duesseldorf face Bochum in the first leg of the Bundesliga relegation playoff on Thursday riding a wave of momentum, unbeaten in the league since February.
The second division team’s ‘Fortune for All’ campaign, a plan to make all tickets to certain home games free, made headlines ahead of the season.
The two-time German Cup winners have started by offering free tickets to three home games in 2023-24, while also pledging to continue the plan if they reach the top flight.
Each of the three games was “sold out”, with fans filling Duesseldorf’s 52,000-capacity stadium – one of the venues for this summer’s Euros. Over the course of the season, league attendance averaged over 39,000.
The home support scored on the field. Fortuna came from three goals down to defeat rivals Kaiserslautern 4-3 in the first free game in October.
Although Fortuna lost the second free game to eventual division champions St Pauli in January, their victory in the third game against Eintracht Braunschweig in April put them on course for a third-place finish and a chance of reaching the top flight.
– ‘First division and stay there’ –
Fortuna CEO Alexander Jobst told AFP and other media outlets in an interview in October, ahead of the first free game, that the plan would boost, rather than hinder, its promotional bid.
“Following the old business model would not have given us the opportunity to become a first division club,” said Jobst, explaining that the plan had “more opportunities than risks”.
“(The plan) gives us a better chance of reaching the top division and then staying there.”
Tickets for the second leg of the relegation playoff won’t be free, but Duesseldorf will have no problem filling their stadium.
Fortuna’s last spell in the top flight ended after two years with relegation in the 2019-20 season.
The playoff was criticized in Germany because the top division teams dominated.
Suppressed after German reunification in 1991, the playoff was reintroduced in 2009.
There have been 16 playoffs since then, with the second division team winning promotion just three times.
The last time was in 2019, when Union Berlin triumphed over Stuttgart under the away goals rule, which was abolished in 2021.
Although the odds may be against second division side Fortuna, they are one of three to have been promoted in the playoffs, beating Hertha Berlin in 2012.
– ‘Beating a Bundesliga team’ –
Fortuna striker Christos Tzolis said on Tuesday that his team would step up.
“If we want to become a Bundesliga team, we have to beat a Bundesliga team,” Tzolis told the club website.
Unlike Bochum, who stumbled at the end of the season with two wins in their last 12 matches, Fortuna arrive at the decisive match in good form.
Fortuna’s only defeat in their last 15 games in all competitions was against Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup semi-finals – no shame given the Bundesliga champions’ 51-game unbeaten run.
“Bochum are not in good shape, but they are still a strong and, above all, physically robust team.
“It will be two close games. But I’m very positive about what lies ahead.”
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