Year in review: The effects of the coronavirus

The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on football make themselves felt. The Foals are forced to play the majority of their games behind closed doors, while the club takes a heavy financial hit.

Football without the fans - unimaginable, but this year, it became a reality. Borussia’s 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln on 11th March will go down as the first-ever Bundesliga game to take place behind closed doors. Back then, everyone was hoping it would only be an exception, but the situation quickly got worse. Rising infection rates meant that all professional sport in Germany was put on hold for nearly two months earlier this year. During this time, the Foals had to do without the steady revenue stream they had been expecting. Borussia CEO Stephan Schippers estimated that Borussia will have suffered a loss of around €40 million due to the pandemic this year alone.

Many club employees saw their hours cut over the next several weeks and months. But, the club were able to ensure that they were still paid their full salaries due to a selfless act from the first-team players, coaching staff, management and directors to waive a portion of their salaries. Borussia were the first Bundesliga club to announce this decision. “The team came to us right away and asked if there was anything they could do. If hours were being cut, then they didn’t want the club employees to suffer,” said Schippers. Days later, several employees thanked the club for the selfless gesture in an emotional video message. “When we saw it, there were a few of us that had to hold back tears because we knew that we had done something special. That was a nice moment,” said captain Lars Stindl.

During the two-month break, the fans used the time to fill BORUSSIA-PARK with more than 20,000 cardboard cutouts. This way, the Foals were able to play in front of the “fans” for their final Bundesliga games of the season, instead of being confronted with empty stands. At the start of the 2020/21 season, a limited number of fans were allowed back into the stadium, but the joy was short-lived. As the number of new coronavirus cases began to rise again in autumn, the Foals were once again forced to play behind closed doors. “We’re grateful that we’re still able to play, despite the pandemic. However, we’re sorely missing our fans. Playing in front of empty stands is a strange feeling, and one that we don’t enjoy,” said head coach Marco Rose.